The Ascension of the Queen (sequel to By the Grace of Lady Vader)

We're going to keep a pretty regular schedule of posts. The next one is tomorrow, possibly early because I work evenings, but if not, it won't be until after ten EDT.

 

Great!


We'll be here for it!

 

Very good post. You've captured Han's character quite well! I love it! Keep up the good work

...and I hope he gets the princess back too!

 

regular schedule of posts are good. looking forward to it

i love this story! can you tell i still haven't gotten over the whole, "oh yay, a sequel!" reaction?

 

OOOOH, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

IT'S HERE! WOO HOO! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is great! Please continue!!!

 

I love this story!

 

I love it too!

 

I think I'll go ahead and do it before work rather than after today...
-----

Just after harvest the year Luke Skywalker turned seven, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had brought him to the Sand Fair outside Mos Eisley. There had been acrobats and games, rides and tale-tellers, games and races. Luke had gotten sick from eating some kind of fried food sold to him by a Rodian.

But the thing he remembered most clearly and most often was the holochamber, in which a person could have his head scanned and projected onto all kinds of cheaply rendered bodies. Aunt Beru, with a rare giggle, became a Twi'lek dancing girl, then a gruff Gamorrean guard. She had made funny growling noises at Luke, who was entertaining himself by looking at his boyish head on the shoulders of a burly athlete.

He thought of that holochamber often now, as he put the finishing touches on See-Threepio's new body.

It was still covered with gold-colored plates, but it was more graceful and streamlined than his old one, with smoothly hinged joints and a slender, flexible waist. Luke had adjusted the neck to support the structure of Threepio's original head -- it just seemed wrong to take his vocoder and his face from him -- but the appearance still struck him as odd and imbalanced, as out of place as Aunt Beru's dancing eyes above Gamorrean tusks.

"Wesa coming up on Malastare, Lord Skywalker."

Luke looked up from the bolt he'd been adjusting at Threepio's hip. "Thank you, Corporal Ailan."

The Gungan nodded somberly and backed out of the room, not turning until after the door had slid shut completely. It had taken a year for Luke to get used to this behavior, but Mother had finally gotten it through his head that they took it as an insult when he wouldn't let them follow the manners they knew when addressing nobility. The title itself hadn't been too difficult, basically because he'd been afraid he'd need to change his name as Father had, and the relief at not needing to do so had overshadowed any discomfort with the small addition.

He turned on the switch in Threepio's neck and, the droid rose smoothly to his full height, now three decimeters taller than Luke. He was capable of carrying arms, should they be needed, but Luke preferred not to have him display weapons right away. That wasn't the message he was conveying. The weapons were only a last resort.

Besides, Luke thought Threepio might well short-circuit at the very idea.

"Master Luke," Threepio chirped. "I must say, this is a vast improvement. It -- "

Luke held up his hand. "Threepio, we've nearly arrived at Malastare. I want you to observe and record, and note any discrepancies between what I'm told in Basic and what is said in the native language."

"Why, yes, sir. Of course. I am programmed in etiquette and... "

"Threepio."

"Yes, sir."

The ship shuddered out of hyperspace, and Luke gathered a small team to accompany him to the surface. A saboteur's raid had destroyed a minor munitions factory and left some security issues in question, and Father wanted Luke to investigate personally, to judge whether they were truly taken by surprise, or if they had been complicit in the sabotage. It was the sixth such attack by the Rebellion, and both Luke and Father were sure there was something of a pattern.

Three Gran officials met them at the shuttle pad, and took them by speeder to the site of the factory. There was almost no talk in the speeder. Luke sensed only the normal nervousness of soldiers whose defense had been broken.

A tall Gran with one missing eyestalk (the middle one) came out of the burned doors when the party approached. His name, Luke remembered from the briefing, was Tiyyim. He looked genuinely agitated, and Luke felt shame coming from him. His honor had been attacked with the factory. "Lord Skywalker," he said, bowing. "Lord Skywalker, my deepest apologies to you and to Her Majesty. Our security was clearly inadequate and -- "

Luke held up a hand. "You were outmatched, and I sense that you did not betray us. You will

 

Oh, no!



I hope Han can get to Leia before Luke goes home.

Oh, poor Han. The Vaders could get him even before Luke does.



More soon, please!


That post was amazing.

 

Luke could be in trouble now if they find out he lied about Han. I can imagine Luke will not want to lose Leia to Han either.

 

Wow! What a great post, JG! From Luke's flashback to Threepio's new body, to the mission on Malstare, everything was so well done. Luke personality is becoming a complicated one and I can imagine there will be some hell to pay when Amidala and Vader learn the truth.

Great job!

 

Great Post! I can hardly wait for Han and Leia to see each other!

 

Wonderful post, JG!

Luke scares me... [face_shocked]

~Meredith

 

great post! luke is completely brainwashed by his parents, isn't he? he only seems to see his mother's rhetoric. then again, the rebels seem to be more of troublemakers than anything else right now in their actions, and with the position he's in, it's easy for him to see things that way. and amidala seems to have a very strange view on how to rule a galaxy...but that's i suppose to be expected, considering her mental state....

can't wait for more

 

Aww! Asbe was so sweet! But Luke... whoa. He sounds as if he's much, much older. And it scares me.

I have to wonder what Leia's reaction to Luke's betrayal is now. She said that it still stung, but will she still hold a grudge over it? In a way, I wouldn't blame her if she did. To her, he betrayed everything she'd worked so long to build.

Great post!!! Keep it up!

AQ

 

Luke scares me.... man i am still sad. Padme has gone.. how shall i say this... COO COO!! COO COO!! HAhAHAHAH please let something zap her back to the way she was. Or realize what she is doing... for me? heheheh just do whatever you planned on doing! KICK BUTT STORY!

 

Loved it. GO HAN GO! I hope he gets to Leia before Luke does...and MORE so before the Vaders get in the way.

Also, I loved the part with Luke and the Gran. I thought it was kind of cute! Very nice to see Luke is still Luke...though in a weird sort of way I guess.

*sigh*

Hope he doesn't become too...um...like his mom or dad. Yikes. Great Job!

 

Cool story! I loved how Luke is convinced that his mother's reign will be better than Palpatine...it's so easy to fall into this type of false assumption after years of civil war....you accept even a benign dictator not seeing the big picture that it is the system that needs to be changed, not just the ruler.

I like how Luke's character slowly evolves, will there be any conflicts between Luke and his parents in the future? Just wondering.

Keep up the good work!

 

looks like everyone is in trouble of some sorts I'm still rooting for the Vader's though That post with Luke scared me a bit eep

Awesome post More soon?

 

Luke is a little scary, isn't he? Though I liked the scene with the crowd; he certainly seems to have settled into a role here.

Great post.

 

Yeah, Luke really knew how to play to the crowd.

 

This is so great! I hope that Han gets to Leia before scary Luke does-though I don't know what Han would be able to do against the Empress of the Galaxy and the Dark Lord of the Sith. But he alwyas manages to get himself out of those crazy situations-that's why we love him. Wonderful posts!
Eirtae

 

Upping. What really worries me about the way Luke is acting is, I can easily see him starting to follow in his mothers footsteps. He's hearing voices, telling him to see what his mother is really doing but he has this need to help her on the other hand. Does he crave her love and acceptance too badly? He knows that he lied to them, but he had wanted to protect Han and yet he feels guilty about it. Not a good mental state to be in for one's sanity. Then there is Leia. What does he really want to happen to her? Is he so far gone that he would kill Han if it came down to it? Very scary indeed.

 

Bravo! Very good! Luke and Threepio were both very well-written.

And the plot thickens....

 

Thanks everyone! I have to admit, there's a certain amount of stage fright on this. I'm glad that scene worked for people.

(The schedule we're planning for posts is Tues-Thurs-Sun)