Beyond - Legends [ updated 7/21 ] - Cruel Honor - mystery/romance - (19yr post-NJO)

At least Ben salvaged part of his date. He got to kiss her.

 

Ishy: I ate pancakes with syrup, made cookies, and read this post and I'm about to go into sugar-overdose!

Don't blame me... I *did* put a mush warning on it

: Even Galvin was adorable!

I'm sure he'll be just thrilled to know that

RebelMom: At least Ben salvaged part of his date. He got to kiss her.

Yup. That he did!

 

Looks like I?ve missed a lot of great posts!

Though usually predictable in its drudgery, life never ceased to come up with interesting surprises. Glitches, he liked to call them. Some borne of honor, some borne of cruelty, they never failed to amaze. This was especially true of those glitches borne of one that inevitably seemed to result in the other.
[ . . . ]
Even the kindest of blessings could be twisted by Fate's sadistic malevolence.

An act of generosity to feed two hungry children, molten like ice before her fiery villainy and misshapen into prejudice that spawned a riot - simple charity that claimed the lives of nine people.
[ . . . ]
Another glitch. For all her spite and malice, every so often Fate runs across a person over whom even her power is rendered impotent.
[ . . . ]
Perhaps it has something to do with their outlook on life, or just being in the right place at the right time... or even dumb luck.
[ . . . ]
Or maybe it's simply not possible to cast to the ground one born to walk the sky.

I just absolutely loved that passage (and especially the last line) and how you wove it into the scene. Wow. Just . . . wow.

And, you know, for someone who claimed to not be very good at writing romance , you?re doing a pretty darn good job. The mush was just perfectly perfect!

Looking forward to more!

 

Scoundrel:

: I just absolutely loved that passage (and especially the last line) and how you wove it into the scene.

I didn't really weave it... I wrote that part first, then wrote the rest of the scene and, uh... weaved it.

: And, you know, for someone who claimed to not be very good at writing romance , you?re doing a pretty darn good job.

I only claim to be very good at two things, neither of them related to writing

: The mush was just perfectly perfect!

Thanks! And it's so good to see you around again! I hope DRL is treating you better.

 

LOL at your sig...

 

Part 1.16:

* * *

The Force trembled with a very firm suggestion that he wake up, so Jacen Solo lifted his chin from his chest and pried open his heavy eyelids to look around the room. The infirmary was quiet, save for the faint beeping and whirring of medical equipment, and the steady, almost inaudible humming of the Errant Venture's sublight engines he could feel through his feet more than he could hear.

His protective instincts drew his attention nearby to where Syal Horn lay sleeping soundly, her dark hair matted to her head and her face weary with exhaustion, belying the peacefulness radiating from her in the Force. Sensing no danger, he glanced up to where his apprentice stood at the transparent doorway facing away from him with an almost military pose, hands clasped behind her back.

"What is it, Jysella?" he said quietly, trying not to wake Syal.

"They're here," she murmured in reply.

Jacen nudged a sleeping Valin Horn beside him, then stood from his chair and stretched a bit before straightening his tunic and joining his apprentice, palming the control panel to slide the doorway open. The three of them stepped through and he waited for the door to quietly hiss shut before addressing the approaching group.

"Glad you could make it."

"We came as soon as we heard," Uncle Luke responded as he approached. "How is the Senator?"

Jacen turned and gestured toward Syal in the infirmary room behind him. "The excitement caused her to go into labor a little early," he informed them, "but she's none the worse for wear."

"And the baby?" Mara prompted.

Jacen cracked a smile. "He's enduring the attention of his grandmothers at the moment."

"He?" Mara inquired with a raised eyebrow at Valin. "I thought Syal had her heart set on a little girl?"

"I could have told her," Valin said with a helpless shrug, "but she wanted it to be a surprise. So, we have a son with no name and a shipload of pink baby clothes she's been collecting."

Luke snickered a bit. "Why doesn't that surprise me? If Iella and Mirax are entertaining him, then I assume Wedge and Corran are aboard the Venture as well?"

"They're in the sims trying to blow each other apart," Jysella noted with a hint of amusement.

Luke raised an eyebrow. "What brought that on?"

"Wedge dared to suggest that their grandson be named 'Kettch'."

Artoo-Deetoo practically exploded with an electronic chortling that vaguely resembled a Wookiee laugh.

See-Threepio whacked the top of the astromech's dome with a clang. "That's hardly an appropriate response, you overweight little waste of oil. 'Kettch' is a perfectly reasonable name for a human male."

Jacen cleared his throat and grinned at Uncle Luke, who rolled his eyes and asked, "Who's winning?"

"Last time I checked," Jysella answered him with a cocky expression, "Myri was tearing them both to pieces."

"Myri?" Luke repeated in astonishment.

"That girl scares me," Valin admitted, shaking his head.

"You're just annoyed that a girl can out-fly you," Jysella ribbed him.

Valin wrapped his arm around Jysella and squeezed her. "I can still vape you, sis."

"In your dreams, hotshot."

Jacen smirked, not out of disappointment, but to disguise his amusement at the competitive relationship between his apprentice and her older brother. The constant competition had been borderline dangerous during their training, but both of them had eventually matured to the point that it was now a tool to drive one another to excel.

That was a considerable difference from the relationship between the Antilles sisters. Syal had grown up as a bit of a tomboy, always challenging herself to be just like her father in everything she did, while Myri preferred to be the feminine little princess. Somewhere along the way, they swapped roles. Myri fell in love with the legend of her father and became every bit as cunning a pilot as Wedge had ever been. Syal had chosen Jacen's mother, Leia, as her mentor, and was now

 

Ooh nice post, liked how they learned they wanted Syal and the baby alive, and the humor was great! Poot Jacen...losing his hair like Corran. and Myri vaping them, hehehe!


Excellent work!

 

Thanks, Luney!

 

Awww, so cute...

"I'll make sure he includes eggs, spores, and every variation of 'pregnant' there is."

LOL!

 

Well... Threepio can be so literal sometimes

 

Yes, much to our chagrin and amusement, as always.

 

Kettch Horn...kind of has a ring to it
Yeah, 3PO can be very literal.
I enjoyed the Antilles family history. It's great that Myri has become a pilot like her father and can vape with the best of them.

 

Threepio is just misunderstood. You'd probably yearn for human conversation too if you spent as much of your life as he has talking to vaporators, load-lifters, and little beeping near-sighted scrap-piles.

RebelMom: Kettch Horn...kind of has a ring to it

I thought so...

: It's great that Myri has become a pilot like her father and can vape with the best of them.

Wedge would likely be grinning from ear-to-ear. Corran would probably just chalk their butt-whipping up to them being old farts.

 

post the next one please!!!

 

I really do like this story very much. Must say that I usually do not start stories this far in the future, am a real L/M fan, but saying that lets you know how much I really do love this!!! Question: "Is this Jedi Master a desendant of Vima Da Boda from the Noami Sunrider line?" (Dark Empire II) Keep up the good work.

 

Fisto: post the next one please!!!

It'll be a bit... I'm rotating through four stories right now

Swatter: Must say that I usually do not start stories this far in the future, am a real L/M fan, but saying that lets you know how much I really do love this!!!

Wow, thanks!

: Question: "Is this Jedi Master a desendant of Vima Da Boda from the Noami Sunrider line?" (Dark Empire II)

Close! She *is* a Sunrider Jedi, but Nori is 5th generation, whereas the Vima you refer to is 6th gen. They share a common ancestor, but Nori is older. In the completely non-canon "family tree" I've put together, Nori's grandmother and Vima's great-grandmother would have been sisters.

At the time of this story, Nori is 1416 years old (though she spent 900 years self-imprisoned in a stasis chamber). She's been "awake" at this point for 18 years, the majority of which she has been without a connection to the Force. On the Shoulders of Giants (a very long fic in my bio) tells that tale. She's a secondary character in this particualr story, though, so don't worry if you're concerned you might be missing out.

 

Bwah, Jacen losing his hair!

I think that's the first time I've ever seen Jacen unconciously imitate Han and let me believe him.

Awesome. I have absolutely no idea where this is going, but I'm along for the ride.


WHEEEE!!!

-The Braided One

 

* * *

Eyes closed, Galvin concentrated deeply, feeling the rhythm of his own life vibrating within the Force even more distinctly than his ear heard the gentle, constant humming of the lightsaber only centimeters away from his face. Blocking out all senses but the Force itself, he let the entire universe fade away until all that was left was himself and his blade, and even that was a misnomer.

Casting aside even his sense of tactile touch, the blade became an extension of himself, no more separate from him than the beads of sweat trailing down his chest or the air entering and leaving his lungs with purposeful regulation. There was no lightsaber. There was no cargo bay. There wasn't even that goofy Skywalker kid leaning against the doorway to watch him.

There was only Galvin and his connection to the Force.

Working from a calm center of peace, he allowed his blade to move delicately in slow, deliberate motions - stopping at points to consider his stance, his balance, the level of his shoulders, and any weaknesses in his position before gracefully moving to the next position and repeating the process. Because one could not see these things for himself, a Jedi had to focus on the Force and use it to see where he was, then listen to it to see where he should be.

Having neglected his daily meditations for this mission, Galvin found himself making many more corrections than usual. This didn't come from lack of practice, but from lack of focus. No amount of muscle-memory would ever be accurate enough to substitute for proper clarity provided by the Force - clarity he needed to take his mind off of-

"They may be basic katas," Ben quipped, "but you make them look like some kind of mating ritual."

Galvin stopped himself, maintained his calm center to correct his stance in this position, then deactivated his lightsaber and opened his eyes to look at Ben. "Considering what I'm trying to do," he muttered, walking over to the cargo bay wall and picking up a towel off the floor, "that's not a bad analogy."

"Ooh," Ben cooed with a mock-shiver, "there's nothing like a hot date with the Force first thing in the morning."

"Listen," Galvin snorted as he toweled himself, "I may be here as your bodyguard, but that doesn't mean I won't crack you upside the head for being a smartass at oh-four-thirty. I'm the only one that gets to do that."

"Point taken," Ben replied, holding up his hands with a smile. "Why are you up so early?"

Galvin raised an eyebrow at him. "I could ask you the same thing."

"But you didn't," Ben noted with a grin.

"Fair enough," Galvin conceded, tossing his lightsaber onto the towel before donning an undershirt. "I had a bad dream and needed to clear my head."

"You too, huh?" Ben remarked setting his head against the wall. "I had this crazy dream about lightsabers."

"A Jedi dreaming about lightsabers?" Galvin mocked with a fake Coruscani accent. "There's a novel concept."

"No," Ben replied, "not like that... this was more... dark."

Galvin tilted his head. "How so?"

"It was a fight," Ben clarified. "Not like a sparring match, but a life-and-death thing."

"Were you in it?"

Ben nodded. "That's the crazy part. It was me, and my family... and a few of my friends, too. You included."

"What's crazy about that?"

Ben's face contorted a little bit like he was uncomfortable sharing that detail. "They were..." He hesitated before finally getting it out. "You were all trying to kill me."

Galvin raised an eyebrow. "That is disturbing."

"I've been trying to figure out whether it was some kind of vision or just a dream."

Galvin looked pensively at him for a moment. "You and I fought in this dream?"

Ben nodded. "You and I were fighting when I woke up."

"Who was winning?"

"I was," Ben said calmly.

Galvin grinned. "Well, then you were definitely dreaming."

Ben laughed. "I'm glad to see your ego isn't suffering from sleep deprivation."

"Hey," Galvin grunted. "There's no way some little rookie dumb-sna

 

Nice work, loved this part:

"Ooh," Ben cooed with a mock-shiver, "there's nothing like a hot date with the Force first thing in the morning."

"Listen," Galvin snorted as he toweled himself, "I may be here as your bodyguard, but that doesn't mean I won't crack you upside the head for being a smartass at oh-four-thirty. I'm the only one that gets to do that." Hehehehe pure Galvin.

OOh don't like Ben's dream at all...not good...


Need.More.NOW!

 

"They may be basic katas," Ben quipped, "but you make them look like some kind of mating ritual."

*squirms*

That nightmare isn't disturbing, it's realistic. Are you sure that I wasn't in it as well?

 

Luney: Hehehehe pure Galvin.

Indeed

Ishy: That nightmare isn't disturbing, it's realistic. Are you sure that I wasn't in it as well?

I already killed you in this storyline, remember?

 

No fair! Besides, the voices in my head are still alive and well!

 

uh-oh, Ishie and voices...

Hah! I love Gavin's meditation in this, it works wonders for restoring the mystery to the Force (we kinda lost it in NJO...the Vong had more mystery goin' for them!). Yay for historical influences!

 

Ishy: No fair! Besides, the voices in my head are still alive and well!

Wait... I thought you were one of the voices in my head. Ahh! My voices are having an identity crisis!

Tristan: I love Gavin's meditation in this, it works wonders for restoring the mystery to the Force

I like the mysterious Force better than the completely scientific one. I'm glad you liked it.

: Yay for historical influences!

Indeed!

 

Galvin gets the best jokes.

I certainly hope that Ben was having a dream and not a vision.