Saga [update: 7/29] - For All That Is Sacred - ANH-ROTJ - OCs and canon - X-Wing squadfic

To which i reply, 'Quewhat??'

 

* * * *

Deep Space
Dalonbian Sector

The swirling bluing haze coalesced into starlines and receded into single points of light as Jev locked-in the sublight drive of his X-Wing fighter. A quick glance of his sensors told him that there were two more ships here at the rendezvous point than he had when Venom squadron fled from their attack on the ImpStar, Devastator.

"Venom Leader, Red Two," crackled a voice over the comm, "glad you boys could make it."

"Thank you, Red Two," he replied, grinning to himself. "Though I daresay a few of us don't quite fall into the category of boys."

"Hey, you hear that, Biggs? They're not all boys."

"Best news I've heard since Cracken's 'fresher exploded... unless they're all old men, that is."

Jev sighed remorsefully. Honestly, he didn't know who he had and who he didn't. "Squad - head-count. Two, Four, and Seven didn't make it... who else is missing?"

"Leader, Eleven. Twelve took a direct hit to his canopy."

He had managed to elude it during the pitch of battle, but now the reality of losing pilots he had personally trained for the last two years finally settled in and took root deep in his gut. Now he understood why a certain amount of distance was needed between a squadron leader and his pilots.

Benin - Venom Twelve - he was a good kid, if anyone with a wife and three children could still be called a kid.

Pailiey - Venom Seven - a loner with no family, but she was a damned good pilot, and an even better friend to nearly everyone in the squadron.

Gosten - Venom Two - his death was a deeply-felt failure for Jev. He had let his wingmate down, and now he had to find a way to tell Gosten's bride of three-weeks that he wouldn't be coming home to her.

Trem - Venom Four - his loss made Jev wince inwardly. He wouldn't have to inform Trem's family of his death... his brother, Jennigan - Venom Six, probably saw it happen.

"Honor the dead in your hearts," Jev said quietly over the comm. "We'll mourn them properly later."

"Venom Leader," came Red Two's voice again. "We're to hold our position here until the Tantive arrives. On the off-chance the Imps managed to calculate our vector to this point, we'll run interference until the Tantive can make her next jump."

"Copy that," Jev acknowledged. "How soon will the Tantive arrive?"

"To be perfectly honest," Red Two replied, "we should have all arrived at the same time."

Jev blinked. "They're still in hyperspace?"

"As far as we know," the other Red pilot interjected. "They can stay on that vector for the next two hours before they slam into a star, so we're hoping they just overshot the rendezvous point and double-back."

"And if they don't?" Jev inquired.

"They will," Red Two replied. "We have too much invested in this mission for them not to."

That didn't make Jev feel any better. In fact, he had a very bad feeling about this. "Alright, then... We wait."

* * * *

"This is as good a place as any," Cara remarked, turning around to face her one-time pupil, the restraints around his wrists doing little to soften the intimidating stature of a well-built man clad head-to-toe in skin-tight black Stormtrooper fatigues.

"How do I know this place isn't bugged?" Arvis asked with a grunt.

"You don't, Sergeant," she said bluntly, taking a seat on a nearby sofa and leaving him to stand in the center of the room, hands bound in front of him where she could keep an eye on them. Stormtrooper fatigues, however, left little to the imagination, making it difficult to keep her eyes just on his hands. "It's the Ambassador's quarters... so I imagine it's quite private."

"Then would you mind telling me why in hell's fire you're running around with Rebels, Major?"

"As a matter of fact, I do mind," she replied. "Whether I'm consorting with the enemy or on a covert operation is nobody's business but my own, and you'll just have to..."

"Trust you?" he snorted.

"...figure it out for yourself."

Arvis' eyes narrowed a

 

I love the required perception of a lie, but the insecurity of not knowing what it is.

 

Hrm. Not the bit I would have picked as my favorite moment, but whatever works

 

Reminds me of the time I went to see the Matrix 2 and then told my friend (the most mispelled word on my account ever) who was waiting in line after I saw it that Morpheus was dead. Just believeable enough, but a total lie. You should have seen his face, it was great.

Course me in my silliness I didn't realize she was lying.

So..like the interaction between la princesa and Cara. Makes things interesting to me...

EDIT: the dead pilots really hurt. Once again. You're good at that.

 

Interesting - that must be about the worst damn nightmare for a soldier, being captured and finding out his old CO is running things. Also interesting that the Double-Alpha loyalty to the troops over never giving in to the enemy has survived in the Empire ... but if I were in the good major's shoes I'd expect him to try something fast.

Side note, just hit me: Did you get the idea for the Double-Alphas from the "AA" patch of the 82nd Airborne Division?

 

Tris: So..like the interaction between la princesa and Cara. Makes things interesting to me...

Good to know

: the dead pilots really hurt. Once again. You're good at that.

Well, yeah, it does hurt. That's war.

Alion: Interesting - that must be about the worst damn nightmare for a soldier, being captured and finding out his old CO is running things.

It would be a bit of a shock, yeah.

: Also interesting that the Double-Alpha loyalty to the troops over never giving in to the enemy has survived in the Empire

You can probably expect that issue to come up later on. It's a fine line between surrender and living to fight another day. I figure they're some of only a very few stormies allowed to even use their names instead of operating numbers.

: but if I were in the good major's shoes I'd expect him to try something fast.

Oh, I think I would, too.

: Did you get the idea for the Double-Alphas from the "AA" patch of the 82nd Airborne Division?

No, but that's a very good guess! Probably one of the few things about them that *wasn't* a plot bunny from real military stuff. If you've ever read (or watched) Band of Brothers, then you know where a few of my plot bunnies parachuted in from.

 

Despite the ROTS spoiler ban having expired, this is just a friendly heads-up - there's a minor ROTS item in this post.

* * * *

One rarely understands the value in what they have until they lose it - a common philosophy held among nearly every culture in the galaxy, and for good reason. It always seemed, though, that the more simple the deprivation, the greater the longing inspired by the thing's absence... and the greater the evil in the withholding.

Rob a man of his ship or his money, and he'll curse you and work or steal to overcome the loss. Strip him of something simpler, like air, and he dies.

The truly cruelest of beings did things far more sinister - finding that special something that, bereft of it, left the victim hanging somewhere between life and death, existing in one while wishing for the other.

And yet, pulling a stray bit of bright red hair from her face while she stalked down the corridor, Mara Jade gave no outward hint that her most prized 'special something' was about to be forcibly and cruelly taken away from her: silence. Though it wasn't the constant chattering of Imperial officers behind her back that would break her silence, nor was it the steady rumbling of the Devastator's engines or the slap of her boots on the deck plating as she walked. Not even the sharp hiss of the briefing room's hydraulic doors sliding open for her would do that.

Rather, it was the wretched, labored mechanical wheezing of the black phantom that awaited her, cloaked in darkness and staring out at the stars with a face masked by death. She knew the rhythm of the slow inhaling and exhaling was mechanically perfect, but something about the labored strain involved always made the next breath seem to take longer in coming than the last, leaving a tiny grain of hope after each cycle that perhaps he had finally taken his last gasp - a sentiment borne of as much compassion as it was revulsion.

Though she often felt terrorized in his presence by that sound, she also had to wonder if perhaps he was the greater victim.

Did he even hear it himself?

Could he even see those stars he spent so much time looking at?

"Jade," he droned, not bothering to turn from the viewport as she approached him slowly and came to his side, clasping her hands behind her back and making her own survey of the starlit void.

"You wanted to see me, Lord Vader?" The question was rhetorical, but intended to be polite. One did not simply stride up to a Sith Lord and ask 'What do you want this time?'

"The Rebels have captured a member of the Emperor's Cabinet."

Mara raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at Vader sidelong from the corner of her eye. "You're referring to Selvian Groy?"

His masked face turned toward her only slightly - the only hint that he was surprised she already knew of the Doctor's capture. "If you're aware of his capture, then I assume you know his importance."

Besides the part where Palpatine blames you for losing his security genius? After he gets a good cackle out of the irony, of course...

"I do," she said calmly.

Being careless with one's thoughts and emotions, as Mara just did, was another thing that should never be done in the presence of a Sith Lord. A black-gloved hand, if there was really a hand under there at all, rose to poignantly emphasize his irritation with a finger in her face.

"Do not patronize me, Jade. The Rebels used a clever plot to stage this attack, so we must be doubly clever to prevent them from exploiting it."

"Then turn me loose," Mara said with a snide tone. "Quit sending inept assassins after this... Rebel Shadow, and let me take him down like I was trained to do."

Vader turned and watched her carefully for a moment. "Major Thrash is hardly inept."

"I see," Mara noted. "I suppose that's why she's been missing for two months?"

Vader remained... well... silent wasn't quite the right word.

"You've sent seven hunters after t

 

YES! Order 66, a chilling revelation that I, of course, knew was inevitable, but still got the goosebumps from reading it. I got so creeped out by Vader sounding so much like Obi-Wan in parts of this. I loved Mara's spot-on characterization and how she reminded me of Leia, which was a weird twist.

 

Thanks!

Oh, and this post marked a milestone in the series...

WORD COUNT ADVISORY:
[image=http://www.alcoris.com/tfn-images/wordcount/alert_200k_opus.jpg]

 

Quasi-primetime bump.

 

*swoons* can I copy what I said here?

I LOVE this post. I don't know why, (well, ok, I do know why) but I really do. Maybe with RotS being so vivid in my head, a really good closeup of Vader is intense!


Of course the sheer strength of the writing couldn't be why...

 

Ooh excellent post, loved the Vader\Mara discussion, great work.

 

Tris: *swoons* can I copy what I said here?

Yeah I wouldn't mind

: I LOVE this post. I don't know why, (well, ok, I do know why) but I really do. Maybe with RotS being so vivid in my head, a really good closeup of Vader is intense!

I've had this scene dancing in my head for quite some time, so I'm glad it came off as well as it did.

: Of course the sheer strength of the writing couldn't be why...

Flattery will get you... well, pretty much whatever you want.

Luney: Ooh excellent post, loved the Vader\Mara discussion, great work.

Thanks!

 

Well, ok, you asked for it! You must know that I never quote people back to themselve,s but I just had to use all of it as evidence...

Oh. My. God. I cannot believe the utter beauty of this post.


Mara's truly insightful thoughts on Vader-

Rather, it was the wretched, labored mechanical wheezing of the black phantom that awaited her, cloaked in darkness and staring out at the stars with a face masked by death. She knew the rhythm of the slow inhaling and exhaling was mechanically perfect, but something about the labored strain involved always made the next breath seem to take longer in coming than the last, leaving a tiny grain of hope after each cycle that perhaps he had finally taken his last gasp - a sentiment borne of as much compassion as it was revulsion.


Wow! That turn of metaphor, the revlusion/compassion, everything in this statement is so precise. Like the empire, in fact, another great tie-in. I am so impressed, this is one of my favorite of your posts.

Absoultey ingenious!


P.S.- Love mara's tarnished hardness, which is only hinted at in Zahn and others. it makes her more believable and less superhuman. mmmm...good stuff!

...here's my original post, Master! Upping for a good cause!

 

I thought that question was rhetorical. Thanks for that, though (and the bump)!

 

I'll bump you off if you don't post soon...

 

Define "soon"...

This one is next on my to-do list

 

No te creo! Siempre me molestas pero nunca expliques porque se necesita demorrar el dia de cumplimiento!

 

: Siempre me molestas pero nunca expliques porque se necesita demorrar el dia de cumplimiento!

Something in there about molesting an explicit porcupine with a pimento... I think.

Somebody better warn ophelia's hedgehog.

 

Yeah, i know where she lives...

 

Here's a short update... there may be more later this evening.

* * * *

Yavin System

Jev had spent the better part of a worrisome hour becoming acquainted with the two Red Squadron pilots, Antilles and Darklighter, before the Tantive finally arrived at the rendezvous point intact and presumably unharmed. After a few carefully-worded inquiries from Darklighter, the Tantive's captain responded with the 'all clear' code-word and they were able to embark on a series of hyperspace micro-jumps to throw off any chance of pursuit, then settle in for the final jump to wherever the Rebellion was keeping its secret base.

By that point, weariness had settled in. Venom squadron had just ended a long six-hour patrol over the nighttime skies of Ardiese when Jev had announced his intent to defect. Between hyperspace travel and the short, but costly battle with an Imperial Star Destroyer, Jev figured he'd been sitting in the cockpit of his X-Wing fighter for more than thirteen hours straight. So, once he downloaded the coordinates for the Rebel base, he didn't really care where it was or bother to have his astromech droid tell him.

Instead, he leapt into hyperspace toward a point unknown and hoped that the Rebel base was far enough away to give him a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

He felt like he had barely enough time to get comfortable and shut his eyes when the hyperspace reversion alarm began crying like baby rancor. Perturbed, he allowed a short string of profanity to escape that prompted his astromech to inquire as to exactly how he planned to find a Hutt large enough to accommodate the entire Caprian Nebula in a single bodily orifice.

"Shut up," he muttered groggily, silencing the alarm and noting that he did at least get a couple hours of sleep along the trip. He waited patiently for the remaining minute to tick away on the hyperspace counter, then pulled back on the levers to turn the swirling storm of light into starlines that shortened into solitary points of light surrounding a large gas-giant planet. The navigation computer quickly pinpointed his location near to the fourth planet of the Yavin system, and a quick check of the sensors showed the Tantive and all fighters accounted for.

He quickly found a comm frequency with activity and tried to pick up the conversation, but quickly silenced the shrieking noise of an encrypted secure channel, no doubt conversation between the Tantive and whatever Rebel base was located here. Jev didn't particularly like being kept ignorant, however, so he quickly computed the sources of the comm transmissions. About the time he isolated the remote source to somewhere near a moon orbiting the gas-giant, his comm panel alerted him to a hail being directed at him, to which he quickly hailed back and rerouted the transmission over the squadron's channel.

"Venom Leader, this is Yavin Base," a crackling female voice announced. "Welcome to the Alliance."

"Thank you, Yavin," Jev replied, not entirely sure at this point whether his thanks may have been misplaced. "My squadron is probably quite tired and hungry, so I'd like to get them some chow and bunks as soon as possible."

"Consider it done, Venom Leader. I'm relaying your landing approach vector to your astromech now." There was a slight pause, at which point Jev was about to thank her again, but she resumed talking as his mouth opened. "Commander Atona, General Cracken wants to speak with you personally before you bunk down."

* * * *

 

Yay, Cracken's coming up! I'm excited...

 

* * * *

"Excellent work, Major."

Cara glanced over her shoulder at Old Man Dodonna and cracked a slight smile before returning her attention to the deck officer. "Keep the prisoners separated as much as possible," she practically shouted over the din of their starfighter escorts entering the hangar at the base of the ancient temple. "The more contact they have with each other, the more dangerous they are."

"Understood."

"Especially that one," Cara noted, pointing to where three uniformed Rebel soldiers were escorting the bound Arvis Tercion down the Tantive's boarding ramp. "I want him completely isolated from the others."

"Yes, ma'am," the officer noted briskly before snapping a salute and trotting off to relay the orders.

"There's a curious order," Dodonna noted as he stepped to her side. "Why keep him by himself?"

"Sergeant Tercion isn't your everyday stormtrooper, General," she replied, trying to explain.

"That much was obvious when he broke out of the docking bay and tried to take over an entire ship with two men and a few stun grenades."

"He certainly has bravado," she conceded, "but I was referring to his mindset. He doesn't think like a stormtrooper."

"Are stormtroopers allowed to think?"

"The Empire has always demanded unquestioning obedience," Cara answered. "Stormtroopers that think too much are a detriment. Except for a handful, no, they're not even allowed to keep their identities."

"Then I'm doubly curious," Dodonna noted playfully. "Thinking stormtroopers are something of a novelty, it seems."

"They're the brainchild of some upstart Naval officer who managed to get an entire brigade created for an experiment. Arvis and the rest of Alpha Company are the best of the entire brigade."

Dodonna stroked his white beard and looked pensive for a moment. "The Empire taking advice from the lower echelons, allowing stormtroopers to think, and putting a woman in charge of their training, no less. What's the galaxy coming to?"

"That's not all," Cara added. "The officer that came up with the idea... he's not even human. He's Chiss."

"Maybe we should check to see if Hoth has melted, too." He then eyed her carefully. "So what's your interest in the Sergeant?"

"Respect, mostly," she answered. "I've been watching him ever since I first saw his test scores when he was assigned to Alpha Brigade."

"They must have been as impressive as his stature, I take it."

"Borderline precognitive," she replied. "He even got the attention of Palpatine's pet."

"Vader?" Dodonna mused. "Now I understand why you want him isolated."

Cara cleared her throat. "Actually... that's not the reason."

Dodonna's eyebrows raised slowly. "Are you taking a more personal interest in the Sergeant?"

Cara grazed her thumb absently against her bare ring finger. It may have been five years since she last wore it... but she could still feel its ghostly presence. "No, sir," she replied. "I don't have any personal interest in anyone at the present."

"I'm sure Commander Atona will be disappointed to hear that," the Old Man commented. "So why the interest in Sergeant Tercion?"

"He's dangerous and he thinks for himself..."

"Overblown sense of honor?"

"Quite."

"I like him already."

"I thought you might," Cara laughed. "It may take a lot of work to get through all the Imperial propaganda he's been fed... and overcome the trust I've violated..."

The Old Man waved her off dismissively. "You've done your duty, Major. I'll sic Princess Leia on him when we get back from Alderaan."

"You're going to Alderaan with her?" Cara inquired. "Isn't that a little... risky?"

"We're getting desperate," he sighed. "You've heard what Ackbar said about this battle-station the Empire built. We going to need all the help we can get, and the Princess' father seems to think he knows someone that might be willing help us."

Cara shook her head. "I suppose that leaves me working with Cracken again?"

"And Commander Atona."

Stars help me.

 

I love Old Man Dodonna, especially the personality that seems to be accurately gleaned from The Krytos Trap. I, personally, can't wait to see the reintroduction.