Beyond - Legends Rising Hope, Rising Darkness (Completed 5/27)

Great posts!!!!

Eclepsa's evil!

 

Just you wait, Yoda_Drinks.

"My Lady, two ships just dropped out of hyperspace," the voice of one of the spaceport controllers announced over the comm, jarring the Dark Lady from sleep. She briefly considered killing the idiot for waking her, but then recalled that she had left standing orders that should either the Millennium Falcon or Jade Shadow arrive in system, she was to be notified immediately.

"Have they identified themselves?"

"They've done more than that. Han Solo demanded landing clearance. He has threatened to open fire on the spaceport if it isn't granted."

"Allow the Jade Shadow to land," Eclepsa said, tapping the nail of her index finger against her teeth. "And then patch me through to the Millennium Falcon."

"As you wish, Archduchess."

"So you're afraid to face me in person?" Han's voice came over the comm.

"Not at all, Captain Solo. But you should know that my actions may have preserved your life. Any Republic officer who steps on Brentaal will be considered an invader, and executed. As I recall, you still serve in the Republic's military."

"Seems like a weak excuse to me," Han said.

"To add to it, this is matter between myself, Skywalker, and his wife. So you might as well turn and get out of my system before I decide you pose a threat to the security of Brentaal."

"I wouldn't be willing to leave without Luke," Han said. Besides, there are a few people aboard the Falcon who wouldn't let me even if I wanted to."

"So you brought your wife along, I take it?"

"That he has," Leia said, her voice icy. "As a Jedi, I demand that you allow the Falcon to land. And on a personal note, you should know that I have a score to settle with you as well."

"I will make the necessary arrangements. But I warn you, should Solo step off the Falcon, I am not responsible for the consequences."

++++++++++++



More Jaina & Co. coming tomorrow, probably in the evening.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

Nice posts. I wonder if Mara's rusty at fighting a sith.Anyways the battle should be promising.

 

Mara won't be rusty, she'll chop Eclepsa's head off!

Nice writing

 

Yes, yoda, the battle should be interesting. But I've still got a curveball to throw in that situation.

I'd have to agree, Yoda_Drinks. Mara's had enough fighting with the Yuuzhan Vong to be able to handle a Sith.


And now, let's swing back to Hapes and check in on Jaina.


"The first thing we need to do," Jaina said, pulling her hair into a braid to keep it out of her face, "is to find a way to keep the orbital batteries from decimating the fleet." The group on the ground had decided, or rather Jaina had decided for them, that the time had come to begin taking Hapes back from the clutching grasp of Helena Norema.

"It's not going to be easy," Face said. If I remember, usually these things are usually controlled from the station itself. Any ground station are likely to be heavily guarded."

"And those guarding them aren't too likely to welcome a lightsaber among them," Jag said, voicing an opposition to the idea that Jaina had just been on the verge of suggesting. "I know how you think, my wife," he said with a wink.

"You have a better idea?"

"Sure. Send Poster Boy in and let him start talking. I'm sure that he can keep them occupied while we slip in."

"Once we're inside, it's going to be very difficult to get us out," Kell added. "Course, we could always just blow the thing up."

"Not this time," Face said, his voice seeming oddly reasonable, given the situation. "We blow that thing up, all control will go to the platforms themselves." He shot a look at his teammate, apparently questioning why he had chosen Kell for this mission in the first place.

"So Face keeps them busy long enough for us to slip in and take over, then what?" Behindi asked.

"I brought along some of Tetran Cowall's holodramas," Sharr suggested, hoping that the mention of Face's old rival wouldn't cause problems. He needn't have worried.

"That's just cruel and unusual punishment," Face said, chuckling. "But then again, they might consider it merciful, given what the Hapans might do if they had to take the station.

"I hope that's it," Jaina said. Then, a wicked gleam appeared in her eye. "Oh, and Sharr? Since you're the one who came up with the holodrama idea, you can guard them once we leave."

"Leave?" Kell asked. "You're not thinking..."

"Oh, yes," Jaina said. "Once the ground center is controlled, I'm heading for space. My brother and his wife are going to be up there, and I have no intention of letting them finish this battle without me."

"Solos," Face muttered.

++++++++++++

That's it for now, more to come tomorrow (or maybe tonight if my muse is active).


Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

Well, seeing as nobody's replied, guess I'll have to up this myself.


"The current plan is to attempt a lightning thrust at Hapes itself. Rather than spread our forces out too thinly, we will strike at Hapes and remove Norema from power," Bel Iblis said, addressing the gathered senior officers from the ships that would be involved.

"How do you plan on dealing with the Hapan fleet? Certainly some of the officers are satisfied with the change in regime," said Admiral Dorja, the father of the Relentless' captain, and commander of the Super Star Destroyer Anakin Solo. "We cannot simply ignore them."

"And ignore them we will not," Pellaeon said. "While the majority of the fleet heading for Hapes, we will need to draw the Hapans away. To do that, several of the Imperial-class Destroyers will be heading to worlds like Gallinore, Charubah, and Selab. The Hapan will not want to let these worlds fall, especially Charubah."

"They will be out of place and unable to assist when we drop the heavy end of the hammer on them," Admiral Kre'fey said with said with a wolfish grin.

"What about the orbital weapons platforms?" someone in the back asked.

"At this moment, we have a team of officers on Hapes, working to take the weapons platforms out of the equation. Once we receive word of success, we will begin moving out," Bel Iblis answered. "You'll be receiving further details from me later regarding your individual assignments. Dismissed."

++++++++++++

"I'm not staying here while you go out there and stick your head into the saber cat's mouth, Leia," Han said, irritated that Leia would even suggest such a thing.

"And I'm not going to risk your life by letting you come with me. You heard what they said. As far as the people of this world are concerned, you've got a price on your head."

"So I'm supposed to just let you walk into a trap? In case you've forgotten, Leia, that is a Sith out there."

"And I'm a Jedi, as is Tahiri. Besides, I don't think the Noghri would let anything happen to me."

"I assure you, Han clan Solo, that we will not allow any harm to befall the Lady Vader," Khabarak said, stepping out from the shadows that hugged the maintenance hatch nearby.

"I really need to do a better job of checking for stowaways," Han said, sighing. I suppose Lando's going to show up next, he thought. Luckily, his friend didn't appear in response to the thought. "Leia, you really should..."

Leia put a hand over Han's mouth to stop him from warning her yet again. "I'm going out there, and you're staying here. If I need help, you'll be sure to let you know about it."

"You'd better, Highnessness." Leia glared at him, but then smiled, to show that she wasn't really mad. Han lowered the ramp, and the two women exited the Falcon to find Mara waiting for them.

"We seem to have an escort," she said, jerking a thumb at the group of officers mingling at the exit of the spaceport. One of them finally detached himself from the group, and made his way over to where the two Jedi were waiting.

?Master Skywalker, Master Solo, Knight Veila, welcome to Brentaal. I have been asked to escort you to the Archduchess for an audience.?

Archduchess? Leia thought. She looked over at Mara, trusting in Mara?s slightly stronger abilities in the Force to warn them of any danger. She gave a fractional shake of her head, indicating that there wasn?t really any deception on the part of the officer. ?Lead the way,? she said, gesturing for the other to precede them.

++++++++++++



That's all for now. I'll be checking in on Invidious tomorrow.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
There's gonna be a fight very soon.
*refills popcorn*

 

yes, indeedy, yoda, there is a fight coming!

"Admiral, we are receiving a distress call from Gallinore. They report that three Imperial-class Destroyers have just dropped out of hyperspace, and are deploying fighters," Captain Niquip reported. "They request immediate assistance."

Tavira tapped her index finger against her jaw, trying to figure out why the Republic would send only three Destroyers against a world that they had to know Hapes would defend. Was this a ploy, and attempt to draw Invidious away from Hapes. "Send the Raptor's Claw and two Battle Dragons to deal with the problem."

"Is that wise, Admiral? Most of the Hapan fleet is still being recrewed. We only have a couple dozen fully crewed Dragons."

"Hapes cannot allow the core worlds of the Cluster to fall. If they do so, they risk an uprising here. I'm still not entirely certain that all the traitors have been removed from commnd."

"Understood, Admiral." Niquip swallowed. "If I may, Admiral, how much longer are we going to continue here? You have held up your end of our agreement with the Lady, er, Queen Mother."

"The Queen Mother may have paid us, but I want to make sure that when we leave, we do so with her in our debt. The Republic is certain to attack, as they cannot allow her to remain in power. While they remain a threat to Hapes, we will remain here to act as her shield."

"Of course, Admiral." He turned away, only to see the comm officer frantically gesturing for his attention. What is it now? he wondered, walking quickly over to the station. He soon wished that he hadn't.

++++++++++++

"Everything is proceeding as we expected," Bel Iblis said, looking up from the latest set of reports.

"They've just sent three more Battle Dragons out," reported the officer at the sensor station. "That leaves them with only fifteen remaining Battle Dragons that are in space."

"And Invidious," Bel Iblis added. "Send to Admiral Pellaeon that I want his task force to follow us in, with Admiral Kre'fey's coming in from the Rim side of Hapes." For once in his career, Bel Iblis had made the decision not to have his flag on the Pergrine, instead, he carried it aboard the Anakin Solo, without question the most powerful element in the fleet. "Patch me through to all ships." He paused, then spoke. Rather than employ any overbearing or overzealous speech, his message was simple, and to the point, not a surprise to anybody who knew the General. "All craft, prepare to make the jump into hyperspace. The Battle of Hapes begins now."

++++++++++++

That's it for now, more Jaina & Co coming tomorrow.


Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

Where is everybody? ?


The five black-clad figures slipped into one of the Hapan hangers even as the Republic fleet entered hyperspace for the short jump to Hapes. Jaina led the group, trusting in her Force abilities to warn her of any approaching Hapan turncoats. The group had cast aside any pretense of attempting to blend in with the Hapans before setting off for the control center.

It had been a brief battle. The Republic group descended upon the surprised Hapans like some creature created by the night. Most of the Hapans hadn't even had time to reach for their weapons, much less summon outside assistance. One had managed to get off a single shot before Jaina's lightsaber had sliced through the barrel of the blaster. As a result, Behindi was in the middle of the group, nursing a slight blaster burn to her shoulder. She had volunteered to remain behind and keep an eye on the Hapans, but Sharr insisted that her expertise might be needed. "Besides," he had said, "even with that would you're probably still a better pilot than I am. Now get going before I have to ask our illustrious leader to stun you and drag you to the hanger."

Jaina drew her lightsaber, and ignited the violet blade with a snap-hiss. The pale light swept over the hanger, revealing a collection of fighters that one day might have been trying to tear each other apart. TIE fighters were sitting next to X-Wings, interceptors next a pair of older looking B-Wings. "Are those what I think they are?" Face asked, pointing to a trio of ships over in the far corner. Jaina squinted a bit to get a better look, and confirmed it. One ship was indeed Storm, the fighter prized by Tenel Ka's father, Isolder. Sitting beside the fighter was the Queen Mother's own ship, the [/i]Rock Dragon. And completing the odd assortment was a TIE x-1 Advanced, the type of ship flown by Darth Vader during the first Death Star battle over Yavin IV.

"I wouldn't think about taking either of those up," Jaina warned. "Tenel Ka can be just as picky about who flies her ship as my father is about the Falcon. And I doubt Isolder would be too pleased if one of you blew up his personal fighter." The group split, each heading to a fighter. Kell and Face each headed for X-Wings, while Jag climbed into one of the Interceptors. Jaina headed for the Advanced, counting on the shields. In moments, the five fighters lifted off, preparing for the battle that was to come.

++++++++++++


That's it for now. The duel begins tomorrow.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

Geez, two days of having to up this myself. Is anybody still reading this???


The guide, or guard, Leia wasn't sure, led the three Jedi to a large, overly ornate palace that Leia guessed predated the Clone Wars. Something in the design suggested that one of those involved with the design had connections to Naboo. They entered, and were ushered into the presence of the Archduchess.

*There's our Dark Lady,* Mara sent through the Force. Leia stretched out with the Force, and sensed the powerful presence of the Sith Lady. And out of sight, somewhat subdued, she thought she sensed her nephew.

"Master Solo," the woman said, "welcome to Brentaal. Forgive me for being rude, but I find it odd that only after we have withdrawn from the Republic does it choose to pay attention to us."

"We never intentionally ignore any given member. If there was some dispute you had with the Republic," Leia said, trying to avoid asking the question that she knew she wanted to, "you could have addressed the Senate at any given time. But it is not your secession from the Republic that we are here to discuss."

"No, of course not. If that had been the matter, it would have been Saretti that would be before me now. Which makes me wonder, just what is your reason for being here?"

"I think you already know that," Mara said. "At least, you know if you are other than what you claim to be." The Sith Lady shifted in her seat, and Mara caught a glimpse of the lightsabers hanging from her belt. "That's all the proof I needed, My Lady," she said, sarcasm dripping as she uttered the last two words. "Now where are Luke and Ben?"

"I'm right here, Mara," Luke said, stepping out of the shadows.

"What about Ben?" Mara asked, maternal protectiveness momentarily asserting itself.

"He's all right." Luke then turned to Leia. *I need you to go and get Ben,* he sent through the bond he shared with his sister. *What happens here is not yet your concern.*

*And when does it become my concern?* Leia sent back. *When Mara lies dead and you're enslaved by that Sith witch?*

*There is more here than meets the eye,* Luke sent. *We have our parts to play. Trust me, I've seen it in the Force.*

*I hope you're right,* Leia sent back, as she and Tahiri followed the guard from the room. Eclepsa had, likewise, sent all attendants from the room.

"So it comes down to this, Master Jade Skywalker," Eclepsa said, rising from the throne and loosening the cape that she had worn, one that seemed to alter in color between black and crimson. Mara, likewise, removed her Jedi cloak, and drew her lightsaber, but simply held it, waiting for the Dark Lady to make the first move.

Eclepsa stepped down, drew her lightsaber, and ignited the red-orange blade. She swung at Mara, who ignited her blue blade just in time to block the blow from the Sith Lady. The duel had begun. And in the outcome would lie the fate of all involved.

++++++++++++


More to come tomorrow, I hope.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

*rups hands together and sips soda*
Fight already!

 

I feel awful about falling behind on this story, Tych.


I'll read all the posts I've fallen behind on tomorrow.


Until then.......

 

this is just a little reminder for where I stopped. I'm on page five but it is getting late, I want to say your doing a remarkable job with this fic Tych_sel, I'll try and get caught up on the rest of it sometime this weekend.

Edit: All caught up now, fight fight fight fight more more more more more more

 

The duel is coming, yoda, don't worry. As the wrinkly old guy (aka Palpy) said, "Patience, my friend."

It's okay, Liz. I realize that real life (and your own fic) have to take priority over this one. Hopefully you'll be able to catch up though!

Glad you've been able to catch up, JF, even more glad that you're enjoying it. And to you as well, "patience is a virtue!"


For now, back to Hapes, but more Luke to come tomorrow.

Jaina soared from the hanger, relishing in the performance of the TIE Advanced. It was more nimble than the X-Wing she was used to, and she wondered just how things might have been different had the Empire optioned to use them more often. "Any particular target you'd like to hit, Leader?" she asked.

"The shipyards," Jag and Face both said, replying to the title that they were used to being referred to by. "We need to fix this," Face said.

"It's more of an Intel operation, Wraith Lead," Jag said. "Just refer to me as One."

"Modesty from a Corellian," Face said. "Will wonders never cease?"

"Ah, flyboys?" Behindi asked. "If you want to hit that shipyard, we better get on the move. Invidious is on her way."

"They must have figured out what happened groundside," Kell said. "I knew we should have rigged the thing to blow."

"Don't worry," Jaina said, recalling the message that she had received a half hour before the group had left for the assault on the control center. "We should be getting company right about...now." Even as she spoke, a Star Destroyer emerged from hyperspace, followed by a pair of Corvettes, two Republic-class cruisers, and the pride of the Republic fleet, the Anakin Solo.

"I presume you've achieved your mission, Goddess," Wedge Antilles said.

"That's affirmative, Control. The Golans are all yours."

++++++++++++


That's all for now. More to come tomorrow.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

Nice very nice. Now to Luke. Will we see lightening seeing as how luke has no asber. It would be nice to see him use his knowledge of the force like Yoda. Oh who am I kidding. I wanna see Mara and Eclepsa forget Luke!

 

great update

hope to see more soon

 

I'm back!

**Crickets chirp**

oopsy... lol

I'm caught up

 

Did I say that Luke would be fighting, yoda? I don't recall saying anything like that.

Glad you liked it, Falcon. More is defintely coming.

Glad yo see you back, Saber. That must have been one mammoth read to catch up.


Luke stood back from the contest, hoping that he had done the right thing. Just before the arrival of Leia and Mara, Luke had finally managed a brief glimpse of the future. Maybe it was just the swirling eddies of the Dark Side, but the vision Luke had received was one of disaster if he or Leia took part in this duel.

Somewhat like the first vision he had in the Dark Side cave on Dagobah, during his training, Luke saw a dreamlike battle taking place. He saw himself strike down the Dark Lady in order to protect Leia, only to see the whole image dissolve into a vision of the galaxy, a red-orange blaze emerging from Brentaal and sweeping like a conflagration to encompass the whole of the Republic. He wondered if this was all a result of his action. Could it be that this one flashpoint could wind up searing across the galaxy, destroying all that he, Han, Leia, and Mara had fought to defend.

So Luke did what he could. He acted to defend Leia by getting her out of the room, preventing her from taking part in the duel that now raged across the Dark Lady's throne room. He saw an eerie similarity between this contest and his own battles against Vader. Though there was no Emperor urging the two participants on, Luke felt that somehow, this duel would have galactic repercussions if things went wrong.

++++++++++++


Don't worry about Luke's apparant inaction. When push comes to shove, he will act.


Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

A little short.
Glad Luke isn't fighting. Wonder how the duel is going.

 

great post, more soon?

 

Yeah, yoda, I know it was a bit short. But I'll try and make up for it.

Sooner than you think, JF.

"Watch out for that Battle Dragon off to port," Bel Iblis ordered from the bridge of the Anakin Solo. "She's guarding something." How the general knew this was beyond Wedge, but the reasoning didn't matter, so long as Bel Iblis was right. Once again, he proved himself, as a swarm of modified TIE Interceptors swarmed around the upper ring of the Hapan ship, headed straight for the Super Star Destroyer. Dorja countered the fighters by turning the Destroyer's port side to the fighters, and releasing his own fighters. A mix of TIEs and X-Wings emerged, led by Kyp Durron's re-activated Dozen, General Salm's Defender Wing, and Gavin Darklighter's Rogues.

"You want to be out there mixing it up, don't you," Tycho Celchu said.

"Please tell me I'm not that easy to read," Wedge replied, shooting a friendly glare at the Alderaanian man who remained Wedge's second in command. "And I will be staying out of things this time unless...Oh, sithspawn!"

Tycho frowned momentarily, then spotted the object of Wedge's exclamation. Flying up past the bridge of the Destroyer, wings waggling, was a bright yellow X-Wing, leading an equally yellow eleven refurbished and rearmed N-1 starfighters, compliments of Queen Ryoo Naberrie of Naboo.

"Leave it to Janson to give me more gray hairs," Wedge muttered under his breath. "Now I'm going to have to start making sure that he doesn't pass on some of his annoying habits to the Nubian pilots."

"Probably too late for that one, boss," Tycho said. "Besides, there are worse things he could be doing right now."

"Like what?"

"Ummm...like pretending to shoot you when transferring a report?" Tycho said, referring back to Janson's antics during the first days of Wraith Squadron, when the group had still been part of Starfighter Command."

"In that case, I hope there's somebody in his squad that's enough like him to cause him trouble. Then, at least, he'll get to taste what he's put me through all these years," Wedge replied, as the Battle Dragon finally gave up pounding on the Anakin Solo's port.

++++++++++++


That's it for now. Back to Brentaal tomorrow.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

oooh I like more soon

 

I hope I'm not spoiling you with multi-post days, JF. But more is coming, don't worry.


Mara's azure blade met the molten blade of Eclepsa as the two women continued their deadly dance. Already they had been back and forth across the throne room, neither able to gain an upper hand. For a moment, it looked like Eclepsa had Mara backed into a wall, but Mara had ducked, the lightsaber slicing deep into the stone carving behind the throne. Mara had slid out, then pushed herself forward off the back of the throne, sliding along the polished stone floor, blade parallel to the reflective surface. Rather than jumping over it, and allowing her opponent to continue towards the wall, Eclepsa jabbed her blade down, causing Mara's lightsaber to go spinning off into a corner.

The Dark Lady jabbed down, but Mara rolled, calling her lightsaber even as she did so. The Dark Lady tried to grab on to the blade, but Mara leapt, snatching the blade from midair and re-igniting it. "Impressive," the Dark Lady said. "Your husband is a better teacher than I gave him credit for being."

"Better not to underestimate him," Mara said. "The Emperor did, to his own destruction."

"It was Vader's betrayal that killed the Emperor, Jade," Eclepsa said, even as she brought her lightsaber around in a powerful, two handed stroke aimed at Mara's midsection. Mara brought her blade up, parallel to her body to block the block, then kicked out, her boot slamming into the Dark Lady's stomach.

"Luke was there because the Emperor wanted him there," Mara said, bringing the lightsaber up, and slashing at the dark bodysuit worn by Eclepsa, who managed to back off just in time to avoid losing a limb. "He's the one who let Luke get through to Vader." Eclepsa turned, and stabbed viciously backward with the blade, but Mara had seen the attack coming, and dodged, letting Eclepsa's momentum send her sprawling. "You'll have to do better than that," Mara warned.

++++++++++++


That's it for now. Back to Hapes tomorrow.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

more more more can't wait till tomorrow

 

*munches popcorn passes some to other readers*
Great Posts!