Beyond - Legends The Approaching Storm (Skywalker-Jade Revival Society Episode VII Challenge)

Possible spoilers for EP 7. Proceed at your own risk! This is speculation based solely on official information released by Disney.

Notes: 1) Written for the SJRS May/June Challenge: "Write Luke’s opening scene in EP 7 (note that it does take place in 34 ABY). Include an opening crawl of some sort giving some context. And seeing that this IS the Skywalker-JADE Revival Society, include our favorite red headed female."

2) If there is a “Mara” type character in Episode 7, and I doubt there will be, I fully expect her to be long dead before the events of the film take place. But this Mara showed up riding on this particular plot bunny, so…

3) I love Han and Leia. But happy families lack conflict. In my head, in this particular scenario, Leia denies the Force because she saw firsthand the evils of the Empire and its Force users. She never saw Anakin redeemed, as Luke did, nor was she trained by Old Republic Jedi ala Luke. Her only experience, outside Luke, is highly negative. So the two siblings have a very different approaches to the Force. But by the third movie, Leia would be kicking as much evildoer behind as her brother and her daughter.

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Chapter VII: The Approaching Storm​

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Thirty years ago, the Rebel Alliance won decisive battles against the Empire. The Council of Star Systems was established to bring democracy to the galaxy and end Darth Sidious’s reign of terror. Princess Leia Organa remains one of the government’s leading voices along with her husband, General Han Solo, commander of the Council’s galactic armed forces.​

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To avoid the rise of another emperor, the Council put restrictions on the use of the Force. Luke Skywalker’s reborn Jedi are banned from openly operating on worlds governed by the Council. Nevertheless, Skywalker continues to train new Jedi Knights at the Jedi Praxeum, hidden in the ruins of the abandoned Rebel base on Yavin 4.​

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But the Council has more pressing concerns. Several of its star systems have erupted into civil war with no apparent cause in sight. A hidden saboteur is suspected. General Solo and his handpicked team are asked to investigate…​

Wind swept across the top of the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4, ruffling the greying hair of the man standing on the platform that capped the massive stone temple. He turned his face upward, the last rays of the setting sun sharply illuminating his features against the evening sky. Above him, the gas giant Yavin Prime started its travels across the nighttime heavens, its red glow easily visible.

It was a peaceful scene, Mara Jade Skywalker thought, the waning light turning the stones of the temple a pinkish orange and causing the lush vegetation of the jungle canopy below to glimmer green and gold.

Too bad the peace was about to be shattered. Maybe forever.

“Get ready,” she called to her husband from the top of the temple stairs, the breeze whipping loose strands of red-gold and silver hair across her face. “Company is coming.”

“I felt her presence as soon as her ship entered the atmosphere,” Luke Skywalker said. “Won’t be long now.”

She nodded. “I’ll see you inside.”

She left him as she had found him, his gaze distant and fixed on the far horizon.

* * *​

Mara stood in the outer door that led to the Jedi Grand Master’s living quarters, watching the dark haired female approach down the long hallway chiseled out of stone. As the visitor drew closer, it struck Mara, almost as a physical blow, just how much the young woman resembled her mother and maternal grandmother.

“Jaina Solo.” Mara folded her arms and coolly regarded her uninvited guest.

“Mara.” Jaina refused to meet Mara’s gaze. She tried to brush by the older woman.

Mara moved to block her. “Is that how you greet your old master?” she asked, arching a scornful eyebrow. She noted with a sour twist of her mouth that Jaina wore a blaster holstered low on the right hip of her sleek black flight suit, but the space where a lightsaber should hang was empty.

Jaina finally raised her head. The intense pain radiating from Jaina's gaze stunned Mara, knocking the breath out of her lungs.

“Is that how you greet your niece?" Jaina pushed past her former mentor and into the guest reception area. “Uncle Luke?” she called. “Where are you? Uncle Luke!”

“I’m older, not deaf,” Luke said, appearing in the doorway that led to the inner courtyard that was the heart of the living quarters. He nodded a brief greeting at Jaina, his expression carefully neutral. “I heard you in the Force the first time.”

Mara regained her equilibrium in time to throw a mocking look in Jaina’s direction. “Using again, are we? Whatever will your parents say.” She caught Luke’s reproving glance and gave him a slight shake of her head. Sarcasm and hostility had always been her best tools for extracting the truth, and he knew it. Let him play good Imperial agent; she excelled at playing the bad one.

Jaina ignored her, but Mara caught the annoyed flicker in her niece’s emotions despite Jaina’s thick mental shields. Good. “Uncle Luke, I’ve come to personally ask you to assist the Council of Star Systems. We - my parents - are in desperate need of your help.”

“That’s convenient,” Mara answered for him. “Where were you when we needed yours?”

A muscle at the corner of Jaina’s jaw jumped, but she continued to focus her gaze on Luke. “You served the Council before. I’m begging you to put aside the past differences and serve it again. Our member systems are falling into disarray. Skirmishes are developing into wars--”

“So let your father send his armies of shock soldiers to intimidate them into dropping their disagreements. He’s good at using an ion cannon when a soft tap of a finger would do.” Mara tried to keep her tone disdainful, but even she could hear the old hurt bleeding through.

Jaina visibly flinched but spoke over Mara, raising her voice. “At least three planets have erupted in flames. More are teetering. My mother senses—“

Mara snorted.

Jaina’s lips pressed together tightly. “My mother senses a pattern. The same pattern that led to the Clone Wars and the rise of Emperor Palpatine. My father went to investigate, to see if he can find evidence to back up her suspicions. Now he’s missing.”

Mara exchanged a long look with Luke, knowing his thoughts reflected hers. They had long sensed the same thing, but their warnings fell on deaf ears. Now, of course, since Leia finally decided to listen to her Force sense – a sense as strong and as powerful as Luke’s but one she actively kept dormant – now the Council decided they needed the Jedi.

Now, when it was almost certainly too late.

Jaina’s dark gaze pleaded with her uncle. “Help us, Uncle Luke. You and the Jedi are our only hope.”

“That speech only works once per lifetime,” Mara said with a roll of her eyes. “Try again, and be original this time--”

“Mara.” Luke’s tone was final.

Mara bit back the rest of her words. She folded her arms tight across her chest, ensuring her displeasure would be easy to interpret even if Jaina refused to use the Force to read her.

“Where’s the rendezvous point?” Luke asked.

Jaina’s taut expression softened. Mara caught a fleeting glimpse of the laughing, devil-may-care teenager who had been her beloved apprentice until, suddenly, she wasn’t. “Obrillion. Third planet in the Juaati system.”

“How much time do I have?”

“We need to leave in an hour.”

Mara traded another look with Luke. He swung his gaze back to Jaina and nodded at her. “I’ll meet you in the Praxeum’s hangar bay in fifty-nine minutes.” He turned and exited through the courtyard, making his way toward the sleeping quarters.

Mara followed him. Over her shoulder, she called out, “Always a pleasure to have a visit from a Solo family member. You remember your way out, I’m sure.” She shut the courtyard door behind her, leaving Jaina alone on the other side.

* * *​

“Was that really necessary?” Luke turned to his wife once they were alone in the elegant but sparsely furnished room they shared.

“No. But it felt good,” she replied. “It did to you, too, or you would have cut me off sooner.” She walked to the tall cupboard occupying a far corner, and pulled out a packed satchel. “Here are your things. I think this should cover any necessities until you know more.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Any time.”

Their gazes met. Snatches of thoughts and memories and emotions tumbled between them in the wordless but all-encompassing communication they shared in the Force. Mara sat down on the bed, overwhelmed for the first time since she felt the intricate, dark web begin to make its presence known. “It’s starting, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

He sat down beside her. “Yes.”

She sighed. “Your sister and her husband tried to put us under house arrest when they previously thought the galaxy was at risk. This might be another trap.”

He shook his head. “It’s different. There’s fear, yes, but it isn’t aimed at the Jedi. Jaina was telling the truth.”

“Leia and Han made the politically expedient choice before. They can do it again.”

“The Council gave them no alternative. Their hands were tied.”

Mara narrowed her gaze. “Not that tied.”

He smiled at her. “We survived, didn’t we?”

She wouldn’t be drawn off her course. “Barely. And the Jedi are feared and reviled on more planets than not, thanks to their precious Council.”

“Yet we’re still here. Still training new Knights. Still passing on what we know.”

She opened her lips to object, but he cut her off. “And we’re shaping a new Order and discarding the old, harmful edicts of the past,” he said. “We don’t take younglings from their parents. We allow attachments. Eventually the galaxy will catch up with us and the old prejudices will die.”

“Always the optimist, aren’t you, Skywalker?” Her smile took any sting out of her words.

“Always.” He pressed her hand with his and stood up. “Is Ben still on Tatooine?”

Mara nodded. “Yes, he and Tadeo are following up on the reports you received.” She frowned. “I don’t like that someone is snooping around your childhood and your father’s childhood. Not now.”

Luke chewed his lip, deep in thought. “Track Jaina’s ship and give them the ship’s signature plus the rendezvous coordinates. I’m taking Artoo, so if they can’t raise Jaina on the ship’s comm they’ll be able to trace us through his signal. I have a feeling they’ll both be needed.”

“So I’m not only sending my husband off to certain danger, you want me to send our son? Not to mention Tadeo. He shows amazing promise, but he's not a full Knight.” Her protests were only for show. She accepted her duty as Luke accepted his, as Ben and Tadeo would accept theirs.

A grin lit Luke's face. “You could come with us. It will be just like old times.”

She gave him a rueful smile. “Someone has to look after the students here. But I’d love to go with you, if only to watch your backside.”

“I’d rather watch yours.”

“I remember, from when we met. Of course, we were on opposite sides then.” She rose off the bed and crossed to where he stood. He drew her into his arms. “Be careful,” she whispered into his neck.

“Aren’t I always?”

Her snort of derision was half-laugh, half-sob.

They kissed then, long and sweet. A kiss that expressed everything words were too inadequate to describe. He broke the embrace first, stepping away from her warmth and picking up his satchel. “I have to go.”

“I know.” She watched him leave. But when he got to the outer doorway, she called to him. “Luke?”

He turned around.

“May the Force be with you.”

He smiled. “And with you.”

Then he was gone.

 

OH! Interesting twist on the Post-ROTJ government affairs! This was a really neat read! And I just love seeing Mara and all her snark. Well done!

 

This is great!! I love the unexpected twist of Leia shunning the Force and the Skywalkers and Solos being at odds. I mean, obviously I want it to be fixed, but that's unexpected and interesting. I love the scene between Luke, Mara, and Jaina. The hurt is palpable and the history, too. And I love your Mara. Training students! Being a bamf with her hubby! How much of a team she and Luke are and the history implicit between them! Excellent entry!!

 

Very interesting! And it has Mara! Woot!

 

LOVE IT!

 

Love the twist about how the Council feels about the Jedi and the Force being used. I'm not sure if I had read this in fanfic before - Bravo! And the tension between Jaina and Mara - wow! Great piece.

 

Love the familial and political twists and undercurrents. L/M - perfect! I truly hope this continues.

 

Loooooove it!

 

Wow, the idea of Han, Leia, and Jaina being at odds with the Skywalkers and the Jedi is very interesting...hypothetically, I hope it gets fixed.

 

Very nice, and a still living Mara, yay! Interesting twist with Luke and Leia at odds, very unique!

 

Very interesting piece!

 

Everyone: Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I really appreciate it.

Briannakin: Thanks so much! And of course Mara has to snark. Although I have a feeling she is more upset by Jaina's visit than she lets on.

ginchy: Aw, thank you so much! I'm so happy you liked my Mara.

taramidala, Jedi_Lover, Jade_Pilot, Hazel - Thanks so much! Your comments mean a lot.

JadeLotus: Thanks! I wanted to find a way to have an alive Mara (even though I doubt that will happen in the film. *sniff*)

Nyota's Heart: Thank you! I might continue it. I know the backstory and how they got to this place, and I have some idea of where it's going but it needs lots of planning first. I'll try to find time to put it down!

Gemma: Thanks so much! I thought I was being creative, and then I read this piece - in Popular Mechanics, of all places - after I posted. But I'd start in a different place....

Revanfan1: I anticipate the relationships would get fixed...eventually....

 

aleja2 Don't be discouraged by that piece you found in Popular Mechanics. I have not read the actual profic where Luke is banished and goes on what you would call a 'walk-about'; but like I said I've never seen it written in fanfiction and I really liked your take on it - because it was different than what was in profic. My mother has read most of the books after ROTJ and she always relates the highlights to me. Please continue....