Beyond Second to None (AU L/M, L/H & OC) 03/08/2012 Replies and artwork

First and foremost: ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luke went and bought a new swimsuit just to impress Mara! And then a brand new outfit. Then forgot to take off the pricetag! EPIC!!!!

Second, Mark is such a kid, but also so protective of Mara! He's so sweet! You know, when he's not pushing Mara into the pool. He keeps acting sweet and he'll get a girl in no time!

You have no idea how much I needed this this morning.

It's just the thing to cheer me up.

Loved everything, most especially Luke's swimwear , Mark being the voice of reason yet again , and the sweet sweet date .

JL, let me say something about those bathing outfits - yum yum yum tummy!

Woohoo! Sizzly kisses in the pool there!

Mark's comment in the pool about "staying in the water" longer and those trunks must fit quite wonderfully if it looks like a lightsaber is held there

Mark talks great sense to Mara ... all his points are right and true: pure meant-to-beness -- Mark's diary will be great

Wootness and squee! on the date! I love Luke in other colors too LOL

I love Luke's wanting to do things right but however feels comfortable for Mara

Something special when she gets back, huh?

The date was lovely. And I agree with taramidala, I'm just waiting for the angst. LOL.

They stayed that way for a few minutes before Mark resurfaced next to them. ?Although I think it is great that you two finally came to your senses, there are children on the other side of the pool and the lifeguard is giving you two a nasty look.?



?Luke, you may want to stay in the cold water for a few more minutes.? Mark chuckled.

double

She laughed. ?That explains it.? She gave him another lingering look. ?You look much better. Black is just not your color.?

Okay. I'm going to break with every other Luke fan to say this. I LIKE LUKE IN BLACK. IT'S HOT.

There, I said it. Carry on.

Do I really need a plot? I thought I would just have a great lead up to bootknocking. And why do you guys want angst? I guess I could kill off Mara like in the profics...but what's the point of reading fanfiction then. We read fanfiction because we are tired of the horrible Sith/Vong/everybody dies angst-filled plots and the complete lack of romance.

Ah, okay, if you want angst I will try to throw a death in. But when that happens you guys just have yourself to blame.

Ignore that psychotic user JL. Hazel, Briann, and I are actually sane; we don't want angst; Briann and Hazel said flat out your stuff cheered them up after one crappy day/event and we count on you and ginchy lee for the grandness of L/M as they are and were meant to be: i.e., a loving, passionate couple who don't need to go into psychoanalysis before they even kiss already!





Do I need a bumper sticker that says: JL - don't ever change LOL We love! sheer fluff/romance.

!!!!

Logging in on purpose to say NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

We don't want ansgst, no angst please





Also, forgot to say in my earlier review how much I loved the pool scene - priceless!!!

Where in my original comment did I say that I want angst? NOOO! I'm just saying that's many years of reading fic has led me to expect.

Some folks need to learn to take a joke, methinks.

Bootknock away!!

So... Lukie looking hot in his bathing suit... Any fan-artists around??

ginchy: Iverna and earlybird-obi-wan are great fan artists.

Iverna's done covers for JediMara77 & Ceillean

And oooh, taramidala - glad to know that was sarcasm - relieved sigh! Then I retract my earlier comment.

Now we all can hold up signage that says: L/M - sizzlemania forever!

What she said. LOL.

And JL, I've read Choices. I know what you're capable of.

ginchy - I like the way your mind works!

Thanks everyone for reading and taking the time to comment. I have been writing and rewriting to try to put some actual PLOT and maybe some angst into this story. Not because you guys asked for it, but this is becoming almost an epic story and I thought I should put a little plot in. 40K words of fluff just doesn't seem right. I am trying to read the books following TTT and I have to say I HATE IT!! Have you guys seen what takes place after TTT!!! Horrible horrible things. I swear, I think the Vong War was better. Anyway, when trying to keep AU as close to canon as possible, you have to work with what you got. But hopefully you will like my interpretation of upcoming events a little better than the original EU version.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate during this time of year. I am thinking of letting my boys open their presents on Christmas Eve just so I can sleep in tomorrow. In the past I would wake up at 3AM thinking a burglar is in the house and I find my kids tearing open Christmas presents saying "It's after midnight, Mom!" Then I said "No getting up and tearing open presents. I want to take photos. You have to wait until the sun is up." So at 6AM I have them knocking on my door yelling "The sun's up! The sun's up!"

Of course, now that I moved to the great, white north (Not so white this Christmas, though) the sun doesn't come up until around 8AM. So maybe it will be better this year.

Anyway, I wanted to give you guys a new chapter for Christmas. I wish I could give you a boot knocking chapter, but we are not there yet.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

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?Move, move!? Mark yelled as he set down suppressive fire while Mara and Karrde ran toward their shuttle. Karrde turned and popped off a couple blaster bolts at their pursuers while yelling into his comlink for Aves to prep the shuttle for take-off.

This was supposed to be a simple information broker assignment.

Unfortunately when they arrived at the drop off point the client decided he didn?t want to pay for the information on the datachip and he and two associates pulled their blasters. The unlucky thieves didn?t realize they were facing two Force sensitive smugglers who had their blasters out almost before they did. For a tense few seconds the two groups of humans stared down the barrels of each other?s blasters, anxiously wondering who would blink first.

?We?re going to back out of here,? Karrde said slowly. ?If you move my friends here will kill you.?

Of course, there?s always that one idiot who has to move and so the firefight began. Mara and Mark took out two of the three easily enough and they were training their weapons on the third when a half dozen more thugs burst through the door of a backroom.

Not knowing how many more reinforcements might appear, Mark called for a tactical retreat back to the shuttle. After a few close calls they finally made it to the ship.

?Come on Mark!? Mara called out as she got to the shuttle ramp. She fired her blaster to cover him.

He shot off a few more rounds and scrambled into the ship. He could hear the small blaster fire scoring the outer hull as Aves lifted off and out of the docking bay.

Once safely out of firing range Mark let out an enthusiastic yell. ?OOOO-RAAAH!! That was fun!?

Karrde frowned. ?Mark, you have a strange idea of entertainment.? He turned to Mara. ?Are you all right??

She brushed off her jacket. It was covered with duracrete dust that came from blaster bolts hitting the walls and support columns she had taken cover behind. ?Yeah. That didn?t go as planned.?

Karrde smirked. ?No, but they got the worst of it thanks to you two.? He walked up to Mark and slapped him on the shoulder. ?Good work. You may actually be worth all that food I feed you.?

Mark gave a classic Skywalker grin, but the smile was now slightly hidden by three-weeks of beard growth? a beard dyed the same red gold color as his hair.

?I don?t know,? Mara joked. ?He eats more than Aves and Chin together.?

Mark holstered his blaster and then went into a classic biceps pose. ?Hey, I?m a growing boy.?

?That you are,? Karrde agreed.

Everybody on the Wild Karrde couldn?t help but notice the change in Mark?s physique. When he arrived on the Independence the doctors had his height and weight as 1.8 meters and 70 kilograms. Now, a little over a month later, he was easily 2 meters in height and probably weighed 90 kilos. Despite the fact that there wasn?t any workout equipment aboard the ship Mark was able to pack on muscle to the point where he could possibly win an amateur bodybuilding competition. He had grown so quickly that a week into their run he had to go planet-side to purchase a whole new wardrobe.

Mark didn?t seem concerned about the change, but Mara was very worried and was about to demand that Karrde to drop them off to see a doctor. Fortunately, two weeks into his growth spurt his height and weight hit a plateau. To Mara the answer seemed obvious; Joruus had the cloners tinker with Skywalker?s DNA so Mark would be bigger and stronger. She didn?t know if this genetic tampering affected his Force capabilities, but she somehow doubted Joruus would want to make a clone whose power in the Force would exceed his own.

It was very possible that when Mara and Luke arrived on Wayland Joruus had to take his clones out of the cylinder before they had completely matured and now Mark was finally reaching the size and build originally intended for him.

The shuttle rendezvoused and docked with the Wild Karrde. Mark immediately went to the food prep area and started eating while Mara popped out the energy cell to her blas

JL ... Fantabulous way to give Mark more than just a subsidiary supporting role i.e., standing in Luke's shadow. you really get the feeling that he's gonna come into his own during the coming confrontation.




This coming crisis also brings out the fighter! in Mara that we all know and love.

I cringed at everything profic wise after TTT because mara practically disappeared and ick! Children of the Jedi happened and Crystal Star ... if you didn't read that one, you didn't miss much.



And 40K of pure fluff, hmmm. If you write it, i'll probably read it LOL

Huggles!!!!!!!

Even though I hate Children of the Jedi and Crystal Star...what happens directly after TTT is worse-- Dark Empire 1 & 2. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Worst out-of-character representation of Luke EVER!!

Thanks for reading!

Oh Kriff!!!

Definitely a great way to break with the fluff. I'm very curious to see where you take the plot next.

?OOOO-RAAAH!! That was fun!?

That is typical Mark.


AND PALPY'S BACK!?!?!?! GO KILL HIM MARA, LUKE AND MARK!!!!!!


(But I do like seeing Mark acting as a big brother to Mara; she needs someone like that.)

NOOOO! Palpy is back!

As much as I hated DE, I always wondered where Mara as at the time and how she reacted.

Great chapter!

I love how protective Mark is of Mara. And it shows that she cares for him because she allows it! And Palpatine is back??? I can't wait for our favorite guys and gals to hand him his cracky Sith butt on a platter.

Wonderful update - I like the direction in which all this is going. Never understood why Mara wasn't involved in this whole Byss incident...

I giggle every time I imagine a 2-meter, ginger, bearded version of Luke. I guess no one will be able to recognize Mark now. And he could try wrestling with Chewie!

Can't wait for the next chapter!

Thanks everybody for reading. I was planning on starting this story at the end of TTT and go a couple years out. Imagine my disgust when I realized that Dark Empire came almost immediately after TTT. So I am thinking, "What the Hell? Where is Mara? Why is Luke acting like a Sith? How did Leia suddenly become a Jedi? First they were staying in the Palace as the New Republic and then the next thing you know they are back to being the Rebel Alliance and Coruscant is a war zone. Did the writers of DE read any of Zahn's books? "

I was told that DE and TTT may have been written at the same time and therefore that is the reason for the discrepancies and Mara never being mentioned in DE. I really think DE should have been declared Infinities, but the most recent profic authors have mentioned Luke's run in with the Emperor reborn...so we are stuck with it.

But right after DE, Leia goes back to being a pseudo Jedi and Mara pops back into the picture. I hate this time frame. But I am dealing with it. The bad thing is I have to read DE again. Yuck. In subsequent chapters I am using some of the plot and scenes in DE, some dialog is verbatim. So if you have not read DE you should be able to follow along with the gist of the plot, but hopefully my version won't be too painful to read. And I am not going to let my farmboy act like a moron.

The next chapter should be up soon. I hope to get past the angst and into bootknocking as soon as possible.

Thanks!

?So that?s Myrkr?? Mark was staring out the viewing ports on the Wild Karrde?s command deck. ?It looks pretty nice. Lots of trees.?

Mara chuckled. ?Yeah, a pretty forest full of angry untamed vornskrs.?

Karrde walked up to the view port and stood next to them. ?Yes, but also ysalamiri. Thrawn used them to contain C?boath, perhaps we?ll find them useful in ridding ourselves of another dark Force user.?

Mara gnawed at her bottom lip in thought. ?Have we picked up any Imperial activity??

?None so far.? Karrde walked over to the command chair and sat down. ?It appears the garrison Thrawn left behind has been relocated. Possibly to the fight on Coruscant.?

?Are communications still down with Coruscant?? Mark asked.

Karrde glanced over to Mark. ?So far, but we will continue communication attempts. Right now we are going to take the shuttle down to Hyllyard City.?

Mark ran a hand through his red hair. ?Is that where we can purchase the ysalamiri??

Karrde umphed. ?No, we?re going to take a little walk into the forest you find so appealing and capture a few. It takes special knowledge to get a ysalamiri off a tree without killing it. Luckily, my crew knows how to do so.?

?Then what?? Mara asked.

Karrde pursed his lips. ?If we can find Skywalker, I say we get him and bring him with us to Byss.?

Mara nodded. Her stomach knotted in worry for the Jedi. The last place she saw Luke and the Solos was Coruscant. Now they had lost all contact. She didn?t think Luke was dead. She thought she or Mark would have felt something through the Force if he had died, but she wasn?t sure.

?And if we can?t find him??

The smuggler shrugged. ?It?s up to the individual crew members. If they want to stay here, they can, but Mark and I discussed this and we decided to go after the Emperor.?

An overwhelming feeling of pride and gratitude enveloped Mara. Karrde had very little to gain and everything to lose when it came to facing the Emperor; she knew he was doing this out of friendship?for her, Mark and possibly Luke. Mara also realized she was tremendously proud of Mark and although she would deny it, she knew it was a feeling of almost maternal or family pride.

She smiled broadly. ?I?m going after him too.?

Karrde grinned back. ?Good. I guess we should be heading down to Hyllyard City then.?
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Mark looked up the tall trunk of the tree then back to Mara. ?Why exactly do I have to be the one to climb the tree and pry those rodents off the branches??

?They?re a lizard-like species, not rodents,? Mara explained. ?And Aves and I are more familiar with the sights and sounds of predators. We?re going to cover your back.?

Mara checked Mark?s leg spurs and saddle harness. She cinched up the saddle, taking up the slack between the waist and groin.

Mark startled when she jerked the straps. ?Watch it Mara, I may want to have kids one day.?

?That?s why it has to be snug. If you fall the harness slack may end up pinching sensitive parts of your body.?

Mark cringed at that thought. Mara hooked one side of a lanyard on his belt, wrapped it around the tree and hooked the other side to his belt.

?This is what you do. Bring your foot up and jab the spike into the tree and do the same with your other leg. If you keep leaning back on the lanyard your weight should keep you in place. Lean forward to the tree and quickly lift the lanyard up the tree and then lean back. Continue doing that until you are up to the top of the tree. Then take this rope out of the shoulder bag and secure it to a branch and then hook yourself into the rope with a figure 8 descender, just in case you fall.?

He cocked an eyebrow her way. ?Is that all? Simple. So when I get up there I unhook from the lanyard and shimmy down a branch where I take this little metal pry bar and gently wrench the claws of an angry tree-lizard out of the bark, put the biting ysalamiri in a bag, shimmy down the branch again and return to you without falling and breaking my neck. Is that it??

?That?s pretty much it.? Mara confirmed.

He shook his head. ?I

Oh Mark! Loved him tauting Mara.

I could never climb trees like that, I have a serious case of vertigo. It's an inner-ear thing.

And I am not going to let my farmboy act like a moron

Good. With Mara and Mark there, he won't get to act like a moron.

I love Mark annoying Mara like a real brother would

The whole excuse that TTT and DE were written at the same time doesn't work for me. They were just lazy and didn't communicate. They wanted to grab both money and the attention of book nerds and comic book fans around the same time. Then again, it was early on in the EU, so what do you expect?

Oooh, I haven't managed to get around to reading my Dark Empire Trilogy yet. Read the Thrawn one though. Very nice! Now I'm in suspense.