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

*snickers* I am not surprised Mark got himself stuck in the tree and bitten by the yasalmiri. Nor am I all too surprised that he took a peek at Chin's holo collection.

I hope Luke and Lando are okay and I hope they find them quickly.

I haven't read DE, but I've heard it's a little on the... weird... side. But I really like reading the AUs with Mara, so I am very much looking forward to the next few chapters.

Super post JL!

Mark really is like a "brother" teasing Mara like that. It's good for her, too, having "family".


**

Black lace and mesh teddy, huh? Oh yeah!!

If Luke ever gets a looksee at Mara in that, wooo! Yuppers, putting a brake on intimacy will shift real fast to on a banana peel into squee-land!



Oh yeah; that'll have to wait until after the rescue I'm a teensy eager can't you tell?

Finally got a chance to sit down and read this, hilarious! You really know how to come up with new and awesome stuff. Totally unpredictable, that's a good thing!

Thanks everybody for reading and taking the time to comment.

I am writing frantically and trying to figure out where to go with this story. I am making this all up as I go along. I am glad RedGold is not upset at how I radically changed her original plot bunny. I am afraid Mark has taken on a life of his own and I find myself writing about him and Mara more and more...but there is going to be L/M bootknocking...I promise. In the chapter I am writing right now (not this one, probably 2 or 3 posts from now) I finally found a girl for Mark.

I only have book 1 & 2 of the DE books. I never seen the third one. Is there another Emperor in that book? I am sick of DE. First Luke kills the Emperor reborn in DE1 and in DE2...opps he missed a clone. BORING! If there is a third Emperor in DE3 I will be highly irritated. Why are there so many clones in Star Wars! It's like the Boys from Brazil. And how in the world did the Emperor make these massive machines of mass destruction without bringing the Empire to the brink of bankruptcy? I mean you have the Galaxy Gun, the Death Star, the second Death Star, the prototype Death Star, the Eye of Palpatine, the Star Crusher. He's got all these massive weapons, but a bunch of teenagers in old X and Y-wing spacecraft kicks his butt!? And he was a Sith Lord and his right hand man was a Sith Lord. I guess being a Sith Lord doesn't help you when facing an outnumbered band of idealistic rebels.

Ack! I shouldn't complain. I liked the good guy wins scenario better than the Vong everybody dies books.

So I am not going to apologize when I have the people in my fic walking into a heavily guarded Imperial Base and run around without being detected. LOL!!

The first part of the next post is pretty much directly from DE...then I deviate.

I should have the next chapter up soon.

~~Coruscant~~

?Talon!? Han shouted over the com unit as the ships came out of hyperspace. ?Watch yourself! We have starship wreckage dead ahead!?

The Millennium Falcon, Wild Karrde, and the Alliance escort frigates Rebel Star and Antares Six all exited hyperspace and into the rubble of a horrific space battle above Coruscant. The four ships immediately performed evasive maneuvers. The Wild Karrde barely missed hitting the remains of an Imperial Battle Cruiser. The Rebel Star wasn?t as lucky and disintegrated as it slammed into a large piece of space debris.

Han was able to weave the Falcon through the graveyard of ships. ?Solo to Antares Six and Wild Karrde?hold docking orbit. We?re going down to look for Commander Skywalker and General Calrissian.?

Mara clicked on the radio. ?Solo, Jade here. We?re going to take our shuttle in. We?ll follow you down.?

?Are you sure? Your shuttle is not heavily armored.?

?I?m sure Solo. Jade out.?

Talon turned to Mara. ?Be careful.?

She gave a small smile to her friend. ?We will.? She turned to Chin and Mark. ?You coming??

The two men nodded and grabbed their blasters and started to move towards the shuttle docking area.

Mara turned to Mark. ?Bring one of the ysalamiri just in case Palpatine decided to come out and watch the battle.?

?Sure.? Mark jogged down to the cargo room where they housed the animals. ?Come on Nibbles,? he said as he picked up the cage and made his way down to the docking bay.
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They packed into the shuttle and strapped in. ?Prepare for shuttle release,? Chin said as he finished up his preflight checklist.

?We?re good to go,? Mara replied.

The shuttle disconnected from the Wild Karrde with a clunk. Chin maneuvered it away from the main ship and pointed in the direction of the Millennium Falcon?s flight path.

?Falcon, this is Wild Karrde shuttle,? Chin called out over the comm. ?Any idea as to where we?re going??

Han?s voice came back through the com system. ?The last signal we received from Luke and Lando?s strike team came from the center of Imperial City near the Palace.?

?Aye, we?ll follow you in.?

There was some turbulence as the shuttle entered the gravitational pull of the planet. A squadron of Imperial fighters flew past the shuttle startling Chin. ?Whoa!? He watched in shock as the fighters completely ignored him and flew off.

?It looks like they?re going to Imperial City,? Han?s said. ?Lando and Luke are probably still there.?

As they flew closer to the battleground Mara could see All-Terrain Armored Transports? more commonly known as AT-AT?s or Imperial Walkers?roaming across an area of intense fighting.

?Wild Karrde shuttle, stay back!? Han called out. ?We?re going in to give air support to the rebels pinned down by those walkers.?

?Affirmative,? Chin replied.

Mara was frustrated that the shuttle was essentially worthless in this battle. All they could do was watch the Falcon maneuver around the battlefield with an acrobatic grace all while destroying Imperial ground forces. Mara was impressed not only by the piloting, but the incredible accuracy of whoever was manning the ion cannons.

Finally the Falcon landed near the wreckage of the Liberator. After a few minutes of maneuvering, Chin managed to drop the shuttle down behind the Han?s ship. Mara was out of her seat before the shuttle was completely landed.

Mark pulled out a blaster carbine rifle good for long range fighting. Mara gave him a determined look. ?You ready??

?I was born ready,? he said with a wink.

Mara turned to Chin. ?Stay with the shuttle. If things go bad get back to the Wild Karrde.?

?Will do.?

The shuttle ramp lowered and Mara and Mark ran out and into a battle. She could see Han, Leia and Lando in the distance, but no Luke. As they ran up and joined the group Mara could hear Leia asking about the location of her brother.

?He took off right after we crashed.? Lando said loudly so he could be heard over the s

Agrhr. Idiot Farmboy! But I am glad Mark was there to think fast and Mara was there to set him right.

Hey... Now that the angst is done... Can we have some boot knocking

Nibbles! That is a perfect name for an ysalamiri!!

I'm so glad you got rid of this ridiculous outfit that Luke wore in the DE and that he's back to his normal, cute, farmobyish ways.

Can't wait for another update and meeting Mark's girl!

for Mark and Mara. Great way to set the idiotic Farmboy straight.

Glad Luke's back to himself. Mara and Mark: been forcing Jedi to return to the Light since 5 ABY.

But the angst is done, another evil clone will bite the dust, more L/M romance coming our way, and Mark will get himself a girlfriend. All is right with the world.

WOOHOO! Striptease! I got a notice about the update twice.

Woohoowoohoo! I adore!!!!!!!! when Mara rides Luke's case LOL Not only because she's right but because she cares !!!!!!!!

She's the only one he'd really really listen to because he trusts her to be honest and pull no punches.



Yes, Luke keep the boxer briefs

And Mara will keep the black lace mesh teddy I'm writing up for her in afuture Days... post

Okay, I'm going to get incinerated for this. But,

a) I love Luke in black. Heck, I love guys in black. It's an elegant and simple color. It makes everyone looks good. Especially someone as hot as Luke.

b) I think Mara overreacted a bit by telling Luke to change clothes. Okay, not so much, but the fact that she wouldn't talk to Luke before he changed clothes is a little... well, she's traumatic. What can I say?

Other than that, a good post that helps me forget DE

You have to remember he wasn't in that cute little black outfit that you saw in the movies. He was in this:
[image=http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af196/RealEstateOneAgent88/Scan1.jpg]
[image=http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af196/RealEstateOneAgent88/Scan.jpg]

And Luke is acting completely out of character. There is no trace of the Farmboy in DE. Leia, his very own sister, is freaked out by the look in Luke's eyes and his behavior on Coruscant. She tells Han "Something about the way he looked at me...I was afraid of him." If Luke's sister and best friend are scared of him, then I think everybody should be scared of him. Especially after he is crushing Imperial Walkers with a thought. This is the same Jedi that just a few months before had to have Mara's help to not only kill his clone, but C'baoth. What the heck happened between TTT and DE that made Luke so powerful and all Sithy?

In the fic Mara says Luke feels like Vader in the Force. Here she is, finally breaking the chains of the Emperor and taking a chance on love and the man she is finally opening her heart to is now dressed like Vader and acting like Vader. It is like she is setting herself up to be the lackey of another Darksider, but this time it is Luke. She has to be scared. Mara already had to deal with Luke and his weird behavior while under C'baoth's spell. She knows he is susceptible to being influenced. She had to use the ysalamiri on Jomack to get Luke away from the crazy clone Jedi.

So Mara gets him away from the influence of the Emperor on Coruscant and he is acting better, but that horrible Darth Vader outfit is just a TRIGGER for her.

In addition, I am pretty sure Mara and Vader didn't have a great working relationship during the height of the Empire. He was Palpatine's apprentice, but now here is this hot young woman that the Emperor is getting all buddy, buddy with...I am sure Vader wasn't thrilled about that and probably wasn't cordial towards the Emperor's Hand. So Luke looking like his Dad is not appealing.

And I really don't think Mara's reaction was too extreme. Look how she is written in the profics (pre VoTF) when Zahn is not doing the writing...Most of the time the authors appear to be at a loss as to how to portray Mara so they simply decided they would write her as if she had a raging case of PMS all the time.

When I see Luke in DE I feel repulsed. Let me put it this way, I would rather see Farmboy Luke bootknocking with Callista before I see him in that Darth Vader outfit and strangling Han ever again.

PLUS what better way to work in a striptease into the plot!

But come on ladies, if your guy came home dressed like Luke in that bottom drawing...what would you say? Unless it is part of some bedroom fantasy game, I would be horrified that he was out in public dressed like that. I mean, really? Is that a leather codpiece he's wearing?

Heck, even if it was part of a bedroom fantasy I would still be horrified--after all, give him a gimp mask and he could be the cover model to BDSM Magazine!! Do you really want your guy wearing more leather than a bantha? It looks like he is auditioning for the Village People Biker Dude(for those people under the age of 30...that was a musical band in the 80's).

Caught up after being on vacation! I like the latest turn of events. Now let's see how everyone does against Palpy!

Thanks everybody for reading. I'm sorry that it took so long to get the next chapter up. I was trying to balance out Mara being irritated, scared and relieved. It is hard to express those type of emotions. I know I have some black clothing lovers in my readership, but I hope you will like him out of his black clothes if it involves some bootknocking and possibly a ginchy shine later. I really don't mind the black cloth outfits, it is just the leather Darth Vader outfit you see on the cover of DE is just too much. The black outfit (like the one he wore at Jabba's Palace) you see in DE2 is not bad.

It really isn't the color as much as what the outfit represents.

Anyway, I hope the next chapter makes up for the delay and my crazy diatribe discussing my distaste for leather pants on men...especially if there is a codpiece involved.

The next chapter will be up soon. Thanks ginchy for the beta!

Oh, and I did decide to try the Dear Diary Challenge 2012 with The Journal of Mark Tantiss.

The smile slipped from her lips as she closed the door and faced Luke. Her expression was troubled. She didn?t want to alarm Mark, but there was something in Luke?s eyes down on Coruscant that still gave her pause. After a moment of hesitation, she walked up to him and stared deeply into his blue eyes trying to catch a glimpse of the yellowish glow she thought she saw down on the planet. To her great relief all she could see was a warm blue gaze staring back at her in confusion.

Luke stood there under her scrutiny. ?You?re still worried about me?and the darkside??

She could hear the disappointment in his voice. ?Luke you fell under the influence of darksiders twice. I think it?s because you are so open and trusting. It?s an admirable quality, but you have to realize there is evil out there?everywhere.?

?I know.? Luke sighed.

She rubbed her temples in frustration. ?Luke, I lived most of my life around the Emperor?I know what it feels like to be around Sith. Maybe I can teach you to sense the darkness better than you can now.? She reached out and touched his hand. ?This is important. When we were on Wayland you told me you were worried about teaching your niece and nephew. Luke, you don?t want them drifting to the darkside and you not detecting it until it?s too late.?

Mara saw a look of dread cross Luke?s face and even without the Force she could sense how the responsibility of bringing back the Jedi Order weighed heavy on his heart.

Her features softened. ?Luke when I was young, even though I greatly respected the Emperor, I didn?t like the idea of my Master popping into my head expectantly? especially when I was a teenager. I learned to sense the slightest touch of his dark presence coming toward me so I could prepare.? She looked up at the Jedi. ?Perhaps that is something I could teach you.?

?I would like that.? Luke said quietly. ?I don?t want a repeat performance of my behavior on Coruscant.?

Mara shivered as she remembered him on the battlefield?his hard eyes gazing at her with the remote coldness of a stranger. She dropped her hand from his and turned away. "I don?t either.?

She heard him sigh heavily. When she gazed back his forlorn expression left her no doubt as to what was going on in his mind?he thought she was rejecting him.

Her stomach clenched as she realized the extent of his pain. She never wanted to kick the Jedi while he was down. He was her friend?the man who saved her life?and the man who would sacrifice everything for her. She couldn?t stand the grief-stricken look on his face any longer. She reached out and pulled him into her embrace. ?I?m sorry, Luke. I don?t mean to be harsh. I didn?t know what had happened to you down there. I was? scared.?

Luke hugged her back fiercely. ?I know.?

?Please, don?t ever scare me like that again,? she said quietly.

Luke put his head down on her shoulder. ?I promise I won?t.?

?And promise me you won?t run off without backup just because you think you are an invincible Jedi.?

?I swear I won?t,? Luke assured her.

An overwhelming sense of relief surged through Mara. Not only was he alive, but she was also positive the actions taken today prevented some horrible darkside scenario. She pulled away from him far enough to look into his eyes. ?Good, because you don?t have to go into a fight alone. Not when you have so many people who care for you and love you.? As soon as she said the words she panicked.

?Love me,? Luke said quietly.

She disengaged from the Jedi. ?Well, you know, your sister and brother-in-law.?

Luke walked up to her and caressed her cheek with his hand. ?How about you??

Mara was shocked that he was bold enough to ask the question directly. She looked away, her face flushed and her body trembling at his touch. ?I?m not sure. I know I do care for you deeply.? She was being honest. She had never loved anybody before and she wasn?t sure if it was love or lust she felt?or both.

?Mara,? Luke said gently. ?I understand your confusion. This is all so new, but I think? I love you.? He pulled her into his warm embra

?Arrrggg, does everybody know we had sex??

?You guys had sex?? came Chin?s voice from the hallway.

They do now!

Poor Mark. He could have been really scarred for life if he had listened at the door for any longer.

Multiple SQUEES and LOLs for this update.

Now if Jedi that almost went to the dark side had this type of comeback, the old order would never have fallen. Or it would have crashed and burned a long time ago, but that's beside the point.

When we were on Wayland you told me you were worried about teaching your niece and nephew. Luke, you don?t want them drifting to the darkside and you not detecting it until it?s too late.?

I'm not sure whether to laugh at the irony of this statement or to cry.

YAY! BOOTKNOCKING!

I loved this chapter!

Well, Luke definitely won't be going to the dark side now...unless he's like his daddy and bootknocking is one of the causes! Eeek! Funny update. I really like Mark.

You balanced Mara's emotions perfectly - relief, honesty, passion.

SQUEELICIOUS update Jedi_Lover.

Very much!!!!! worth the wait.

LOL

Another fine addition! And funny!

I'm sorry, J_L, but after reading this:

The only thing I could think of was:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQlIhraqL7o



Well done.

That is hilarious! Now I can't get that tune out of my head. "I just had sex and it felt so good!" I am now imagining Luke singing that song in his boxer briefs. I need to find FalconFan and see if she will draw me a picture of that!

Liking it! So funny.

Yes! No creepy DE Luke!
And I agree with you Jeli_Lover; I can't bear to see him in that outfit... Black is good, but you have to combine it with different colors and think about your eye color, complexion etc. Personally, I would like him in black and navy blue or light grey.

I will be waiting for the next chapter!