Beyond - Legends The Spearhead (Post FOTJ)

Chapter 1

The Star Destroyer New Remonda was named after the famed vessel Han Solo had captained during the hunt for Warlord Zsinj. An Imperial-II Destroyer, the Remonda had the Galactic Alliance emblem painted in bright red on either side of its hull.

"General Darklighter to Coruscant control," said the commander of the Remonda. "Requesting permission to dock with Centax II."

"Control to General Darklighter," replied a voice, young and male. "You still on duty, sir? Figured they would have retired you a long time ago."

Gavin Darklighter winced. "Shut up, Control. Out."

The young voice laughed as the link disconnected. Gavin clasped his hands behind his back and turned, looking behind him into the crew pits. A young lieutenant, a human woman with black hair and a perky expression in her blue eyes, looked up at him.

"General, it's good to be home," she said.

"You bet, Lieutenant Tebut," Gavin said with a smile. "It's been too long since I've seen my kids."

"Yes, sir."

Tebut was the cousin of one of Jacen Solo's bridge officers on the Anakin Solo. Patra Tebut had stood up to Darth Caedus and been killed for it. Her cousin had taken up a role in the navy to honor her.

"Take over, Lieutenant. I'm going down to the exit hatch."

"Yes, sir."

The lieutenant favored him with a salute and Gavin returned it, and then left the bridge. His comlink beeped, and he pulled it out of his pocket.

"General Darklighter."

"General, this is Commander Kral Nevil," said a watery voice. "Permission to launch?"

Gavin smiled. Nevil, current commander of Rogue Squadron, had been Gavin's wingman in the Yuuzhan Vong war, and had taken over command of Rogue Squadron after Commander Lensi, a Duros, had been shot down by Wedge Antilles during the Second Galactic Civil War.

"Permission granted," Gavin replied. "Enjoy your shore leave, Kral."

"Thank you, sir."

"Out."

Gavin turned and entered the turbolift. He pressed the command to take him down to the lower level, where he could access the exit hatch. The lift stopped on the midlevels, where the troops stayed, and a pair of GA soldiers in black uniforms entered the lift.

"Soldiers," Gavin said.

"Sir!" they replied with a salute.

The lift stopped on the bottom level, and the three men exited the lift. They were just approaching the airlock when Gavin felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It was his combat sense. Whipping out his pistol, Gavin whirled–

An explosion ripped across the airlock. One of the GA soldiers was killed instantly, and the other was injured in the blast. Gavin rolled, feeling the waves of heat tugging at the back of his tunic. He landed in a crouch, aiming his pistol, but there was no target.

"Sir!" called Nevil. "This is Rogue Leader. There was an explosion in the Remonda. What happened? I just lost Rogues Seven and Ten!"

Blast. "Roger, Commander. It was sabotage. Go on down to Coruscant, I'll get GA security up here to handle it."

"Understood, General. Commander Nevil out."

Gavin frowned at the blackened deck as medics ran in to deal with the wounded soldier. Who did this? he wondered. Holstering his blaster, Gavin sighed.

"Get security up here," he told one of the medics. "It looks like I won't be seeing my wife for a while, after all."

 

Looks like you have something interesting starting here.

 

Thank you!

Chapter 2

Clad in a black tanktop and breeches, the barefoot Ben Skywalker rotated on his heel, slashing his lightsaber diagonally through the air. Then he pulled back, snap-kicked, and ran through another rotation. He slashed horizontally at neck level. It had taken him a long time to learn to not imagine Darth Caedus' head above the blade.

Now it was Vestara Khai's head, and that depressed him.

He shouldn't want to harm Ves; they'd been in a good relationship. They'd been more than friends, on the verge of something wonderful. Unfortunately, she had been a lying Kath hound, and betrayed Ben and his father, going back to the Sith.

"How you doing, Ben?" a familiar voice asked.

Ben slowed, bringing his lightsaber down, and turned. Kam Solusar stood behind Ben, arms crossed, smiling. Ben deactivated his weapon and stepped over to Kam. During the Vong war, Kam and Tionne had been Ben's caretakers. He had only been two years old or so when he'd gone back to his parents, but he'd always had a special connection to them. They weren't exactly parents to him, but they were at least another aunt and uncle.

"Master Solusar," he replied. "I'm doing all right."

"I know how hard this must be for you, Ben."

"Yeah, well, I'm working through it."

Kam pulled his lightsaber off his belt. "Care to train against something that can fight back?"

Ben grinned wickedly. "Aw, but I don't want to hurt your brittle bones..."

Kam scowled. "Make your move, child."

Ben activated his lightsaber, its blue blade washing over the training mat. Solusar's blade snapped to life as well, a darker shade of blue. Ben lunged, slashing at Kam's waist. Kam twisted his saber down, blocking the blow, and spun around, landing behind Ben. Ben spun and raised his weapon in a horizontal defense, blocking the high blow Kam dropped. The two blades sparked, and Ben disconnected his weapon from Kam's spinning away. Then he stabbed at Kam's collarbone. The older Jedi raised his weapon, spinning Ben's away to the side, and stepped forward, slashing at Ben's neck. Ben, alarmed, pulled back–

And froze as Kam grabbed Ben's arm and stopped his blade a centimeter from Ben's throat.

"This old man can still teach you a few tricks," Kam said with a grin.

The two disengaged, sheathed their weapons, and clipped them to their belts. Ben's comlink chirped.

"Skywalker," he said.

"Jedi Skywalker, there's a message from the Galactic Alliance Security for you," the voice on the other side said. "They request your assistance in the investigation of a bombing on Centax II's military dock."

Ben frowned. "Ah, roger that. I'm on my way. Skywalker out." He turned to Kam. "Tell my dad where I'm going."

"I'm on it," Kam replied. "May the Force be with you, Ben."

"Thank you, Master."

* * *

Gavin Darklighter stood outside the docking bay and scowled deeply at the floor. Who would bomb a Star Destroyer on Coruscant's moon? It was pretty much a suicide mission, because there was no chance they wouldn't be caught.

"General," said Lieutenant Tebut, "Jedi Skywalker has arrived."

Gavin looked up. A Stealth-X starfighter pulled into the hangar and landed. The hatch popped, and a youthful, red-headed boy leapt out of the cockpit. Ben was dressed in a casual black tunic, with a lightsaber clipped at his left hip, where he could easily reach it in a cross-draw.

"General Darklighter!" Ben called.

Gavin smiled. "Jedi Skywalker. I haven't seen you in a long time. You've gotten so big, boy!"

"Thanks." Ben frowned. "What happened here?"

Gavin sighed. "I wish I knew. The docking ring connecting my Star Destroyer, New Remonda, was hit with a bomb. Nothing serious, but there were casualties. The blast wasn't directed at the ring, though, because the outer hull took the brunt of the blast. Two members of Rogue Squadron were killed."

"I'm sorry, sir," Ben said. "You want me to investigate it?"

"Well, not you alone. Let me introduce you to your team."

* * *

Sharr Latt glanced up from the forensics scan he was running as General Darklighter walked in with a young red-headed boy in black. Sharr was about to ask who the kid was, when he saw the lightsaber clipped to his belt. Sharr backed away and turned to face them, saluting the General.

"And you must be the Jedi Order's most famous ex-GAG investigator," he said.

"Ben Skywalker," the boy said.

Sharr nodded. "Good to meet you finally. I'm Sharr Latt."

Ben smiled. "My cousin Jaina says you're eccentric."

Sharr belted out a laugh. "Does she, now?"

"She's right," said a youthful voice.

Sharr and Ben turned. Trey Courser, blonde and tall, entered the forensics room, arms crossed. He smirked at Ben, leaned against the forensics table, and jerked his head at Sharr.

"Oddest man I've ever met," Trey said. "After General Loran, of course."

"I'll tell him you said that," General Darklighter said with a dour look.

"So, I'm working with Wraith Squadron?" asked Ben.

Darklighter nodded. "Correct. You have skills none of them have. Well...almost none of them."

"You mean there's a Force-sensitive Wraith?"

Sharr nodded. "Jesmin Tainer. Son of Tyria and Kell Tainer."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "I knew they had a son, Doran, but a daughter?"

"I'm offended you don't remember me," said a cool voice.

Jesmin entered the room, clad in a Stealth-X pilot's suit. She had a blaster holstered at her side, and the shape of the pocket on her right thigh suggested her lightsaber was inside.

Ben's eyes narrowed and defocused, as if he was searching his memory. Sharr nodded; he remembered that Ben had an eidetic memory. If he'd ever met Jesmin, he would know. His eyes widened again.

"You're that bounty hunter," he said, "Zilaash Kuh."

"Thank you," Jesmin replied. "Yes, that was my undercover identity."

"Well, I'll leave you to get to work," Gavin said. "Good luck, and for those to whom it applies, may the Force be with you."

As Gavin left, Sharr returned to the forensics table. He leaned over and looked through his microscope. Trey's comlink beeped and he stepped away.

"What do you have there?" Ben asked.

Sharr squinted, focusing. "It's...residue from the epicenter of the blast. We're hoping we can find bomb matter in this." He laughed. "This is not my specialty. But Scut is busy running diagnostics on some strange chemicals we found on crates in the cargo bay."

"Let me have a crack," Ben said. "I did some of this stuff in my spare time after I left the GAG." He sighed long-sufferingly. "Not that I had much of that."

Sharr stepped aside. "Be my guest."

"We got orders from General Loran," Trey said, returning to the table. "We're supposed to go down to Coruscant and investigate a hotspot of black marketeering. Scut told him the chemical we found was commonly found in seismic bombs."

Jesmin frowned. "A seismic bomb would've done a lot more damage to the Remonda."

Ben froze, his eye a centimeter from the scope. "Which means..."

"The other bomb was a decoy," Jesmin said.

"There's still a seismic bomb aboard," Trey breathed.

 

Nice, I like that you' ve used Ben's prior investigative skills. It suits him.

 

I always liked Ben having that skill; it meant he was different than the other characters.

Chapter 3

They'd split up into two teams; half of them went down to Coruscant, while the others prowled the Remonda in search of the seismic bomb. Ben was with the latter team, along with Trey Courser, Sharr Latt, Viull "Scut" Gorsat, Drikall Bessarah, and Thaymes Fodrick. Scut was leading the way with a handheld scanner, waving it across the halls in search of seismic activity.

"It's not in the third wing," Scut said.

Ben was still having trouble adjusting to Scut. He was a Yuuzhan Vong warrior, so Ben could not sense him in the Force. Unlike his cousin, Jaina, Ben had not grown up fighting the Yuuzhan Vong; he'd been born during the war and thus too young to ever fight them. Thus he did not carry her unconscious dread of them, though he was still uncomfortable. Scut, however, had gone out of his way to be friendly to Ben.

"We should split up," Trey said. "If the bomb's on a timer–or if it's set to be remotely detonated–then we need to find it before it blows. If we just stay together, then we risk not finding it in time."

Scut nodded. "All right. Each team takes a scanner and a comlink. Call Trey if you find it; he can defuse it."

Ben nodded. "Right."

The teams were divided; Scut and Ben would continue searching the halls, while Trey and Sharr searched all the hangars, and Drikall and Thaymes searched the cargo bays and lounges. Ben clipped his comlink to his collar and set it on.

"Let's go," Scut said.

The Vong led the way, the scanner held out in front of him. Ben, at the same time, reached out with the Force, probing the area to see if he could detect any malice or, failing that, anything that might suggest a bomb. He found nothing, but he hadn't really expected to.

"Come," Scut said, "we still have a lot to search."

"What about the bridge?" Ben asked. "It's possible it's up there."

"GAS already swept the bridge," Scut said. "And the officers' lounge, and each ranking officer's quarters. Nothing turned up."

"All right," Ben replied. "I wonder how the ground team is doing?"

"Just fine," Scut said with a grin. "They will probably finish their mission before we do ours."

"Well then, let's not waste time."

* * *

Myri Antilles, Jesmin Tainer, Wran Narcassan, Huhunna, and Turman Durra stepped into the alley. Myri felt the blaster at the small of her back and patted it for reassurance. She'd never been to this part of Coruscant; it was terrifying. Vongformed plants still grew everywhere, and gang members and druggies were on every street corner. Luckily, Huhunna, as a Wookiee, demanded a lot of space.

"What do you want?" a reedy voice demanded.

"Lookin' to buy weapons," Turman said.

Turman was a Clawdite, a shapeshifter, and was currently in the form of a Rodian. He pitched his voice a little, nailing the syntax of a Rodian speaking Basic. Myri was impressed. She scratched idly at her wig, which was blue today. She also had lenses in her eyes that turned them a bright shade of silver.

"Aren't they all?" the voice replied.

"Not just any weapons," Turman continued. "Seismic ones."

"Really?"

Myri heard a tap on a wall, and instantly her blaster was in hand. A black-clad thug leapt from behind the squad, and she whirled, shooting him in the right hip. He groaned and fell back. At the same time, another thug leapt forward, wielding a vibroaxe. Huhunna snarled and pulled a ryyk blade from her baldric. Two more assassins entered the alley, both with blasters.

"Get down!" Wran snapped.

Myri ducked to the ground, and a blaster bolt shot over her head, killing one of the assassins. The other fired, catching Turman in the knee. He groaned and dropped, but managed to hold his Rodian shape. There was a snap-hiss, and suddenly the alley was cast in a red glow. Jesmin leapt forward, swinging her blade. The blaster bolts the assassin fired were reflected expertly into the walls, and Jesmin spun, stabbing the blade up to its hilt in the assassin's gut.

Meanwhile, Huhunna and the assassin with the axe were grappling roughly. Huhunna's ryyk blade had slashed through the hilt of the axe, and the blade dropped to the ground. The assassin leapt in, swinging a fist at Huhunna's chin–suicide. Huhunna instantly dropped her blade and lashed out, punching him in the gut. The blow caught him hard and sent him flying back into the wall with a bone-shattering crunch.

And it was all over. Turman stood, groaning, and turned back to the figure he'd been speaking to. Surprisingly, the shadowed man had not moved, but was standing there expectantly, arms crossed.

"You have a Jedi with you," the man observed. "You're Alliance."

"Not a Jedi," Jesmin hissed. "My name's Zilaash Kuh; I'm a bounty hunter who kills Jedi, you scan me?"

"I scan you," the man confirmed. "I can get you your seismic bombs...follow me."

Good work, Myri mouthed.

Thanks, Jesmin mouthed back.

 

Great actions scenes.

 

I haven't read FOTJ so some of this is bound to be new to me. But I'm enjoying reading about Ben. I'm interested to see where this goes!

 

Thank you both!

Chapter 4

Trey Courser popped the hatch and peered inside the cockpit of the Stealth-X. He'd gone through this whole squadron and found nothing. He figured they were looking in the wrong place. With time running out, he didn't particularly want to waste time looking in the wrong places.

"Hey, Trey!" called Sharr. "Nothing here! Let's move on to the last hangar."

Trey sighed and nodded. "All right. Let's go."

He moved down the hall after Sharr, reaching for his sensor. He scanned the hallway they were in as they walked, but found no sign of unusual activity that would suggest a seismic bomb. He was starting to wonder if they were going on a wild lobel chase.

"This is stupid," he muttered.

"We want to save the Remonda, don't we?" Sharr retorted.

"Yeah, but...something tells me we're going about it wrong." Trey sighed. "I wish Turman were here, so he could get in the bomber's mind."

"Won't work, not without knowing who the bomber is."

"I don't know, he's done some pretty amazing things before."

"Well, he's not a miracle-worker."

Trey nodded. "Right."

* * *

Ben frowned as he waved his scanner down the last part of the hall he and Scut were in. No, there weren't any bombs on any level where the blast could affect the bridge. Of course, if the bomb wiped out the whole middle half of the ship, the bridge would probably vent atmosphere anyway.

Suddenly, his comlink chimed. "Skywalker, it's Drikall! We found the bomb!"

Ben's eyes widened. "Where?"

"Bay 19, hurry!"

"On it. Call Trey."

"Roger."

Ben turned and sprinted for the turbolift, Scut running in his wake.

 

Chapter 5

The empty barracks was a good place to let off some steam, and at the moment, Galactic Alliance lieutenant Javon Thewles was most definitely angry. He threw his pack to the ground, letting it thump beside his cot. The rest of his squad was down in the mess or out on patrol; he'd gotten an encrypted message while eating and he hadn't liked it.

Dear Lieutenant Thewles,

It has come to my attention that during a brief foray when you were suspected of treason and conspiracy, you worked with Jedi Leia Organa Solo and Captain, ex-General, Han Solo, as a bodyguard for their daughter, Amelia (now revealed to be Allana Solo, daughter of Tenel Ka Djo).

While it is commendable, you are to have no further contact with the Solos from hereon out. Though they have done the Galactic Alliance a great service with the election of Chief of State Wynn Dorvan, there are certain of us amongst the government that are extremely unhappy with this turn of events.

Should you refuse to follow these orders, you will be dishonorably discharged, and if you continue to see the Solos and their granddaughter after discharge, you will be arrested on charges of treason. We have no doubt the Solos can testify you've done nothing wrong and post bail. This is not what you should worry about.

If you continue to see the Solos, we will come for you. Do not forget it.

-A benefactor​

​

Javon scowled, yanked the card from his datapad, and tossed it in the trash chute. Blast them, anyway. They couldn't stop him. He was a capable soldier and he could fight off the best of them. He wouldn't be scared off from his friends.

Javon swung his fist at the punching bag that occupied the back corner of the room. He hit it again, and again, and again. His fists swung faster, faster, smashing into the bag with lightning force. The bag flew backwards and returned to Javon time and time again, and he hit it until there was no thought, just the pleasure of hitting something.

"My, you're angry," a voice said.

Javon whirled, his fists instantly coming up in a defensive position, his body turned to the side, his legs spread at shoulder's width. In front of him stood a man in full body armor–armor that Javon recognized from the newscasts from years–and also several months–ago. The armor was decorated in green and yellow, a blaster pistol tied at his waist. His helmet was T-visored, and he had a jetpack strapped to his armor.

"You're a Mandalorian," Javon said.

The armored man nodded. "Yes. Name's Novoc Vevut."

"What do you want?"

Vevut chuckled. "A talk. There was a bomb on the New Remonda; you know about it?"

Javon nodded. "Yes. Everyone in GAS does."

"Good. Finding the bomber is your top priority."

Javon frowned suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because I was hired to find him, too. You find him, I find him...we're all happy."

Javon turned and went over to his knapsack, pulling out his combat gear.

"All right," he said, "do you have any leads? I can't exactly pull this off on my own."

"You don't have to. Wraith Squadron is on the job; contact General Loran and work with them."

"How do you–?"

Javon turned as he said it...but Vevut was gone. He sighed and began strapping on his armor.

"Looks like the Solos are the least of my problems..."

 

Chapter 6

Ben glanced down nervously at the bomb as Trey worked on it. The width of Ben's forearm, and as big around as a Dantooinian spherefruit, the seismic charge ticked slowly down toward detonation. Trey bit his lip and fiddled with the internal wiring. Ben reached out with the Force and probed the bomb gently.

"Trey..." he said, "I think you should look at the green wire..."

Trey glanced back at him and then nodded. He reached down and followed the green wire. Then he paled.

"Oh, kriff."

"What's wrong?"

"Anti-tamper failsafe. If I pull any of these wires the bomb goes off."

Ben clenched his fists. Whoever had done this was smart. Very smart. He nodded and scratched his chin for a moment. Finally, he nodded.

"Okay," he said. "Evacuate the ship."

"What?"

"Evacuate. Now."

Trey looked like he was ready to argue, but finally he nodded and motioned to the other Wraiths. They left Ben alone with the bomb, and he knelt next to it. Quickly, he closed the hatches and glanced at the timer.

01:57

He picked up the bomb and ran, enhancing his speed with the Force. He fairly flew down the corridors, knocking people over as he passed them. He reached an airlock and dropped the bomb on the floor. He cycled the lock and ejected the bomb into space, using the Force to hurl it as far away from the ship as possible.

He estimated it has ten seconds to blow.


He had it far enough from the ship...and a passenger liner curved toward the bomb. Ben snarled and pulled the bomb back toward the ship with all his might.

"Trey," he said. "Ship evacuated?"

"Yes, but I don't–"

"Get off. Now."

"Okay..."

Ben watched the bomb explode, fascinated at the shape it took as the blue-green flames extended toward the ship. Not wasting time, Ben turned and sprinted down the corridor.

He was fifteen feet from the nearest escape pod when the seismic wave tore a hole in the Remonda and Ben was thrown forward, slamming his head into the access hatch. His vision grayed and he tried to reach the control to the hatch, but vacuum was sucking him away from the controls. He used the Force to pull himself forward, inch by inch.

Almost there...almost...

He heard an emergency bulkhead slam shut, sealing the corridor off from vacuum. Ben sagged in relief, allowing himself a moment to rest.

And then the fuel lines exploded.

 

You have a great momentum going here and I am enjoying reading Ben older. (I still have a lot of profic stuff to read). I love the detail you have going here and the interaction between other characters is interesting. Should you continue this - please tag me in.

 

Excellent Totally riveting cliffie there. Yup, I'm glad Javon's not caring a whit for any threats/warnings/advice about the Solos.

 

I'm always up for stories post FOTJ. Please keep me updated!

 

Ha! Forgot about this story. It kind of ended up as an early draft of a bunch of my other stories, but I may just be able to finish this, fix it up a bit and make it fit in after my current story. We'll see! Glad you guys like it.

 

Another great story. I like to see more