Beyond - Legends Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) New fic 5/30/08!

Wedge: Is it YKU related at least?

Perhaps...

*is all I can say here*

Yeah. We've got PMs

I'll find some way to cope.

It's very brave of you to soldier on like that.

Yeah CDs > downloads. Amazon has a mp3 store now, and it works with both iTunes and whatever else. Don't think they have quite the selection iTunes has yet.

Yeah, there are a couple other online stores out there with decent selections and no DRM but again, no where near the selection of iTunes. I wish iTunes would just let you download lossless files or let the iPod have FLAC playback.

has to rub that in my face.

Sorry

Well that's the only way I can think of explaining why Jaina ....liked.... being kissed by Wrev.

Yeah, see? It's already begun

Unless you really are Troy... That would explain a few of the similarities to LotF...

But not why Anakin is no longer in canon

*Takes a bow* Thank you. Thank you.

I laughed so hard I almost cried. Seriously

'Especially since' what?

Well... I can't say

I'm sure LDM would vote to keep him alive. So I guess it's 4 to 1.

That's true. I guess it's not everyone.

Shouldn't that have been followed by *points to response to Chimpo about characters*?

Right, Malig is never wrong now Any time he's killed someone, it's only been because they stole his wife's car or something.







LosDosMos: Wrev is alive And you'd best keep him that way, if you know what's good for you.

I'm getting conflicting requests

Jacen is such a pansy.

I thought the same thing when I was writing that scene. "Suck it up, Nancy!"

Dude. That should TOTALLY apply to Wrev!

It does now. He's going to be such an uber character it will make Corran Horn look like C-3PO.

Thanks for reading and replying








Chimpo:

[image=http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/YodaKenobi/Vadernoo.gif]

Sorry, buddy








New post on Friday. We'll see Faybol and Malig for the first time in awhile, head back to the Callista/Mara fight to see how that pans out, and then... Luke Skywalker!

Haven't seen him since his duel with Jacen. Poor Luke

Oh, and also we're going to see Tahiri's body

 

LDM: You're back!

Jacen is such a pansy.

YK:I thought the same thing when I was writing that scene. "Suck it up, Nancy!"


How can you say that about a guy that dresses like this:



[image=http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r213/CloneCmdrWedge/Jacen_Edgeworth.jpg]

Ok, so it's SWU Jacen. Same point.

Yes, I take credit for replaceing the head here, not the original pics. And yes, there is a joke here.

Yeah. We've got PMs

And some of them have been very amusing.

Yeah, see? It's already begun

I'm sure LDM would've been glad to replace Jaina in that scene.

Right, Malig is never wrong now Any time he's killed someone, it's only been because they stole his wife's car or something.

And here I thought it would've been that someone insulted his honor.

New post on Friday. We'll see Faybol and Malig for the first time in awhile, head back to the Callista/Mara fight to see how that pans out

Hopefully Mara kicks Callista's butt.

Oh, and also we're going to see Tahiri's body


*Readies Clonetroopers and Dr. House*

 

Wedge: How can you say that about a guy that dresses like this:



Jacen is so fancy.

Ok, so it's SWU Jacen. Same point.

Yeah, close enough

Yes, I take credit for replaceing the head here, not the original pics. And yes, there is a joke here.

I think it's going way over my head

I'm sure LDM would've been glad to replace Jaina in that scene.

lol

And here I thought it would've been that someone insulted his honor.

That too. Also, he has a fatal disease that will be cured by his clone brother.

Hopefully Mara kicks Callista's butt.

Have to wait and see

*Readies Clonetroopers and Dr. House*

Is it bad that at first I thought that read "Darth House" for a minute and laughed?








Tomorrow's post maybe be really early or really late depending on something that's supposed to happen Just to warn those of you who are competitive about your posting

 

Forfeiting first 2nite. Going out.

 

YK:I think it's going way over my head

It's not that big. It's just that I thought the original character, Edgeworth, (in some pics) looked like Jacen. I've even shown it to these three girls who've played the game that guy is from (Pheonix Wright[?]) and they've even said that it works. As a bonus I even did this:

[image=http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r213/CloneCmdrWedge/Darth_Edgewroth.jpg]



That too. Also, he has a fatal disease that will be cured by his clone brother.

Malig has a clone brother...*thinks* REVAN!?!?

Have to wait and see

I've got a couple of .gifs ready...

Is it bad that at first I thought that read "Darth House" for a minute and laughed?

Well...there was this one pic of House

[image=http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r213/CloneCmdrWedge/darth_house.jpg]

"Do what must be done Lord House."

"Ok." *Pops a couple of Vicodin*

 

Spike: Forfeiting first 2nite. Going out.

Have fun





Wedge: It's not that big. It's just that I thought the original character, Edgeworth, (in some pics) looked like Jacen. I've even shown it to these three girls who've played the game that guy is from (Pheonix Wright[?]) and they've even said that it works. As a bonus I even did this:

Never heard of the game, but great pic

Malig has a clone brother...*thinks* REVAN!?!?

ur blowin mah mind now!

I've got a couple of .gifs ready...

I can't wait

Well...there was this one pic of House
"Do what must be done Lord House."
"Ok." *Pops a couple of Vicodin*



Great photoshopping






Post is ready to go as soon as I hear back from my beta. I think you guys will like this one

 

Chapter 56: Confirmed Dead

Denon's pedestrian bridges had probably never appeared this empty. Instead of being choked by herds of citizens of more than a hundred different species, the permacrete walkways were strewn with rubble and blast debris from which clouds of dust and coiled columns of smoke created an expanding curtain of fog, rising from the bridges like steam over a sweltering bog. The skylanes of the Senate District were similarly vacant, with only single streams of unfortunate civilian craft desperately swerving from the flight paths of rocketing GFS speeders and emergency response vehicles in whorls of flashing strobe lights.

Gone was the dull roar of thousands of milling voices and the deep wind-churning hum of boosting speeder drives, replaced by the staccato bursts of ringing blaster rifles and earsplitting detonations that quaked through the city, forcing arcing towers to tremble and rattling frightened panes of transparisteel.

Level after level of the crisscrossing pedwalks were scarred with blackened scorches and blast-mark pocks around tangles of spider-webbing cracks, and gaping craters venting curls of billowing smoke charted the bellows of hurled frag and plasma grenades, or the unforgiving shriek of baradium and detonite. Mangled safety railings torn from the bridges dangled over the chasm like twisted ribbon, and creaked with every gust of wind. In the distance, the warpath blazed by Raithian Annihilators could be seen in a murky haze hovering over the cityscape.

But from the entrance of the now abandoned tram tunnel, another sight could be taken in: Only four levels below, there was a courtyard paved by gray cobblestones, with a life-sized statue of former Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya standing over a fountain. The courtyard was just outside of the Senate Offices and Fyor Rodan's private docking bay.

Inside the usually regal setting was a torrent of light. Dashes of red streamed from all directions, burning through the darkness and colliding with a single column of blue iridescence that was splayed in a constant fan of motion. Each deflected burst of blasterfire and thrum of the lightsaber left more smoldering corpses and severed limbs littering the cobblestones, and only seemed to bring on more blue-armored soldiers to the fight.

With his heightened predatory senses, Faybol could smell the burning flesh from the distance. In the growing pile of bodies, he could even make out the exceptional form of Mulla Habbas. It was fitting that the Galactic Alliance's Minister of State would die a coward's death, as he had lived.

He watched the Jedi below with great fascination. Anakin Solo was a blur of black robes and whirling light, every stroke of his blade sending ripples of darkness through the Force, his anger, and hatred, and intransigent rage boiling through that energy in a pall of red. The Kuhr had never felt such raw power.

As the young man unleashed his fury, Faybol couldn't help but feel a sense of rightness to it all. It had been Solo and his mate who had slain one of his beloved Kurol, the last remnant of Faybol's mighty species he had to hold onto in the galaxy. To have inflicted that same sense of tragedy, of total loss, on the ones who had caused him so much grief gave him great pleasure.

Revenge was the Way of the Sith.

Today it was Faybol's. It was a vengeance the legions of Kuhr who had been exterminated by the Raithians a half century ago would never taste...

The revenge, however, was only the windfall. Darth Malig's plans were always larger, always more complex than anything so trifling as wanting to inflict pain on young Solo. Even after all these years of service, Malig's Hand could never quite wrap his mind around his master's schemes, nor anticipate what he planned to gain from them.

Faybol turned his masked-face to the young woman sprawled on the tunnel entrance beside him, her black combat suit in blood-crusted tatters, and her features laced with cuts and bruises below the splayed tangles of flaxen hair. It had been seeing Tahiri Veila in this condition, completely lifeless, that had driven the young man to release his wrath in the courtyard below. Faybol knew it wasn't the Raithian soldiers he was killing down there— it was him. Every one of them.

Perhaps it was his master's wish for him to share that fate.

His destruction so that something greater could be created, like Rénin's death.

But Faybol wasn't quite ready for that yet. Not while there was still a chance...

An insect-like trill sounded, breaking the Kuhr from his reverie. He reached one clawed hand into his scarlet robes, rippling gently in the evening breeze as he crouched down beside Veila, and retrieved the circle of metal secured there. His thumb nudged the small node on the device's side, silencing the chirp and releasing streams of blue light that materialize into a miniature hologram of his master, seated in his throne.

"Report."

Even over the handheld communicator, Darth Malig's voice seemed as enchanting as always.

"It is done, My Master," Faybol assured. "Young Solo found his mate and is punishing your troops as we speak."

"Yes... I can feel his anger."

"His reaction is more powerful than we could have hoped."

"All beings have a weakness, Faybol. Tahiri Veila is Anakin Solo's."

It was an amazing gift his lord seemed to have— an ability to identify that point inside someone which could break them completely, and leave them malleable enough to rebuild into something greater. Jacen Solo's weakness had been his own sense of ethics and a need to believe that the Force was larger than his Uncle insisted— his brother's was something far simpler. Faybol had left Tahiri there in the entrance after he and Callista had defeated her, and watched from afar as Solo crumbled over her body.

It had all been a part of his master's plan.

"Solo seems to have murdered Minister Habbas, Master."

"Easily replaceable," Malig replied without a pause, as if he was already aware of the Kuati's execution. "His death will serve as a reminder to our dear Mr. Rodan that his place in our arrangement is only viable as long as he has use, and a more important reminder to the citizens of the Alliance of the Jedi menace still lurking within their borders."

A true Sith could turn any threat into an advantage— Malig had taught him that lesson well.

Faybol turned his gaze back to the distant courtyard, where Anakin was slashing through the torso of a chrome sentinel droid. "Do you want me to apprehend him, My Lord?"

"No. Let him go. If you confront him now, you will only succeed in getting yourself killed," the mystical voice explained. "In time, Anakin Solo will come to me."

"To kill you," Faybol puzzled.

"Precisely."

It didn't make any sense, but the dark being knew better than to try and dissect his Master's plan. There was something larger at work that Faybol wasn't seeing. Why would he want to make Anakin Solo a more powerful foe than before?

"What of the others? Are you going to let the Jedi escape?"

"If our troops or the Alliance blockade catches them, then they will be dealt with, but that is not your concern."

The creature began to wonder what the odds of that were.

"Did young Tahiri Veila survive?"

Faybol's attention swept back to the dead blonde woman. He reached down and rolled up the left pant leg of her combat suit, over her boot, where a small gold band was fastened around her calf.* The Vagaari technology had been used for centuries by the nomads to keep people and creatures in a state of suspended animation, even giving them the ability to survive the harsh vacuum of space.

He brushed the tiny sensor built into the band. "She's in perfect hibernation."

"Very good." Malig seemed pleased.

Faybol wondered why Malig had requested Tahiri taken alive rather than killed. The Sith Lord had his own designs for captured Jedi, he knew, but the trap they'd laid for Tahiri and ultimately Anakin, had been extreme, and in Faybol's mind, would have been far more effective if the female Jedi had actually perished.

But perhaps it was his own bloodlust blinding him to something more obvious.

"You should get moving. The shuttle will be leaving in minutes," Malig continued. "Callista sends word that Mara Jade is approaching."

The Dark Lord had established a sort of telepathic link with Callista during her time with them in Raithian Space, and it had allowed her to feed them information during her deception amongst the Jedi on Ossus. "Do you want me to assist her?"

After quickly getting Tahiri into position for Anakin to find, Faybol had dispatched Callista to intercept Jade and Octa Ramis, who were working their way through the GFS detention area.

"No. Callista can take care of herself. I want you and Veila on that shuttle when it leaves, Faybol. We will not allow the Jedi to disrupt it."

Faybol knew that when he left Denon today, he would not be returning for a long time. "As you wish," he said, before glancing over his shoulder at the other unconscious body just inside the entrance. Jysella Horn had always been his failsafe, a means for ensnaring Anakin Solo should their attempts on Dantooine and the Exodus turn disastrous, as they had. Darth Malig, of course, had other ideas on how to use Faybol's control over the young Jedi pet, and Jysella had played her part perfectly, leading Tahiri to the tram tunnel where she could be ambushed, and Solo could be broken.

"And what of Horn?"

The shimmering hologram paused for a moment, as if Malig hadn't given the matter much thought. "Bring her as well."

"Yes, My Master."

With that, the transmission flickered and vanished, and Malig slipped the communicator back into his robes. He then lifted Tahiri from the ground and slung her limp body over one shoulder, before lifting Jysella Horn over the other, the added weight taxing his spindly body.

He was going to have to hurry. This was not a flight he wanted to miss.

Taking one last glance down at Anakin Solo and his butchery, breathing in the darkness and despair churning through the Force, Faybol began his journey down the tram tunnel.





Tangles of violet light blossomed from Callista Ming's fingertips in a swelling stream that coursed towards Mara's face in a flash that nearly blinded her before she had a chance to raise her humming lightsaber. The blade narrowly swept in front of her, and the crackle of colliding energy that followed resounded across the towers and skylanes and deflected the torrents of lightning, scorching a blackened wound in the permacrete roof of GFS headquarters where the two duelists stood.

Mara stumbled back, the force of the continued blast driving her backwards and making the muscles of her sweat-slickened arms throb. She grunted from the effort, as Callista pressed her attack, pouring more fire into the white blaze, tongues of flame dancing off the electric blade and lashing out to lick the skin of her forearms.

"You should have never interfered," Callista called over the storm. "It didn't have to be this way."

The Jedi Master did her best to keep her blade in front of the forks of sizzling light, ignoring Callista's taunts. She'd always seen through the woman's façade, knew too much of the dark side to do otherwise— if only she'd done more to convince Luke that she was right...

Mara held onto an image of her husband and ground her teeth, promising herself she would see him again. She drew her left hand from the hilt of her lightsaber, deflecting the undulating current with only one hand on her weapon, feeling her veins bulge and muscles spasm with the effort, as her now free hand shot for the holster on her hip. In one fluid motion, Mara drew the blaster pistol she had secured there, leveled the carbon-black muzzle and fired a crimson bolt over the top of the cascades of Force-lightning.

The look in Callista's widened gray eyes was pure horror, and she jerked back, choking off her waves of shimmering electricity and desperately heaved her double-bladed lightsaber up to intercept the dash of blaster fire. A beam of white whirled in front of her, but was too slow to deflect the bolt. The energy blast glanced off the lightsaber, altering its trajectory so that it didn't burn a pit through her chest, instead piercing the fallen Jedi's right bicep in a burst of orange light.

An animal-like roar came from Callista's bloodied visage and she stumbled back towards the building's edge, somehow managing to hold onto her lightsaber despite the sizzling wound of cooked tendons and blackened cords of scorched muscle. Mara launched herself forward, closing the distance between herself and Callista in an attempt to press her advantage.

When she neared the reach of the Dark Jedi's blade, Mara threw herself into a forward-somersault across the permacrete, beneath one beam of her enemy's droning blade as Callista went for her head close enough that she could feel the incandescent heat. The second blade came down at her rolling form, and Mara raised her own lightsaber to bat it away in a deafening pop of electricity, before she ended her roll and slammed the heel of her right boot into Callista's abdomen with bone-crushing force.

Callista tumbled over the edge with a scream of surprise and disappeared from sight. Taking a deep breath, Mara gathered herself from the lightsaber-scarred roof and peered over the ledge into the murky abyss of the skylane— there was no sign of Callista.

Not allowing herself the time to worry over the fact she didn't see the blonde woman plunging to her death, Mara sprinted across the roof towards the landing pad she'd seen the Raithian shuttle angling for only moments earlier. The Force was urging her towards it, telling her that it was where she'd find her husband.

She dashed across the roof before springing forward in a flip that dropped her down to the landing pad jutting out from the GFS tower fifteen meters below. It was a circle of duracrete at the end of a wide walkway, all ringing by metal and gleaming landing lights of gold. At its end was the black shuttle she'd seen descending from the clouds, surrounded by a cadre of silver-armored Raithian troopers and a line of prisoners being escorted up the shuttle's landing ramp. The spacecraft's repulsors were already humming, preparing for takeoff as its exhaust vented streams of billowing vapor across the duracrete.

Mara's heart stilled when she saw the faces of the shackled prisoners— Cilghal's salmon-colored head glistening in the moonlight, before Kenth Hamner's lined face came into view, followed by Tresina Lobi's wheat-like blonde hair, coiled in a long tail. The Jedi Council members who'd been held captive since before the Vagaari attacked Denon still looked proud, unbroken by their time in captivity.

They were being escorted by an equally menacing contingent of Raithian soldiers, all wearing bulky nutrient frames across their backs that housed yellow ysalamiri. But what chilled Mara's blood were the creatures in tattered gray robes standing guard along the path to the shuttle, with reptilian eyes and stunted muzzles filled with sharp fangs.

It took her only a moment to recognize them as Faybol's brood of Kurol.

Finally, a forth prisoner in black emerged, with two more Kurol pulling him by his elbows towards the ship and four Raithian soldiers following closely behind, their blaster rifles drawn. Mara caught the profile of Luke's face and her heart felt as though it had dropped into her stomach. Unlike the other Masters, Luke wore a complex ring of metal binders around his arms at the elbows, and it didn't take long for Mara to realize why— his right hand was missing.

Mara found herself darting forward without really thinking, as if being pulled towards her husband by some invisible force, her eyes never leaving him.

"Luke!" She cried out.

He whipped around as best he could manage with a Kurol pulling each of his arms, his blue eyes radiating surprise. "Mara!"

Their eyes locked for a moment and time seemed to slow. The pair communicated a lifetime of messages in that single stare, their love and devotion to one another, even in the hopelessness. Mara didn't think she'd ever seen Luke's eyes so sad.

A flurry of blasterfire erupted across the landing pad, throttling towards the intruder in the blink of an eye. Mara's lightsaber blazed, crashing into bolt after bolt with each deft flick of her blade in one hand, sending the energy rocketing off into to darkened skylane. With her own blaster still clutched in her left hand, she began returning fire, spraying a sheet of fiery blasts across the landing pad and catching one Raithian in the chest plate that exploded in a spring of white sparks.

Instead of advancing on her, the Kurol all seemed to close around the Jedi prisoners and rush them towards the shuttle, each one igniting a scarlet lightsaber to shield themselves from Mara's barrage.

"Luke!" She screamed again. "I'm coming! Hold on!"

The Jedi Master was squirming in the Kurols' grip, slamming his back into one and trying to struggle his way free without the Force to aid him. "Mara! Jacen—"

Whatever her husband was going to say was cut off as the butt of a blaster rifle came cracking down against the base of his skull from behind. Luke slumped forward and was dragged toward the landing ramp.

"No!" Mara's cry echoed through the skylane.

She charged forward, the blaster in her hand singing and dropping two soldiers as her lightsaber weaved in front of her. It was then that Mara hit the ysalamiri's Force-resistant bubble, and suddenly felt naked. She could no longer deflect the streaking flashes of energy, was unable to anticipate their trajectory, or even feel the ripples of danger that usually permeated the air of battle.

Her swings became clumsy but Mara refused to retreat, as blasterfire skimmed by her close enough that she could smell the acrid stench of her own hair burning. The Kurol whisked Luke up the landing ramp and the plank of metal began to raise and seal itself into the hull of the obsidian spacecraft.

"Luke!" Mara cried helplessly. "No!"

But it was too late.

The shuttle rose from the landing pad with the high-pitched whine of its repulsors cutting through the night air, before it pivoted, and shot towards the sky in a flare of red ion engines. Mara's eyes filled with tears as she watched it go, her mouth open but she found herself unable to cry out as the remaining troopers continued to spray blasterfire in her direction.

She had failed.

And try as she might, Mara Jade Skywalker couldn't shake the heart-crushing anguish that assailed her at the thought of never seeing her husband again.





Luke's vision was a blur as he was tossed unceremoniously into his seat by the clawed-hands of the Kurol. His head felt as though it'd been split open by the blunt force of the blaster rifle butt, and he was reminded just how accustomed he'd become to drawing on the Force in combat to overcome such injuries.

He felt the shuttle's slight vibration, the tremble of rising from the landing pad and making its way up through Denon's atmosphere.

Mara, he thought sadly, feeling the distance between them grow after being so close as if it was pulling his heart to ribbons.

More than his failure to escape, Luke regretted that he'd been unable to warn her about Jacen. He'd spent the last few days lingering in a cell in Darth Malig's private suit that looked as though it'd been crusted over by yorik coral, staring at the shredded wires and melted servomotors that made up the stump where his cybernetic hand had once been, and wondering what had happened to his oldest nephew.

If Mara and the others weren't aware of Jacen's betrayal, they would not know that the location of Halo was no longer secure, or that Jacen might try and lead them into a trap— perhaps he already had.

Where had he gone wrong? In Jacen, Luke had always seen the conscience of the Jedi Order, a man who would one day make the Jedi and the galaxy better than he'd been able to. Even when they were at odds, he'd felt that Jacen's search for answers would eventually lead him to a revelation about the Force and the Jedi that made their struggles worth it.

But somehow Jacen had gone astray. His quest for understanding lead him to believe that there was no danger in learning some things, or the power such knowledge might hold over him. Jacen had become vulnerable to the lies of the dark side, and that's how Darth Malig had been able to manipulate him into joining the Sith.

Jacen Solo had fallen years ago and Luke had done nothing to stop it.

His vision began to clear and Luke found himself staring ahead at a row of seats arranged in front of his, where a spindly figure in a scarlet cloak sat, his face covered in an angular mask. Though he'd never seen him before, Luke recognized the creature instantly from Callista's description over a month ago when he had been interrogating her after arriving on Denon.

Almost as quickly however, Luke's gaze was drawn away from Faybol to the two young women laid out on bunks along the cabin's bulkhead. Jysella Horn's chest was rising and falling, as if she was merely unconscious, but Tahiri...

"What did you do to them?" Luke rasped, trying to figure out how the two of them had gotten there. Had they come with Mara on a rescue mission?

"Only what needed to be done," Faybol replied.

"Is she dead?"

The gurgled voice came from Luke's left, and he turned to see Cilghal's bolbous eyes staring at Tahiri intently, in a row of seats across the aisle, with Tresina Lobi and Kenth Hamner strapped in beside her, and several Kurol standing guard.

"Not yet. Not in the way you've come to believe." Faybol's voice was thin and reedy behind the mask. "But as of this moment, you've all died in every way that matters."

Luke found the pressure inside his head building and feared his brain might explode.

"What do you mean?" Tresina Lobi asked. "Where are you taking us?"

"An old place, far from here. Where you will learn what happens to the dead." Faybol turned to Luke and the Kurol began to synch up his crash-webbing, as if they were acting on an order that Faybol simply had to think. "Strap in, Master Skywalker— we have a very long voyage ahead of us."

*Welcome to another footnote. The gold band around Tahiri's leg that is keeping her in a state of suspended animation was seen back in Chapter 27: "The Exodus", when Faybol used the devices to make the Kurol appear dead and lure Jacen into a trap (scroll to the end of the chapter if you've forgotten). This was the hint so that the tech would not seem thrown in suddenly to keep Tahiri alive. The Vagaari bands come from the book Survivor's Quest, in which the Vagaari used the technology to keep their wolvkils looking as nothing more than animal pelts and smuggle them onto the Outbound Flight, as well as keeping a bunch of Vagaari alive inside a ship open to space so that they could sneak them aboard the Chaf Envoy.

 

First!

Edit:

Damn do I have good timeing.

YK:Chapter 56: Confirmed Dead

I really don't like the sound of that...

With his heightened predatory senses, Faybol could smell the burning flesh from the distance. In the growing pile of bodies, he could even make out the exceptional form of Mulla Habbas. It was fitting that the Galactic Alliance's Minister of State would die a coward's death, as he had lived.

Ah Faybol. Haven't seen him in a couple of chapters. For some reason this made me think of the Saren music from ME. Saren Theme Kinda fits Faybol, imo.

Revenge was the Way of the Sith.

I thought it was treachery? I'm sure that's what Dooku and Renin would say.

"It is done, My Master," Faybol assured. "Young Solo found his mate and is punishing your troops as we speak."

Hey, I thought he was 'taking care' of the troops.

"Easily replaceable," Malig replied without a pause, as if he was already aware of the Kuati's execution. "His death will serve as a reminder to our dear Mr. Rodan that his place in our arrangement is only viable as long as he has use, and a more important reminder to the citizens of the Alliance of the Jedi menace still lurking within their borders."

Now that sounds like a Sith Lord. Too bad SWU Jacen can't learn from Malig to become a proper villian.

"No. Let him go. If you confront him now, you will only succeed in getting yourself killed," the mystical voice explained. "In time, Anakin Solo will come to me."

In about the second half of the fourth 'book', knowing luck.

"Did young Tahiri Veila survive?"

*Is on pins and needles*

Faybol's attention swept back to the dead blonde woman. He reached down and rolled up the left pant leg of her combat suit, over her boot, where a small gold band was fastened around her calf.* The Vagaari technology had been used for centuries by the nomads to keep people and creatures in a state of suspended animation, even giving them the ability to survive the harsh vacuum of space.

He brushed the tiny sensor built into the band. "She's in perfect hibernation."

YES!!!

Now we just need to have Anakin find out about this, go to the Hutt palace where Tahiri will be held, unthaw her, and get her out of there....

I'm not sure if having her alive there is any better though. If I had to guess, it is, but *insert 'The Phrase' here*

Faybol wondered why Malig had requested Tahiri taken alive rather than killed. The Sith Lord had his own designs for captured Jedi, he knew, but the trap they'd laid for Tahiri and ultimately Anakin, had been extreme, and in Faybol's mind, would have been far more effective if the female Jedi had actually perished.

And *that's* what has me worried. Why does Malig want Tahiri alive? Frak, you bring up more questions than answers! *shakes fist in air*

Faybol knew that when he left Denon today, he would not be returning for a long time.

Perhaps ever?

"You should have never interfered," Callista called over the storm. "It didn't have to be this way."

What, are you afraid that Mara will kick you butt up oneside and down the other, Body-Snatcher?

In one fluid motion, Mara drew the blaster pistol she had secured there, leveled the carbon-black muzzle and fired a crimson bolt over the top of the cascades of Force-lightning.

*Has Garrus shoot at Callista as well*

[image=http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r213/CloneCmdrWedge/Garrus_by_computerlion.gif]

Callista tumbled over the edge with a scream of surprise and disappeared from sight. Taking a deep breath, Mara gathered herself from the lightsaber-scarred roof and peered over the ledge into the murky abyss of the skylane? there was no sign of Callista.

 

Nice touch, using Vagaari stasis tech.

 

Bah! Third!

I'll be back....

EDIT: Okay I'm back.

First of all....Dude you used the word intransigent. That's awesome. I shall now call you YodaThesaurusKenobi.

Hah....I told you Tahiri wasn't dead. But she is in a pile of poodoo. At least she's got good company on the ride though.

Jysella Horn, you are in so much trouble when Tahiri wakes up and tells the Masters what you've done. You'll be meditating until you're thirty.

Faybol is certainly a good Sith apprentice. He knows that his life is forfiet when Malig gets the Solo he needs to be his next apprentice. He's certainly one up on Vader. Vader didn't figure that one out until almost the end.

Love that Mara firmly planted her boot in Callista's body snatching arse...but we didn't see her broken carcass. Which means she's still out there, limping around.....the YKU version of Alema?

And oh, you get extra awesome points for throwing in the Vaagari stasis tech. I love it when people other than me can remember obscure bits of EU goodness. Makes me feel less geeky.

Great week. Can't wait for the next two installments. Then I get to see my Jagged again.... *sigh*

 

Fourth! So much to say, so little time to say it. Back later.

When in doubt, always side with me.

I thought the same thing when I was writing that scene. "Suck it up, Nancy!"



It does now. He's going to be such an uber character it will make Corran Horn look like C-3PO.

Now that?s what I?m talking about.

I am!

I wouldn?t call being able to figure those things out ?amazing.?

So what?s Jaina?s weakness?

"Did young Tahiri Veila survive?"

Faybol's attention swept back to the dead blonde woman. He reached down and rolled up the left pant leg of her combat suit, over her boot, where a small gold band was fastened around her calf.* The Vagaari technology had been used for centuries by the nomads to keep people and creatures in a state of suspended animation, even giving them the ability to survive the harsh vacuum of space.

He brushed the tiny sensor built into the band. "She's in perfect hibernation."



I knew you wouldn?t crush my happiness, Yobi.

Faybol wondered why Malig had requested Tahiri taken alive rather than killed. The Sith Lord had his own designs for captured Jedi, he knew, but the trap they'd laid for Tahiri and ultimately Anakin, had been extreme, and in Faybol's mind, would have been far more effective if the female Jedi had actually perished.

Darth Tahiri and Darth Anakin? I?d prefer them to stay good and let Nancy Boy be the family?s next Sith Lord, but it could be hot.

Faybol knew that when he left Denon today, he would not be returning for a long time. "As you wish," he said, before glancing over his shoulder at the other unconscious body just inside the entrance. Jysella Horn had always been his failsafe, a means for ensnaring Anakin Solo should their attempts on Dantooine and the Exodus turn disastrous, as they had. Darth Malig, of course, had other ideas on how to use Faybol's control over the young Jedi pet, and Jysella had played her part perfectly, leading Tahiri to the tram tunnel where she could be ambushed, and Solo could be broken.

Ah, Jysella. Dumbest. Jedi. EVER. Well, except for Jacen. I hope Tahiri kicks her ass.

Where had he gone wrong? In Jacen, Luke had always seen the conscience of the Jedi Order, a man who would one day make the Jedi and the galaxy better than he'd been able to. Even when they were at odds, he'd felt that Jacen's search for answers would eventually lead him to a revelation about the Force and the Jedi that made their struggles worth it.



Jacen Solo had fallen years ago and Luke had done nothing to stop it.

If only you felt that way about Alema and Tahiri in canon.

Is she dead?"

The gurgled voice came from Luke's left, and he turned to see Cilghal's bolbous eyes staring at Tahiri intently, in a row of seats across the aisle, with Tresina Lobi and Kenth Hamner strapped in beside her, and several Kurol standing guard.

"Not yet. Not in the way you've come to believe." Faybol's voice was thin and reedy behind the mask. "But as of this moment, you've all died in every way that matters."

Luke found the pressure inside his head building and feared his brain might explode.

"What do you mean?" Tresina Lobi asked. "Where are you taking us?"

"An old place, far from here. Where you will learn what

 

I enjoyed how Mara pulled her blaster on Callista. Certainly caught her off guard. Not happy that she didn't get Luke back yet.

 

I think that I've said this before. But I just have to do it again. This is the greatest on the entire net.
So when do we get to find out where they are taking Luke.

 

Like they said, the stasis tech was a nice touch, as was Mara using her blaster. If anyone mastered the art of combining a blaster and a lightsaber in a combat technique it would be her (or Kyle Katarn )

I'm hoping Callista dies before the end of this book, but I'm guessing you might save that for the first part of the next book (like Dooku in AotC and RotS).

I wonder if Mara will figure out the little bit that Luke was able to say.

 

It was very nice to see Mara kick Callista's rear end.....though it would have been better if we knew she was completely out of the picture.

I was also having ESB flash backs, just with Mara in the spot of Leia, and Tahiri in "carbonite." Very clever! I'm glad Tahiri is alive, but oh my, poor Anakin.

After this is all over, the Jedi need to do some concerted study and figure out a way to overcome the ysalamiri.....I don't know, maybe carry hidden implants that can be activated by teeth clicks (I'm drawing on my mando experience here ) and then needles shoot out of their skin to kill the pesky little buggers. Captors are always forced to keep the ysalamiri close so the needles wouldn't have go far. Then the Jedi won't always be so easy to take down by anyone who can get there hands on one. I mean, really, this has been a downfall for a long time now.

 

Well, well, well. I wouldn´t post until I was sure that Tahiri was alive, but it seems I really did get it right back then...

Great chapter, now knowing that you didn´t kill her, I can safely read the 30 ones which came before it. ^^

Magnus

 

So Mara took care of Callista, is this the last we see of her or will she come back again? Another great update for Exodus, Malig is perhaps one of the greatest fan created peeps I ever read.

 

Wow that was a fantastic chapter Yoda

They seem to have been backed into a corner. At least Luke isn't in captivity on his own. It will be interesting to see what happens when that shuttle lands at its destination. Together the captive Jedi might be able to do something.

In answer to your question can I be sure Jacen is wrong? No but I do think he has been misled. Whatever Malig's motives his methods are still wrong!!!

Really great chapter yoda, I thought it was particularly well written!

 

Sorry to be behind again, Yoda - had a bit of a funny two weeks - but I hope to catch up over my lunch hour today.

 

Wedge: First!



Edit:
Damn do I have good timeing.

Very nicely done.

I really don't like the sound of that...

The title is borrowed from a recent episode of Lost. Seemed to fit quite well, given the beginning of the chapter and then the end.

Ah Faybol. Haven't seen him in a couple of chapters.

Yeah, not since he and Callista "killed" Tahiri.

For some reason this made me think of the Saren music from ME. Saren Theme Kinda fits Faybol, imo.

Yeah, that's creepy sounding. Reminds me a bit of the music in old Sega games, like Shadow Run

I thought it was treachery?

That too. There are several ways of the Sith

I'm sure that's what Dooku and Renin would say.

Yep. Too bad neither one of them around to say it

Hey, I thought he was 'taking care' of the troops.

That was a different Anakin.

Now that sounds like a Sith Lord. Too bad SWU Jacen can't learn from Malig to become a proper villian.

Are you usre they're not one in the same? Jacen Solo from canon traveled through a worm hole in one universe aand arrived in the past of another? C'mon, it makes sense

In about the second half of the fourth 'book', knowing luck.



I can't argue with that.

*Is on pins and needles*

You should really pick a more comfortable place to sit when reading

YES!!!

Glad you're pleased

Now we just need to have Anakin find out about this, go to the Hutt palace where Tahiri will be held, unthaw her, and get her out of there....



Sounds like a good story, maybe better than what I have planned Anyone wanna write it?

I'm not sure if having her alive there is any better though. If I had to guess, it is, but *insert 'The Phrase' here*

Yeah, it may be one of those things where she'll end up praying for death

And *that's* what has me worried. Why does Malig want Tahiri alive? Frak, you bring up more questions than answers! *shakes fist in air*

Think about it for a little bit, you may come up with the answer Either way, it will be explained in the epilogue.

Perhaps ever?

Can't say...

What, are you afraid that Mara will kick you butt up oneside and down the other, Body-Snatcher?

She should be

*Has Garrus shoot at Callista as well*



*Sends Nemesis after Callista*



Ouch!

That sounds like Mara alright. Better send in some Clonetrooper/Gunship support. *Radios Gunship wing*

Have them bring some vornskrs or something to deal with those ysalamiri.

Is it fitting that I thought of the scene in TESB where Boba makes off with Han? If only Luke was stuck in Carbinite...

Yep, very fitting. I always said that this would be the "Empire Strikes Back" of the series in terms of tone. The good guys don't win.

Don't know if I should be glad about that or not...

Afraid Jysella can do more damage or you just want her dead for her past crimes?

Have we heard of this place before? Korriban? Malachor V? Raccoon City?

You'll get an answer soon. Korriban will definitely be in the next fic. Raccoon City will not. Malachor V... no comment.

Oh, and I had forgoten about those stasis rings. Clever frakker...

Fooled you! [/Dark Helmet]

Thanks for reading and your reply






Jax: Nice touch, using Vagaari stasis tech.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked that And thanks for reading!






canadianjedimama: Bah! Third!

Hey, they studies show bronze medalists are happier than those who win the silver.

First of all....Dude you used the word intransigent. That's awesome. I shall now call you YodaThesaurusKenobi.

LOL. I've probably used it before.

Hah....I told you Tahiri wasn't dead. But she is in a pile of

 

Only three posts! The there is a huge need to catch up. Fortunately it's lunch time and the workload has at last reached manageable proportions. Yee ha!

Chapter 55 first.

Fantastic! The fight was gruelling both physically and emotionally, and that really came through as each of them swung from holding the advantage to losing it. I was able to see the internal struggles, too, and that was great as I always like to see that.

There were tears in Jacen's eyes too, a translucent film of quivering light that threatened to break but held, becoming a wall between them. "I'm going to save you," he insisted.
I liked that bit - it kind of linked in with the whole idea of eyes being mirrors into the soul. In this case, the fact that Jaina couldn't see beyond the barrier was very scary. He sure sounds like one of these crazy religious freaks, eh? That's unnerving.

I also like that it was Jaina's dedication to saving her friends that saved her from Jacen. Now that is what Star Wars is all about. Yay that Wrev is still alive. Sucks to be Jacen - ha ha.

Chapter 56

Oh dear - poor Anakin. If only he knew he was being played.

The Vagaari technology had been used for centuries by the nomads to keep people and creatures in a state of suspended animation, even giving them the ability to survive the harsh vacuum of space.

He brushed the tiny sensor built into the band. "She's in perfect hibernation."

"Very good." Malig seemed pleased.

Faybol wondered why Malig had requested Tahiri taken alive rather than killed. The Sith Lord had his own designs for captured Jedi, he knew, but the trap they'd laid for Tahiri and ultimately Anakin, had been extreme, and in Faybol's mind, would have been far more effective if the female Jedi had actually perished.

But perhaps it was his own bloodlust blinding him to something more obvious.
Ah - so I was half right. It was nothing to do with Vongness, it was a Vagaari device. That explains why Anakin didn't sense it. Very good. Actually I remember you saying that Vagaari tech would be important.

You know I still haven't read Survivor's Quest? I started it and then kept getting sidetracked. I can see I've missed a bit of context through not having read it.


And I, too, am very curious to see what Malig's plans are. I get the feeling that Faybol might not like them. Mwahahaha.


Hooray for Mara giving Callista a run for her money. I doubt the silly cow's dead, but at least Mara isn't. Poor Mara though, being so close to Luke but unable to save him.

Where had he gone wrong? In Jacen, Luke had always seen the conscience of the Jedi Order, a man who would one day make the Jedi and the galaxy better than he'd been able to. Even when they were at odds, he'd felt that Jacen's search for answers would eventually lead him to a revelation about the Force and the Jedi that made their struggles worth it.
Poor Luke. [face_crying]


"Is she dead?"

The gurgled voice came from Luke's left, and he turned to see Cilghal's bolbous eyes staring at Tahiri intently, in a row of seats across the aisle, with Tresina Lobi and Kenth Hamner strapped in beside her, and several Kurol standing guard.

"Not yet. Not in the way you've come to believe." Faybol's voice was thin and reedy behind the mask. "But as of this moment, you've all died in every way that matters."
Cheerful little chap isn't he? Certainly wouldn't want him at my party.

Wow - a lot to take in here, Yoda. Marvellous chapter.

 

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! I totally didn't see that coming! And you already set up the stasis idea with the Vagaari tech in a previous chapter! Blasted narrative prolepsis!!!

Anyway...rant aside, that was one awesome post Yoda! Anakin has become a pawn in a much larger game, another theme to which I totally relate...poor kid, he always gets in over his head, or is it us writers that do it for him? I'll leave you to ponder that enigmatic note...

I have a bad feeling that Malig is going to try and make Anakin kill Tahiri as part of his ascension to Sith hood...I hope that's not the case! Will Anakin be stopped in time before he goes down a path that he cannot turn back from? Will Luke ever learn that he should TEACH his students about the perils of the Dark Side instead of preaching about it? Will anyone survive the catfight that's going to go down between Jysella and Tahiri?! I cant wait to find out!

Next post please! I can't believe there's only three more to go!!!

Morgoth

P.S.
As to why I hate ROTS Yoda; Well, Skywalker murders kids...I'm sorry but after that there's no way he can be redeemed. It felt tacky and done to make him achieve complete baddy status inside of an hour when he should have been turning into Vader a while ago, say the middle of AOTC and not the whiny poor excuse for a Sith we get in ROTS. In my opinion, ROTS ruins the character of Anakin Skywalker; he most certainly is not the "good friend" that Ben Kwenobi describes in A New Hope, nor is he the Dark Knight, he's just a tasteless villain who takes out Samuel L. Jackson like a sucker! Fight scene at the end of ROTS is the only good thing.

 

YK:Very nicely done.

Would've been better if Spike had the courage to face me that day.

Yeah, that's creepy sounding. Reminds me a bit of the music in old Sega games, like Shadow Run

Huh, never heard of that one. I had mostly Sonic games on my old Sega console. There's another one that sort of made me think of Malig as well...

Yep. Too bad neither one of them around to say it

I don't know, Dooku seemed to come out ahead of the game.

Are you usre they're not one in the same? Jacen Solo from canon traveled through a worm hole in one universe aand arrived in the past of another? C'mon, it makes sense

And here I thought Malig as the lovechild of Reven,Kriea, and Nihlius was bad...

You should really pick a more comfortable place to sit when reading

Luckily I was wearing my armor.

Think about it for a little bit, you may come up with the answer

I'm not sure I want to know the answer. All of the ones I've come up with are not good. Speaking of things that have me worried, the scene in the trailer where Anakin is kissing/being kissed by an unidentified female with brunette(sp?) hair, what color hair does Callista have? Just one of those weird senarios that jumped into my head...

Yep, very fitting. I always said that this would be the "Empire Strikes Back" of the series in terms of tone. The good guys don't win.

They're just happy to be alive and escape, right? Probably the best they can hope for at this point...

Afraid Jysella can do more damage or you just want her dead for her past crimes?

Dead, no. I'm sort of forgiving when it comes to brainwashing. Suffering from id10t on the other hand... well if I wanted everyone whose ever suffered from that dead, there would probably be no one left.

But yeah, sort of afraid that more damage might be done.

You'll get an answer soon. Korriban will definitely be in the next fic.

Nice. *Cues up Sithy music*

Raccoon City will not.

Darn.

Malachor V... no comment.


I'll take that as a 'maybe'.

Fooled you! [/Dark Helmet]



Yeah, well I was 99% sure that Tahiri wasn't dead. The two things that tipped me off were that no death was ever depicted/shown and it seemed very odd and not right to give a relatively important character an off-screen death. And there was the lambent that was still glowing (faintly). Only questions I had were how she survived (now answered) and why (not answered).

We are now only 3 posts away from finishing this story

Fierfek, I didn't know we were that close.

 

Tahi: Only three posts!

Yeah, hard to believe after all this time

The there is a huge need to catch up. Fortunately it's lunch time and the workload has at last reached manageable proportions. Yee ha!

Cool. There's no rush, of course

Chapter 55 first.
Fantastic!

Thanks!

The fight was gruelling both physically and emotionally, and that really came through as each of them swung from holding the advantage to losing it. I was able to see the internal struggles, too, and that was great as I always like to see that.

Wow, thanks so much. I'm glad the battle worked for you and the emotion came through. That was obviously the most important part of the conflict.

I liked that bit - it kind of linked in with the whole idea of eyes being mirrors into the soul. In this case, the fact that Jaina couldn't see beyond the barrier was very scary.

Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. They certainly are the part of the body that reveals a person's emotions most.

He sure sounds like one of these crazy religious freaks, eh? That's unnerving.

The Sith are definitely fanatics.

I also like that it was Jaina's dedication to saving her friends that saved her from Jacen. Now that is what Star Wars is all about.

Hehe. Are you sure it wasn't Jacen that was saved from her?

Yay that Wrev is still alive. Sucks to be Jacen - ha ha.

I think you're only the second person who is pleased that Wrev survived

Chapter 56
Oh dear - poor Anakin. If only he knew he was being played.

Yeah He's caught in a trap.

Ah - so I was half right. It was nothing to do with Vongness, it was a Vagaari device. That explains why Anakin didn't sense it. Very good. Actually I remember you saying that Vagaari tech would be important.

Yeah, I think I said something at the time. The Vongess would have been an interesting way to go too.

You know I still haven't read Survivor's Quest? I started it and then kept getting sidetracked. I can see I've missed a bit of context through not having read it.

It's a good book. Works better as a stand alone without Outbound Flight, which wasn't very good, IMHO.

And I, too, am very curious to see what Malig's plans are. I get the feeling that Faybol might not like them. Mwahahaha.

Hehe. We'll find out a bit more in the epilogue

Hooray for Mara giving Callista a run for her money. I doubt the silly cow's dead, but at least Mara isn't.

Yeah, Callista will probably be around for a long while We still need to find out what she's up to.

Poor Mara though, being so close to Luke but unable to save him.

Yeah Not a very happy ending, I know.

Cheerful little chap isn't he? Certainly wouldn't want him at my party.

Poor Faybol. He never gets invitations

Wow - a lot to take in here, Yoda. Marvellous chapter.

Thanks so much I'm glad you liked it.

And thanks for reading!







Morgoth: Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! I totally didn't see that coming! And you already set up the stasis idea with the Vagaari tech in a previous chapter! Blasted narrative prolepsis!!!

lol. Yeah, wanted to give everyone a little hint and hope they forgot about it

Anyway...rant aside, that was one awesome post Yoda!

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

Anakin has become a pawn in a much larger game, another theme to which I totally relate...poor kid, he always gets in over his head, or is it us writers that do it for him? I'll leave you to ponder that enigmatic note...

Yeah, that's always the way it goes. Malig is controlling everything now.

I have a bad feeling that Malig is going to try and make Anakin kill Tahiri as part of his ascension to Sith hood...I hope that's not the case!

That's a really interesting thought. We know he had Rénin murder his wife as part of a Sith trail.

Will Anakin be stopped in time before he goes do

 

So I'm finally here. Naturally I would've been First had I made the effort, 'cos as we all know Wedge can't compete with me, and besides, I could always delete his First! post if I was feeling mean and I wanted to... (not that I would need to )

Anyway, teh update

With his heightened predatory senses, Faybol could smell the burning flesh from the distance.

With that good a nose Faybol must be starving everytime a government official gets a pizza delivered

He brushed the tiny sensor built into the band. "She's in perfect hibernation."

I heard that one before

"Luke!" Mara cried helplessly. "No!"

But it was too late.

The shuttle rose from the landing pad with the high-pitched whine of its repulsors cutting through the night air, before it pivoted, and shot towards the sky in a flare of red ion engines. Mara's eyes filled with tears as she watched it go, her mouth open but she found herself unable to cry out as the remaining troopers continued to spray blasterfire in her direction.

She had failed.

And try as she might, Mara Jade Skywalker couldn't shake the heart-crushing anguish that assailed her at the thought of never seeing her husband again.

It's OK Mara, you'll see him again no doubt, as a Force Ghost, tee hee.

"What did you do to them?" Luke rasped, trying to figure out how the two of them had gotten there. Had they come with Mara on a rescue mission?

"Only what needed to be done," Faybol replied.

What is it with bad guys and deliberate vagueness? Can't he just come out and say, "We Pwned them! Muah ha ha ha ha!"?

"Is she dead?"

The gurgled voice came from Luke's left, and he turned to see Cilghal's bolbous eyes staring at Tahiri intently, in a row of seats across the aisle, with Tresina Lobi and Kenth Hamner strapped in beside her, and several Kurol standing guard.

"Not yet. Not in the way you've come to believe." Faybol's voice was thin and reedy behind the mask. "But as of this moment, you've all died in every way that matters."

Faybol and Vergere seem to have read from the same instruction sheet. "You're dead, cos we say so!"

Luke found the pressure inside his head building and feared his brain might explode.

"What do you mean?" Tresina Lobi asked. "Where are you taking us?"

"An old place, far from here. Where you will learn what happens to the dead." Faybol turned to Luke and the Kurol began to synch up his crash-webbing, as if they were acting on an order that Faybol simply had to think. "Strap in, Master Skywalker? we have a very long voyage ahead of us."

To the Land of the Dead in other words. Luke, Tresina et al, prepare to meet Dennis Hopper!

Nice update YK