Before - Legends The Blue Side of the Force: Luminosity (pre-KOTOR OCs, Carth, Karath, Squint UPDATE 6/7!)

Title: The Blue Side of the Force: Luminosity
Author: DWH
Genre: Drama
Timeframe: pre-KOTOR, Mandalorian Wars
Characters: OCs, Saul Karath, Carth Onasi, Alek Squinquargesimus
Notes: I guess a lot of this is up for revision as the comics continue to be published, since I'm a little bit of a canon nazi. But this takes Commencement and Flashpoint into account. This will be a large-ish story, I think. That's the plan, anyway. In any case, this first post is in response to the Essential Guide to OCs "Hero Worship!" challenge.

Chapter One

Skye Darre closed up the final panel on the computer and stood back, taking off her spectacles and viewing her handiwork. Her sister, Alyse, had practically begged her to come work for the Jedi Enclave. Sure enough, their systems were a mess. She'd been working all morning to figure out which memory port was fried, and whoever had maintained them last had the technical sense of a drunken bantha. Most of the system was a fire waiting to happen, and it was going to take a while to sort it all out.

Moving towards the door, she reached down to grab her bag of tools. When she stood, she found herself directly facing a very tall, athletic-looking, and rather confused Jedi.

"Alyse?" The Jedi looked truly perplexed. "Your hair, it's... it's..."

"Not Alyse's," Skye supplied. "I'm her sister."

"Oh." He rand his hand through his dark hair and smiled apologetically. "I was going to say 'short,' but I've apparently got the wrong Darre."

"I'm Skye," she offered her hand to him, and he accepted the handshake.

"Kylan," he replied. "I remember Alyse talking about you now. You're some kind of computer specialist, right?"

"That's me," Skye smiled and shrugged slightly. "Well, I should go and find... someone."

"Well, it was good meeting you, Skye." Kylan smiled. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you around."

With a small nod, she slipped past him and moved out into the courtyard.

* * *

Alyse plopped down next to her sister as she ate her lunch on a grassy knoll on the Enclave grounds. "So, how was your first day of work?"

"Let's see." Skye put her sandwich down and started ticking points off on her fingers. "Your computer systems are outdated, so full of dust that I'm amazed they haven't caught fire yet, held together with space tape and wishful thinking, cross-wired so that even I can barely follow it, and your operating system isn't even supported by the manufacturer anymore."

Alyse looked blankly at Skye. "Was any of that good?"

"Nope." Skye resumed munching on her sandwich.

"Oh." Alyse picked a steaming lunch pastry off the plate she'd brought with her. "Good thing you came then, right?"

"Who was the last person to work on the system?"

"Well..." Alyse paused for a long time, trying to remember if they'd ever actually paid anyone to look after the computers. "I think it's usually up to one of the Masters to take care of it."

Skye looked at her sister with a look of pure horror on her face. "You're telling me that responsible adults- Jedi, no less, are the cause of that mess?"

"Hey, remember how I said we really, really needed an expert to come in?" Alyse smiled hopefully back at Skye. "Come on, you've always wanted an excuse to get at our computers, anyway."

"True, but I had more sinister purposes in mind then. Now I'm just trying to keep them from exploding."

"And you're the best person for it," Alyse assured her.

"Come on, you know they only brought me in because I'm related to a Jedi."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it? I mean, I'll grant the Jedi interact more with the community than they do anywhere else, even on the other side of Corellia. But they're pretty protective of the Enclave itself." Skye took a long sip of her drink. "People can't just wander in and out of here, and hey, I can't really blame them for wanting to have a Jedi-only spot. I mean, think of the liability. When the lightsabers start flying, we mere mortals lack the

 

Whoa! Cool! I like Skye and Alyse, even if Alyse is enamored beyond common sense by Kylan. Count on crushes to make stupid choices for you....

I like this story. There's more, right?

 

"I could tell by the way he looked shocked and confused that he was a great swordsman."


I like those twins, but I like Skye better so far.

If she had to run off to look after her sister, she'd at least be around normal people.

This sounds like a promise to me. I hope to be informed when that happens.

The only stupid thing I did for a crush was statring to listen to metal.

 

Hey, it's Alyse and Skye! I remember hearing about them.

Cool post--this is an interesting start. It's a good intro to some of the characters, and I like how Alyse and Skye are so different from each other despite being identical twins.

There are lots of great lines in here too, hee hee. I think my favorite was
"True, but I had more sinister purposes in mind then." You've got some awesome banter in the twins' conversations.

I'm looking forward to seeing where that crush takes Alyse (and Skye), and I'll be tuning in for the rest of the story. Great work!

-Thumper

 

Little cute, little funny, great storyline and hints of adventurism. Awesome read!
Good work.

 

I'm a testament to trailer posts actually working!

And I'm also a sucker for buddy actioners. Please tell me there's more. Pretty please?
With 'splosions on top?
and sprinkled with snarky twin sisters?
and coated in the hard candy shell of one-liners during saber duels?

 

Rogue_Pilot: Alyse isn't known for her decision-making skills, that's for sure. Glad you enjoyed!

MsLanna: Thanks! I've got a soft spot for Skye, too. And I'll be sure to inform you when stuff happens. Like, you know, now.

Thumper: Isn't it great to see the OC Project babies starting to grow? *pats OCs on head* Thanks for reading!

Ulic_Starwalker: Glad you liked! Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you'll find something worth reading as I finally continue this.

Yodimus: Trailers actually work? NO WAI! Of course there's more. With explosions, and lightsabers, and... well, you'll have to stick around for all that.

That said, and it did take me a while to figure out where exactly this story was going, and then there was the DWBs rebelling against introductory material... but hey, it's a new chapter! With direction and everything. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Chapter Two

Alyse sat impatiently tapping a stylus on her datapad. Since arriving on Coruscant, she, Kylan, and Iraya Khan- another Corellian Jedi about her age- had been rushed from checkpoint to checkpoint, eventually ending up aboard the Republic cruiser Sunrider with a handful of their classmates who arrived earlier than they did. She wasn't even sure where Skye had gotten to, and that made her nervous. But all she could do was wait, and that had never been her strong suit.

The conference room was small, but it had a viewport that afforded a spectacular view of Coruscant. The planet was unlike any other she'd ever seen- covered from pole to pole with nothing but buildings. It was certainly a far cry from Corellia, as even Coronet City had a fair amount of green space.

With a sudden whoosh, the door to the conference room opened, and a tall, bald man in red robes strode in. He looked at the three Jedi and smiled. "So you're the Corellian contingent?"

Kylan nodded and offered a hand. "I'm Kylan Sheffield."

"My name is Alek Squinquargesimus," he replied, accepting the handshake. "You can call me Squint. Most people do."

"Can't imagine why," Alyse grinned. "You must be the unpronounceable Jedi my sister mentioned. Oh, and I'm Alyse. Alyse Darre."

Alek smiled, and bowed slightly. "My reputation apparently precedes me, Jedi Darre."

Alyse shrugged. "Something about non-official Jedi business, I forget the details."

"Your sister was right- we're not acting on behalf of the Council," Alek nodded. "They would rather sit back and watch events unfold until they can tell what the true motivations of the Mandalorians are. Some of us can't watch such wholesale slaughter."

"Well, if you want people who buck against the main sects of the Order, Corellia is a good place to recruit." Kylan grinned. "Well, so long as you stay away from the anti-war contingent."

"People who sit on their hands like the Council?" Alek raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"No, more like people who don't believe in fighting at all." Kylan shook his head. "I have more respect for them than for the Council, since they firmly believe in taking an active role. That active role just doesn't involve violence. I may not agree with them... but I can respect the position."

Alyse frowned. Though undetectable on his face, she'd definitely felt a surge of emotion from him. It was common knowledge that his best friend, Leiraya, was one of the most vocal of the anti-war contingent, but she hadn't heard that the two of them had a falling out. Alyse barely knew Leiraya, but the unusual friendship she and Kylan shared was the subject of much scrutiny to the younger Jedi. Nobody quite understood them, but that just made all the speculation much more interesting.

Returning her attention to the conversation, Alek had moved on to the proper briefing. "You're joining us on an exciting new journey," he clasped his hands together and smiled broadly. "For the first time, the Jedi Crusaders are working with the Republic military to defeat the Mandalorians. It's g

 

"Hi, I'm Aaron. I lack a witty introduction."
- ironically, the wittiest introduction of all.

I'm liking this Admiral Karath. He's blunt, doesn't like Jedi, and there's a hint that he ascribes to the 'shoot first, ask questions later' philosophy. My kind of dude.
Whatever the case, I trust him more than this Alek guy. He started his briefing with the phrase 'exciting new journey'. Sounds a bit salesman-y to me.

 

"Well, if you want people who buck against the main sects of the Order, Corellia is a good place to recruit." Kylan grinned. "Well, so long as you stay away from the anti-war contingent."

"People who sit on their hands like the Council?" Alek raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"No, more like people who don't believe in fighting at all."

Ouch. A little bitter , maybe?
____________________

Oh my goodness - Carth's being friendly with someone he's only known for a few minutes????

I LOVE the tech crew. I think, if you develop on them much (and even if you don't) they're going to be some of my favorite characters. That said, develop on them!!!!!

Great chapter!!!! I love this cast of characters. I got really excited when Karath walked in and itroduced Carth.

 

Great update! I love how all the characters have such distinct personalities. I'm duly impressed. The Network Ops group is cool too, and I was laughing because I know some computer people just like them.


"She's a Jedi, and you're looking out for her?

Something about this line really stuck out to me. I'm not quite sure what, but I think it has something to do with the sentiment behind it and being able to say so much about it with so few words. Sorry, that's not very coherent, but I got no sleep last night.


Far from pleased, Karath snatched the datapad back from Alek. "This mission is your responsibility, Jedi. If this goes badly, you'll be looking at the end of this collaboration."

Ah, nothing like some conflict in the upper ranks. That always makes the stakes higher. Hmm, now what will this mission mean for everyone onboard...? I guess I'll have to wait and see.

-Thumper

 

You've got this story of to a good and promising start. You have a great cast and I like how you have woven them seamlessly together with the canon characters. Looking forward to see your take on the events that led up to KOTOR.

 

"No, more like people who don't believe in fighting at all." Kylan shook his head. "I have more respect for them than for the Council, since they firmly believe in taking an active role. That active role just doesn't involve violence. I may not agree with them... but I can respect the position."

Pacifists! I love them, unfortunately, I seem to be a rather militant pacifist myself. Probably comes from the word ending on '-fist'.


"Duly noted," Alyse nodded, and pretended to enter something into her datapad. "Don't tick off the Admiral."

That's the spirit.

"I read everything that comes my way," Skye replied evenly. "That's why I'm the one watching out for my Jedi sister."

I love her.
And the rest of the techincians, they're crazy, but great. Hope there will be more screen time for them.

 

First off- my apologies this update took so long! I hit a major case of the DWBs, but I seem to have gotten over it for the time being.

Yodimus- If there's one thing I learned from playing KOTOR, it's that you can't trust anyone.

Rogue_Pilot- I know! It's amazing! Seriously, you should read the comics, especially the arcs with Carth in them. They definitely affirmed him as one of my favourite characters ever.

Thumper- Thanks! I'm glad all the personalities are distinct, as I've never tried to juggle this many OCs all at once. In any case, I hope to see much fun and hilarity from them all.

yodas_waiter- Thanks for reading! It'll definitely be an interesting ride for all parties involved.

MsL- Heh, if you're in it for the pacifists, I might suggest checking out the other Blue Side story I have going. Okay, okay, shameless plug. Still, my major pacifist character is over there, and not over here. Anyway, thank you for reading! Believe me, the technicians will be getting plenty of screen time in this story.

Chapter Three

Skye sprinted down the hallway, barely keeping traction on the floor as she tore around the corner. Her goal in sight, she grinned. She had been certain she'd miss dinner, but the door was still open-

-at least, for the next few seconds. Someone seemed poised to close up shop, so she breathed deep and bellowed, "WAIT!"

The dark-haired man in the doorway looked confused and surprised as Skye skidded to a stop in front of him. He towered over her, and brown eyes looked questioningly down. "Can I help you?"

Skye had to wait a few seconds to catch her breath before answering. "I'm here for dinner."

The man looked unimpressed. "Dinner's over, sweetcakes. That's why I was about to close the door. Now why don't you run back to whoever you're taking calls for, and convince them to feed you something?"

"Hey," Skye protested. "That's enough assumptions about my job here. And who are you, anyway? The glorified cafeteria bouncer?" Skye's stomach sank as she realized her mouth had just fired off without her explicit permission. She didn't normally do that, and it was bad form to anger people your first day on duty. She was about to open her mouth to apologize when the man started laughing.

"Cafeteria bouncer? I think I might like that." The man brought his hand away from the door controls and offered his hand. "I'm Carter McLure, the Sunrider's head chef."

She accepted the hand and shook it. "Skye Darre, network operations."

"Come on," Carter released her hand and waved her inside. "What's left of dinner isn't really worth eating, but I was about to whip something up."

"Thanks," Skye followed him into the kitchen, where the unappetizing remains of dinner were being scraped into waste receptacles by a few 'droids. It looked like it might have involved pasta, but had been sitting on a warming platter for too long.

"Word to the wise," Carter said as he began to rifle through the conservator, "Always hit dinner at the beginning. Food only lasts for so long before it starts to disintegrate."

"I'll try to remember that," Skye replied, dodging a 'droid that zoomed past her with a large pile of plates.

"You like fish?" Carter turned around, a chunky fillet in hand.

Skye nodded. "That'd be great."

Carter grinned and closed the conservator door. "I know just what to do with this."

As he pulled down a couple of pans and started throwing oils and seasoning in them over the stove, Skye started looking around the kitchen. She'd never been in one of any size, and certainly not one as large as this. It was equipped to make food for the entire ship, and seemed to be staffed mostly by 'droids. Either that, or the sentient personnel had already left.

"You been here long?" Carter asked as he pulled out some bread and started warming it in one of the pans. "I don't think I've seen you before."

"Just got here, actually," Skye answered. "I'm with the Corell

 

Just caught up on the entire story here...great stuff. You have a real gift for mixing dialogue and description. I like how you got subtle details about the characters in there, too...like the stubble on Carth's chin and Alek's bald head

Still chuckling over the idea of the mighty Jedi needing an IT dept of mere mortals...see, that computer stuff is magic.

 

Outside of her initial outburst, she seemed to be rather short on words. He wasn't sure if it was because she didn't much care for him, or if she just wasn't much of a talker. Hopefully, it was the later.

And instantly, he falls into the rut of overthinking silences. Poor guy. I feel for him.

?They have caused him quite a bit of trouble,? Carth shook his head. ?He blames the entire Order for the Carrick fiasco. Though, to be honest, more people would have died if Zayne hadn't been there.?

Alyse frowned. ?Carrick? Zayne? Who're they??

And in typical fashion, the people who are going to be fighting the war know less about what's going on than the average civilian.

Wes turned back to his computer. ?That said, I have been working for hours without a break. Anyone up for a game of YotA??
Well that was completely expected.
I'm disappointed they didn't go for Swoop Racer Inferno. Yeah, the collision system was nerfed compared to Swoop Racer Revenge, but you get to run over pedestrians in this one! Plus they added an 'uncalled-for insult' feature. That MORE than makes up for the technical shortcomings.
This new generation of geeks and their multiplayer deathmatch games.. Bah!

 

The glorified cafeteria bouncer?


I like Carter. Everybody who lets you in after dinner time and cobbles something together for you has to be a nice guy.

No mercy for the Mandos.
Oh well, they brought it on themselves, didn't they...

Hehe, the geek shall inherit the world. They know what's going on. I bet that will come very handy when Skye has to keep an eyes out for Alyse.

 

Skye's stomach sank as she realized her mouth had just fired off without her explicit permission.

LOL. I love this line.


Always hit dinner at the beginning.

...although getting there late means you get the really good food once you get past the cafeteria bouncer. Carter's kinda cool. I have a feeling we'll be seeing him again.

It looks like Alyse is beginning to form her own opinions of the war instead of just following along. It seems like that's a good thing now, but I hope the second-guessing won't get her into trouble later on.

Simple plans are good. I hope Murphy doesn't interfere on Borleias.

The network ops group remains cool.

Great update, and I'm looking forward to more!

-Thumper

 

Well, now that I've finally found my way over here....

Great chapter. I like the chef.

So, Carth actually knew Kylan before he met Leiraya? why didn't he say something?

I haven't time for more right now, but I really liked the chapter. Sorry I took so long to get to it....

 

Very cool fic! Strange I didn't notice it beforre. Anyway, please add me to the PM list!


P.S. Carth's very cool!

 

Lots of fun so far. I am looking forward to further encounters between Skye and the cook.

And what exactly does YotA stand for?