Beyond - Legends Stars Called Galaxy (NJO AU) - Chapter 18, 8/30!

Chapter XIII: Explaining

"Fifth day on Borleias," Han muttered, striding briskly back towards the cabin that he shared with Leia, Threepio, and the Noghri. "The fifth day, and they've already reactivated my commission."

He passed by Danni Quee, who said, "Hello, Captain Solo," in an amicable tone.

"That's General Solo to you," he replied, giving her a mock scowl. He liked the scientist; she was personable, smart, and a good ally. She'd grown right into military science from being a helpless civilian from ExGal-4 who'd been thrown into a horrible situation by the Praetorite Vong attack. What did hurt, though, was that he knew that his eldest son had harbored a more particular interest in Danni for a while - and now he was gone. Seeing her always somehow reminded Han of Jacen, even though they were dissimilar people and even though Jacen claimed to have given up on her more than a year ago. He was who Han always associated with her; he and Saba Sebatyne, anyway.

"They reactivated your commission, then?" she asked, frowning in slight confusion.

"'They reactivated your commission, then, sir,'" Han corrected. This was sort of fun, he decided. Maybe he could get used to this.

He remembered Mon Remonda, Wes Janson, Gethzerion, and Warlord Zsinj then. Those had been some of the most torturous months of his life. He could remember now why he'd been so reluctant to be roped into all this...

"Sorry, General," she replied with a cheeky grin. "Have you spoken to General Antilles recently?"

"Just back from his office," he drawled. "You need something from him?"

Danni shook her head. "Just wanted to tell him that we're making good progress with that Yuuzhan Vong frigate, sir."

"That's right. It got here late yesterday, didn't it?"

She nodded and then sobered suddenly. "Listen...I'm sorry about what happened to Jacen," she said quietly, dropping her loose pretense of formality. "I haven't had a chance to say anything - that...that incident two days ago and all - but I'm sorry. I hope he's still alive and that he's rescued safely."

"Me, too," Han said, that old feeling of defeat that had become so familiar since Sernpidal falling like a shadow across him. "Thank you."

"We've lost so many people. I never thought I could...that this could actually happen," she confessed. "It's like a hundred or a thousand or a million more people die every day. People I know, people I care about." She met his eyes and then swallowed visibly. "People who I've grown close to and attached to, and I suddenly lose them. Saba's Wild Knights - I've just watched them die from the blastboat, and it's..." She blew out a deep breath, then went on. "It's unbearable."

"Welcome to war, kid," he murmured. It's beating me, too.

"The thing is," she said reluctantly, "I'm in it now. I don't know that I'll ever get away from it."

Han shook his head. "I oughta tell you a little story about this one day I was at a cantina in Mos Eisley, and this farmboy and an old guy came in and asked for a flight to Alderaan." He chuckled. "I've lived my life at point-five past lightspeed ever since."

Danni seemed to understand the reference, and didn't ask who the "farmboy" and "old guy" were. Doubtless, she already knew. Luke's callsign at Coruscant had probably given it clean away. "I thought ExGal was the most exciting thing in the galaxy once," she said. "Now I wish I could still be back there right now, to enjoy the peace and calm. I wish we'd figured out Yomin Carr earlier." She looked at her feet. "I still feel sometimes like I failed them," she whispered.

"You didn't fail them any more than I failed Chewie," he said sternly. I didn't fail him, he told himself. I didn't fail him. He wouldn't have wanted me to dwell on it. I've drank enough to atone for it...

"Thanks, General." She smiled, though not without some obvious trepidation. "I should go talk to Wedge - I mean, General Antilles." Her smile became rueful. "Two years, and I'm still not used to life alongside the military. I

 

This makes me happy. One thing I never liked about Danni in the NJO was that she was so....civillian for most of it. It's like, she has this brain and could do awesome things with it.

I bet secretly you're happy he's gone.

How depressing. And how true. Han has already proven it: the war can be over and you can retire, but once you dirty your hands, they always stay dirty.

Poor Han. Everyone consoling him.

Props for using material from the Han Solo trilogies. Those books are a great peek into Han's past, and so much of what happened shaped him into the man he is now. Too bad most authors don't make use of it.

Too bad old times won't be taking place at a bar.

Sounds a lot like Jacen. Maybe part of Jacen's journey took him to Bothawui.

I don't think I've forgiven you for this just yet.


Great chapter!

 

Great post, and I like how tired and resigned you made Han and Leia. Can't wait for more.

 

Nice post

Solo's will never have a break it seems But hey what would we read then

 

great post. i like how you draw together the OT with the NJO using Han's dialog. The NJO in general lacked the humor and.. well something that made the OT so much fun.

 

General Calrissian...

Wow...

General Solo...

Cool...

General Skywalker...

In command of the Executor's twin

Can we start calling him Lord Vader...?

Jasper

 

Now all that's missing is an imperial superweapon...

 

Hmm...well, there's not much need for Operation Starlancer now, eh? You never know what you might find in the Unknown Regions, though.

 

NICE WORK! I am realy loving this. I am realy glad that Anakin lives, but was it worth Tycho? I dont know... Why did you kill Tycho

enough on Tycho. Also, nice work giving Luke the SSD, " like father, like son", clasic line man...

 

Sorry it's been so long, guys. I'll be honest with you: SCG is very much secondary to "All in a Day's Work", my co-op Clone Wars epic with Antilles2001 (I do encourage you to check it out, though), but I'm trying to get this done as well. You'll be meeting a new character in this chapter.

---

[b]Chapter XIV: Ultimatum[/b]

Traest Kre'fey's white fur fluffed reflexively. The admiral, bristling at his superior's suggestion, retorted, "The Yuuzhan Vong cannot be fought by separate races waging separate wars, sir."

The President of the Bothans flattened his furry palms on the desk and leaned forward over them. "The Bothan people will not kowtow to the New Republic's demands for some 'ethical war' to be fought," he hissed. "We will get what we want, Admiral."

"President Rem'hwa," Kre'fey said, voice steely, "Bothawui and its colonies do not even have a sizeable navy to commit to any unsupported offensives."

"What do you suggest?" President Kosst Rem'hwa snapped. "The Vong have committed an unspeakable evil against the Bothan people -"

Kre'fey cut him off, something he never liked doing to a superior, but he had little respect for the irate leader sitting before him right now. "The Vong have committed unspeakable evils against almost everyone in this half of the galaxy," he said with a bark of bitter laughter. "But the Ithorians aren't threatening to secede because the New Republic doesn't want to commit to their crusade."

Rem'wha's crimson-streaked golden eyes flashed furiously. He spat, "Admiral, [i]ar'krai[/i] is what is called for. Borsk Fey'lya, your own cousin, was ruthlessly murdered -"

Again, the admiral interrupted the president: "I, too, believe that the enemy should be spared no mercy, sir. But the reality of the matter is that there exists no unified force in the galaxy, Bothan or not, that has the ability to smash the Vong as thoroughly as [i]ar'krai[/i] calls for."

"Not at the moment." There was an almost fanatical gleam in Rem'wha's eyes. "There will be others who want to see every last Vong destroyed, as we do. We will contact them. We will contact the Chiss as well - perhaps, for the right price, they can provide us with what we need."

"What [i]do[/i] we need?"

Rem'wha's fur rippled slightly. "Anything," he said in a low voice. "Ships, soldiers, vehicles - entire fleets and armies, if we can get them. Any sort of [i]weapon[/i]..."

"The Chiss won't have any Death Stars on hand to loan us, President Rem'wha," Kre'fey said, a cold edge to his voice that he barely kept controlled. Couldn't the President see that his plans were doomed to failure, too reliant upon what fortune could offer the Bothan people to have any chance of being able to succeed?

"Any weapon we can get," Rem'wha said, his tone even icier. "You must procure it for us. Make some sort of deal with the Nagai, as soon as you find them."

"If we can find them at all."

Rem'wha's eyes again gained a nearly murderous quality to their luster as he replied, "They should be exactly where they have been for as long as their civilization has lived, Admiral. I'd try searching there."

"President Rem'wha," Kre'fey almost spat, going abruptly from irritated to incensed, "perhaps, if you had any notion of what any other race besides Bothans was like, you'd know that the Nagai are secretive. If I knew where they where, my scouts would be there already. As it is, they're rather occupied with pathing through the Unknown Regions. But I don't suppose you know anything about how difficult navigating uncharted space is, do you?"

"Admiral Kre'fey, you are insubordinate," Rem'wha snapped. "I will not tolerate this disrespect!"

The white-furred Bothan's fur flared again. "I will address Bothawui," he said flatly. "Your citizens have the right to know the New Republic's answer."

"The New Republic," he snarled back, "is irrelevant!"

Kre'fey stood, resolute. "After which time, President Rem'wha," he continued, ignoring the other's outburst, "I will contact the rest of the military commanders and give the

 

Gah! Up!

 

And with those words, Admiral Traest Kre'fey strode from the office of the President of the Bothans, never to return to it again.

w00t! Go Kre'fey! Show those dikutla'e who's boss.

 

Hehe, he should, shouldn't he? Thanks for reading, Valin.

 

I think this is my favorite chapter so far. Part of my disatisfaction with the NJO was the ar'krai and how it was handled. I almost cried at the return of Kre'fey (more interesting and welcomed than the wonder twins ).

What's best about this chapter: Kre'fey's tough position was shown wonderfully. On one hand, he wants to eliminate the YV and forget about ethical solutions (he's no bleeding heart, that's for sure), but on the other hand, he knows that the Bothans need the NR. It's the kind of mercernary thinking that makes him Bothan, yet he retains his honor and common sense - sadly lacking in some of his Bothan peers.


"But the Ithorians aren't threatening to secede because the New Republic doesn't want to commit to their crusade."

I just had a funny mental image of an Ithorian screaming, "secession is the answer!" Ha, after Mon Cals, the Ithorians would be the last to secede. Nice of Kre'fey to poing that out.


"The Chiss won't have any Death Stars on hand to loan us, President Rem'wha,"

But they do have Alpha Red...don't tell Rem'wha though.


"I did not dismiss you, Admiral!" Rem'wha snarled from behind him.

Kre'fey looked back over his shoulder for just a brief moment and said simply, "I dismiss myself."

Another moment in which I cheered for Kre'fey. I so would have loved to see this in profic.


I'd love to see this updated more often, but then again, I don't want AIDW updates to be delayed either.

 

Totally fizzled, yeah.

Really? Wow. Me too...the return of Kre'fey to Coruscant is one of my favorite moments in the Expanded Universe. Talk about a bittersweet emotional blow.

That's right, yes. But can the Second Alliance hold together without the Bothans?

Hehe, Ithorian-backed genocide!

I enjoyed writing it! Thank you!

I'll have to find myself some time to keep working at both.

 

Up.

 

I'm only past the first post, but WOW! I absolutely loved how you wrote Ganner's death. I loved his attitude in the books, so I'm happy to see him go out with a wild hero's death here.

Now that Anakin's alive and possibly the future of the Jedi Order, can't wait to see how that changes things.

It'll take me forever to catch up but please PM me when you update!

edit: And I'd just like to say that it's weird to see you writing something without clonetroopers in it. Or do Mandalorians count as a substitute?

 

Great to see you here, JadeSolo!

I'm branching out a bit from the clones. The Mandalorians will feature eventually, but there's no replacement for good old clone troopers. So instead, I just get to have fun with the domino-effect of Anakin's death and of the Millennium Falcon picking he and the other young Jedi Knights up at Kashyyyk rather than retreating to Hapes separate from Wedge's group.

 

PMs might be sent late. My show's on. Enjoy!

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[b]Chapter XV: Drawing a Karrde[/b]

"What news from our contacts at Coruscant?" the salt-and-pepper-haired, goateed man sitting with a cup of stimcaf at the shipboard table asked.

His female second-in-command, a good match for him with handsomely graying elbow-length hair, replied, "Denkins and Jev, we've lost contact with."

Talon Karrde frowned. He'd lost so many good people in this war. Not only was it a loss of company assets, but it was also a loss of life, and every person killed in the line of work under him drove just a little more doubt and guilt into his mind.

He had always thought of himself as an entrepreneur, a successful leader, a sophisticated businessman and information broker. Even back in the heyday of the Galactic Civil War, Karrde had always hated being lumped into the same category as smugglers and pirates that plagued the Outer Rim Territories. His business was more noble, more helpful, not savage or bloodthirsty or really so much against the law.

Which was why he considered the name of the organization he'd founded during the days of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Smugglers' Alliance, to be something of a nearly-offensive misnomer. While Karrde's organization, like Car'das's before it, had occasionally - maybe even routinely - dabbled in smuggling and even the occasional privateering, he would hardly have labeled himself a smuggler by profession.

"Two true losses," he said, stroking his goatee and looking down into his caf pensively. "Othus, Arole, and Re'Ev'n Ra'al will still be reporting, then."

"Principally, yes," Shada D'ukal agreed. "We have many others still operating out of the capital."

"Yes, but whose capital?" Karrde mused. "Certainly not ours. The Chief of State is dead, and the Advisory Council's survivors have been jailed."

Shada took a seat. "The New Republic's no longer operating, Karrde," she said urgently. "We need to start stockpiling for ourselves. We can't rely on the government or the Jedi protecting us if we are targeted directly anymore."

"Skywalker made it out of the battle alive and well," her boss replied. "Martial law has been assumed. We have contacts on Borleias, of course."

"I'm well aware. I'm the one bringing you the reports."

Karrde made a supplicating gesture, saying, "Of course."

"Bel Iblis, Sovv, Kre'fey, and Antilles will be looking out for their interests, not anyone else's," Shada reasoned. "They're stretched thin; they're going to have to regroup around a smaller area and defend it, even if it means leaving the rest of the galaxy out to dry."

"There's not much alternative. We should find out where they will fall back to. They certainly can't hope to remain on Borleias for much longer."

A ship alarm blared, and the two Humans stood immediately and instinctively. Karrde calmly opened the door and stepped out onto the bridge, Shada right behind him.

"Mark!" H'sishi, the Togorian, hissed. "Large starship coming out of hyperspace -"

The characteristic flicker of psuedomotion heralded the arrival from past-lightspeed travel of a huge, blood-red Imperial Star Destroyer, looming ominously over the left flank of the ragtag Smugglers' Alliance fleet. Karrde recognized the ship immediately.

"That's the [i]Errant Venture[/i]," he said unnecessarily. "I wonder what Booster's here for. I would have expected him to have been called to Borleias by now."

"Captain Terrik doesn't usually operate within standard New Republic procedure," Shada quipped.

"Well, let's see what he has to say," Karrde nodded, noticing the blinking hail indicator light before H'sishi could say anything. "Open a line."

The Togorian mewled obediently, and the grizzled face of Captain Booster Terrik flickered to life on the holoscreen. Karrde stepped forward, hands clasped neatly behind his back.

"Booster!" he said. "Surprised and pleased to see you here. What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Karrde," Booster replied. His expression was serious. "Karrde, I'll be straight up-front wi

 

I'm up through Chapter 3! That's right, every time you send me a PM, I'll catch up a few chapters, and eventually I'll be where I'm supposed to be.

?So, Anakin,? Jaina began with a toothy grin as if the Alema incident hadn't even occurred, ?how was your first experience with a bacta tank? I?m anxious to compare notes.?

I love how this family is so used to near-death experiences that they can joke around like that. Also a good way to relieve tension. And Alema, damn, she's not subtle at all.

So does no one know about Jaina and Jag? Seems like that, the way they keep talking about Zekk...

 

Great post. Can't wait for more.

 

Leverage!

But a for having that Colbert quote in your sig. Beautiful. I love that show.

And thanks to you both for your comments!

 

Chapter 4 down! Awww, mush.

I liked Anakin's resentment at being treated like a child, but even more I liked Han's outburst. No explanation for it, and none needed. He doesn't want his kids getting hurt.

And I think Dummy Squadron's a great name.

 

I'll return with a review in a few moments

 

Long few moments No hurry.