Beyond - Legends Resurrection -- Holiday FicGift for thedarkbeckons

Your fic-gift is for: thedarkbeckons

Their request is:

I want a story in Beyond with:
1. A space battle
2. Hand-to-hand combat
3. A twist ending (Tall order I know, to make it easier I'll add another one)
4. An archaeological discovery
I do not want: romance or romantic interaction (sarcasm is fine)

Characters: Thrawn, Boba Fett, Yuuzhan Vong


Sooooo....pretty sure this is not going to be what you expected. It didn't turn out how I first imagined it either. You know how characters suddenly find a life of their own and simply do whatever they want to do?
Seriously though, really sorry it took so long to post. I had hoped to get it done by Christmas.
Anyway, Happy New Year! Belatedly.

Also, I suck at space battle scenes so I kind of avoided that bit.
Still, I hope you enjoy it.

*******


The quiet tone of his com link pinged throughout his cabin but he ignored it. They would wait, as they always did, because it was their place to do so. His attention was solely focused on the beautiful work of art trapped within the confines of a cryo pod.

The man was everything and so much more.

His com link pinged again. Glowing red eyes narrowed as he glared at the small object attached to his wrist. But his smile was still in place.

“Soon.” He whispered gently, turning his gaze back towards the cryo pod. “It won't be long now.”

You make me proud.

He smiled as the words wandered through his head.

“I will do everything in my power.” With quiet steps, he walked towards the pod with an outstretched hand. Blue fingers touched the cool surface of the pod, where ice crystals stuck to the body suspended in time. Time no longer meant anything to him, did it? He was frozen. Forever young behind only a thin screen of glass.

But with only one breath left. One inhale. One exhale. And death would take him.

“I will find a way.” He said.

His com link pinged once more. With a steady hand, he activated it and it took more self control than expected not to growl like an animal. “What is it?”

“We've reached the destination, Sir.”

He blinked, surprised. Had they not just left home base? Had they been in hyperspace for nearly a day already?

“Acknowledged.”

The Captain deactivated the link and took a deep breath while he smoothed the front of his uniform with trembling hands. His lips lifted into a small smile as he turned back to the pod. “I promise.” He whispered. “It won't be long now.”

Do not fail me.

A lift of a black eyebrow. “Have I ever?”

*

“You sure you got the right coordinates?”

“I really do look like a moron to you, don't I?” Cherise Thornton sighed and shook her head making blond curls jump around her shoulders. “Yes. The coordinates are correct.”

“I'm just saying...don't look right to me.”

Cherise took a deep breath to calm herself. Maik had the uncanny ability to make her blood boil with just a few choice words.

“We found the planet and we'll find the temple.” Cherise snapped, jumping up from behind the control console in the cockpit and picking up her utility belt from the co-pilots seat. Maik stood in the door, arms crossed over a broad chest.

“And what if we don't?” He challenged. “I mean, we come all this way and it might be for nuthin'.”

She squeezed passed him while fastening her belt around her hips. Boots thundering on the floor panels, Cherise made her way to the landing ramp. According to the readouts, the planets' temperature and humidity were moderate, so no worries about getting another sun burn. She still had the scars on her shoulders from their last endeavor and so far not enough credits to afford a dip in a bacta tank.

Which would change once she grabbed the artifact and sold it to the highest bidder.

As the landing ramp descended with quite a loud bang, she waited for a moment, listening, hoping that they wouldn't be greeted by hostiles. Her hand hovered above the blaster in her holster but she truly didn't want to have to use it. It always sounded so easy – aim and pull the trigger. But it really wasn't.

“And you sure we at the right place?” Maik called from behind her. She heard him coming her way a moment later.

“Yeah.” Cherise answered. “It's a two mile hike. The place has several entrances, each supposedly with different obstacles. Like a booby trapped maze.”

Maik raised his brows. “You mighta' mentioned this before, woman.”
Cherise smiled. “You'd have said no.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. “Just remember the credits, sweetheart. Once we find this artifact, we can sell it for more credits than you can possibly imagine.”

Maik snorted. “Heard that before. Man...this better be worth it.”

“It will be.” Cherise said with a fake smile.

It has to be.

*

The HUD showed him a seemingly endless maze underground, one of many entrances just a few feet away. According to his calculations, it would take about a standard hour to reach the cavern where the artifact...slept.

Fett checked his weapons, made sure that no one had followed him and then continued his trek through the underbrush. He'd arrived a few days ago, after checking out clue after clue after clue, each one of them leading him here, to this place on a planet hardly anyone had ever heard of. Initial scans had shown the planet mostly unoccupied but when he came in for a closer look, he'd been quite surprised to find a group of Yuuzhan Vong settled comfortably in caves not too far away.

He didn't much care for the Vong.

The entrance to the maze turned out to be a small hole in the ground. He'd have missed it, if he hadn't studied the layout back aboard his ship. He crouched low and studied it, surprised to see a make-shift ladder attached to the wall. A ladder that hadn't been used in several years, he mused.

He started his descent carefully, testing the ladder before settling his complete weight. A few seconds into his climb downward, a ladder rung broke beneath his boot. His body crashed against the cave wall but he managed to hold on with one hand, gripping the ladder tightly, hanging there like a little girls' ragdoll. Fett winced and breathed heavily but he ignored the stinging pain in his arm. Compared to what his body was going through, a little muscle burn was a walk in the park.

He managed to get a hold on the ladder with both hands and continued downward. Slowly. Very slowly.

When he reached the bottom several minutes later, he activated the light on his helmet and unclipped a scanning device from his belt. All he needed was the map to find his way and once he found the artifact, he'd be off the planet within the hour.

*

It was a winding cave, a labyrinth which many had obviously failed to exit. The Captain glanced down at a skeleton at his feet, a human by the looks of it. Scraps of clothing still lay around what was left of the corpse, including what looked like a tattered notebook so old, half the pages had turned to dust.

He knelt by the remains and tilted his head sideways. Something behind the corpse caught his eye, something that didn't belong...

“Sir, I don't think --”

The Captain ignored his security officer's objection and, with a black gloved hand, quickly reached forward. A silver cylinder, crookedly lodged underneath the skeleton's broken rib, came free with a sickening crack.

“Jedi.” He said quietly, examining the hilt of a lightsaber and trailing a finger along the shaft.

The security officer held a glow rod above their heads, the bluish light reflecting off the weapon. The Captain gripped it tightly, quickly stood and clipped the lightsaber onto his belt. His eyes roamed the body at his feet and he couldn't help but wonder who this person had once been. But perhaps he could find out.

Later.

The Captain activated his wrist light and kept going, stepping over rocks that had fallen from the ceiling, ignoring bones scattered along the path but failing to ignore the stench that assaulted his senses. A cool gust of wind, accompanied by a sweet putrid stink, gave him the chills. He held his wrist light higher and kept going, refusing to accept that he was, indeed, a bit rattled.

Above him, hanging from the ceiling, winged creatures with small glowing green eyes watched him. It felt like they measured his every move, turning their heads his way and narrowing those ugly glowing eyes.

Paranoia will get you nowhere.

The voice echoed throughout his mind and yes...it spoke the truth.

The Captain took a deep breath and focused on his steps, focused on the winding path before him. Paranoia would not get him to his goal.

But determination would.

*

“Are those Chiss?” Cherise whispered, crouching low behind a withered old bush. In her hand, she clutched her blaster, just for a moment pondering whether or not to use it against the guards standing in front of the entrance to the cavern. “What are they doing here?”

“They're here for the same reason we here, sweetheart.” Maik said, rubbing his stubbly chin with the pad of his thumb. “They want the artifact.”

Cherise ground her teeth and gripped the blaster tighter in her hand. This wasn't the way things were supposed to happen. She was supposed to be the one to go inside, grab the artifact and start a new life.

“They won't take this from me.” She hissed as anger got the better of her. Each and every time when she was so close to finally being free, to finally being happy, someone or something went and ruined it. But not this time. And certainly not some...Chiss.

“I know what you're thinking.” Maik said, shaking his head. “And no. This too dangerous.”

“We're not backing out of this.” Cherise said, more determined than ever. She didn't come all this way to leave empty handed. Sell the artifact and enjoy the remainder of her probably short life span. “I need to get inside and no one is going to stop me.”

Maik suddenly gripped her arm and pulled her closer when she was about to jump to her feet, blaster blazing. A voice inside her mind agreed it was a stupid idea but then again, if she could get rid of the Chiss standing at the entrance –

“They not alone.” Maik hissed closely to her ear. “You think they standin' out there for the hell of it? They waiting, sweetheart.”

Cherise swallowed.

Waiting...on who?

*

Fett peeked around the corner, using the HUD to zoom onto the occupants praying within the cavern. Of all the things he'd expected, this hadn't been it. He'd thought of several scenarios but religious Vong had not crossed his mind.

Lowering his rifle and clicking it back in place, he needed to come up with a plan. He'd known the artifact would be guarded but there was no way he could take on four Yuuzhan Vong, not in his current state.

For a moment, Fett allowed himself to feel fatigued. His body hurt. There was barely an inch left that wasn't inflamed with pain. His armor kept him on his feet most of the time.
Taking a breath, Fett wondered if he could shoot his way through to the artifact.
It could heal. Supposedly. That's what the legend said. If it wasn't true, he could at least sell it and get the treatment he needed...but no...he would keep it.

He stared at the artifact standing on a pedestal not too far away. His eyes wandered along its beautiful shape and he wondered what it would feel like to touch it.

Fett shook his head, suddenly confused. It was like the artifact was calling him, beckoning him to hurry up and remove it from its prison. Which was absolutely insane because it was only an object...wasn't it?

A guttural shout shook him out of his thoughts.
One of the Vong had noticed him and holding a long, serpent shaped staff in his hand, the ugly alien stalked his way. Fett unclipped his rifle, finger on the trigger but he didn't shoot. Not yet.

The artifact said not to...

“What the --”

And that's when all hell broke loose.

*

The Captain quickly stepped aside and let his security guards pass. They held blasters at the ready as they entered what seemed to be a place of worship. He didn't care in the slightest. Because right there on a pedestal, the artifact called to him.

Just a few steps away stood the hope that his father might survive. The greatest man in the galaxy had to live and this small unseeming little thing was going to save him.

The Captain assessed the situation. There were four Yuuzhan Vong clad in strange clothing. All of them held their staffs in front of them, fighting the Chiss guards and...winning.
It was abundantly clear that his guards had no chance against these Vong. The Captain sprinted forward and reached out for the artifact but was knocked to the ground when someone jumped him. It wasn't a Vong, though. It was a Mandalorian and given the way he began pounding his fist into the Captain's face, it was a very angry Mandalorian.

The Captain managed to twist away. Within only a moment, he held his blaster in his hand and got off two shots before he dove for the artifact. He didn't make it. The Mandalorian flew at him again and he landed face first in the dirt. He saw through narrowed eyes that his precious artifact had tumbled to the ground and there it lay, calling out for him to save it from its prison.

Which he would do, of course.

After killing the Mandalorian.

*

“Did you hear that?” Cherise whispered. “Sounded like blaster shots.”

“From down below.” Maik answered, gesturing to the guards inching closer to the entrance. “They look like they about to go inside.”

“This is our chance. We'll go in after and --”

“And be killed for sure.”

Cherise knew Maik was right. But she really didn't care. She needed to go after them because she needed that artifact. She needed to touch it, to feel it, to ask for its help and it wanted her to. It wanted to be rescued from its prison...

She frowned, ran a hand through unruly blond hair. “What do we do?”

Maik sighed. “I guess we wait.”

“Not good enough.” Cherise prayed to whatever deity heard that Maik would forgive her. But she pulled her blaster out of the holster, quickly checked whether or not she had it on stun and then pulled the trigger. Maik fell to the ground with a thump.

She grabbed his feet and pulled him behind a bush thick and high enough to hide his body. And then she ran to the entrance where only a single Chiss stood guarding the cavern. She didn't care.

The artifact was hers and hers alone and no one was going to stand in her way.

*

The Captain gripped the artifact in slippery hands, tucking it underneath his arm for safe keeping. There was blood on his hands, between his fingers, soaking the front of his unnaturally wrinkled uniform.

He heard the last cries of his men as they were butchered by the remaining Vong. He'd caught a few snippets of their battle roars and apparently, his artifact was a focal point in their prayers. The Captain had stolen their Goddess.

Stumbling through the near dark, trying to find his way out, the artifact pulsated in his arms. He'd realized, the moment his hands had touched it, that it wasn't an artifact at all but, indeed, a living being. A native to the planet and so very old that the universe had forgotten about it.

The Captain would finally free it of its prison and the price?

Healing his father.

He glanced down at the artifact, nestled in the crook of his arm, as if he carried a baby.

“You will help him.” He whispered.

The artifact agreed.

*

He'd failed. Fett wasn't used to failing. This time it would be for good. Sure, he'd lost the fight with the Chiss but that didn't matter. It also didn't matter that a Vong had interfered, thus giving the Chiss time to escape.

What mattered was that the Chiss had taken his only means of survival. Soon, the sickness would devour him and there would be nothing left.

He would die alone, of course. Because that was his lot in life. Loneliness was his favored companion.

But not here. Not in the company of Vong.
As one of them came towards him with its staff held high in strike position, Fett grabbed a hidden blaster from underneath his armor and shot him, point blank, in what he presumed used to be a face. With all the scars and tattoos, there was no way to be sure.

Not anymore anyway.

The Vong fell to the ground with a loud thud and lay there, smoke spiraling upwards from where the bolt had jellied its brain.

Fell straightened up, one hand going to his side. The Chiss had gotten in one or two lucky shots but this he'd at least survive. The virus eating away at his bones? Not so much.

“Come on.” Fett said, feeling dizzy but not in the mood for going down without a fight. One more Vong stood in his way to freedom. “I have nothing more to lose.”

*
Only one guard remained while the other hurried down into the cavern. One guard Cherise could take care of. Blaster in her hand, she jumped from her hiding spot and shot. Once, twice...three times. The guard had heard her, evidently, because he evaded all her shots and when he finally managed to retaliate, Cherise was out of options to hide.

Maik had been correct, of course. This was too dangerous. She would never make it.

But the guard suddenly stopped attacking when a figure stumbled from the cavern. And in his arms he cradled what she had come to take. Anger boiled up inside of her and before common sense even had the chance to take over, Cherise stalked towards the man, growling like an animal.

“It's mine!” She shouted, throwing her blaster aside and jumping the man. Only, he pivoted aside, leaving her sprawling through the air, arms and legs flailing, until the ground met her face with a sickening crunch.

Was this to be the end, then?

You are not worthy.

The voice echoed throughout her mind, the words on repeat, a song in her head that she knew by heart. She glanced up to the Chiss who cradled the artifact and the voice whispered.

You were never worthy to free me.

Surprisingly, the Chiss left her alone. So she lay there, embarrassed beyond belief, as the two tall blue skinned men left with the artifact that would have changed her life forever.

“No.” Cherise shook her head and went for her blaster again. “Not like this.” She pushed herself off the ground and staggered forward, aiming her weapon and then she pulled the trigger.

But nothing happened.

You are not worthy.

She dropped her weapon as tears clouded her vision. She watched the two men walk away and with the last bit of strength, Cherise wept.

*

You did well.

The Captain trailed a finger along the fine curve of the artifact. The oval shape reminded him of an egg and the green vines just beneath its almost translucent skin pulsed with life.

“I promised I wouldn't fail.” He whispered, walking through his darkened cabin and smiling at the frozen man behind the glass within the cryo pod. His fingers, still crusted with dry blood and dirt, swept over the control panel. There was the sound of a broken seal opening and the pod slowly descended to the ground. A moment later, the pod opened.

His father looked magnificent.

“Do what you were destined to do.” The Captain said quietly, setting the artifact onto his fathers' chest. The green vines sprung forward, tentacles wrapping themselves around his fathers' torso. And then the top half of the artifact slowly cracked open and a beautiful flower appeared from within, bathed in magnificent white light.

Simultaneously, the pod's alarm went off and the Captain knelt beside it, grabbing an ice cold hand.

There was one last breath left.

One inhale. One exhale.

The flower glowed a beautiful golden light and enveloped his fathers' body like a cocoon. And after only a few moments, it was over.

Thank you.

He nodded at the voice and smiled.

“You are free.”

The flower, the artifact, the living being from a time long forgotten, disappeared in a flutter of glittery light, stars hovering above the still cold body – that suddenly began to breathe.

The Captain's smile grew wider. The Captain began to laugh.

For Grand Admiral Thrawn had finally awoken.


thedarkbeckons

 

Oh, Ceillean - that was riveting and fantabulously written with all those different individuals after the valued artifact. And then the ending! Bravo!

 

Ceillean - Thank you so much for this amazing story! Loved the additional characters, the fighting, the way the artifact "belonged" to the Vong, and the long-dead Jedi...Superb! You should consider writing more stories about the life of this "artifact."

For me, the true twist ending was that Boba Fett FAILED....that honest-to-goodness surprised me. And Thrawn's son...my mind is spinning with possibilities now. Perhaps the Thrawn in the books was actually a clone while the real Thrawn languished in a cryo-chamber...perhaps his son left the Ascendancy to help him against the wishes of his superiors.....regardless of the truth, you have definitely changed my view of much of the Expanded Universe, and I most heartily tip my hat to you. Thank you and Happy New Year!

 

Boba Fett against Thrawn's son... This was a clash of the titans. Poor Cherise never stood a chance.

I loved how you wove together the various elements of the prompt and the Voldemort-like resurrection of Thrawn is somehow totally in-character for him. And I agree with thedarkbeckons. Your artifact needs more stories. Don't you hear it? It's calling to you. You are worthy. Write more about me

 

Very, very good story.

I will be filing away a few descriptions for later use.