Beyond - Legends The Great Game (an OC driven, Post ROTJ AU) NEW POST(08/24/10)

Well, here we are, The Chronicles of Ivo Arzhan have reached Beyond the Saga. To be fair to any new readers wandering in, I am reposting an author's note from one of the earlier episodes, a minor change. It is as follows:

This is the sixth story in the 'Chronicles of Ivo Arzhan' and is set, as are it's predecessors, in the Ivoverse variant of the GFFA.

My best author's intro to new readers is stolen from my Halloween story, 'The Red Bedroom.' Located here

First, one needs to know of the Kalinadian Commonwealth, or, more formally, the Commonwealth of Kalinda and its Domains and Possessions amongst the Stars. The Commonwealth is a multisystem state located in the Mid-Rim generally coreward and spinward of Naboo. As of the time period of AOTC, it has 51 member worlds and colonies, possessions, or protectorates on another two dozen worlds. It is an Associated state to the Republic, and as such sends an Ambassador rather than a Senator to Coruscant.

The Commonwealth is a hereditary constitutional monarchy in which the monarch and nobility serve as the primary executive branch. The system grew out of the de facto military dictatorship that ended the Civil War following the dissolution of the Kalinadian Interstellar Council. The Arzhan family, once merely minor military princes from the mountains of the province of Zhania, have ruled the Commonwealth since Kisavalivo the First seized control and declared himself Lord Protector some 2,085 years prior to this Halloween piece.

Second, the Commonwealth has its own Force tradition. This tradition is theistic and based on a conception of creation explained more deeply in my previous works. For this work, suffice it to say that ?God touched? equals ?Force user.? Further, understand that the Kalinadians view these powers as morally neutral (i.e. there is no dark or light side to them). As a rule, the Kalinadians do not turn their children over to the Jedi and the highly militaristic, family-oriented and ritualistic culture of the Kalinadians views the Jedi and their philosophies with some more than mild disdain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the quality of being ?God touched? runs in families, including the Arzhan.

Finally, we come to the current Protector, Ge-Harza Arzhan. Ge-Harza is a man with a foot in two worlds. For he was once a Jedi Knight. He was sent to the Jedi because his mother died three days after his birth, in the same bed in which he was born, of complications of a controlled hemorrhage. His father, the God touched Duke, later Protector, Brenkal sent his son away in his hopeless, near suicidal despair after his wife?s death. Needless to say, he has an interesting view of things, one he passed to his son, Kisavalivo aka Ivo the bold, the lead character in all three works.

I think that that is enough to ease confusion, but don?t be afraid to PM or post questions.


The other works in the cycle are Soul of Love and Bravery

The Event of The Season and


To Absent Friends


Of course, I don't own or claim to own anything belonging to Lucasfilm, LTD or any of it's branches, and I am not making a dime off of this.

Now, on to the first post with many thanks to my Readers and my talented, dedicated Beta, Geo3


Also, if you want a PM notice of updates, which will come once and in a rare sometime event twice per week, please PM me or postthe request on the thread.

Thanks, and Enjoy!

Gunrayslawyer

 

?The Great Game?

being Episode VI of the Chronicles of Ivo Arzhan





A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away?





The Emperor Palpatine is dead.

He has been dead for more than two years, killed by Anakin Skywalker, renegade Jedi Knight and turncoat Sith Lord.

Many rejoiced at the death of the tyrant. Some simply breathed great sighs of relief. The joy and the relief ended swiftly enough when the Imperial Military refused to surrender and its remaining Generals and Admirals declared Sate Pestage, the Palpatine?s Grand Vizier, Regent of the Empire until a successor could be selected.

The Rebel Alliance, having declared the restoration of The Republic in the heady early days after Palpatine?s death, found itself locked in a low intensity war with the remnants of the Empire, strung from the Colonies to its Bastion in the Outer Rim along the Hydan Way.

The Republic also confronted the fact that not all the Galaxy?s inhabitants were actually happy with the idea of living under a Republic headed by Supreme Chancellor Mon Mothma. The Republic lacked the organization and military skill to quickly achieve total victory against an enemy far from the Core. The Empire lacked the manpower to reconquer the Galaxy. As soon as the stalemated situation became clear, the declarations began.

First, Corellia indicated that it would ally with, but not rejoin the Republic.

Then, the much reduced and still recovering Hapan Consortium declared its neutrality.

The industrial Zalsid Cluster annouced that it would maintain loyalty to the Empire, as did Anaxes.

The cascading disintegration of the single Galactic polity seemed already complete when the Commonwealth of Kalinda declared that it would not recognize the claims of either the Empire or the Republic upon it at present. Instead, it would simply maintain order within the Commonwealth Defense Perimeter and protect its interests and citizens through out the Galaxy.

As the war between the New Republic and the Empire continued, it became clear to all that a true stalemate had settled into place. The combatants looked about for allies?for anything that might break the impasse. Inevitably, both looked to the sole remaining neutral ?great power?: Kalinda and its Commonwealth. The Imperials moved first by sending a delegation.

Not to be outdone, The Republic accepted a Kalinadian Embassy?





PART I ?The Past is Prologue??


Chapter 1 ?What might have been??

Kalinda, the grounds of the Castle of Dunlindia, 22nd day of the month of Gathiza, Y.A. 2,128, 0710 hrs.


The crisp, cold wind swept across the firth from the west. Here and there the ground showed traces of the last night?s frost, occasionally disturbed by the footprints of a booted man.

The man in question stood on the top of a small rise at the foot of the protective arm of land jutting out into the sea at the east side of the firth. He stood looking west, the rising sun behind him. To an observer, he would have appeared to be a man in or approaching middle age, auburn hair fading to a mix of white and gray above the ears. Other than his long woolen cloak and boots, little else of him would have been visible in the silhouetting sunlight.

He stood silently looking back toward the Castle and its gardens, as the steam from his breath clouded the air. Slowly, he closed his eyes, began to mutter prayers to Ardarza, Lord of War and Law, his patron amongst the gods, and flowed inwardly into the secondary world of the Harmonies of Creation. He flowed into what the Jedi Heretics had called the Force.


----------------------------------------------------


Ivo Arzhan stood on Hunter?s Knoll, prayed, and drifted from the world of the mundane into the world of the Gods. Swiftly, he drifted past his memories of his early morning fencing session with his eldest son and thoughts of his wife and daughter who were scheduled to return from Naboo later in the day. He became aware of

 

Charming beginning. I like the use of the Force as a mirror into possibilities. And Ivo never has been short on ego.

 

I destroyed this world with one overly cautious decision.

Poor Ivo still weighed down with the past regrets.

?You shouldn?t be so hard on yourself, Ivo. That this world never happened, isn?t your fault? interrupted a familiar, if long unheard voice from behind him.

For a moment, Ivo was shocked. Then he felt himself begin to smile. He turned and found himself staring a perhaps twenty-three year old Anakin Skywalker square in the face. Ivo?s smile quickly became the same open, welcoming grin for which he had once been famous. Looking this apparation over, he said in a half-mocking lilt, ?Well, you took your own sweet time in making an appearance, Anakin. I?m delighted to see you, but you could have had the decency to age, and?and, it is my fault.?

Anakin smiled his crooked smile, and said, ?That absolves me, Palpatine, the Jedi Council, the Senate, the Separatists, Dooku, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and everyone else who had some hand in what happened. You may be a powerful and important man, Ivo, but you?re not that important or powerful.?

Ivo raised one eyebrow, and said carefully, ?So, according to the quite dead Anakin Skywalker, I?m both a martyr and an egotist?? Without waiting for an answer, he continued, ?besides, I may have been given an opportunity to set some of the less personal outcomes of my inaction right.?


I loved this interchange between Anakin and Ivo.It is very bittersweet. What a wonderful friendship they had- Ivo must have missed it for all the years that Anakin was Vader.

Well, Leia Skywalker, it seems that things are changing?

This sounds promising... I hope Ivo and Dorme can establish a relationship with Anakin's children.


The Gods have been as clear as ever?

Very ironic, I love Ivo's astute sense of humor.

Then looking at his chrono, he tried to calculate the time on Coruscant, and whether the Embassy had arrived yet. After a few moments, he gave up, and with a bit of whimsy thought, I wonder what young Lady Skywalker is doing right now?


I love the first post- a good begining for what promises to be yet another great story. Thank you for the pm. Please pm me for future posts.

 

GunraysLawyer

To be short and to the point - ROCK!

more later.......

 

Many thanks for the PM, GL!

Wow!

This beginning is, in short, "impressive... most impressive."

Who'd have thunk that Ani'd be the one telling Ivo about not regretting choices. Now that's a clever one!

But, how will Her Highnessness react to the Embassy?

MTFBWY,

Lauré

Edit/P.S: Incidentally, the chapter title reminds me a lot of these lyrics from The Phantom of the Opera song "Think Of Me":
Think of all the things we've shared and seen
Don't think about the way things might have been

 

A new Ivo story in a new location - how exciting!

I loved this beginning. As someone else mentioned, the conversation between Ivo and the apparition of his old friend, Anakin Skywalker, was bittersweet. It filled me with the same longing for what might have been that Ivo experienced. It also filled me with hope, because it seemed to me... and maybe this is wishful thinking?... that from his new vantage point in the Force, Skywalker was acting almost as a kind of guide to Ivo, as Obi-Wan had been for Luke in the OT.

I hope so.

And Ivo is so... well, himself in this! As powerful as he is, and is likely to become, as much as he knows and has experienced, his wonderful self-deprecating humor is still intact ...

I loved the "what might have been" family scene, and the idea that things are changing already.

I have a very good feeling about this!

 

About Ivo's meditation... you know I share one demon together with Ivo "The-What-If" - and his meditation was really, really, really lecerating... (It's good to feel that again...)

Can't wait for Ivo-Leia interaction I'm sure that'll be MOST interesting

Great begining and keep me on your PM list please

 

Just a quick announcement:


Replies and this week's post will be up either this evening (EDT) or tomorrow morning.

So, lurkers come out and comment.

Also, I'd appreciate it if those of you on PM list would conform that you still want the PMs. (obviously, if you've already commented on that question, then you don't need to again, without a change in your position.)

 

Ok, it's time for replies:

Sophronia--- Welcome Back!

The Force as a mirror of possibilities is the sort of idea that I was going for...In a sense, what I'm trying to do is point out that the Force is an imperfect precognitive tool at best, but it can be a perfect postcognitive one. Of course, there is also the sense that pervades these stories and SW generally that the Force/the Gods allow/cause things to happen a certain way for a reason.

As for Ivo's ego...Yes, it has always been more than sufficient.

rocketscientist--- Thank you, I try.

laurethiel1138--- Thank you, and all your questions will be answered in due time. That's my bersion of "I couldn't possibly say."

Geo3--- New place, exciting: Well, once one gets past the color scheme.

Anakin Skywalker, spirit guide....Not quite. More Anakin Skywalker, interested party and lighter of fires under friends who need it. Of course, he's also Anakin Skywalker, the reason any of this is occuring. Sorry, but I don't want to reveal too much.

ObsessedwithSW--- Sorry to take you out of order. My mistake.

Ivo's friendship with Anakin was from his perspective a normal Kalinadian one. It was marked by dogged loyalty and after the promise to find the child (shown in TAF), by a touch of obsessiveness. Of course since, Anakin's death, Ivo has had two years to ponder exactly what that friendship cause and prevented. More later on this.

I am glad that you enjoyed it.

organista--- yes, the attraction of things that might have been is nearly universal, isn't it?

Beyond that, the Gods have shown Ivo exactly what could have been, and it looks better than what is...

Now, Ivo and Leia will be interesting, after all, they have a lot more to talk about.


OK, NEW POST IN THE NEXT POST.

 

The Great Game

Part I ?The Past is Prologue?

Chapter 2 ?A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing.?


Coruscant, Offices of the Supreme Chancellor, The Senate Building, 1124 hrs.


Leia took in the events around her as a woman in a fog.

She?d been in this fog since the strange waking dream that had overtaken her in her bath earlier in the morning. She had not told anyone of it, not even Han, whom she had heard snoring in the bedroom as it began. She had day dreamed of a place that she had never been. It was a garden, at a castle, but not like the Palaces on Alderaan, where she had been raised. The Castle seemed much older; it seemed both warm and foreboding, and the air was warm, as warm as a pretty summer day in the lowlands south of Alderra. Leia had seen herself sitting at an intricately carved wooden table. Next to her was the dark haired woman who had haunted her dreams since childhood. Seven years before, in an office on a Star Destroyer, Leia had learned three things about that woman: that her name had been Padmé Naberrie, that she had not always been sad, and that the person who seemed to make her the happiest had been Anakin Skywalker, Leia?s father.

It had been some five years after that enlightenment that Leia had learned that Anakin Skywalker still lived, as a monster in black.

What had shaken her about this dream was the fact that toward the end, the woman?the barely known mother?sitting next to her had suddenly smiled broadly. For some reason, this had made Leia turn to look behind her. Far above them, on the terrace between the castle and the gardens stood two men. They were of about equal height. One wore robes in shades of brown, maroon and black. The other, the one with his back to her, wore a dark green uniform. It slowly dawned on Leia that the man in the robes was the image of the man in the holos in the Protector of Kalinda?s day cabin on the Star Destroyer Thunderer. As her mouth dropped open in shock, the uniformed man looked over his shoulder and began to grin. She recognized him. He was clearly Kisavalivo Arzhan, the Protector of the Commonwealth of Kalinda, the teller and keeper of secrets?the friend of her parents, and the liar by omission who had interviewed her on that Star Destroyer. In a blink of an eye, the vision had ended as quickly as it had begun, and Leia was back in her bath.

She had spent the next several hours, including the last hour and a half in the Chancellor?s Office in a fog trying to concentrate on events around her while simultaneously trying to determine the meaning of her experience. It had been a losing cause. Occasionally, a comment would draw her attention such as the one made by Deputy Foreign Relations Minister Trelid Ver?lie.

?The Kalinadian Ambassador will arrive to present his credentials at approximately 1800 local time. We?ve been told that his Subambassador, as well as a special envoy of the Protector, a Lieutenant Colonel Fernanil Arhantia, will accompany him. Finally, we have been informed that they?ll bring their own security.?

?My, My. Deputy Minister Ver?lie wouldn?t you agree that the Naboo have certainly been effective go-betweens. They simply let the Greenbacks dictate all the conditions to them,? the Ishi Tibb Councilor Drazen Trull drawled.

?That?s hardly fair, Councilor,? the Chief of the General Staff, Carlist Rieekan, protested. ?Naboo, is after all well within the Commonwealth?s self-declared defense perimeter. It has had a substantial Kalinadian military and naval presence since the Clone Wars, and the Protectrix of Kalinda is a Naboo. They?re used to getting along with the Kalinadians. They?ve had no choice.?

?But, General, the Naboo hardly resisted, and they allowed an atrocity by the Kalinadians in their own Capital, without even a major change in popular attitude about the Kalinadians. They are renowned for playing the weak partner and seeking the best for themselves at the suffering of anyone else. They have been since Amidala of Naboo gave

 

Bloody lawyer speech!

(*laughs*)

No, honestly, that was a great post. It gave us a precious insight into the precarity of the situation. Establishing a viable government in the wake of a war is never easy, and there are lots of kinks and knots to be worked out.

I loved that Leia had the vision. It clearly shows, in a way profic doesn't do enough, that she is clearly Anakin's daughter, and that she has been "touched by the Gods", too.

Two (not-so) little questions:
Does Luke know about Padmé (and the Grand Moff Ivo episode)? I assume that he does, but you never know...
Did he have the vision, too?

I'm eagerly waiting for the next post.

MTFBWY,

Lauré

 

This is such a good post! I can't say how happy I am to see the mystical overtones that infused the first chapter continuing here. It gives the story such a magical quality.

So Ivo has made the presence of Anakin's children the condition for these negotiations. I can't wait to see what Luke knows about Ivo and his parents' past, and how the two young pillars of the post-empire GFFA will act and work with those difficult Kalindians.

*rubs hands together* This is very, very exciting!

 

Wow! What an excellent start. I love Ivo and his friendship with Anakin/Vader. I look forward to reading more. I have a question....In which story does Ivo and Anakin meet for the first time? I would appreciate a link to it, if it isn't posted already. Thanks.

 

Loved the post, hated that it ended there! I wanted more! I have to say that since I was late in coming to SOL&B it was great to not have to wait to get the next post. I read it like a novel. I agree with Geo( It's my turn now) the magical quality of the force is wonderful. Most fics dont explore Leia's connection to the force and I liked that she shared that force vision. I also liked the father daughter comparision.

The bickering among the New Republic members really help set the scene for what the political situation at the time is and the importance of Kalandia's(SP?) decision in the grander scheme of things.
I can't wait till the meeting between Luke, Leia and Ivo!
I hope they can find some common ground to connect with.

 

Excellent beginning. I loved that Ivo had a vision of something that never could be and a conversation with Anakin that helped to comfort him no matter what he might say.

Loved that Leia had the same vision and was concerned/confused by it throughout the second post. So Ivo wants to see both Leia and Luke. This should be very interesting.

LOL, I kept looking for this on the Saga boards. No wonder I couldn't find it. Next time I'll follow the very useful link instead of going off on my own. Keep PMing me please.

Great job.

 

Excellent chapter! It was layered, nuanced, and had the perfect amount of detail. That's what I think anyway! I was fascinated by Leia's pov on the dream. The quibbling politicians were perfect.

One of the things I really admire is the way you've allowed Ivo to mature. Having come newly to this universe I've been watching this process happen more quickly than some. He has truely evolved from the brash egotistical young man of SOL&B. Of course he's been through a lot. Crumbling republics, overthrown empires - these things do have an effect. Seems like he's been cursed with an interesting life, to allude to a Chinese proverb.

 

I'm just now seeing this. And I can't believe you left off there. Actually yes I can.

Interesting situation here. Only the Commonwealth is a stable force in the galaxy and both the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant are vying for position. I'm just all kinds of curious with this. Please PM when you update.

Great start. I'm excited.

bran

 

Just a brief announcement that the next popst and replies may be delayed a few days as the crush of real life has gotten to be a true crush over the last week,

But let no one be excessively troubled, it should only be a day or so beyond my plan.

 

LOL!!! I love this scene, I simply love it! Just when I started to miss Anakin - here he comes, just the best and sweetest of him, in his child... Truly a miracle.

BTW - I belive it will be the first meeting of Ivo and Luke?

Luke, Leia and Ivo, hmmm... Another traces of Anakin...
It reminds me of Ivo - Ani conversations before Geonosis

Just can't wait

 

Giving this a little...

UP!

MTFBWY,

Lauré

 

Just to give you all something to ink about until the next post, below are photos of the cast playing Ivo and Dorme's three children. Those of you who have been reading my works know that I long ago adopted Darth Lex's conceit of casting my works, as if they were films. Thus, long time readers know that Christian Bale is cast as Ivo Arzhan and Rose Byrne as Dorme.

So without further verbiage:


The Pics of the cast list actors in order of the age of their characters.

Anlwee: [image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Gunrayslawyer/jg13kn1ph.jpg]


Aileksandrina: [image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Gunrayslawyer/pic12.jpg]


Brenkal: [image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Gunrayslawyer/fb039.jpg]


Oh, and remember to click on the image to get an undistorted view...

 

Interesting choices, GL...

Anlwee is fine, with a certain maturity which suits well his position as future Protector of Kalinda.
Aleiksandrina is impressive, insofar as she manages to make a statement without seeming to do so.
And as for Brenkal, I can say that if I were still in my teens, I'd be the type of girl to have the major secret crush on him...

(*grins impishly*)

Methinks there might be more than political scheming going around here.

MTFBWY,

Lauré

 

So, laurethiel1138, what does this Aleiksandrina is impressive, insofar as she manages to make a statement without seeming to do so.
mean, exactly?

 

Well, I rather thought she might be taking a few cues from her grandmama... The former Protectrix is the one who, with only one performance in the Queen Ammimalé opera, managed to have Ge-Harza Arzhan stammer like a crècheling and give his heart away as he did so. If Aleiksandrina is half as magnetic, then she'd bound to be fine...

MTFBWY,

Lauré