Beyond - Legends Redemption of the Exiles - Concluded 5/2/08 - OCs, pilots, smugglers pre-NJO

Star Wars: Redemption of the Exiles
Part II of the DAP ZORVAN saga

Sequel to the X-Wing: Rise of a Rogue trilogy (link in sig)

Disclaimer: Nope, don?t own Star Wars. Wish I did, though. The Star Wars universe belongs to George Lucas. The Knights of the Old Republic plotlines belong to Lucasarts, Bioware, and Obsidian. Characters appearing in this fic but not belonging to myself or George Lucas are property of Michael A. Stackpole, Aaron Allston, and Timothy Zahn.


Dramatis Personae

Crew of the ?Tatooine Gallows?:
Jedi Master Darvix ?Dap? Zorvan (Captain)
Jedi Knight Kasari Lisae (First Officer)
Vikan "Vik" Kelrune (Astrogations)
Zone (Darvix?s R2 unit)

With the Jedi Academy
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker
Jedi Master Kyle Katarn
Jedi Knight Corran Horn

With the New Republic:
General Wedge Antilles (Rogue Squadron CO)
Colonel Tycho Celchu (Rogue Squadron XO)
Major Wes Janson
Major Derek ?Hobbie? Klivian
Captain Gavin Darklighter
Leia Organa Solo
Han Solo

Smugglers:
Talon Karrde (Captain of the Wild Kaarde)
Booster Terrik (Captain of the Errant Venture)
Mirax Terrik Horn (Captain of the Pulsar Skate)
Mara Jade (Captain of the Jade?s Fire)

Other persons of note:
Anya Darklighter

 

Year One - Yavin IV

Prologue

?Stretch out with the Force,? Luke Skywalker said. ?Feel where the remote is and move accordingly.?

?Easy enough for you to say,? The young apprentice said. ?At least you can see this damn flying ball of scrap when you practice.?

?Center yourself,? Luke chided. ?Your eyes deceive you; feel its movements instead of trying to see it.?

The apprentice gritted his teeth as he thumbed on his lightsaber, ?I suppose being completely blind has its perks while training with the Force.?

As he raised his blade, he stretched out with the Force, trying to pinpoint where the spherical remote was in relation to his blade. He tried to listen for the soft whirring of the object, reorienting his body. Each time, he would feebly spin and position his blade, only to find the Remote was a split second ahead of his actions. He cursed as the sting of the Remote?s low-powered laser caught his leg.

?Clear your thoughts,? Luke said. ?You cannot become in tune with the Force while you are frustrated and angry.?

Sighing, the apprentice raised his lightsaber so the blade was parallel with his body. He slowly breathed in, holding the lungful of air as he tried to find the ?center? that alluded him so often. Skywalker had told him on numerous occasions that he was too head-strong and impatient. Those attributes would prevent him from fully controlling his ability with the Force. As his mind began to focus, he could feel the Force surrounding him, becoming clearer. Suddenly, through the blackness that lived with him constantly since his accident, he spotted the outline of the Remote. It wasn?t much, simply a faint flicker of light against perpetual darkness. It was the Force, replacing the vision he had lost.

Immediately, he spun towards the flicker of light he had seen, positioning his blade just as the remote fired. He heard a sizzling sound as he lightsaber deflected the shot towards the ceiling.

?Good,? Luke said. ?Do you understand now? When you are at peace, you can feel through the Force?The Force can even help you ?see? what is around you.?

?Lovely,? the apprentice said sourly. ?I suppose this means that one day I can walk around the Academy without a guidance droid holding my hand like some pathetic child.?

?One day you will be able to see again,? Luke replied, ?but only if you can remain at peace with yourself?That is why you fell to the Dark Side, why you were seduced by its quick promises of self-gratification. The Dark Side is powerful, but when you are in tune with the Light Side of the Force, you will be able to accomplish tasks such as this.?

?Deflecting remote fire with a lightsaber?? the apprentice asked. ?No offense, Skywalker, but that won?t do me much good?other than winning bets in cantinas.?

?Yes, small things such as this,? Skywalker said in turn, ?but if you can use the Force to do this, imagine what you can accomplish once you are ready to truly call upon its powers?This may seem trivial to you now, but one day you will understand fully what you can do when you are in tune with the Force.?

***

Prior to his arrival at the Academy, he had never cared much for dates, but now it was one of the few things that could take his mind off of the past. If he was correct, it had been six months since he had arrived at the Jedi Academy for instruction, six months since his first lesson with Master Skywalker and that infernal remote? Six months since the rage-driven duel that cost him his eyesight.

As he stepped off the shuttle ramp, he could feel the world around him was oppressively hot and humid, a Jungle climate, he assumed. That must have meant he was finally back on Yavin IV, home of the great Luke Skywalker?s Jedi Academy. It was his only home; the last place in the Galaxy where he was accepted... perhaps not so much accepted as simply ?allowed to reside without penalty of being run off.? In reality, he didn?t care about the fact that he was the perpetual pariah of the Academy. He had a place to stay, a place to sleep, and food to eat. It wa

 

***
Year One ? Yavin IV
Chapter One ? Methods of Madness

Darvix Zorvan slung his towel over his shoulder as he stepped out of one of the Academy?s large training halls. By this point, he should have known that ?new training exercises? equated to ?new forms of cruel and unusual punishment.? For the last hour, Skywalker had drilled him in new forms of lightsaber dueling technique. As good as he was with a blade, it was nothing compared to that of Master Skywalker. Training sessions with him were as grueling as any drill he had gone through at the Starfighter Academy years ago.

?What?s the matter, Zorvan?? someone asked from behind him. ?You look a little winded.?

?Winded is an understatement,? Darvix replied. ?I hold you personally responsible for my current anguish, Katarn.?

Kyle Katarn, one of the more interesting personalities Darvix had ever met. He was a former Imperial Stormtrooper turned Alliance (and then Republic) intelligence hero. He discovered his Jedi heritage while in service with the Rebel Alliance, and joined Skywalker?s Jedi Academy nearly a decade later. Since then, he became one of the most respected Jedi of the new Order, earning himself the rank of Jedi Master. Despite his success as a Jedi, Katarn was one of the more unorthodox members of the Academy. His style was laid back and informal, a refreshing change from the usual up-tight students of the academy.

?How long have you been here?? Katarn asked.

?Six months,? Darvix replied. ?Why??

?You?re a Jedi Knight, not another student here,? Kyle replied. ?Don?t you think it?s strange that Skywalker hasn?t given you any work yet??

?I?m not complaining,? Darvix said with a shrug. ?Free food, free housing, and I can ritualistically haze all the apprentices all I want.?

?You know, for a Jedi with such high potential, you have exceptionally low standards for yourself.?

?The way I see it, I?m never disappointed with my performance.?

Darvix thought it was obvious as to why he had never received an assignment of any importance from Skywalker. During his six-month duration at the Academy, he had never bothered to hide the fact that he had fallen to the Dark Side of the Force, furthering his image of being one of the most capable, but in reality, worst students at the Academy. He was the Anti-Jedi, and he knew it.

?Skywalker is convinced you?re going to be a great Jedi,? Katarn said, breaking Darvix?s train of thought.

?Shocking,? Darvix replied. ?He hasn?t broken into my spice supply, has he??

He never bothered to hide the fact that he was a blatant spice addict. It wasn?t a very Jedi-like thing, an addiction to illegal drugs. Then again, very little about Darvix was Jedi-like. He often professed that he was ?Just a guy with a lightsaber and an annoying little connection to the Force.?

?It boggles my mind,? Katarn said. ?Antilles told me you were one of the most dedicated pilots he ever had. Either he was lying to get rid of you, or he was hallucinating the entire time you served under him.?

?Nah, he just paid me better than you and Skywalker... Either that or he got into my spice supply, too.?

Prior to his arrival at the Jedi Academy, he had served under the illustrious General Wedge Antilles as a pilot in his famed Rogue Squadron. He had established himself as one of the squadron?s quickest minds, both in the cockpit and in the field. Someone would be hard-pressed to find a squad-mate who thought of him as lazy. What had changed? Even Darvix couldn?t provide a solid answer. Perhaps losing his vision and falling into the Dark Side had changed him for the worse. Perhaps he had always been a ?miserable, callous nerf-herder? but had been hiding it behind a mask.

?Jedi Zorvan?? a female voice said from his side. ?Master Skywalker wishes to see you.?

?Again?? Darvix asked. ?I just left the training hall.?

?He?s waiting for you in his chambers,? she replied.

Sighing, he waved her off and continued walking, making sure to deliberately plant his foot heavily atop of he

 

Chapter Two
The Misanthrope and the Musician

There was perhaps no more likable figure in the Academy than Kasari Lisae. She was one of the most gifted students there, yet was by and far the most humble. She would shirk away from praise regularly, insisting that her accomplishments were ?no big deal.? Her instructors often conceded that her maturity was far beyond her years. In short, she was simply a pleasure to work with.

When Master Skywalker had informed her that she had been selected to accompany a Jedi Knight into the field, she simply said that the task was an honor to her. Deep within her, however, she was ecstatic to finally be tested in the field. She was close to finally attaining the rank of Jedi Knight, and she knew it. With any luck, this would finally push her over the top. Until then, she would have to find the Jedi who selected her and properly thank him.

She stopped in front of one of the single-occupant dormitory rooms, reserved for Jedi Knights. The plate above the door red ?221B,? and below it the occupant?s name, ?Darvix Zorvan.? That was the Jedi Master Skywalker summoned earlier, she said to herself. He seemed to have been an odd man, but she couldn?t quite place her finger on exactly what was wrong with him. No matter, that could wait for another day. Smiling to herself, she keyed the door-chime.

***

Darvix found himself lost in thought as his fingers gracefully worked over the keys of his grand keybed, an instrument he learned to play years ago. Before he fled his home world of Nar Shaddaa, he had trained to become a musician. There was a point in time where he had enjoyed performing for others, but those days were long behind him. Now he played to distract himself from the galaxy around him, and when that didn?t work?

He sighed to himself and rubbed his temples. His mind was a mess off thoughts thanks to his meeting with Skywalker. Wedge had summoned him for help, to fight another battle that wasn?t his to fight. Darvix had left Rogue Squadron for good six months earlier, and he had no intentions of returning to face his former squad mates. Unfortunately, those intentions didn?t matter at this point. He had a task to accomplish, but the task would require him to do something he had avoiding for a long time.

After the Republic?s success at the Bilbringi system over Reyov Naolin?s fleet, Darvix found himself in a bacta tank. In a fit of rage, he had tailed an Imperial pilot to the planet?s surface, downing his ship. The pilot had survived the wreck, but Darvix was determined to end his life there. He landed and approached the pilot, but just as he was about to strike down the Imperial with his lightsaber, he was confronted by his mentor, a Jedi and Rogue named Corran Horn. Darvix had been consumed by the Dark Side, feeling the need to slay the pilot for personal revenge, but Horn wouldn?t allow it. Darvix could vaguely remember what had happened during the duel with Horn, but one detail always emerged to haunt him. As Darvix lost his balance, Corran?s lightsaber came at his face, slicing through his cybernetic eyes and leaving him completely blind.

Darvix shook his head. He was thinking too much of the past, and it was starting to bother him. He often told himself that his life was a mess as it was; thinking about the past would only throw him into a faster tailspin. As he tried to refocus on the instrument in front of him, he found that his thoughts were too jumbled. He couldn?t seem to get his fingers to cooperate with him. Suddenly he found himself at a point where music wouldn?t take his mind off of his thoughts. He stretched out with the Force, searching for a case that held what he was looking for. He ?saw? it lying atop the keybed, right where he had left it.

He opened the case and withdrew a vial of clear liquid as well as an epidermic syringe. Hastily, he filled the syringe with the fluid, exceeding the dosage that most would consider ?safe.? Darvix lifted up his shirt sleeve and thrust the needle into his arm, depressing the plunger to inject

 

one of these days, I'm going to get a reader for this fic x.x

Anyhoo, chapter three for your reading enjoyment, if anyone's actually reading this >.>

***
Chapter Three
Lessons

Darvix Zorvan yawned as he stepped into one of the Jedi Academy?s large hangers. At one point, the spacious room had held the X-Wing and Y-wing snubflighters the Rebellion had used to destroy the Empire?s first Death Star. Now, it was filled with shuttles and transports, save for a few exceptions. The Academy held a small number of snubfighters, mostly aging Z-95 Headhunters and battle-worn Y-Wings that had been cast off from the New Republic?s fleet. Many students were trained to fly combat snubfighters in conjunction with their Jedi training. Skywalker had often said that knowing how to fly his X-Wing had saved his life countless times since retiring from the New Republic military.

There was one anomaly in the hanger, Darvix?s personal craft. He smiled faintly as he stepped towards his Incom T-65AC4, more commonly known throughout the galaxy as the X-Wing starfighter. The X-Wing was the mainstay of the New Republic and the old Rebel Alliance. It had been introduced by the Incom corporation prior to the Battle of Yavin to supplement the Rebellion?s less-nimble Y-Wing bomber. It may not have excelled at any one particular area of combat, but it was the most versatile snubfighter in the New Republic?s fleet to this day. While at the Academy, Darvix had fallen in love with the fighter?s multi-role design, allowing it to perform tasks from intercepting enemy fighters, to destroying capitol ships.

It had been more than six months since he had last sat behind the flightstick of an X-Wing. There was a point in time where he could have said proudly that he was one of the best behind the ship?s controls. His quick hands and even faster mind, the same traits that made him a competent Jedi, had made him a deadly pilot. Despite that, six months was a long period of time to be away from the flightstick. Like any sport or art, flying a snubfighter took constant practice and refinement. Well, as long as he didn?t run into any Imperial patrols, he would be fine.

He smiled to himself as he spotted an R2 unit below the snubfighter, working at an open panel with one if its utility arms. He patted the droid?s domed head as he knelt beside it to watch it work.

?Hi there, Zone,? Darvix said.

The droid let out a happy-sounding warble as it turned its head to look at Darvix.

?Yes, I?m happy to be back,? he replied. ?How?s she? holding together??

Zone gave a rather mournful trill in return. Darvix looked up at his old starfighter, noting almost immediately that it had seen better days. Carbon scoring was all over the once pristine hull of the ship. Dents and dings pitted the surface, and that didn?t even begin to cover what plagued the actual structure of the ship. His X-Wing had seen a lot of action in its limited service with the New Republic. A tech had once told him that she was barely space worthy anymore, but Darvix refused to let the ship go. It was nothing a bit of work couldn?t take care of.

?I?ll be right back, Zone,? Darvix said. ?I need to go get my flightsuit.?

Zone seemed to perk up, sounding an excited trill.

?Yes, looks like we?re going to go for a flight,? Darvix said, patting the droid before walking out of the hanger.

As soon as he set foot into the hallway leading away from the hanger, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Sithspit, Darvix said to himself. He just wanted to return to his dormitory to get his supplies. The sooner he was in space, the sooner he would get to Coruscant, and the sooner he could get this infernal assignment over with. The last thing he needed was to talk to some pimply-faced padawan. He turned to his side, ready to chew out the student, only to realize the student who wanted his attention was Kasari Lisae.

?Jedi Zorvan, it?s good to see you have returned,? she said. ?Your eyes?Is that why you left???

?The better to see you with, Lisae,? he

 

*Looks around. Notes crickets. Decides to review here so more people have a chance to notice this wonderful 'fic.*

?Some people are only alive because it?s illegal to shoot them.?

That patch is perfect. Perfect for a Rogue and even more perfect for poor Dap!

For such a nice looking girl, Lisae sure had a powerful arm
Good for her! Dap could use some sense beat into his head! Obviously Corran did an imperfect job.

Lesson one, never upset a pilot who?s superior to you?
Excellent advice, especially when encounter a Rogue (or former Rogue with a the Force). May Dap does has some sense. Just a little.

Live and let live?or was it live and let die? No matter.
Dap! Put down the spice! Back to the keybed!

You start suppressing those emotions; you?re liable to do something stupid
An interesting comment from Dap. He still has a bit of that hatred for Jedi that he started with, but now he's a Jedi himself. He's also learned atleast two very nasty life lessons about what happens when you act incorrectly on emotions. Dap is really growing and is giving Lisae a very valuable insight.

??What my former friends used to call me,? he said. ?Dap.?
Aww. He's opening up! I feel all warm. Or maybe that's the spice.

Excellent chapter. You're really fleshing out Dap and I love having Lisae around. They're forcing eachother to look at things differently and she's forcing Dap to, hmm, grow up? Or may be out?

Looking forward to seeing Wedge's reaction to the new Dap and Lisae's reaction to the Rogues.

Keep up the good work!!!

 

Awesome story! Looking forward to more.

 

Actually, I have a bumper sticker that says that. I've also got one that says "The gene pool could use a little chlorine."

Yeah, Corran sure botched up Darvix, didn't he?

Oh he's got plenty of sense, it's just overshadowed by the fact that he's A) a total ass - and B) a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen.

*sings* Live and let dieeeeeee, live and let dieeeeeeee!

Not quite hatred, but disdain. You'll see that Darvix doesn't think too highly of the way that Jedi students are taught, mostly because they're only taught the ways of the Force, and not how to apply that to surviving in the Galaxy.

Eh, probably the Spice.

I promise that you'll have fun seeing how Dap and Kasari interact with eachother. You'll see that their conflicting personalities really make for some...erm...interesting chemistry.

Thanks for reading, Astronut!

Thanks for reading, Princess of Naboo! I try to do an update a week, but as soon as I'm out of school, I'll try gunning for an average of two a week. I had so much fun writing Rise of a Rogue that I have to continue that streak in this fic!

 

*looks around snickers and jumps out from behind the rock I was under*

Hey-ya....Wow another great story on the go Lane...the more and more you write with Dap the more and more i like him.

To me, he is great a jedi who thinks the force is a curse rather than a blessing, not to mention the drug addiction now.

Oh boy i can't wait to see how this one works out.

More soon? *big puppy dog eyes*

 

Thanks for reading!

Sorry this took so long, but it's here.

***
Chapter Four
Mourning

Darvix flexed his fingers around the flightstick as his X-Wing reverted into real space. As he looked through his forward viewport, he saw the urban world of Coruscant grow larger and larger. The world had once been the seat of power within the Old Republic and the Empire. Years later, a small group of men and women were sent by the New Republic to capture the planet and further demoralize the Imperial remnant. Those heroes were known as Rogue Squadron, commanded by then Commander Wedge Antilles.

The man Darvix had once served under, the man who needed his help. Darvix had served in Rogue Squadron before his arrival at the Jedi Academy, joining the fabled group immediately after his graduation from the Starfighter Academy. Antilles had been reluctant to clear him for active service upon his arrival, but the squadron was short-staffed. They needed a pilot who was cross-trained in terminal slicing, and Darvix fit the bill perfectly.

It hadn?t been his skill with the flightstick that landed him an assignment with Rogue Squadron; it had been a hobby he had picked up years earlier. If his career had played out the way it should have, he would have been assigned to an outer-rim squadron to guard a low-threat facility. Instead, other factors brought him to the most dangerous assignment he could have received. Most pilot would have been overjoyed to have received an assignment such as that, and at the time, Darvix had been. As he looked back, he could only see his time with Rogue Squadron as more of a curse than a blessing.

Shaking his head, he keyed on his comlink, ?This is Jedi Academy stafighter Oh-Eight-Theta hailing Coruscant traffic security. Requesting permission to approach.?

?Acknowledged, Oh-Eight-Theta,? a nasally voice said over his comlink. ?Please state the nature of your visit.?

?Hookers,? Darvix said bluntly.

??excuse me, repeat that, Oh-Eight-Theta.?

?Hookers,? Darvix replied. ?You know?hoochies, one-night stands, the Lando Calrissian special? Doesn?t anyone ever come to Coruscant looking for a good time? Come on, buddy, you know what I mean.?

?Prostitution is a felony on Coruscant!? the dispatcher protested.

?Based on what I saw the last time I was there, you?re obviously not enforcing that law very strictly.?

?Oh-Eight-Theta, unless you state a valid purpose for visit, you will be detained.?

Darvix sighed to himself and rolled his eyes, ?Traffic security, if you?d kindly look at my ship?s transponder code and the clearance I?ve already sent you, you?ll see that I have military clearance. Now, please clear my flight route or I?ll have to ask General Antilles pay you a visit. Is that understood?

?Ah,? the dispatcher stumbled, ?clearance received. You may proceed to your destination along flight-route one-oh-nine gamma.?

?Thank you, traffic security,? Darvix said, trying to wipe the grin off his face at the same moment.

***

As his X-Wing went through its shutdown sequence, Darvix undid the harness straps holding him into his flightseat and keyed the canopy release. With a hiss accompanied by the distinct sound of hydraulics, the transparisteel canopy lifted into the open position, and Darvix stood up. He undid the chinstrap of his helmet, removing it and setting atop his flight console. Placing a foot on the side of his cockpit housing, he leapt to the floor.

He had been directed to a military hanger not far from Rogue Squadron?s land-based headquarters. Darvix had been to the building once during his tenure as a Rogue, and had been meaning to pay a return visit since he had resigned his commission to Starfighter Command. Glancing at his wrist chrono, he saw he still had a standard hour until he was due to meet with General Antilles. He smiled faintly to himself; he still had time to attend to a personal matter that had been bothering him for too long.

?Jedi Zorvan-? Kasari Lisae started.

?What did I say?? Darvix interrupted.

 

Another great post, I really love the way that you brign your OC's to life. Giving them all their own personalities and not makeing them all the same.

But most importantly you have a great sense oh humor when it is needed, and also you can have a amazing ablity to write good strong emotional scenes.

Lando Calrissian Special...utter pricesless. Well actually that whole conversation was great.

I also loved the 'Hall of Heros', that was a great emotional writing, and we got to see a side of Dap we hardly ever get to see. Well hardly anyone ever gets to see.

And calling Rogue Squadron a bunch of screwups....I hope she gets to meet the Wraiths. Cause if she thinks the Rogues are screw-ups she ain't seen nothing yet.

 

Glad you enjoyed it!

Based on suggestions from others, I'm going to split up my chapters into smaller posts. This will mean shorter, but more frequent posts.

***
Chapter Five
Phantom Echoes
(Post One of CH 5)

Darvix sat in front of Wedge Antilles? desk, glancing around the office idly as he waited for the General to arrive. There were only a few personal effects, such as holos of various people Wedge had been close to over the years. Darvix tilted his head as he looked at one particular holoimage, a squadron photo. He recognized some of the faces in there: Then-Commander Luke Skywalker standing next to Wedge, as well as Zev Senesca, Wes Janson, Hobbie Klivian and others whom he didn?t recognize as readily. This must have been the original Rogue Squadron formed after the Battle of Yavin. Save for a few lucky men, most of the squadron had been killed in action years ago, either at Hoth or at Endor. Those who hadn?t survived were enshrined in the Rogue Squadron memorial, a place he knew he would never be immortalized in.

He knew he had been one of the biggest wastes of talent ever to come through the Academy. Yes, his instructors had showered him with praise, telling him he was a natural with the flightstick, but all he had was potential. He could have been great, and he knew it. Instead he let his personal demons best him. If he had put his mind into piloting, he would still be a Rogue. He would still be a gifted pilot, not a mediocre Jedi. As it stood now, Darvix was simply a case of misused potential.

Darvix looked up as he heard the door slide open, expecting to see General Antilles. Instead, he saw Kasari Lisae enter into the room, accompanied by Tycho Celchu, his former executive officer.

?Lisae, I told you to wait with the starfighters,? Darvix said, shaking his head.

?The?Maintenance crews asked me to, uh, leave,? she replied.

?You are potentially the worst liar I?ve ever met,? Darvix said. ?Take a seat; I guess you couldn?t wait to get Antilles? autograph.?

?Do you treat all your subordinates like this?? Tycho asked, raising a brow.

?Only the ones I?m hoping to bed,? Darvix replied. ?I?m told women like a man who?s brutally honest.?

Lisae shot Darvix a look of utter disgust. Why did the man insist on viewing her as some sort of sex object? Before she could speak up, the door slid open again.

?Sorry I?m late,? General Wedge Antilles said, ?you wouldn?t believe the traffic I ran into.?

Kasari looked at the newcomer, Wedge Antilles, hero of the New Republic. Funny, she said to herself, he?s shorter than I thought he would be.

Wedge moved to take a seat behind his desk, ?Good to see you, Dap?I take it the operation went well??

?I can see shades other than blue these days,? Darvix replied, ?I?d say it was fairly successful.?

?Good to hear,? Wedge replied, sitting further back in his office chair, ?I?ll dispense with the pleasnentries. First off, is this young lady cleared for this briefing??

?Unfortunately, yes,? Darvix replied. ?This is-?

?Kasari Lisae,? she interrupted. ?Padawan of the Jedi Academy and serving temporarily under Jedi Knight Zorvan.?

Wedge looked back to Darvix, ?Jedi Knight? How?d you pull that off??

?Oh, a bribe here, a sexual favor there,? Darvix replied with a shrug.

?Skywalker is letting you teach??

?My thoughts exactly.?

?General?? Tycho chided.

?Anyways,? Wedge continued, ?I?m sure Luke?s already told you, but I need a middle-man right now. Talon Karrde would assume not have direct lines with the Republic military right now.?

?So, instead, you?ll send ex-Republic military?? Darvix asked, an amused smirk on his lips.

?Precisely,? Wedge replied. ?Apparently he?s also under the impression that Jedi Knights can be trusted as well, go figure.?

?Apparently he hasn?t met Darvix yet,? Kasari said under her breath. ?Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but is it wise to trust a?fringe type like Karrde??

?Karrde hasn?t let the New Republic down in the past,? Wedge said. ?I don?t expect this to

 

Ack! I missed a few updates of this wonderful story. I love how this ties into your team fic with Inyri.

Could you be so kind as to PM me when you update?

 

Ch 5 post 2

?I need another X-Wing and a repair crew to check out mine,? Darvix said flatly.

Wedge choked down the caf in his mouth, ?That?s a tall order, Dap. You know I can?t just give away military property like that.?

?You?re right,? Darvix said, ?you?ll find some sort of loophole, exploit it, and let me run off with a shiny, new T-65AC4 model snub.?

Wedge frowned, ?I?ll see what I can do. No promises, though.?

?The moment you said ?I?ll see what I can do,? you promised me an X-Wing,? Darvix replied. ?You?ve never been a man who says things for the sake of saying things.?

??The Rogues have a surplus X-Wing in storage,? Wedge said. ?It?s an older AC3 model, but our techs can upgrade it to the AC4 design?I?m really going out on a limb here for you, Dap.?

?And that?s any different than when I served under you?? Darvix asked.

Wedge had put himself on the line for Darvix countless times during his tenure as a Rogue. Any other commanding officer would have suspended him indefinitely for the antics he demonstrated. On the way to Telos, he had suffered a mental breakdown that should have immediately dismissed him from Starfighter Command. On Nar Shaddaa, he had gone AWOL. In the middle of an Imperial Fleet, he tried to kill in Imperial Officer, nearly blowing the cover of his comrades. He had been a ticking time bomb, yet Wedge continued to put up with him. In the end, he should have let Darvix go with a dishonorable discharge and thrown him into prison, but he let Darvix leave on his own terms.

?If you ever decide this Jedi thing doesn?t work out for you,? Wedge said, ?you always could return to the Rogues.?

?I don?t think so,? Darvix replied.

?You?ve changed,? Wedge continued, ?you?re in control of yourselves these days? You?ve been gone only six months, but you?ve matured more than anyone could have expected.?

?Perhaps that?s true, but if I were in their position, I wouldn?t trust myself? I messed up one-to-many times in their eyes.?

Wedge shook his head and sighed, ?Just remember, there?s always a place for you here.?

?We?ll see.?

***

Darvix sat on the top port-side strike-foil of his X-Wing, watching as the techs hammered away at the electronics below him. They had been in the process of refurbishing his X-Wing for hours now, replacing everything from the hull plating to the avionics. The snubfighter had seen its fair share of action in a rather brief time. It had taken a lot of internal damage when it had been caught in the shadow of an Imperial Interdictor?s gravity well, and had been further damaged not long after when he had been ambushed by the Phantom starfighters. She was a dependable bird, and Darvix wanted to make sure she would continue to serve him well.

Across the hanger, technicians were tearing apart another X-Wing, an aging T-65AC3 dated from just after the Battle of Endor. In the years since, the Incom Corporation had made a number of avionic, flight, and structural improvements to the X-Wing design, giving it more speed, strength, and computing capabilities. He had read that the upgrades could be made to an older X-Wing with relatively minor difficulty. The latest line of X-Wings had been dubbed the AC4 model

The moment he knew that Phantom technology was involved with his assignment, he knew that he had to get Lisae a different snubfighter. It was dangerous enough facing an invisible foe in an X-Wing, but it was suicide to try a stunt like that in a sluggish Y-Wing. Granted, the Y-Wing was built to be rugged, but they were the slowest craft in Republic?s arsenal. Most Y-Wings had been phased out in favor of the quicker and more powerful B-Wing bomber/fighter. If Lisae had an X-Wing she would stand a chance of escaping. In her Y-Wing, she was a sitting womprat.

He looked to his side as Kasari Lisae sat down next to him. The girl had a tendency to appear out of thin air, a rather annoying habit.

?I didn?t know you were a Rogue,? she said.

?You also didn?t know I enjoy candlelight dinners and long, mo

 

Nice to see that Dap cares enough about Lisae to get that X-wing for her.

Thanks for the PM!

 

Chapter Six
Synthetic Diversions
Post 1
It was nearly midnight Coruscant standard when Darvix had finally left the planets surface. He was slightly disappointed in himself, sitting around for several hours as the technicians pounded away on his X-Wing. He could have used that time for something far more entertaining, perhaps hiring a hooker or two. With a mental shrug, Darvix focused on setting in his hyperspace coordinates.

The technicians had done wonders with his X-Wing. It didn?t feel half as sluggish as it used to. The controls were extremely sensitive, responding to even the slightest touch. It was exactly how he liked it. The less work he had to do to maneuver the X-Wing directly translated into more time to think about the course of action he needed to take. Piloting a snubfighter could by a physically demanding task. It required a pilot?s entire body to be in shape. Sure, there were exceptions. Perhaps the most infamous was Jek ?Piggy? Porkins, the biggest man ever to sit behind the flightstick. What he lacked in physical fitness, he made up for with his ability to think.

Darvix shook his head and smiled. He was always thinking behind the flightstick of his X-Wing. At the Academy, he would spend more time analyzing skirmishes on the fly than attacking the enemy. It had been a tactic that kept his wingmen safe, but translated into low kill totals for him. His peers had remarked that flying seemed to be almost formulaic for him. They had started to call him ?Datapad? because of his flying style, always analyzing, always calculating.

Perhaps that was where he had failed as a flier. He never considered the ramifications of his actions. When he was behind the stick, there were just friendlies and foes. All that mattered was the threat indicator and how he could most effectively win a skirmish. Perhaps he had failed because he was too mechanical. Whatever it was, it boiled down simply to the fact he just wasn?t made for piloting. He apparently hadn?t become a pilot for the right reason. Darvix didn?t have a savior complex; he didn?t need to save the Galaxy. He had an ambiguity complex; he needed to solve the puzzle.

He recognized idly that he attacked every aspect of life in that manner. There had been a point in time where he had wanted to help those around him, or at least, he thought he had. Those years were behind him. He wasn?t the idealistic child he used to be. The Galaxy had dealt him a bad hand of cards several times over, but he knew he wasn?t the only person who had suffered in life. What set him apart was the fact that he chose to be honest with himself. Life is hard, life is cruel, and he wasn?t afraid to admit it. If the side-effect to that attitude was to be miserable, to loathe ad despise everyone around him, so be it. At least he knew the truth.

His flight console beeped, alerting him that the snubfighter was ready to enter hyperspace. Darvix pushed the hyperspace lever forward, causing the stars to streak past his viewport before it gave way to the molten black and blue tunnel of hyperspace. He undid the chinstrap of his helmet and removed the bulky unit from his head, setting it atop his flight console. Sighing, he closed his eyes and leaned back into his flightseat. Within minutes, he had drifted off to sleep.

***

Darvix looked up at the tall Imperial officer standing next to him. It was like all the holovids he had been shown in school, a man with chiseled features and an aura of power and authority. For a boy such as himself, just fourteen standard years of age, it was like looking up at a man of heroic proportions.

Sithspit?not this dream, again.

The officer had identified himself as Lieutenant Naolin from the Imperial Fleet, the Emperor?s very own fleet. He had spotted Darvix waiting by a speeder stop, waiting for a ride to his home. The officer seemed very friendly, offering Darvix an adhesive sticker that read ?Future Soldier of the Emperor.? To be in such a man?s presence was simply intoxicating.

Personally I?d rather have my ar

 

Interesting interlude post.

Thanks for the PM!

 

Sorry I havn't replyed to this yet...Great story! Keep it up!

Dap is quickly becoming one of the most interesting characters that I have encountered on this board.

Please keep up the great work. Now off to see your other story.

 

glad you guys have enjoyed this!

***
Chapter Six, Post Two

***

It was nearly twenty-four standard hours later when Darvix and Kasari dropped out of hyperspace and into open, unoccupied space, save for one lone ship. Ahead of Darvix was an aging Dreadnaught class cruiser. The ship no doubt was built prior to the Galactic Civil War, for the design had been decommissioned decades earlier. They had fallen into favor with pirate organizations due to their ability to carry a full squadron complement of starfighters as well as a large crew, not to mention the cheap price tag. Most Dreadnaughts that were kicking around at this point in time had been thrown out of active military service. Perhaps the most notable exemption was the fabled Katana fleet, which had fallen into the hands of Grand Admiral Thrawn, thanks in part to strategic blunders by a certain Bothan politician.

?Attention incoming X-Wings,? a voice said over his comlink, ?identify yourselves immediately or prepare to become space debris.?

?Transmitting clearance,? Darvix replied. ?This is Ewok Nightmare One requesting permission to land.?

?With a call-sign like that, how could we refuse?? the voice replied. ?Proceed to the hanger, Poster Boy will be out to meet you.?

?Acknowledged.?

Minutes later, Darvix had set down in the crowded hanger. He powered down his X-Wing and keyed the canopy release. He released his flightseat harness, whistling to himself as waited for a ladder to be brought over to his cockpit. Darvix didn?t notice the techs hook the ladder onto the side of his cockpit, nor did he notice Kasari Lisae had climbed up to greet him.

She noticed that Darvix seemed to be rather out of it. He was unresponsive. As she glanced around his cockpit, she caught sight of something strange. On the top of his flight console sat an empty vial and a syringe. Kasari felt confusion overtake her for a moment. Why did he have these things in his cockpit? As she looked back at Darvix, she saw that the sleeve of his flightsuit had been rolled up. His arm was covered with puncture marks indicative of epidermic syringe use.

?Zorvan, what was in this vial?? she asked.

?Oh,? Darvix replied, ?mostly refined andris in a saline solution.?

She couldn?t quite believe what he had said. He was joking, wasn?t he? Andris was a potent form of Spice, a neurostimulant that had the power to produce incredible euphoria. Hadn?t Darvix ever paid attention in school? It didn?t pay to do spice. It could kill braincells, it could fry the neurons in his brain. For an otherwise intelligent man, it was an incredibly stupid act.

?Vader?s bones,? Kasari said. ?You?re high.?

?This is nothing,? Darvix said. ?You should have seen me about seven hours ago.?

***

?How long until I can talk to Karrde?? Darvix asked as he walked through the corridor.

?He?ll be in system in two days,? Captain Loran replied.

Darvix had served briefly under Garik ?The Face? Loran towards the tail-end of his tenure with the New Republic armed forces. Face had at one point been a child holo-drama star for Imperial propaganda films. He had been caught in the middle of a fight between the Empire and Rebel forces years ago, leading to the belief that he had been killed in the scuffle. Years later, he wound up in the service of Starfighter Command. After kicking around for a while, he was picked up by then-Commander Wedge Antilles to join his experimental Wraith Squadron. Not long after, he was named commanding officer of the unit.

?All of the Wraiths here?? Darvix asked.

?Everyone but Nelprin and Passik.?

?Are you trying to turn this into a boys-only club?? Darvix replied. ?That?s rather juvenile, you little rascal.?

Face rolled his eyes, ?Wessiri has them working for her back on Coruscant, apparently they?re on a treason case.?

?Prosecution??

?Defense,? Face said.

Darvix stopped and looked at Face, ?You?re not happy about that. Who?s on trial??

?Lara Notsil,? Face replied, ?and I don?t have a problem with Iella using two of my subordinates.?

 

Chapter Seven
The First Rule of the Galaxy: Things are Never as They Seem.
Post One

It had been two days since Darvix had arrived on board the Dreadnaught the Wraiths were stationed on. Now he sat in the cockpit of his X-Wing again, awaiting the infamous Talon Karrde to drop out of hyperspace. Hours earlier, his callsign had been changed to facilitate the mission. At the same time, he had been debriefed by Face Loran concerning his task. Karrde had information that could lead the Republic Military straight to the Seinar Systems techs that were selling functional starfighter-grade cloaking devices. Darvix?s task was to negotiate a deal to get that information. After all, he was a Jedi, supposedly the greatest mediators in the Galaxy.

He glanced at his wrist chrono, sighing as he continued to wait for the word to depart the hanger. He was getting impatient, not so much with Karrde, but with Lisae. She had been sulking ever since finding out they were to do business with a group of smugglers. She clung to her idealistic thoughts, subscribing to the belief that smugglers were just fringe criminals incapable of doing any good for the Galaxy. As far as she was concerned, they should just be locked up on Kessel.

?This isn?t going to end well,? Kasari said over the comlink.

Here we go again, Darvix said to himself.

?I get it,? he replied. ?You don?t like smugglers. Still, have you ever met one??

?Have you ever met a Sith Lord?? Kasari replied. ?Maybe I hate them on principal.?

?Get off it,? Darvix said. ?These smugglers are just like anyone else in the Galaxy, trying to work to survive.?

?They work through deception and deceit,? Kasari retorted. ?If they want to earn a living, they should do it honestly.?

?Kasari, sometimes we?re forced to turn to deception to accomplish a task. It can be an effective tool, and these smugglers have it down to an art. You use deception in a negative connotation, and perhaps that?s warranted. Still, deception can lead to good outcomes.?

?But-?

?A few days ago, I told you about the two rules of the Galaxy,? Darvix said, cutting her off. ?What was the first rule??

??Things are never as they seem.?

?Exactly,? Darvix said. ?I want you to keep that in mind over the next few days. When all is said and done, you will have learned to always dig beneath the surface.?

?Save the semantics, Zorvan,? she said in turn.

Darvix shook his head and shut off the feed to Kasari. She was stubborn, much like himself. Still, he knew that was a good trick. She would stick to her guns when she had made a decision. Now it was simply a matter of showing her enough of the Galaxy. That would instill upon her the knowledge and wisdom she would need in order to properly analyze how to handle difficult situations. That would make her a great Jedi, something he could never hope to be. Darvix knew he was a case-study in mediocrity, but it didn?t bother him. It simply was a part of who he was. He didn?t have a strong enough connection to the Force to be a truly gifted Jedi.

Lisae was different. He had watched her at the Academy and listened to the stories told about her. She had a remarkable ability to draw upon the Force. Now, if she could learn the life-lessons needed to be a Jedi, and couple that with her strength with the Force, she would become the Jedi that legends were made out of. Until then, she possessed only potential, and that meant nothing until it was honed properly.

His comlink hissed to life, ?Mediator One, the Wild Karrde has dropped out of hyperspace, but we?ve got a problem. We?re commencing a battle-alert status, please remain in your snubfighter.?

?Bridge, what?s going on?? Darvix asked.

?Karrde reports that he?s being tailed by a wing of Imperial Remnant Gunboats,? the Bridge replied. ?He says they?re not far off.?

?Do we have time to make a jump into a different sector??

?Negative. The Wraiths are scrambling to their fighters. Stay prepared, we?ll have the situation under control in no time.?

 

Chapter Seven, Post 2

The moment his canopy had completely opened, Darvix leapt to the ground, hurling his flight helmet to the side. He stormed towards Kasari Lisae?s X-Wing. As he reached the hull of the starfighter, he opened a small panel nearby, entering the manual release for the canopy. Darvix yelled up to the cockpit, ordering Kasari to step onto the hanger floor. He watched as she climbed out of the cockpit and stepped onto the floor. Darvix stared at her for a moment, contemplating which course of action he could take. He could calmly reprimand her for her stunt, or give her a thorough dress-down.

?What the hell do you think you were doing, Lisae?? Darvix demanded.

He opted for the thorough dress-down.

?For the love of the Force, you could have gotten yourself killed!? Darvix shouted. ?I told you to wait right here until we were clear. Which part of that order didn?t you get? The wait part??

At this point, Darvix was face to face with Kasari, staring her down. Their noses were only a few centimeters apart, close enough for her to see the fury in Darvix?s eyes.

?I don?t just give orders for the sake of giving orders! Your safety was on the line, so I told you to wait here. What you just did was completely moronic and you know it!?

?But I-?

?But what?? Darvix snapped. ?You saw me go out there and assumed it was safe for you to go? Dammit, Lisae! We both know you?re going to be a great Jedi someday, but that won?t account for anything if you go off and get yourself killed. It?s one thing to take risks, but you?ve got to calculate right!?

?I was fine, I know I can fly!?

?Simulator runs are one thing, real combat is another,? Darvix retorted. ?You have no formal training to save your sorry ass when you get into a shuffle. I?ve gone through the training, I?ve got the flight experience. That was a risk I knew I had the ability to handle, you just ran in there headfirst!?

?As long as I can draw on the Force I?ll be okay,? Kasari said confidently.

?That?s where you?re wrong,? Darvix said. ?Did you see what formation that Gunboat wing heading after you was flying in??

?Well?no,? she admitted.

?Diamond-V form,? Darvix said. ?It?s a dangerous flight-pattern designed to keep at least one wingman on a designated target. Do you know how to counter that??

?No??

?By using a wingman to break in opposing directions. That will cause enough confusion for another flight to take care of the enemy, but you didn?t know that, did you??

Kasari was looking at the floor now, a tight frown forming on her face.

?Look up at me when I?m talking to you!? Darvix shouted. ?You?ve got the Force, great. Good for you. Unfortunately the Force is only a supplement to build upon what you already know. If you don?t have the prerequisites for flying, the Force won?t do you any good.

?The greatest fliers in the history of our military had no connection to the Force. Wedge Antilles, Tycho Celchu, Zev Senesca?They were good because they had instincts and quick minds. They were good because they knew what the hell they were doing. Don?t rely on the Force for everything, Lisae. Otherwise you?re going to be space debris floating through the Maw.?

Kasari brought a hand up to her face, brushing away a stray tear while trying to hold back more.

?Suck it up, Lisae,? Darvix said. ?No one cares that you just got your feelings hurt. You acted like an idiot, you had it coming.?

Darvix looked back at her for a moment before walking away from her to retrieve his helmet. She watched as he hurled it back into his cockpit before leaving the hanger all together. She chewed on her lower lip, trying to put her emotions back in check. She wasn?t the kind of person who was accustomed to upsetting her superiors, nor was she the kind of person who was accustomed to being reprimanded for her actions. She hadn?t been in trouble like that since she had gone to school as a child.

What struck her was how Darvix had reacted. He was a man who had a complete disregard for the

 

Very interesting updates.

Dap continues to be an interesting character developing in ways I never thought he would go.

I loved the writing in the scene where he chewed out Lisae, and even if his points were valid and well put, still kinda made me wanna smack Dap a little.

The interaction between Dap and all the cannon characters is great, espically him and Karrde.


GREAT WORK!!!

 

Dap and Karrde were great together!

I feel sorry for Lisae, but Dap was right. Hope she learns from him. I wonder what, if anything, she'll do about his Spice usage.

 

OOHHHHHHH that makes a good plot bunny Dap working for Karde hmmmm you dont have to worry about me doing that i cant wright to save my life. this is turning out well like the others do you think that i could be added to the pm list? if there is one.

 

Chapter Seven
Post Three

?One billion credits!?? Face asked. ?You?ve got to be kidding me! Cracken is going to have my head over this??

When Face and Mara Jade had returned to the conference room, Darvix had told them that both he and Talon Karrde had reached a deal in exchange for the information regarding the Seinar Fleet Systems techs. When he finally told them how many credits had just been exchanged, both Face and Jade stared in silence. Darvix imagined that Jade was simply stunned that Karrde had managed to squeeze that many credits out of the Republic. Face, on the other hand, soon overcame his loss for words. He had been yelling at Darvix for the last ten minutes.

?You?re not the one that negotiated the deal,? Darvix replied with a shrug.

?Negotiate? You call that negotiating??

?Okay, okay,? Darvix said. ?Next time you can try and barter a deal with the big-time smuggler.?

?That?s not the point!? Face replied.

?Aww, did I hurt the little intelligence agent?s feelings?? Darvix asked in a sarcastic tone of voice.

?Damnit, Dap,? Face said. ?I can?t believe you wasted one billion Republic credits. Do you have any ideas what we could have used those funds for??

?Hmmm?how about deferring that money back into the government, so it can be wasted on frivolous meetings, lunch appointments, and other beurocratic farces??

Face shook his head, ?I don?t think our politicians waste resources like that.?

?Everybody lies, Face,? Darvix retorted. ?Especially politicians.?

?And you think Karrde could use that money in a more resourceful manner?? Face asked. ?You are such a pessimist.?

?No, I?m a realist,? Darvix said in turn. ?Have you seen the High Council?s expense report??

Face sighed, ?No, because it?s classified.?

?It is?? Darvix asked, feigning shock. ?Whoops, must have accidentally sliced into those records. You?ll forgive me, won?t you? We?re friends, after all.?

?You know, in some cultures it?s considered improper to spy on other people, particularly if those people are on the High Council?Then again, in Bothan, friend can be translated as ?sarcastic bastard.??

?You know,? Darvix said, ?I ought to take lessons in wit from you. What?s your going price these days??

?I think you?ll manage.?

***

?One billion credits!?? Kasari asked, stunned.

?For the love of the Force,? Darvix replied. ?Is everyone going to have that reaction? Yes, one billion credits, New Republic currency. Is that so hard to understand??

?And now we?re stuck working for these fringe bastards?? Kasari said. ?Wow, Zorvan. You sure know how to pick ?em.?

?Temper, temper,? Darvix chided. ?If you?re getting homesick, you can head back to Yavin.?

?Someone has to watch you and make sure you don?t do anything stupid.?

?You sure have been failing at that task, haven?t you??

?You?re a piece of work, Zorvan,? Kasari said.

Darvix smiled and looked above him, making the precise adjustments to his flight control. According to the deal he had just made, both he and Kasari would be riding along with the Wild Karrde to Bevel III, just in case they ran into trouble along the way. Since the Action IV transport wasn?t a cruiser like the Dreadnaught the Wraiths were stationed aboard, their X-Wings would have to be docked onto the hull of the ship itself. Above him was a tube designed to attach to his cockpit housing, forming a seal to protect him against the vacuum of space. That would allow him to step onboard the Wild Karrde.

He gave the lateral repulsorlifts one more thrust before the tube made contact with the hull of his X-Wing. He heard a hissing sound as the seal formed, allowing air to enter the passageway onto the Wild Karrde. Hopefully Kasari had managed to dock with the unit on the port side of the ship. He removed his flight helmet, setting it atop his flight console as he released the seal on his canopy, allowing it to slide into the open position. As the canopy opened, a service ladder slid down from the hatch above hi