Beyond - Legends Peace and Peril - Updated again and COMPLETED 8/25/03

200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT: Okay, now that I've snagged #200, replies

Jaina_and_Jag- Oh, that could be arranged, nothing like reuniting two romantic couples via the non-Jedi saving the Jedi .

Em- *hugs* no apologies, I understand completely. Besides, you got here just in time for one of the most important posts .

Arn- Wow, that's quite the reply, this is one of those times the author is going to need to quote the reader .

Someone is sure excited, you think?

Perhaps. So, you won't believe me if I say he was practicing smashball tackling technique?

I thought this was kind of "sweet" though-- he hugged her, which I think really affirms that their relationship is firmly based in friendship and genuine love for each other.

. Even though Jacen and Aylina are a lot more edgy and, well, human (what a concept ) than any other couple I've written before, Jacen still seems like the hugging type (lol).

This is where you say "I love you too," genius.

I think the fact that she said "I love you, too" confused him -- Jacen confuses easily like that, poor kid .

How sweet! You know you've found a winner when she volunteers to take people out for you.

LOL

Nice blend of exciting action with...the much needed emotional mush.

Thanks

 

*giggles at Arna* See, I don't even try to give long replies, because I know they won't be half as good as yours.

 

Congrats on 200! Another postie soon? I can't wait until Jag finally finds Jaina. lol.

 

Uppies!

 

Sorry about the lack of updates. I haven't been online much, and I'm leaving for a 10-day vacation on monday, so it'll probably be a while until the next update, unless I update again this weekend (which I probably won't, because I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow, sorry). Ah well, I'll be back in about two weeks.

---

?Ninety degree rotation, fire all dorsal turbolasers!? Wedge called.

The Star Destroyer had managed to crush the ventral shields, and only by turning the opposite side of his ship to the enemy could Wedge hope to give his people enough time to affect repairs.

?The [i]Rampage[/i] is trying to outflank us, sir,? came the nervous response.

[i]You?re getting too predictable, Antilles. Do what they don?t expect you to do.[/i] ?Bring us about. Half throttle, take us away from the Star Destroyer, and keep our stern on them.?

?Understood, sir.?

Wedge smiled to himself. He was pretty sure the officer [i]didn?t[/i] understand, and had no idea what Wedge had in mind, but he was loyal enough to follow orders. ?Aft batteries, I want the weakest turbolasers we have left ? the ones that haven?t had enough recharge time ? to open fire.?

The weapons officer frowned, but nodded. ?Aye, sir.?

Well, Wedge decided, that [i]should[/i] convince the [i]Rampage[/i]?s commander that he had hurt Wedge more than he actually had. The turbolasers he had indicated fired, but their weak energy failed to penetrate the Star Destroyer?s shields. Some of the banks sputtered and died.

?[i]Rampage[/i] is accelerating, sir! They?re closing at a rate of five-hundred meters per second!?

Wedge turned back to the weapons officer as the ship shook from another impact. ?On my mark, prepare all forward and aft proton torpedo and concussion missile tubes.?

?[i]Forward[/i] tubes, sir??

?Affirmative. Have them detonate as soon as they clear the shields.? He turned to the flight controller. ?Prepare to come about. And plot a microjump to hyperspace. I want us to seem to disappear the second the torpedoes detonate, and reappear [i]behind[/i] the Star Destroyer. Can you do that??

The officer nodded. ?Yes, sir.?

?As soon as we?re in position, we?re going to hit them with everything we?ve got. Is everyone ready??

A chorus of affirmatives greeted the question.

?All right. Bring us about.?

The Star Defender whirled to face the Star Destroyer, and Wedge held up his hand so the weapons officer could see he wanted him to wait. The [i]Rampage[/i] bore down on them, firing turbolasers at the [i]Spirit[/i]?s weakened shields.

?Fire torpedoes!? Wedge ordered. The projectiles streaked away from the Star Defender, all but invisible amid the flurry of light from the enemy lasers hitting the shields. The torpedoes detonated. ?Hyperspace, now!?

After two brief jumps, the [i]Rogue Spirit[/i] emerged behind the Star Destroyer. The Destroyer, having no after batteries to bring to bear, and probably confused, as they thought they had destroyed Wedge?s ship, was left defenseless. ?All aft batteries, fire at will!?

A flurry of turbolaser blasts and missiles exploded from the Star Defender?s aft section, hammering at the [i]Rampage[/i]?s aft section.

?They?re withdrawing, sir!? the tactical officer announced.

[i]Yes![/i] ?Bring us about and accelerate to flanking speed! Forward batteries, open fire as soon as we?re in range.?

Before they could reach it, the Star Destroyer jumped into hyperspace. A chorus of cheers erupted on the bridge. Wedge sighed. [i]Well, at least we won?t have to worry about them any more.[/i] ?All right, people. Begin repairs immediately, I want to be ready in case we?re needed again. Tactical, get me an uplink to the rest of the fleet, I want to see where we stand. If we lose the battle, it doesn?t matter what we did to their command ship."

 

Whoooo! Atta boy Wedgie! Show 'em who's boss!


~994~

 

IT'S THE PICARD MANEUVER!!!

The, er, military one, not the uniform tugging one . . . never mind.

It would be an action post that you leave us with (for ten days ). Lovely action post, though.

 

Good job Wedge.

 

Alright Wedge! That was
Wedge is very

 

Woah, like dude

Wedge, you so totally rock.

nina

 

All right, can't resist, one last update before I go.

---

Jacen froze as his danger sense screamed a warning at him. ?Aylina??

?Yes??

Something dark and powerful approached, and Jacen knew that could only mean one thing. He spun around and ignited his lightsaber in a flash. ?Run. Get to the ship, now.?

?You?re in no condition to fight!? Aylina protested.

?I?m the only one who can,? Jacen answered. ?Unless you gained Force sensitivity while I wasn?t paying attention. Go. Get out of here. I?ll be right behind you, I promise.?

Tavion emerged from the shadows and ignited her red saber. ?Aww, how touching.?

?Go, Aylina!? Jacen pleaded, then he approached the Dark Jedi. He was relieved to hear Aylina?s retreating footsteps as he dropped into a combat stance a few feet from Tavion.

?You can?t win,? Tavion taunted. ?Why not just give up now??

Jacen shifted his saber into a two-handed grip before him, ready for attack or defense. ?I don?t think so.?

Tavion rushed at him and leveled a quick attack at his right flank. Jacen blocked, pushed her saber away, spun quickly to try to get inside her guard, and blocked her counterstrike with his saber held behind his back. He used the momentum of the spin to carry him to the left of Tavion and slashed quickly up at her left shoulder.

The Dark Jedi deftly bent out of the way and knocked Jacen?s saber aside before disengaging. ?Well, well,? Tavion said, appearing somewhat surprised. ?The little Jedi has teeth.?

Jacen refused to be goaded, but maybe if he did some goading of his own. ?Well, well. The little Dark Jedi actually has trouble fighting opponents she hasn?t ambushed in the dark.?

?You?re pathetic,? Tavion shot back. ?A Jedi who uses the power of the Force to gather knowledge??

?Knowledge is power. Allow me a moment to enlighten you.?

Jacen charged, quickly slashing his saber at Tavion so she could block with her saber directly centered before her, keeping her overconfident. He bent his knees to give himself a lower center of gravity and more flexibility, and swung his saber in a quick arc from the right shoulder towards the left, caught Tavion?s parry and brushed her saber away, slashed upward to lock sabers with her above his head, and by the time she saw the danger, he had spun inside her guard and drove his elbow up and back to contact squarely with her jaw, hard, sending her tumbling backwards.

Taking a step back, Jacen watched as Tavion recovered, and held his saber in a ready position. ?[i]That[/i],? he announced proudly, ?I learned from my girlfriend.?

Tavion growled menacingly. ?Well, we?ll see how useful she considers teaching you that when she cries over your ashes.?

With that, Tavion charged. Jacen took a step back, but gave no more ground before bringing his saber up high above his head to block Tavion?s downward sweeping slash. Tavion tried to use the opening to quickly reverse her attack and impale Jacen, but he managed to bring his saber down in time to catch her saber and lock blades with her. Tavion disengaged again and came at him with a series of quick slashing strikes.

Jacen gave way with another retreating step, but blocked each blow and ducked under the last one. Tavion shifted to slash at his legs, but Jacen leapt over the attack and sprang into a quick backflip, landing on his feet outside of her range, and once again causing a brief pause in the fight.

Some of the contempt left Tavion?s eyes. She did not laugh now, and she seemed to be cautious in her appraisal of Jacen?s movements. Jacen nodded inwardly, [i]The more I can stall, the farther away Aylina gets.[/i] Not only that, for the first time, Jacen thought not just of prolonging the fight, but of actually winning the fight.

Tavion charged again, this time with an athletic flip over Jacen and her saber slicing down at him. Jacen threw his own blade up to stop her from taking his head off, but the sudden conflict between her momentum and the obstruction sent both of them sprawling to the ground.

An involuntary grunt escaped Jacen as he

 

?That,? he announced proudly, ?I learned from my friend.?


I loved that line!

Afraid I'm delurking here, too. Have a great time on vacation, but don't leave us in suspense too long afterward, please.

Great post!

 

LOL! I think you write Jacen's character wonderfully-- the whole time he's really only focused with getting enough time for Aylina's safety, and while he's anything but calm, he puts up a good show.

This was a good fight. I like how their fight is almost more like a sparring match with all of the sharp comments in between. "Knowledge is power. That, I learned from my girlfriend."

It's well done. Very nice combination of action, humor, and that ever-classic Solo dryness. And Jag dryness too. Good post!!

And have a great vacation!

 

Oooh, postie.

The fight was great.
The humor was

Have fun on you vacation.

 

Oh! There was another post!

I love it. I absolutely love it. Especially Jag's crack about the in-laws. Made ma laugh.

We miss you already!

 

Sorry bout my delay in replying but when I read them last night I was too wiped out to reply. lol. Wonderful posts though!

 

So some good did come out of all that time with Aylina! You go Jacen! Kick some Dark Jedi butt!

 

Great fight scene and dialogue.

 

Up!

 

I'm baaaaaaaack .

---

[b][i]Goodbye[/i][/b]











?Sir? The Star Destroyer has reentered the system.?

Wedge glanced up from the ship status readout he had been studying. The battle had all but ended, though the other ships were still tied up in mop-up operations, and the [i]Rogue Spirit[/i] was in need of immediate repairs. Though he had indeed told his tactical officer to inform him if the [i]Rampage[/i] reentered the system, he hadn?t actually expected that to occur.

Even the Star Destroyer could not significantly alter the outcome of the battle, however. But that it was possible that no one could reach the warship at the moment did bother Wedge. ?What?s its position??

?They?re on the far side of the planet, sir.?

Wedge frowned. There were no forces engaged in that area. What was the [i]Rampage[/i] doing?

?[i]Rogue Spirit[/i], this is the [i]Outrider[/i] on approach. I have a Jedi warrior, a Jedi diplomat, and a dissident leader in my cockpit, and they?re anxious to know if they can offer any assistance.?

Wedge breathed a sigh of relief. [i]Looks like I won?t have to give you bad news after all, Han, Leia. Let?s hope that luck holds.[/i] ?Acknowledged, [i]Outrider[/i],? Wedge replied. ?How are they??

?Jaina?s fine,? Aylina answered, ?Jacen could use a trip to the med center when all this is over.?

?And I?m wonderful as well, Antilles, thanks for your concern,? Dash added.

Wedge was beginning to wonder if he was that bad ? after all, he was Corellian, too. [i]And in a way, so is Jag. Force, it?s a wonder the hull doesn?t explode from all the ego.[/i] ?The main docking bay awaits your arrival, [i]Outrider[/i].?

 

OoOo! That was cool. Why did that Star Destroyer come back? ? Now that's confusing!

Loved this line- Force, it?s a wonder the hull doesn?t explode from all the ego. Too bad he wasn't on it too otherwise it probably would have.

 

Wonderful posts! You give all the characters so much personality!

**continues beta-hunting**

 

Welcome back. Great post too.

 

Welcome back. Have fun?
Great post. Hehe, seems Wedge really knows Dash,
I am glad they made it off planet okay.
Why did the SD come back?

 

Jaina_and_Jag- . Well, what can you expect, it's the too-many-Corellians-in-one-place effect

Saber-of-Light- Thanks . It's always my goal not to have any character just be "there", they all need to be doing something, and have different issues to be concerned about in addition to the overall problem .

JediMasterKobe- Thanks .

J_M_Bulldog- Thanks, and yes, I had a lot of fun on vacation, thank you for asking .

---

?All right, let?s try to keep this quick,? Wedge said as he strode into the briefing room he had had the [i]Outrider[/i]?s passengers escorted to. ?I have a Star Destroyer in orbit, and I don?t know what it?s doing here, so you can understand I?m a little pressed for time.?

?This won?t take long,? Jag assured him.

?The Sitarans are a lie. There are Imperial or copycat-Imperial forces on the planet. I was held prisoner by stormtroopers, some of them wearing red armor, the same color Imperial royal guards used to wear.?

Wedge stared blankly at Jacen Solo for several moments, then glanced back at Jag.

?Okay,? his nephew amended, ?maybe a few minutes??

?Just come with me,? Wedge said. ?I need to get back to the bridge, we can talk on the way.?

Jag nodded, and the others rose, Aylina supporting Jacen, who appeared injured. They continued the conversation as they strode through the corridor.

?Let?s try to look at this as analytically as we can. One?the Empire is gone. While we may be dealing with remnants of the Imperial Alliance, the former Imperial worlds aren?t hostile, and are members of the Alliance. Two?Jaina, did you have a similar experience??

Jaina shook her head. ?I never saw any of my captors, I was unconscious until Jag found me, but I did see stormtroopers on the way out.?

?All right. Three?these forces are either being led by a Dark Jedi or their party includes a Dark Jedi ? please tell me I?m not the only one who noticed that [i]Sitarans[/i] includes the beginning of the word Sith, because I?m really going to be worried if that slipped by both of our Jedi.?

Jacen and Jaina exchanged quick glances, both looking somewhat unhappy.

Wedge sighed. ?That?s what I was afraid of.? They reached the lift tube, and Wedge pressed the call button. ?Are we absolutely certain that these Sitarans are nothing but a front for whoever these pseudo-Imperials are??

?It seems logical,? Aylina said, the first time she had entered the conversation. ?We never saw them out of armor.?

?That?s not good enough, Captain Rendar,? Wedge answered as the party entered the lift. ?We need to [i]know[/i].?

?For crying out loud, Antilles, what kind of Corellian are you??

Rolling his eyes, Wedge answered, ?You try being a perfect Corellian when you have an entire fleet to worry about, a planet below that?s in peril, an uneasy truce with the Chiss Empire, and a war to avoid. This is a rather volatile situation.?

That elicited only a snort from Rendar, as if to say, [i]Sounds like a normal day to me[/i].

The doors hissed open, and Wedge stepped onto the command deck, the Solos and Rendars following in his wake. ?Records,? he called out as soon as he cleared the doorway, ?I need a quick search. Give me a list of every known warlord who can field a Star Destroyer and elite stormtroopers, especially those with connections with Dark Jedi.?

His records officer, a skinny man with glasses ? an archaic style of optical correction that he insisted made him look distinguished ? nodded and immediately went about his task.

?What?s the Star Destroyer doing??

The sensor officer shrugged. ?It?s holding geosync orbit, but seems to be descending. If I didn?t know any better, I?d say they were trying to land.?

Wedge puzzled over that for a moment, but the planet wasn?t in immediate danger, so it could wait a few minutes. And his records officer was approaching, anyway. ?Here are the records you requested sir.?

Wedge nodded and accepted the datapad, then motioned for the others to look over his shoulder. ?All right, let?s take a look at this.