Beyond - Legends Fallen from Grace (Post-SbS, AU dark side K/J); Updated 8/3/10

Okay, I'm liking this so far, the premise is great. Love the Measure for Measure quote.

 

The water wasn't hot enough.

Even with the refresher unit's controls turned up as high as they would go, the pressure pounding against her shoulders and the temperature scalding, it wasn't enough.

She needed it hotter, so that it could sear away all of the anger and grief, all of the pain. If the water was hot enough, maybe it would burn right through her skin and burn away everything inside of her until she could breathe again.

Closing her eyes, Jaina tilted her head back to let the cascading stream was over her face as cleansing rivulets of water sluiced down her back. The refresher unit around her was filled with steam so thick that she was practically choking on it, but she didn't care, nor did she care that her skin was in danger of starting to blister if it was exposed to such hot water for much longer.

Physical pain had become a blessing for her now, because it detracted from the aching emptiness inside of her, an emptiness that she knew would never, could never, be healed now that her brothers...

Don't, she ordered herself sharply, slamming down her shields around the grief bubbling up within her, threatening to consume her entire being. Don't think about it, don't feel it, don't feel anything... that's for the weak.

And Jaina Solo was anything but weak.

She had been fighting her entire life, really, against one enemy after another. Being the daughter of Princess Leia and the niece of Luke Skywalker had made her a valuable target, but the real danger had always come from those who desired to use the grandchildren of Darth Vader as their personal weapons.

The Yuuzhan Vong were like no enemy she had ever faced before, they wanted nothing more or less than the complete and utter domination of the galaxy and the extermination of her very way of life.

Since their arrival at the edge of the galaxy only a few years prior, they had decimated whole worlds, sacrificed billions of sentient beings to their 'gods', and slaughtered millions upon millions who had simply been in their way. Those who surrendered were enslaved, a fate worse than death in her eyes, and with each corner of space that the Yuuzhan Vong took, another piece of the galaxy was forever and irrevocably changed.

She didn't even want to think about what they were doing to Coruscant.

The fall of the capitol had gone under the strike team's sensors until they emerged from hyperspace, intending to have to do some fancy flying in order to land an enemy ship on the New Republic's crown jewel, but they had emerged in the midst of a hopeless firefight, only to realize that Coruscant had fallen to the enemy.

And right there in the heart of the fight, as if they'd been waiting for her, had been the Millennium Falcon, her parents in the cockpit while her aunt and uncle took the gun-turrets, picking off skips one by one.

Sometimes she almost thought her father was Force-sensitive, and the battle over Coruscant had been one of those fleeting moments. Despite the fact that she was flying a bulky Yuuzhan Vong frigate, Han Solo had recognized the incredible piloting taking place and known, somehow, that it was his daughter. The little test maneuver he'd put her through had been all too simple, but no one else could have pulled it off, and that had clenched it for her parents.

A few seconds later, her mother's voice had ordered the Republic forces in the area to allow her frigate to escape.

It should have worried her that Leia had been the only one able to sense her, but it didn't. If she could conceal her presence so completely from her Uncle Luke, the strongest Jedi of all, and her Aunt Mara, who had been her Jedi Master, then perhaps her own powers were growing stronger. With Jacen and Anakin, the three of them had always been stronger together, a triad, but now they were gone and she was left alone, maybe they had left behind some of their strength for her to use.

And she would use it to drive a spike right through the very heart of the Yuuzhan Vong empire.

Do you wish to avenge your brothers?[

 

great new post. The foreshadowing and the retrospective introspection was great.

 

Anakin and Jacen were both dead, how was it possible that the galaxy had not stopped turning? How was it that the stars had not all burned out, that planets hadn't fallen out of their orbits?

Having lost loved ones myself, I can attest that that is precisely the way you feel- it's inconcievable that the rest of the world isn't affected by your loss. I got a little choked up reading that part, which just goes to show what a phenomenal writer you really are, JPS

Keep the posts coming!

 

I'm liking this one so far! Keep it up! ~*~Austyn

 

awesome! very well done!

 

Awesome post, JPS! I loved Jaina's raw emotion... the way she's not quite aware of just how far she is falling, how fast... and there was quite a bit of foreshadowing to the dark future on her horizon, he he- I like, I like

 

Another great post! Wow, I think I've got a bit of goosebumps reading that- Jaina's pain was beautifully depicted A wonderful update, nice work

 

Don't ask me why, but this one paragraph just made me get all weepy-eyed... poor Jaina!

If it was the last thing she ever did, Jaina was going to see to it that every single Yuuzhan Vong in existence understood the kind of heart-wrenching, unbearable pain that they had inflicted on her, the kind of pain that you couldn't go on with, that made you desperate for release that was always just beyond the reach of your fingertips.

 

Wow, made me feel horrible for Jaina and yet gave me the shivers at the same time... dark times are approaching, me thinks. He he, and it was also nice to get a glimpse into Jaina's obsession with destroying the Vong- be afraid Tsavong, be very afraid

 

Just a quick UP to let you know that I sent you a question via PM, JPS- whenever you have time to send me a reply is fine, so take your time, lawschool girl

 

other then The Old Master viggie thats the closest ive ever come to crying in a fic

 

so...more?

 

Wow, that was very moving... I wish they'd done more introspective bits in DJ, it would have been nice to really see just how lost and unbalanced Jaina was without her brothers. IMO, that's why she is never the same, throughout the rest of the series even when Jacen returns. Take out one of the three, and the other two are can't go back to what they were

 

This has a lot of potential.

 

Aww, poor Jaina! Good thing Kyp is around to make it all better... or worse, considering the plot of this story, lol! Still, loving it, as always, can't wait for a new post

 

Beautiful depiction of Jaina's anguish, can't imagine how terrible those weeks on Hapes had to be for her, thinking both of her brothers were dead... no wonder she ran about frying people with Force lightning, eh?

 

Very nice post- poor Jaina, but I am hoping we get to see emotion of some kind at the funeral since Elaine Cummings jipped us on that aspect! Keep this story going, it's really good so far

 

All I have to say is... Beautiful depiction of the despair poor girl's going through.

 

update sooon [Face_Hopefull]

 

This looks very promising- I love the way you worked your way into both Kyp and Jaina's psyches. Is there a new post coming soon?

 

Wow... that actually made my eyes a little blurry, lol! Quite a feat, JPS, I assure you Keep up the good work on this one


SWORD

 

It was quiet aboard the Millennium Falcon.

Too quiet.

In years past, the ship had been filled with noise and commotion, laughter and tears. The former smuggling vessel had become a second, more mobile, home for his family, compartments once used to store illegal cargo had been modified to serve as hiding spaces for the kids in case of an emergency. The cabins had been refurnished as comfortable bedrooms so that they would feel at home whenever they were confined the ship on long journeys, and the food-prep machine reprogrammed with Leia, Luke and children's tastes in mind.

This ship had been the backdrop for some of the most important and pivotal moments of his life, but it had also held so many simple, peaceful joys that were now lost to him forever.

Once, the sound of lightsabers humming in the hold where training remotes were providing a chance to get in some sword practice, or the chuckling roar of victory coming from the dejarik table would have carried into the cockpit. Leia would have been seated in the corner, murmuring to herself as she made notes on the datapad containing her next speech, Luke would have been meditating with his eyes closed in his chair, Jacen would have been reading a bookchip or staring off at space blankly, deep in thought, while Jaina and Anakin would have found something to take apart and rebuild, much to Chewie's chagrin.

In the early days, the air would have been filled with giggling voices as Threepio droned on and on with some story, most likely The Little Lost Bantha Cub, which had been recited so many times that Han still, to this day, knew every word of it by heart.

Maybe he'd get around to telling that story to his nephew Ben one day, and save the boy from Threepio.

Sighing, Han shook his head, wondering what he had ever done to deserve being stuck with that insufferable protocol droid. If he had to take a guess, though, he would blame it on Darth Vader, it would be right up his Sith father-in-law to find a way to torment him from the afterlife, redeemed Jedi in the end or not.

"You like Threepio and you know it," Leia accused from the oversized copilot's chair where she was curled up, her knees to her chest, and staring out the viewport at nothing in particular, her gaze distant and haunted with things that Han recognized all too well.

"You'll never get me to admit it," he shot back, mustering up a smile, for her sake, even if she wasn't looking.

They slipped back into the melancholy silence that had fallen over them, and Han stared down at the dimmed display console in front of him. In a while, they would be moving to the refugee camp, but for now neither of them was ready to leave the Falcon. It was almost as if her battered, but sturdy walls were keeping them within a protective bubble, a final safe haven in a galaxy that had suddenly become as cold as durasteel.

A part of Han was eager to get out, to stretch his legs and breathe fresh air, but he knew Leia wasn't ready yet, and he was going to stand by her side through every minute of their shared ordeal. He wouldn't fail her again, not the way he had after Chewie...

Besides, if he was honest with himself, the real reason he wanted off the Falcon had nothing to do with being cooped up too long and everything to do with needing to escape the smothering memories. Every corner held a different story that he couldn't forget, because over the years his family had probably spent more time aboard this ship than at their Coruscant apartment.

And now his beloved ship felt empty, a thick shroud of loneliness hanging in the air.

Sometimes he half-thought he heard the echo of little feet scurrying across the deckplates, or the familiar grunts of an agitated Wookiee hard at work trying to make the hyperdrive work correctly.

But it was always just his imagination.

Chewie was dead, he'd given his life to save Anakin on Sernpidal, and now his sacrifice had been for nothing, because Anakin had been taken from them just the same.

No, not for nothing, Han decided gr

 

just beautiful, JPS!

 

That post was absolutely fantastic.