Beyond - Legends "Splinterfang" (AU, 22 ABY; NJO, First Order, some TFA spoilers; angst/etc.)

A/N: This is the first part of what will - with some considerable rewriting of old, recently-recovered works of mine - become its own AU. Certain elements of TFA actually play into my overall plan, while others ... well, there be changes ahead.

A major point of difference from TFA - and I'm throwing this out here early so as to avoid confusion later on:

Spoiler

Kylo here is Kylo Skywalker, not "Ben Solo." I like TFA, but I also want to keep Ben Skywalker around ... when he gets here eventually in this timeline.

The "angst" warning is more for the perceived tragedy here than actual loss, etc. I thought about putting "tragedy" in the headline, but it's not really accurate, given where things are going to end up.

That doesn't mean the ride is going to be smooth; after all, there be Vong ahead, among other things ...

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22 ABY: Coruscant System.
Core Worlds:
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When they breached the airlock, Kyp knew things were going to be bad - blast scorches greeted him.

Chaos, someone had a firefight, he thought, extending his Force senses outward through the gloom of the ruined, poorly-lit CR90 cruiser - his flight suit's helmet lamp was only so effective.

"Master?" Miko Reglia asked, unusually subdued as he followed Kyp into the starboard main corridor. The boy's hesitation was understandable, and Kyp signaled for quiet as he tried to concentrate.

He was nervous too, given the stakes and the sheer damage to the Theed Highroller.

"I need to focus, Miko, OK? Run the bioscanner, look for life signs, while I check the Force," Kyp encouraged, trying not to bark - Miko was a good apprentice, loyal despite Kyp's detractors.

And how many of them would think I'm even capable of subtlety like this? Kyp mused, squinting.

He sank into the energy field, setting aside hopes and dealing with the facts - the Order needed those, not conjecture. Answers were going to be the only thing that mattered to them, in the end.

Well, a little hope wouldn't hurt, either, Kyp thought, surfacing with morose certainty.

He started forward, satisfied that there were no traps - his danger sense wasn't as good as Mara's, but he did fairly well - then asked Miko, "Anything on the scanner? Is it OK to bring Zero in here?"

"... we're the only life signs, Master," Miko whispered, visibly pale through his helmet's visor. He took a deep breath, nodding - Kyp was proud of his Padawan's ability to handle the situation.

Gods of Deyer, I'm barely keeping it together, Kyp thought, taking a deep breath himself.

When the CR90 had emerged, half-shattered and tumbling, after vanishing from Yavin, the Order had had a collective conniption fit. (Given the passengers, said fit was quite warranted, Kyp thought.)

Luke and Mara weren't back yet from the Unknown Regions; the Solos had wanted to rush to the scene, but the last thing anyone wanted was to risk more of the Order's core bloodline.

(Kam, Tionne, and company denied it, but it was Master Skywalker's show, and Kyp had no problem with that. What bugged him was that everyone pretended it wasn't true.)

Kriff, Tionne has it in the holocrons; 'Pass on what you have learned.' I mean, if they're going to pretend that Yoda didn't tell Master Skywalker to restart the Order, why are they at Yavin?

Kyp shook off the distraction, nodding as Zero, his somewhat ... eccentric astromech, plugged into the cruiser's computer, while Miko asked, "Master Kyp ... what do we do now?"

"You stay with the droid; Zero tends to wax philosophical and not focus on doing basic astromech work. We need anything we can get from the computer. There's no way this was just pirates," Kyp insisted, turning to follow his instincts. "I'm going to see what I can find - I'll holler if I need anything."

"BWAAT. Frewteep-bwuurt," Zero complained, but Kyp just glared at the droid and headed down the hallway. He would've thought about finding a different astromech, but the budget was tight, and Kyp wasn't entirely sure about what he'd do as a "second job" to earn enough credits to buy his own.

Anything to keep from thinking about what happened, Kyp? he rebuked himself, floating; the gravity was unstable, at best, and he wanted to get what he could and get out before the ship broke up.

His blood chilled as he looked down ... and saw, mixed among the slain crew, Stormtroopers.

Rogue warlord? Pellaeon wouldn't be stupid enough to throw away the peace like this; makes more sense that it might be some group like the Empire Reborn ... kriffit, I hope I'm wrong, Kyp thought.

He followed his Force-sense, fearing and hoping what he'd find in the crew quarters - the crew themselves had fought to protect their passengers, and Kyp once again cursed the situation.

Why didn't WE take them to Coruscant?! I get operational security, but it FAILED here!

He confronted and worked through the negative emotions - or, at least, used them to motivate his search through the Force, trying to find some trace of the people whom he sought.

Kyp came to the escape pods - three were missing, but there was a ... chill in the corridor that had nothing to do with the ruined life-support systems, and he knelt beside the last clue.

A shattered, scorched nanny droid was sprawled beside the pods, and Kyp swallowed hard as he picked up a child's stuffed Ewok; the traces of fear, uncertainty, and confusion were strong.

"Master? We've found something - it appears three escape pods were jettisoned as the cruiser came out of hyperspace," Kyp heard Miko say, and his gut twisted at the implication.

Pods jettisoned into hyperspace ... how the Imperials executed Nil Spaar, if the rumors are true ...

"I ... I read you, Miko. Good work," Kyp whispered, standing and fighting to keep calm.

He wasn't sure how he'd be able to explain this to Luke and Mara ... couldn't imagine what to say.

We lost their children. To - what, a botched kidnap attempt by dark-siders? Kyp thought.

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It was bright. And hot. And her Ewok was gone, and her head hurt.

And Nanna died and Jemma and Kylo are gone too ... Rey thought, stumbling through the sand.

She was hungry. And thirsty, and lonely, and it was like Tatooine, but with just one sun -

"HEY?!" Rey cried, as she rolled down a sand dune, and she tried not to bawl. Momma was tough, and she wanted to be tough too.

Even if she was all alone, and she couldn't hear her brother and sister or cousins or aunt or anyone.

Rey tried not to shiver when an old man - old old, older than Streen - looked at her. He walked over, and he felt OK - not mean, like the Pale Man in the black robes had - and asked, "Are you all right?"

Rey nodded, but just gasped, "'M tired - my pod crashed an' I dunno how t'get home."

"Well. You're very small to be out here alone. I'm Lor. Come, little one, let me help," the man said, and Rey thought he was really trying to be nice.

Everything just got heavy, then, and Rey cried, and let Lor pick her up.

She didn't know when she might see her family again, but maybe it'd be OK to stay here 'til then.

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The landing had been rough, but Kylo had been wrapped in the crash webbing; he was more upset.

Wish the girls'd come with us, but dumb Nana sent their pods off before the Pale Man zapped her, he thought, pulling off the crash webbing and following the tall, pale man out into - snow!

"Apologies, child. While I was able to ensure our safe escape to Mygeeto, I could not guarantee the exact location of our landing. At this stage in your training, it is best for you to take my cloak. In time, you will learn to control temperature's effects upon you," the Pale Man - maybe a Muun - said.

Kylo thanked him as the Muun gave him his cloak, and wrapped himself in it; there was a tower ahead. "And you'll teach me 'bout my grandpa more?" he asked, pulling the hood over his head.

"Oh, much about Lord Vader, Kylo. And far more," the Muun said, as Kylo tried to keep up.

Kylo wanted to believe him; there was so much more to the Force than Aunt Tionne or Mom or Dad would teach him. Nobody ever wanted to talk about when Grandpa Anakin had been Darth Vader.

(And his dumb scaredy-felinx cousin Anakin Solo was afraid. Kylo was only 5, and he wasn't scared.)

'Sides, it's not like I was using the Force to hurt people or animals. Just scare 'em, he thought.

He wished Rey and Jemma had come with him - his twin sisters were OK, just pesky sometimes.

The Pale Man said he'd teach us all about Grandpa, if the girls hadn't been sent off, Kylo sighed.

"What's your name 'gain? You had those Stormtroopers, but none of'em said," he asked.

"... Snoke, Kylo. You may call me Master Snoke," the Muun said, and Kylo nodded.

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The pod had rolled, tossing Jemma out onto a hillside - she wasn't hurt, just scared and alone.

Mommy? Daddy?! she called, pushing brown hair out of her eyes - it was dark, and cold -

"Rupert! Over here, it's a girl! Oh, you poor dear!" she heard, and a lady picked Jemma up.

"My word, Ruth! There's a wreck over there - is she all right?" Jemma heard, and she nodded.

These people seemed nice, but she was still scared, just managing to say "Jemma" when they asked her name - the pod was burning, and they got away from it, toward what looked like a speeder.

'Cept it has wheels, Jemma thought, sitting in the back seat as the lady, Ruth, looked her over.

"You seem all right, dear. Do you have any parents? Rupert, get us to hospital!" Ruth said.

"I ... I don't 'member, ma'am," Jemma said - these people sounded Coruscanti, like her and Mama.

Jemma tried not to be afraid again - her thoughts were all blurry, and she was tired ...

"Lean on me, Jemma. I'm Mrs. Simmons - this is Gloucestershire. We'll get you help," the lady said.

Jemma nodded, yawning; she hoped everyone was OK ... Rey and Kylo and Mama and Daddy.

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Yavin IV:
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The cursing had been less frightening than what Mara did to the training droid - with its own arms.

Corran found Luke sitting on one of the temple tiers, hands steepled as he tried to meditate.

If either man noted the half-finished bottle of Whyren's Reserve beside Luke, they didn't mention it.

After a long moment, Luke managed to say, "... I don't think they're dead. I'd've ... felt it."

"I believe that, Luke. We all do," Corran said thickly, wanting to be supportive despite the evidence.

Mara was - well, the words extended leave of absence were the safest phrase Corran would use.

(The rest of Luke's senior Knights were awaiting word of some calamity befalling a Remnant world.)

From what Kyp and Miko had discovered, it appeared that the cruiser had been intercepted by a cutter-class troop transport just before entering hyperspace; the gutted transport had been found wrecked on an asteroid near the jump point for the Yavin system. It'd had a sophisticated cloak.

The best theory was that the Imperials had fought the crew, then tried to force the cruiser to revert from hyperspace before reaching Coruscant. The Skywalker triplets had been en route to visit "Uncle" Talon Karrde, then the Solos, who'd been the ones to raise the alarm.

The Rogues, Karrde, and all of Han and Lando's contacts were turning over every stone.

But the ... lost look in Luke's eyes didn't do much for Corran's hope for a positive outcome.

Luke managed a weak smile, standing - without a wobble - and said, "Come on."

"Wha - you want to go looking?" Corran asked, willing to aid his friend and mentor however he could.

That lost look became stricken, but Luke took a deep breath and said, "Absolutely, Corran."

"But the problem is, even though I didn't sense the kids die ... I can't find them, either."

The nuance wasn't lost on the Corellian Jedi, and Luke leaned against the stone, clearly in pain.

"... Master. Luke. We'll all -" Corran started to offer, but Luke tried to smile again.

"I appreciate that, more than you know, Corran. But ... without direction ... I can't ..." Luke stumbled.

He closed his eyes and whispered, "Mara and everyone else is out there, but they shouldn't have to be ... why can't I find my own children through the Force?"

There were several possibilities, none of which made Corran very comfortable.

After a moment, Luke nodded, composing himself, and said, "Someone has to hold things here."

"I won't give up, Corran. Not until I have proof. And not until I've exhausted all options."

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Sure is an interesting start and a good way to bring the Legends characters into the TFA timeline, they were all so good and I don't want to say goodbye! I am confused though, did Jemma fall through a time rift and end up in our galaxy?

 

That's ... a plot point to be explored in other 'fics.

(Apologies for dancing around the subject, but this is something of a prelude to much more - there's a great deal of backstory yet to reveal in this AU.)

 

Fascinating. Each youngling wound up in very, very different places! Jemma - the farthest of all. Nice working in Snoke and Lor into the sub-arcs with Kylo and Rey. Love the support Luke gets from Corran, and Mara gets from Karrde in "More than Blood."

You gotta know the self-blame and uncertainty accounts for the lion's share of all the angsty emotions that pull L/M apart, temporarily.

 

Interesting... love all the little things you worked in.

 

Nyota - Thanks. It seemed more realistic for L/M to spend some time apart after such a terrible incident; I just didn't want them to stay apart forever (and Cold Hearth was rather fun to write ... )

Spoiler

The kids will return at very different rates; Jemma's location, especially, plays into the long-term outline for this AU, although Gloucestershire is a rather obvious giveaway, admittedly. But what she'll end up doing might be a surprise ... she's not an OC, but a character in another milieu.

Daena - Thanks, again. I like to try and work subtly when possible; readers here are likely to know the nuances and beats of Legends, and some things don't necessarily need to be spelled out (while others do, or will, the further along this gets and the more complicated it becomes ...).

- Thanks again,
Onderon1