Saga - OT The Shadow Caster (Fanon Challenge #1) Luke, LST, Rey, OC - author's thanks

Title: The Shadow Caster
Author: Divapilot
Characters: Luke Skywalker, Rey, Lor San Tekka, Unkar Plutt, OCs
Era: fifteen years post ROTJ, Pre-TFA
Genre: drama
Summary: A young man finds himself in a unique situation where his peculiar skill provides the one thing that can save the future of the Jedi.

Notes: Written in response to the http://boards.theforce.net/threads/the-fanon-thread-challenge-1-fanon-roulette-12-11.50024318/page-14#post-52947681]Fanon[/url] challenge from the Fanon Thread. The two elements of fanon that I have included are:
1. Troukree and Talz by Chyntuck
2. Finta sempli by Findswoman

Spoiler: Troukree

TROUKREE

The Troukree are a species that appears in Timothy Zahn’s novel Choices of One. They are described as short humanoids, with green scales interspersed with patches of fur, and dog-like pads on their palms and fingers. They are talented with blade combat and they craft quality knives. Many had to flee their homeworld when it was threatened by alien warlord Nuso Esva around the time of the Battle of Yavin.

My fanon:

The homeworld of the Troukree is Troukruka. It’s a savannah planet with a mild climate and a very diverse flora and fauna, including many predators. The Troukree are also skilled hunters and all hunting is done with their knives. They are a technologically proficient species, but they also believe that they should bend nature to their will, as can be seen in the fact that their favoured land vehicles are gravcars pulled by heavy, three-horned lizards.

The capital city is Baanteera, which means ‘liberation’ in the Troukree language. The city was built after the Troukree re-conquered their homeworld from Nuso Esva with the help of Thrawn’s task force in the Unknown Regions. As of 3 ABY it’s a brand new city organised around the seat of government, known as the Houses of Council. There are four main avenues radiating from this central building and its esplanade, which divides the city into four quarters. The neighbourhoods closest to the avenues are the productive areas of town where offices, markets and workshops are located, whereas the more distant areas are residential.

Each residential neighbourhood is organised around a small public garden with a pond in its middle. Streets are built in concentric circles around it. Where two neighbourhoods meet, the concentric circles will overlap, creating a maze in which visitors will easily get lost. The purpose of this is to make sure that a land invasion of the city is extremely difficult, as residents would know how to reach the central areas safely, whereas invaders would be bogged down in the maze (this is actually inspired from Aristotle’s comments on urban planning in the Politics).

Troukruka is affiliated with the Empire of the Hand. A contingent of Troukree stormtroopers was trained there in 2-3 ABY by the Hand of Judgement and the Troukree also developed their own space fleet, which is part of the task force Admonitor and reports directly to Thrawn. Their flagship is called the Pride of Troukruka.

The Troukree never had their own shipyards. They became a spacefaring species by purchasing ships from other sentients who visited their planet, but they learned quickly about maintenance and mechanics so they kept their ships going for a long time. Now that they are part of the Empire of the Hand, their ships are supplied by the shipyards of New Alzoc. The technology is a combination of Imperial and Chiss, but everything is adapted to the Troukree's small size.

As a reptilian species, the Troukree were originally cave-dwellers and this is reflected in their architecture. Their homes are stone domes with small openings for the doors and windows to keep fresh, humid air inside. The floor level inside a house is always below ground level for the same reason. Houses are always surrounded by a little garden and many Troukree grow some sort of ivy over the outside walls, again to ensure that their home remains fresh.

The Troukree are the only sentient species on Troukruka, but they acquired enemies as they started travelling in space. One of the species they don't get along with are the Pineath.

The Troukree diet consists of live insects, raw fish and small rodents, but they can adapt to Human food. When on their spaceships they live off ration bars.

Spoiler: Finta Sempli

This ancient, fairly rare, and highly coveted Force ability allows its user to cloak himself or herself from detection by Force-based means. In other words, engagingfinta semplimakes it impossible for other Force-adepts to sense one's presence in the Force. As a corollary, it also allows one to pass oneself off as a non-Force sensitive. It is in evidence in both Jedi and Sith, but equivalent abilities probably exist in other Force disciplines as well.

In order to flip the "mental switch" that engages finta sempli, the adept has to briefly enter a meditative or at least deeply concentrative state, but once that switch is flipped (so to speak) the adept can come out of the meditative state and go about normal activities. Particularly skilled, self-controlled adepts can maintain finta sempli long-term, even over many years (a good way to survive the Jedi Purge, perhaps...? ). But the longer one maintains it, the more risk there is—even for the self-controlled—that occasional lapses will happen that render the adept vulnerable, since maintaining the cloak requires a certain modicum of background concentration. Put another way, although it takes some concentration to initiate & maintain finta sempli, the adept can be snapped out of it with considerably less effort if he or she isn't careful.

Finta sempliis one of few Force abilities that, at least in theory, can be stolen from someone known to possess it using one or another of various Force-draining techniques. The trick, of course, is tracking down those who possess it. Furthermore, even those who succeed in ripping finta sempli from someone usually only end up gaining a version of the ability that is temporary, partial, watered-down, or all of those things. (In the hands of a highly skilled enemy, though, even that can be enough.)

***

"What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?" - Robert Hayden, "Those Winter Sundays"



***
Master Skywalker strode confidently toward the small group of people who had come to greet him, a little girl of about five years of age trotting along behind him. Luke (Darsh-ta reminded himself that Master Skywalker himself had insisted that he be addressed so informally) approached the group just as one of the members, an older human, stepped forward.

The man smiled kindly. “Old friend,” he said as he opened his arms in a gesture of welcome. “How good it is to see you again.”

The two men embraced, years of familiarity evident in their comfortable way with each other. Luke clasped the older man on the shoulder. “And you, Lor. How have you been?”

Darsh-ta stood in the doorway of their small craft, waiting for the proper time to be introduced, and watched the casual conversation. A breeze, heavy with heat, skittered across the open landing space, lifting tiny grains of sand into the air. Darsh-ta blinked as his eyes' nictitating membranes cleared away any irritants.

He tilted his head slightly to assess the new sights and sounds, opened his mouth to taste the metallic air. Luke looked toward him and motioned him over, then turned to the human man again. “Lor, this is one of my students. His name is Darsh-ta. He’s from Troukruka, in the Unknown Regions.” Luke smiled. “Darsh-ta, meet Lor San Tekka. If there is anyone in this galaxy who knows what your ability might be, it’s him.”

The Troukee bowed deeply. “I am honored to meet you. Your wisdom is well known, sir.”

Lor smiled. “As I am honored to meet a Jedi of your considerable talents, Darsh-ta.” Lor turned to the group who stood in the desert sun and had gathered to receive them. “My friends, tonight we will celebrate the arrival of our guests. But for now, I believe they would like to rest after their long journey.”

The crowd murmured favorably, bowed and nodded, then quietly began to disperse. Lor looked at the small child who leaned against Luke. “Is this the little one?” he asked as they headed toward a small hut near the center of the village of Tuanul.

Luke glanced down for a minute as his face broke into a broad smile, then looked up again at Lor. “This is Rey. She’s come with me for the trip.”

“Ah. Do you take her with you often?” Lor asked.

“Not really. Most of the time she’s with her mother. But this time, we thought it would be nice for her to come with me. Besides, with Marah so near the end of her pregnancy, it gives her a bit of a break.” Darsh-ta followed a respectful distance behind as Rey ran to keep up with the two men.

Small creatures scurried about in the dusty sand, searching for crumbs uncovered by the breeze. The faint sound of droid babble buzzed somewhere. Darsh-ta continued to take in his surroundings as he walked; deserts such as this were rare on Troukruka and he was curious about this strange environment. The village of maybe 70 beings was simple, small huts surrounding a gathering area with a large fire pit. People glanced his way, then went about their business as the three moved from the landing area toward the center of the village.

Soon they came to a small, dark but inviting hut. Tekka pulled the fabric door covering aside and hooked it to a latch on the inside wall. The home had minimal furnishings, but the ones Darsh-ta saw were comfortably worn. Lor gestured for the Jedi to sit.

The child reached over and tugged at the sleeve of Luke’s brown homespun robe. “Papa? May I?” she asked, her hazel eyes wide and pleading.

“Lor, may Rey play outside?” Luke asked. “She won’t find much of our conversation interesting, I’m afraid.”

The older man smiled benevolently. “Of course. There aren’t any children here, but we do have some small livestock that she can entertain herself with.”

Rey bounced with excitement. “Don’t break anything, be polite, and stay where I can sense you,” Luke called after her as she skipped out of the hut and into the bright sun.

“She’s a lovely child,” Lor said, watching her small form stand just outside the doorway. “Tell me, if you would. Does she feel the Force, too?”

Luke stared at the space where his daughter had been just one moment before. He paused, then turned to face him. “She rings with it, Lor. She has such a natural ability that it amazes me. I could sense her Force signature before she was born. When she was a toddler, I had brought her with me as I gave a lesson on levitation to students years older than her. That afternoon, she was levitating her toys.”

“Well, the Force has blessed you and Marah with a beautiful daughter, and, I understand, a son soon to come.”

Luke smiled. “Yes, it has. But,” he said, tapping his fingers on the wooden table, “I have come to see if you can help me with my student.”

Darsh-ta, hearing himself referenced, turned and bowed again. “I welcome your help, sir,” Darsh-ta said, his words clipped and clicking as he manipulated the Basic syllables around his reptilian mouth. “I offer you a gift for your valuable time and your kindness.”

With that, Darsh-ta rose and retrieved an object from a satchel that hung across his body. The object was wrapped in white fabric. Reverently, Darsh-ta handed the object to Lor, who accepted it with similar reverence.

“It is a gift of my people,” Darsh-ta explained as Lor unwrapped the gauzy fabric. Lor held up a dagger, its hilt elaborately carved with unknown characters and geometric designs, its blade polished to a sparking sheen.

“I am honored,” Lor said, examining the weapon appreciatively. “I will remember your kindness and generosity.”

This response seemed to please Darsh-ta, who hissed quietly as he sat back down.

Luke returned his attention to Lor, who placed the elegant weapon on the table. “Lor, I have seen what Darsh-ta can do, and I have no knowledge of this. It appears that Darsh-ta can hide himself from the Force.”

Lor frowned and raised a finger to his chin in thought. “How do you mean? How do you know he can do this?”

“My crèche-mates and I have always had a talent with the Force. When I was a child, we would play at hunter and prey. I could hide myself not only from their sight and smell, but they would not detect me in the Force, either. My sister and brothers’ Force signatures were clear to me, but they told me that it was as if I became invisible in the Force.”

“So your siblings were also Force sensitive?” Lor asked. “Have they also accepted Master Skywalker’s invitation to train as Jedi?”

Darsh-ta tilted his head. “Sadly, my brothers were warriors, and they were killed when the Outsiders ravaged the Unknown Regions. I stayed home with my sister to guard our city, and of our crèche only Sister and I survived. I chose to train to become a Jedi, and she chose another path.”

Lor stood up and walked over to a shelf of books, some ancient, all covered in faded bindings. He took one down and returned to the table. His face frowned in concentration as he thumbed through the pages. “This is my collection of notes from my research in the original Jedi archives on Coruscant. There may be something in here.” He looked up at a sudden flurry of noise and activity in the doorway to see Rey in gleeful pursuit of a fat little avian, then returned to his notes. “How does this activity affect you, Darsh-ta? Is it painful?”

“No, not painful. It requires much energy to begin, but once I begin it, I can maintain it for a long time.”

“How long?” Luke asked.

Darsh-ta moved his bulky shoulders in a motion that mimicked a human shrug. “I do not know. I have never tried to find out.”

Lor stooped over to read something in the tome. “This may be something,” he muttered. He flipped through a few more pages. He studied the page a bit more, then stood up, stretching his back. “I may be able to find something in my own archives, but it will require some research.”

Lor closed the book and turned to the two guests. “I will examine my records. Meanwhile, please feel free to visit our village. This is a pilgrimage site, as you know.”

“Yes, you’ve told me.” Luke’s eyes took a faraway look. “I can still feel a residual from it. There was great betrayal, great loss here.”

“What happened here?” Darsh-ta asked.

Lor sighed, ran his hand along the book. He turned toward Darsh-ta. “The Church of the Force reveres those places where Jedi gave their lives to protect others. Members of our faith honor those brave souls by making a pilgrimage to the site of their tragic death. There is a major shrine on Geonosis, another, obviously, on Coruscant. But the victims of Order 66 were throughout the galaxy. One of those victims was a young Jedi from Corellia, Matta Pelon. She was travelling through this system when she was attacked by a squadron of clones who shot her down over Jakku. It appears she survived the crash, but was quickly assassinated by the soldiers who followed her flight.”

“Is this why your village is here?”

Lor smiled. “Yes. Each site is holy to us. Each fallen Jedi is a martyr. We honor their sacrifice by keeping a perpetual vigil at their place of death.” He thought for a moment. “Come, I will show you.”

The three rose and walked into the bright sun. Darsh-ta blinked as Luke raised his hand to shield his eyes. He scanned the area and spotted Rey, playing a clapping game with a young woman. Satisfied that she was safe, he walked alongside Lor.

They soon came to a rise just outside the village perimeter. “That’s the Kelvin Ridge,” he said, pointing. “You see where the Ridge is interrupted? There is a slash in it? That is where Jedi Pelon’s x-wing went down. She died near her craft.”

Darsh-ta and Luke gazed silently at the spot. Echoes of fear and disbelief rose from the buried sands, and a cry of terror grazed past them. “Even after all those years, I can still feel her,” Luke said quietly. He paused, lost in the residual echoes of a life torn asunder so violently.

“Why would they do that?” Darsh-ta asked.

Luke shook his head as Lor answered. “The emperor understood the power of the Force, Jedi Darsh-ta. He did not want anyone else to master it.”

The three were subdued as they returned to the village. Night was beginning to fall, and a bonfire burned in the village center. As the men came closer, Rey approached her father, still clinging to the hand of her new friend. She saw Luke and began to run toward them.

Suddenly she stopped as if struck. Her hands flew to clutch her chest and she drew a sharp breath. “Mama,” she gasped.

Lor turned to Luke, who had stopped abruptly also. Luke fell to his knees as his legs gave out from under him, and Darsh-ta snapped his jaw in anguish.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Lor searched his friends’ face anxiously but only saw shock and disbelief in Luke’s ashen face.

Luke reached out and grabbed Lor’s arm for strength. It was moments before he could speak. When he did, it was with a voice strangled with agony. “They’re gone, Lor.”

Lor knelt beside Luke. “Who? Who is gone?”

A despair and intense pain spread over Luke’s countenance. “All of them. Syama, Tsaal, Ezra.” He closed his eyes as his voice broke. “Marah. All of them. They’re gone.”

Rey ran up to Luke and threw her arms around his neck. Her sobs filled the silence.

 

Oh my goodness, diva, this is wonderful! Baby Rey Skywalker! Mara(h)! Luke! LST! I have a feeling I know what Darsh-ta's job will be.

Was this meant to be a one-shot or will there be more?

 

I love the way you've written Lor in this, and the backstory you've created for the Church of the Force settling on places where Jedi fell is fantastic. And Luke still being able to feel the Jedi's death - so very sad and yet it seems so right.

I was so happy to see little Rey Skywalker, what a cutie and I love her relationship with Luke. But then when he said Marah was pregnant I had that proverbial bad feeling.

Darsh-ta is a fascinating OC, and with an ability to hide in the Force I too can guess how this will come in handy...

 

Um, I am going to require more of this story. This is amazing!! I love the martyr sites, and Lor, and Darsh-ta, and little baby Rey and Luke and Marah--how you've fit the pieces together, and that ending...!!!!! Moaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr. Feed the ginchy beast!!!!!!!!!

 

Fantastic! Lor is wise and compassionate in this & Darsh-Ta intriguing - I loved seeing Rey as a youngling The whole idea of commemorating and honoring fallen Jedi - cool and totally part of my personal canon now.

The finta sempli gift - definitely will come in handy. For more than one I think.

If this continues, I will read avidly.

 

I'll add my voice to the chorus of those asking for more. I remember you saying something about evil-cliffie-ing the end of chapters in another thread, and you just did it again here. *stares at her monitor, stunned, gasping for air*

Oh, and everything else everyone said too, plus for the Troukree Jedi, the knife gift and the war against the Outsiders!

 

Another brilliant fanfic about the possibilities that TFA offers. Even though I have little quality time during my busy work week & even the weekends are full of deadlines. But the way you describe Lor and you even managed to have Mara(h) in this story! And I like your Rey, simply adore her!

 

I was wondering, the other day, if you were going to write another story featuring Lor San Tekka and boom, there it is - another story featuring Lor San Tekka. I think I have the Force, so I'd better not tell you what you'll write about next.

The explanation of why the village is where it is, close to the wreckage that Rey will eventually find, makes a lot of sense. And the ideas of shrines on Geonosis and Coruscant are great, too. Now, what puzzles me is that this

The idea of Luke insisting on his students addressing him by his first name sounds cool at first glance, but I can totally see how that could provoke a completely wrong response in some of his students. Ironically, that would make the new Jedi break for the exact opposite reason compared to the old Jedi - too little respected demanded instead of too much of it; but the irony is beautiful and useful when we need a mystical, freaky backstory, r-right?

Another thing that's very cool here is the description of how Darsh-ta's eyes deal with irritants. Cool bit.

Mara(h) not giving birth to the second child and facing a tragic end sort of destroys the GFFA nuclear family concept that went from generation to generation in the old universe - not everybody has twins, not all families spend quality time together. And I assume that however it happens, her sacrifice here would be for a large cause, which is more in-character than the little I know of her original end. Now, in that anti-climax, the scene with Rey feeling her death is so, so, so disturbing. Their Force connection must have been strong and I suspect that Ben Solo himself killed her, actually mirroring the old Legends story to a certain extent, with the very same cowardly move he would later use on his father. Brutal. But in character, for both her and him.


Now, the idea of Darsh-ta having a lightsaber interestes me more than anything else in this story. We see how it ended up with Lor San Tekka and there's probably an official story that will tell us how Lor handed it over to Maz; but tell us the backstory!


The Troukree stuff as I remember it from Chyntuck's story and the fanon entry, with how they look and act and the way they bestow gifts. In a stark contrast to that, I was initially puzzled about how finita sempli fits in here and if it has an actual use. Then I figured out that it was him who used it on Lor who them used it on Rey, to keep her from being spotted by the Knights of Ren and Snoke for as long as she's on Jakku. Since Luke cannot be found either, that means he learned this, too! SNEAKY.

Also...Ezra as in THE Ezra? I could not see that coming, but it makes sense.

 

Thank you! Baby Rey was so cute to write. I started with an image of a little girl chasing a chicken and went from there, lol. You have probably guessed, knowing what happens, what Darsh-ta will be tasked with. There is more to come; it looks like at least a three-parter.

Thanks! It’s been said that Lor is a good friend of Luke and Leia’s and that he is an expert in the esoteric details of the Jedi, so it makes sense that Luke, in his attempts to restart the order, would consult with him. The Visual Dictionary describes one of the residents of Tuanul as a pilgrim, so I asked myself what kind of pilgrimage would be done here? The one that makes sense is that they are visiting the shrines of the martyrs, like Canterbury Cathedral. I can imagine that such a profound emotion would still leave psychic residual echoes that someone with Luke’s uncanny connection to the Force could continue to detect.

Rey is a cutie indeed and I would think that Luke would be a doting father and loving husband, to this Marah as he was to our Mara. Darsh-ta is interesting; I’ve never written anyone so alien before.

Thank you, lady! There is more. I hope it meets your expectations! I had to find a way to keep Luke and Mara(h) together in some parallel universe or another. More for the Ginchy beast to come!

Thank you! We learned so little about Lor in the movie, but he seems to be such an important part to the set-up of TFA. How did he come about to have the missing map? Was it just coincidence that he lived so close to Rey? This story hopes to answer some of these questions. There had to be a reason that the community of Tuanul was so close to the community of Niima Outpost, so what if Tuanul attracted pilgrims who needed the supplies provided by Niima Outpost? Could be a nice symbiosis there. Maybe Jakku has been the site of crashed ships for a long, long time.
There will be more to come and I hope you continue to find it interesting.

Thank you, Chyntuck! You gave me a real tricky one, writing a Troukree character. Lucky for me, your fanon is pretty darn thorough and you gave me a lot to work from. Yes, you picked up the war with the Outsiders, a slide-in from your story. Some form of the Vong existed in this universe too. Darsh-ta is very, very far from his home, but he has a unique skill that will be vital in this story. Please let me know if I get anything wrong with the characterization.’

So happy to see you back! Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I wanted some version of Mara to exist here, so I created Skymom Marah. Rey was fun to write. She’s a cutie; I wanted her to be as sweet and hopeful as grown-up Rey.

Thank you for the challenge, and I hope I do your fanon of finta sempli justice.

You are right about what they sensed in the Force, a profound personal disturbance. As to what role finta sempli has played in it, that has yet to be utilized. He was just, by chance, off-planet at the time with Luke and Rey. Lor San Tekka has had a lifetime to develop his mastery of the various techniques and methods of the Force, and he would know details that Luke has not had the opportunity to explore. I see Lor as a kind of living Jedi archives.

Unkar Plutt will show up, but later. He has to have some valid reason to take on a helpless human child as a scavenger – perhaps he can be persuaded?

Thank you so much! I hope that my fanon shows up in someone else’s story soon!

Wow- you are psychic! Please tell me to write a bestselling novel. I will be more than happy to write that next.

First of all, thank you so much for reading and replying!
I honestly hadn’t considered that perhaps Luke was being too lenient with his pupils. I just was thinking that Luke doesn’t seem like he wants to adopt a lot of formalities. But you may well have a point. Having strong respect for authority may make an enemy pause, whereas a casual and familiar mien may make an enemy feel that you kind of have it coming for being too trusting.

Yeah, the EU had a real family concept going on – generational twins, happy long-lived marriages – but TFA seems to have put all that into question. The death of Marah will be discussed in the next chapter or so, and Rey is very attuned to her, which is why Rey feels her death particularly sharply.

I wish I had a better story for a lightsaber! I have no idea how Maz gets it. The last I saw of Luke’s lightsaber it was sitting in the bottom of the shaft on Bespin.

I was influenced by Chyntuck’s portrayal of the Troukree, but then again, she pretty much invented all the details. Your ideas on finta sempli come pretty close to what I’m thinking of, although there are some changes.

Ezra Bridger was born on Empire Day, so that makes him about 20 years older than Luke. Why wouldn’t he join with Luke to help train the next generation?

 

Chapter 2.

Luke Skywalker had known pain before. He remembered the sight – the stench – of his uncle and aunt’s charred bodies, still smoking in the midday sun. He had borne the solitary duty of cremating his father’s body on Endor, setting up the pyre by himself and having no one share the burden of sorrow as flame met tinder. He had been an unwilling witness to Han and Leia’s marital discord, pushed to extremes by his loyalty to both his sister and his best friend as their sniping and accusations and mistrust eventually unraveled the once-perfect love.

But this. This was pain beyond comprehension.

Luke and Darsh-ta walked toward what had once been a small community of students who had gathered to learn what Luke could teach them. They had trusted him. The thought made his heart heavier.

It was Darsh-ta who had suggested that they compel Rey to sleep through the unavoidable task that lay ahead. Luke was loathe to manipulate his daughter’s thoughts and emotions, but considering what sights she would see, he reluctantly agreed. She slept soundly strapped in the safety webbing of her seat back in the warm ship’s cabin as he and Darsh-ta made their way in the drizzle.

It was the rainy season. Sheets of gray slid from the skies and covered everything with a glossy slickness. The community, a collection of prefabricated homes and small buildings, stood silent and ominous. Darsh-ta glanced at Luke and watched as the Jedi stood straight, raised his chin, and set his jaw.

The first bodies they encountered were of the older ones. Ezra lay face down in the mud, his sodden blue-black hair matted against his turned face, his sightless blue eyes staring into nothing. Then, a short distance behind him, they found Tsaal, the Ithorian, slumped against a muddy rock. Darsh-ta bent down and touched her hand to find it cold and rigid. Both people been shot through the chest.

They worked quietly, moving methodically from location to location, gathering the bodies to a central area. Finally there was but one home to enter.

They found her just inside the entrance, lying on her side. Luke gave a little cry and knelt beside her, placing her head in his lap as he gently pushed her brown hair off her face. He leaned over her still form as silent sobs began to shake his body.

Behind Marah was the body of a youngling, a little human boy. Darsh-ta guessed that Marah had died trying to save him. The child’s body bore the savage lashes of a lightsaber. As Luke was not leaving his wife’s side, Darsh-ta took it upon himself to investigate the home’s two bedrooms. One was empty and unremarkable. The other, clearly a child’s nursery, was completely upturned, every hiding place emptied, and the same lightsaber scoring slashed across the walls, the bed, the simple furnishings. Darsh-ta noted that there were even marks on the room’s ceiling where the blade had skidded on its angry trajectory.

Darsh-ta re-entered the main room, where Luke was bent over Marah’s body, speaking quietly to her in a broken voice. He left Luke alone in the small home to grieve and stepped outside, deciding to make himself useful by assessing similar damages to other buildings.

After what Darsh-ta determined was an appropriate time, he came back into the home’s main room. Luke still knelt next to the body of his wife, her head in his lap, his face streaked with dark tears. But he was quiet, and there was something different about him now, something that made Darsh-ta uneasy. It was as if something irreparable had settled there, as if a fissure had begun that could not be undone anymore, as if a coldness had fallen where there had once been warmth and light.

Luke looked up at him. “We’ll burn the others first,” he said quietly, a decision made. Darsh-ta nodded in agreement.

Luke glanced down at Marah again. He was silent for a moment. “Rey should be there for this. She needs to say goodbye to her mother,” he said finally.

He shook his head. Then he gently moved Marah’s body, placing her on her back in the room, and stood beside her. One hand slipped from where Luke had placed it, and he crouched down to pick it up and crossed it over the other hand on her chest.

“Rey’s room is destroyed,” Darsh-ta said. “There are lightsaber slashes everywhere, as if--”

Luke stood up and stared into the eyes of his friend. “They were looking for her. They knew she should be here. They were looking to kill her, too.”

“What happened, Luke?” Darsh-ta asked quietly. “Who would do such a thing?”

Luke glanced down at Marah’s body one last time, then back at Darsh-ta. “I think I might know who can tell us.”

They left the home together and walked through the gray rain toward the edge of the settlement. At the far end of the landing area, Luke’s X-wing sat ready for its owner. Suddenly, a shriek and a high-pitched mechanical warble broke through the steady drone of rain. An astromech that Darsh-ta recognized as Luke’s own R2 unit came spinning out from under a tarp, a stream of urgent-sounding beeps and gurgles pouring from its sound emitter.

Luke crouched down beside the droid and placed his artificial right hand on the stubby droid’s dome. Metal clicked on metal. “Did you see, Artoo?” Luke asked quietly. The droid swiveled its optic sensor toward Luke and let out a plaintive cooing.

“Show me.”

A moment later, a hologram displayed onto the damp ground. Six male figures, led by one in a silver mask, entered the edge of the community. Ezra had come out to greet them, his pleasure at seeing them soon turning to confusion, then stunned understanding as a blaster shot felled him. Three other Jedi fell in quick succession. Then the tall figure with the silver mask snapped his right wrist and a lightsaber appeared, its jagged red blade sputtering in uncontrolled energy.

The younglings had no chance. They begged, they cried, but they were slaughtered without so much as a sidelong glance. The tall, masked figure ignored the carnage and made his way with long strides directly to Marah and Luke’s home.

The image flickered and dissolved. Luke bent his head, the rain sliding off his hood into the small puddles. The droid whimpered. “I know,” Luke whispered. “There was nothing you could have done.”

The droid chirped again. Luke nodded. “It was good he didn’t find you. He would have destroyed you too.”

Darsh-ta watched the odd conversation continue, with Luke speaking in soothing tones to the little astromech. He looked around the landing area and noticed for the first time the burn marks left by a wild flurry of punishing lightsaber attacks scarring the hull of Luke’s craft.

Luke turned to Darsh-ta. His blue eyes looked as if he had aged decades. “Come. We have work to do.”

It was hours later when Luke roused the small girl from her peaceful sleep. Darsh-ta stood outside in the rain as Rey and her father spoke quietly in the ship’s cabin. Finally, the two emerged. The girl walked somberly beside Luke, her small hand clutching his flesh one. Luke had put the hood of his brown cloak over his head to keep out the steady rain, and Rey wore a similar, smaller hooded poncho. Only her chin, her jaw as firmly set as her father’s, was visible. Artoo wheeled alongside them. Darsh-ta walked behind the two as they approached the pyre upon which one body lay, her eyes closed, her dark hair arranged in a halo around her head, and her hands crossed at her breast just above her pregnant belly.

 

Oh I knew this was going to be sad, but it ripped my heart out all the same, and the ending, with Marah laid out on her funeral pyre just like Padme...how much sorrow can this family go through?

All the same, I'm glad Luke has Darsha-ta and Rey there and he wasn't completely alone in that moment. And poor Artoo, having to witness the massacre and unable to do anything.

 

The stupid thing happened again - I was writing a response to this from the bath tub and the screen changed to the list of topics. brb, throwing myself in the depths of a gas giant to find that lightsaber.

*is back as a Force ghost*

Just like JadeLotus said, Marah's funeral pose and hair reminded me a lot of Padmé.

It's interesting to read two completely different chapters of two completely different stories (yours and this diary) that have this unconventional structure where one something is at both at the beginning and at the end and contrasted somewhere in the middle of the chapter. In your case, it's the fire/burning bodies and everything associated with perceiving them; while pretty much the entire chapter, minus the beginning and the end, is rain, rain, rain...humid, cold-ish.

Kylo Ren is unlikeable, but you managed to make him even more disgusting. His lightsaber tirade because he cannot find Rey on Luke's X-wing is kinda comical, especially since he failed to spot the only witness to the massacre, but when he does the same with a little boy's face and kills Marah...disgusting.

Marah is very noble for choosing to try and save that child's life instead of saving herself and her unborn baby, but that's a given.

I am concerned so as to how Rey will handle this.

 

You write with such clarity and descriptive power divapilot ... The support Luke is able to give and receive from others is like an anchor. What one really hopes to get from this new canon arc is tragedy that is not there just for the sake of tragedy. It has to mean something, lead to resilience and courage, not despair and insularity. A bitter resignation to the inevitable - why bother to care about anyone I'll just lose them anyway.

You hope it won't be that way.

With terrific fanficcers, though, I'm always sure of coming out the other side with something strong and positive.

 

You reached into the sometimes sad & violent past of the Skywalker family several times with this stunning update, making a circle complete with Kylo Ren slaughtering younglings. He seems even further away from redemption than his grandfather. It would be foolish to believe that Ray can be his sunshine and all is well again. But I hope for everybody involved, especially Luke, that there will be light again. And hope.

 

Oh wow. I've been told that I write intense death and funeral scenes, but this was beyond harrowing.

Going back to chapter 1 for a moment, I really like what you did with the Church of the Force and the pilgrimage site. Am I correct to assume that the residual darkness from the Jedi's death is what will hide Rey's presence on the planet?

On to chapter 2 now. Beyond the beautifully written sadness of the scene, there are a few things here that I assume to be clues of plot points to come. For instance, who is the young human child Marah was trying to protect? And is Luke's reluctance to manipulate the mind of his daughter an ironic twist on the idea that Rey had her memories removed in order to keep her safe?

I really liked the callbacks to the films, with Marah being laid on the pyre in the same position as Padmé, Kylo Ren having one of his tantrums and Artoo being the witness who records everything -- the holoprojection also reminded me, of course, of the scene at the end of RotS when Obi-Wan goes into the Temple's security recordings to watch Anakin slay the younglings.

Lastly, I'm really intrigued by Darsh-ta and the role he will come to play in the future, and I'm very much enjoying how you show the alienness of his manner, how he keeps a respectful distance from Luke, but also how he immediately senses that Luke is now a changed man. I'm very curious to see where all this will go...

 

Thank you for reading and reviewing! Another one of the fallen Skywimmen… There is apparently no cap on the amount of grief the family must endure. But Luke has the compassion of his friend, and Luke has to be strong for his daughter. And once again, Artoo is the witness to history. Apparently the killers didn’t think he was of any significance and didn’t destroy him, too.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply! It’s true, although I don’t recall planning it that way. The entire chapter is based off that one scene of Luke raising his metallic hand to Artoo’s dome. But there is that persistent rain, the idea of being smothered, as if there is no getting away from what has been done…

Kylo is a coward, coming to the village when he knows its most powerful protector isn’t there. But he would say it was a strategic tactic that, in fact, accomplished what it was supposed to do. He wanted to take them all out at one time, and he is furious that he was thwarted by Rey’s absence. Marah did what she always would do, in this universe or any other – protect life to the best of her ability. And Rey will follow her father’s lead in determining how she will handle this terrible loss.

Thank you for your very kind words! It’s true – there is much tragedy in this new canon. But if the tragedy and the sadness lead to better understandings and stronger relationships, and if they are balanced by some joy and friendships, then the tragedy is not in vain. The one common thread in the SW universe has always been hope.

Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful reply! Luke has seen his share of the world being ripped out from underneath him. To lose your biological parents before you even got to know them, then to lose your guardians, and now to lose his own family – the pain must be incredible. And the fact he goes into exile for so many years means he has, by default, lost Han and Leia too. There isn’t much to the story of Artoo’s survival except that the arrogance of the ones perpetrating the atrocity underestimated the significance of the droid. But then again, Artoo has always been a wily one with a knack for survival.

The next part gets into the logic that Kylo Ren uses to justify his massacre. A fresh start was needed, and no loose ends from Luke’s attempt could be allowed to continue and contaminate the Knights of Ren’s interpretation of a Force-using organization. They believed their two philosophies could not co-exist, and one had to be eradicated.

The references to the Saga were intentional, and I hope it connects the story to the background that led to it. Rey has suffered a terrible loss. There isn’t much they can do to protect her from the event; best to let her experience it and help guide her through the loss. Her acute sensitivity to the Force already revealed the worst to her.

Thank you for the reply! Yes, I wanted to show that like Vader, Kylo did not spare anyone from his assault. But unlike Vader, who killed younglings in a sick bargain to try to save the woman he loved from death, Kylo killed them out of anger and arrogance. He saw them as mistakes that needed to be culled to create a purer version of the Force order. He is a twisted and seriously troubled young man, trying to find stability but responding with violent chaos when his desires are not met. Rey is the only hope now. Luke must do whatever it takes to ensure her survival.

Thank you! I hope I am keeping to your fanon faithfully! According to the TFA Visual Dictionary, the Jakku outpost is a religious center, and one of the inhabitants wears a pilgrim’s garment. I just extrapolated from that. And as for your guess, well, not quite.

Thank you for the compliment! And as for the child, no, he wasn’t anyone in particular; he just served to show that Kylo was willing to murder his pregnant aunt so that he could hack an innocent child to death with his lightsaber. No mercy. And as for this clue, you’re much closer to the mark here.

Thanks! I tried to keep the continuity with the Saga and The Force Awakens. There should be some elements that keep repeating, especially with the idea of repetition in TFA. Sometimes it all comes back around. And since the Troukree are essentially reptilian, I wanted him to be kind of lizard-y. How would an iguana (albeit a very intelligent iguana) move or position itself?
And yes, Luke has changed. There are some losses that break your heart.

 

Chapter 3.

The flight to Coruscant was quiet and somber. Luke focused on piloting the ship, and the child spent most of her time with her head buried in her arms. Sometimes Darsh-ta could hear her sniffle.

Human children were a mystery to him. His crèche-mates were robust creatures, unbothered by physical stress. They moved as a pack through their academic and civic educations, and even when they reached adulthood and qualified to mate and begin their own families, they tended to stay in the same villages. But human children were so solitary. He glanced at the little girl. Human children were often born alone, with no crèche-mate to share their burden. He glanced at her again. Little Rey’s eyes were red from crying.

He sat beside her during the trip to try to ease the child’s pain from the loss of her mother and unborn brother. Eventually Rey lifted her head a little. She moved closer to him and put her hand on his arm, and he let her idly pull at the tufts of hair that grew between his scales. Eventually she lay her head on his arm and fell asleep. He stroked her soft brown hair reassuringly.

They sat like that until they docked at Coruscant. Luke got up from the pilot’s seat and came back to the cabin to see Rey asleep against Darsh-ta. He smiled sadly.

“I’ll carry her in,” Luke said quietly. “It’s the middle of the night anyway.” He unstrapped her safety harness and picked her up.

Darsh-ta rose also. “I will stay with the ship,” he offered.

Luke shook his head. “No, come with me. You can stay at our home. You’re my guest.”

Darsh-ta nodded. To object would be to dishonor this generous offer. Instead, he gathered their few possessions and walked behind Luke and the slumbering child as they entered a nearby building.

The next morning, Darsh-ta heard Luke in the kitchen. He rose from the bed in the spare room and put on his tunic and loose trousers, then headed out. Rey came from her bedroom, rubbing her bleary eyes as she walked. She yawned, then looked at Darsh-ta and smiled. Then she climbed on her chair and waited for her breakfast.

Luke looked up at Darsh-ta and set a plate out for him. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I got you a bit of everything,” Luke said.

“I am grateful for your generosity,” Darsh-ta replied.

They ate in silence, Luke and Rey eating a meal of warmed cereal with fruit and Darsh-ta devouring, as delicately as he could, the fruit and the cured meats Luke placed for him. Finally, Luke put down his spoon. He turned to Darsh-ta. “My sister and her husband are coming over in about an hour,” Luke said. “Would you watch Rey while we talk?”

Darsh-ta bowed. “It would be my honor, Master Luke.”

Rey spoke up. “I can show you my room,” she offered. She got off her chair and came to stand by Darsh-ta’s side, slipping her little hand inside his paw-like one. He glanced at Luke, who nodded approval. Darsh-ta let himself be brought into the child’s cheerily decorated bedroom.

Rey sat down on the green rug and took out her dolls and Darsh-ta sat on her bed. “Daddy’s sad,” she said, staring at her toys. “I’m sad too. Mommy isn’t here anymore.”

“No. She has become one with the Force.”

The child looked up at him, her hazel eyes serious and intense. “Mommy came to visit me last night when I was dreaming.”

Darsh-ta tried not to react. “Oh? What did she say?” he asked casually, as if receiving messages from the dead were a perfectly normal event.

Rey picked up a doll and studied it. “Mommy said that I would have to be a brave girl. She said my life was going to change now. But you would help me.”

“I would help you?” Darsh-ta asked, surprised.

“Yeah. She said you were a good person and you would help me stay safe.”

Darsh-ta sat back and absorbed this information. Was the child simply dreaming? Was she looking for some sense of security in a life that had suddenly, violently become terribly dangerous? Or did the girl’s mother somehow contact her while she lay slumbering in that realm between unconsciousness and awareness?

Before he could decide what was the case, the apartment door chime sounded and he heard someone enter the residence. “That’s Auntie Leia and Uncle Han,” Rey declared. She glanced up at Darsh-ta, then returned to her dolls. “They’re sad. They don’t know what they should do.”

Voices floated in, unintelligible, from the living room. The conversation went on for a long time, and Darsh-ta felt their great emotional stress. Then he sensed them approach.

He looked up from his seat to see Leia Organa Solo standing in the doorway of Rey’s bedroom. “Hey, sweetheart,” she said softly.

Rey looked up. Leia bent down to go to her eye level and held out her arms. Rey stood up and held out her own arms, then allowed herself to be picked up by her aunt. Han stepped into the room and stood close to Rey, rubbing her back.

“Rey, sweetheart,” Leia began. She stopped, her voice catching, then regained herself. “I love you. I always want you to know that.

Rey looked somberly into Leia’s dark eyes. “I know, Auntie.”

Leia hugged the girl tightly and kissed her cheek, then put her down. “We will always love you, Rey,” Han said. “I’ll see you again. So will your Aunt Leia. I’ll take you back up on the Falcon. Maybe I’ll even let you fly her someday, kid.”

Leia crouched down and stroked Rey’s cheek gently. “We’re still your family. We love you. Don’t forget that.”

Rey nodded. Leia stood up and put her arm around her husband, then they walked through the door. Darsh-ta heard Leia stifle a sob as she went back into the main room.

A little while later he heard the door to the apartment close again and he sensed the two distinct presences leaving the apartment. Luke, he could tell, was still in the living room. Hesitantly, Darsh-ta came out of the child’s bedroom and glanced into the main room. Luke was sitting on the sofa, staring blankly.

He turned to look at Darsh-ta, then stood up. “We’re leaving tonight,” Luke announced. “I can’t stay here. My presence endangers my sister and her husband. It’s me that he’s after. If Ben – Kylo Ren – discovers I was here, he will torture them to find out where I’ve gone. Better to leave without them knowing where I am.”

Darsh-ta blinked and tilted his head. “What of the child?”

“There are things that need to be done first. Then, I will need to ask you a favor, Darsh-ta,” Luke answered.

That afternoon, Darsh-ta ran errands, sent out messages that Luke had composed to the families of the dead Jedi students, and prepared the starjumper for another trip into space. When he returned it was to find Luke sitting at the kitchen table, star charts spread across the datapads on the table and star system projections suspended in the space around him. Rey sat in the chair beside him, observing without interrupting him.

At one point he called Artoo over and opened an access port, then inserted an encoded data module. He shut the panel and Artoo let out a plaintive sound. “I don’t know. But it will be a long time, my friend,” Luke said.

Then Artoo queried with a series of trills. Luke looked sadly at him. “There isn’t any other option, Artoo. This is the safest way for you and for me, and for Rey. It has to be done. I’m sorry.”

The droid shifted, its dome rotating slightly. Then it made a short sequence of mournful sounds. Luke took a device from the table. He adjusted it and attached it to the outside of the panel he had just shut. The device lit up, and Artoo made a startled noise and rocked back and forth. Then he was quiet, and the lights on his displays dimmed and went out.

“What did you do to Artoo, Daddy?” Rey asked. “Is he dead now too?”

Luke cringed, as if her words physically stung. Then he opened his eyes again and looked at the girl. “No, he’s not dead. He’s sleeping.”

“Oh.” She considered this. “How long is he going to be sleeping?”

Luke began to close down the star charts and switch off the datapads. “I don’t know. A long time.”

She got off her chair and walked over to the silent droid. “Good night, Artoo. I’ll see you when you wake up,” she said, kissing the metal dome before bringing her doll to the couch.

Luke looked up at Darsh-ta. “Is everything done?” he asked. Darsh-ta nodded.

“We leave tonight.” Luke looked around. “I’ve left the apartment to Leia. She’ll get rid of everything. I’m never coming back here.”

“What will we take with us, then?”

“Just what we need, and this.” Luke pulled a small leather pouch out of his pocket and held it out. Darsh-ta opened his palm and the pouch fell into it.

“What is this?”

Luke smiled ruefully. “That is the key to our survival. It’s a part of a map to where I’m going.”

Darsh-ta tilted his head. “Where are you going, Luke?”

Luke sighed and rubbed his face. “Back to the beginning. I need to figure out where this went wrong. How I lost Ben. What I couldn’t provide for him that he found in the Knights of Ren.”

Darsh-ta opened the pouch. Inside was a data module. “Where is the rest of the map?”

“Artoo has it. And Leia will have Artoo.” Luke was silent for a moment, then he continued. “Ben felt that I had undermined the discipline of the Jedi Code by ignoring the prohibition on attachments. I defiled the purity of the order; I replaced discipline and structure with sentimentality. By marrying Marah and having children, I had betrayed the Order. He won’t be satisfied until all traces of that betrayal are eliminated and Rey and I are dead.” Luke looked into Darsh-ta’s golden eyes. “If I can convince him that Rey’s gone, then he will abandon his search for her and come after me instead. Then this data module will be the focus of his hunt, not Rey.”

Darsh-ta glanced at the little girl, playing quietly on the couch. “Where will Rey be going, then? With you?”

Luke swallowed hard and cast his eyes downward. “No. With you.”

 

Superb with the decisions and the intense emotions. Sad that Luke equates failure with deciding to include sentimentality and connections, the things that make life meaningful and rich. Particularly touching was Rey with Leia and Han. I like Darsh-ta - his presence is soothing and receptive to being of whatever assistance is wanted.

 

Gah!

Despite all the sadness, little Rey is so precious, I just want to scoop her up and give her all the hugs.

Wow, I have never seen this speculated before as a reason why Ben would turn, but it makes a lot of sense, especially with his Vader obsession, his belief that he was "seduced by the light" and later him killing Han as a test.

 

I don't think Leia knew how to deal with this crisis, then again, I assume it was her way of trying to give the child some comfort, but one can see through her repeating, almost mechanic phrases that she's more stressed than Luke. Since she didn't go on to channel and control her Force-sensitivity in the NEU or so it seems, I'd say that such a portrayal is pretty much accurate!

And just like JadeLotus, I totally did not see this assumption of Ben's "logic" coming! That would make him...love and hate his idol at the same time? Then again, that's how all the idol-related stuff goes. That's how a narcissistic type's mind works, too.

Waiting to what I assume will be the last part, to see how Luke's plan/puzzle unfolds...

 

Awww, Rey and Artoo!

Like everyone else I was amazed by your interpretation of Ben/Kylo's motivations, but what I particularly enjoyed in this chapter was Rey. She's such a sweet kid, and you have this way of peppering your narrative with clues to her strength in the Force. She "gets" things that a child of her age shouldn't understand, yet she is still a small child in so many ways. Wonderful characterisation

 

Thank you! Luke has been devastated by this loss. There are some wounds that can’t be healed, and this is Luke’s. He tried to do the right thing, to incorporate compassion and family into the new order, and it was not only mocked by destroyed by his own flesh and blood. I can imagine that the news that their son murdered his aunt would be a horrifying thing for Leia and Han to deal with. How can they reconcile their love for Ben with their loyalty to Luke? But Rey understands their conflict and doesn’t hold it against them. She’s a wise little girl. Darsh-ta finds himself in the awkward position of being a survivor by accident, not choice, and is trying to make himself useful to Luke and Rey. He’s a decent person who knows there is nothing he can do to fix this, he can only assist with the daily routines.

Thank you! I keep thinking of that little handmade pilot doll in Rey’s dweling in TFA. There’s a little lost girl in Rey. Oddly, I find myself thinking of Lilo from Lilo and Stitch and how she would talk with her dolls to make sense of her sad world, maybe because they are both such lonely children.

Thanks! If Ben wanted to finish what Vader started and correct where Vader went wrong, I supposed that Ben would see Vader’s fatal error as being sympathetic to his son. Instead of seeing the killing of the emperor as Vader’s redemption, Ben would see it as Vader’s greatest failure. Vader sacrificed himself to save his son, so Ben sacrifices his father to save (as he sees it) the son in parallel. Of course, that’s the kind of thinking that Snoke would encourage Ben to have, too, assuming that Snoke would like to avoid having himself tossed down a power shaft. Blind obedience for the win.

Thank you, Ewok Poet! I appreciate your comments so much! You’re right, Leia wasn’t trained in the NEU, which ironically in this story removes her as a target for Ben. Technically she isn’t a Jedi. Yes, her reaction is rather stunned and repetitious, moreso for her own benefit than for Rey’s. Luke has just told her that he is leaving and she will probably never see him or Rey again. He’s allowed her to say goodbye, not for Rey’s benefit as he knows Rey won’t remember a word of this, but for Leia’s.

Ben’s a twisty guy. If I did my math correctly and the attack on Luke’s students happened at about the same time when Rey was left on Jakku, then Ben was a teenager when he participated in the massacre. Snoke has manipulated this incredibly powerful, emotionally vulnerable teenager into doing the unthinkable. Ben would have to justify it. How better than to say it was for a higher cause, a necessary sacrifice to purify a bloodline – his rightful bloodline! -that had become tainted with weak sentimentality? Snoke is far older than Ben and probably knows a lot more about Vader than he lets on. He isn’t going to share Vader’s flaws with Ben. He’s going to let Ben worship this “perfect” ancestor, let him believe that he has a chance of surpassing the power his grandfather wielded. Ben wants to become Vader. Ben hates himself for what he did, and he hates himself for feeling that regret. If he can become the man who is the unfeeling machine, then he can survive with his guilt.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply! Rey is a smart little kid, and she has that hopeful pragmatism that we see in TFA. She is also incredibly powerful in the Force. She knows that Darsh-ta is on her side and will be a support to her, and on top of that there was the vision from her dead mother telling her to trust him. He is very loyal (as a person and as a Troukree) and he wants to do the right thing by Rey and Luke.

Thank you so much! More is coming up right next.

Thank you, Chyn! I appreciate your kind comments. Artoo went above and beyond (again) by recording what happened so that Luke had a record of the horrific events. Without him, the deaths of the students would be a mystery and the full effect of the incident would not be known. And sweet little Rey, loving and trusting and yet forced to deal with such grief and sorrow so young. She is very strong, and Kylo, who already knows her potential because she is his cousin, will hunt her down to destroy that strength before it has a chance to develop and make her an adversary who could overtake him.