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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Beyond - Legends Saga - Legends Ἀνάγκη – Necessity beyond Sway | Thrawn, OC, drama/tragedy, pre-ANH to TTT | Epic, e-book available

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by Chyntuck, Oct 6, 2014.

  1. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Before I come back to edit this and ask some questions + quote some good bits, I have only four words:
    NOW WE'RE TALKING!


    More Yakooboo awesomeness. <3

    “The Admonitor is still in the Unknown Regions, but Corporal Prashat is my orderly. He goes where I go. My admiralness, as you like to call it, does come with perks, Ayoo’sha’nek.” - hmmm...wondering if this will be of any significance further on. The fact that the young man is blushing is pretty interesting, too. He's got to be having a thing for Ayesha.

    “It’s such a shame that this young lady’s health is so fragile,” the Emperor said. “I expect you to take better care of her in the future, Admiral.” He waved at a red-haired man with three vertical black lines tattooed on his forehead. “I was hoping to introduce Miss Eskari to one of her own,” the Emperor continued. “This is the new ambassador of Kiffu, His Excellency Paraseel Malki.” He paused to gauge Thrawn’s reaction. Thrawn remained impassive, merely giving the Kiffar a curt nod. “Well, this encounter will have to wait for another opportunity,” the Emperor added casually. “I am certain young Miss Eskari will have fully recovered for the inauguration of the new premises of the Embassy of Kiffu and Kiffex next month, and His Excellency will be delighted to invite you both.” - KRIFF YOU, SO KRIFFIN' MUCH, YOU KRIFFIN' SADIST SLIMEBALL-RECTUM.

    As in...you write narcissism and psychopathic manipulation perfectly. :D

    There was a long pause. “Your father expected that this would be your intention,” Thrawn said. “Why did he tell me off when I said I would find a way to be rid of Malki? I would have dispatched him the same way I dispatched Kchak Pr’ollerg.”

    OMG. YOU FOOLED US PERFECTLY. You planted a red herring with Ayesha going somewhere, while she was obviously going to the Centre and...in reality, it was Thrawn who murdered the bad guy.

    Not sure if I am angry, impressed or both. XD

    And if the Emperor read your mind during the reception tonight, he’ll know that you had nothing to do with it. This way, no one will ever find out who dealt with Malki, and if the Anzati get him first, it won’t even matter if they leave his body to be found. He was a Force user. Everyone knows that’s a feast for the Anzati.”

    "When you draw a line, it goes where you want."

    At this point, there is a fine line between madness and sanity that both Ayesha and Thrawn seem to be walking on, and another fine line between revenging and being a psycho. This is a point where there are no angels in this anymore (Tam, tho...<3). And, since we know where Thrawn's line will go, I am very curious to see where Ayesha's will and if their intersecting, interspersed lines will contribute to each other's paths.

    Brilliant. Bloody brilliant. I do admit I lost my faith in this at some point, where it was basically filler scenes to please the shippers, but right now, I'm applauding you so much that you may actually hear me if you turn off the appliances etc.

    ^:)^

    ____________

    Two suggestions:

    1. Can you give us timestamps every now and then? I assume this is still 3 ABY, but I might as well be wrong.

    2. Can you add links to chapters in the OP? I may or may not have to go through things to find something I need and for stories as long as this one, that would be useful.
     
  2. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    =D= That was one astonishing revelation for Thrawn. Ayesha thought of everything. She just amazes. :D @};-
     
  3. Csillan_girl

    Csillan_girl Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 6, 2003
    Woah, that was... unexpected!!

    Wow. I'd never have guessed.
    And Thrawn, who's always two steps ahead of everyone, did not, either.
    And Pr'ollerg - "you forgot to mention this." I laughed SO hard.

    What a pair, indeed. [face_devil]
     
  4. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Wow. :eek: I had to read this several times over to make sure I understood all the details of Ayesha's (and Yakooboo's) plan to dispatch Malki, and I like it when a story makes me do that. :D I went back and reread the part about Pr'ollerg and his death too, just in case. These two definitely are a right pair of erinyes. Definitely agreeing with Ewok Poet that they're both walking some kind of fine line between rightful revenge and violent madness—a line that could lead them to all sorts of places, some very dark and scary. But I'm at least relieved that Malki will be getting his, and that Thrawn and Ayesha won't have to deal with the terrible awkwardness of going to the opening of the embassy too. (Too many illness excuses can be too easily seen through by a schemer like the Emperor...)

    And on erinyes... we were talking about the title of the story a little while ago, but I'd also like to make an observation about the titles of the parts of the story. So far we have Cháris (grace) and Erinýs (vengeance)—and it occurred to me that those are also the names of groups of goddesses that embody those qualities: the Graces and the Furies. It also occurred to me that Ayesha herself has been by turns both a Grace and a Fury in this story. Makes me wonder if part three will be something like Moîra or Moûsa, roles which I could also see her playing. [face_thinking]
     
  5. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    I feel, in the case of Malki, it was pure and sweet retribution. :cool: For what he did to Ayesha and doubtless to scores of others. [face_thinking] I like to think of Ayesha's third Grecian incarnation as Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. :D
     
  6. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Oh, of course; I agree that it's no more than he deserves. It's just that that retribution plus Ayesha's fragile mental state seems to make for a potentially... volatile combination—a combination that could go any number of places in the hands of a skilled writer like Chyntuck.
     
  7. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    1. We're in 2 ABY -- I added a chronology under "timeframe" in the OP.
    2. Done :)

    PS: It's good to see that at least one person on these boards has the same indexing obsession as me :p
     
  8. K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku

    K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 18, 2000
    Very well written. I love the intrigue, although I'm going to have to go back and re-read some things when I'm more awake to get the full effect I think. One thing that did strike me is how even in the midst of this crisis, Ayesha is still an incredibly strong spirit. It's to her credit that she was willing to leave Malik alone as long as he stayed put. It was only when he forced her hand that she took vengence. Because in the end, it isn't vengence that brings peace, at least not peace that lasts. Bravo! =D=
     
  9. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Add me to the list of those who were surprised by this revelation!

    Sigh...I hoped Ayesha would move beyond keeping secrets after the way Thrawn supported her during her psychotic break. He is her life mate now; keeping large chunks of her life secret from him....not a good idea. I only hope they won't get bitten in the butts too many times before she learns to fully trust him.
     
  10. Gemma

    Gemma Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 25, 2013
    I am glad Ayesha is feeling better, at least it seems that way. Didn't see her calling out the death mark on Malki. Wonder how this will pan out. I'm glad Ada made it so Thrawn had an alibi when the death mark was placed.
     
  11. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Wow. :eek:

    I'll admit that I actually had suspected Thrawn of the first murder -- but Ayesha surprised me with the second. I suppose because her absence had turned out to be a red herring and explained by her work at the Center. The amazing part is that it doesn't feel out of place with her given the information we have; she's not what you'd normally think of as the kind of person to call a hit on someone, but the specific history and her emotional state make it seem almost inevitable.

    Liked the chapters with Thrawn calling in Yakooboo and helping tend to Ayesha. Also the conversations between Thrawn and his new Wookiee relative. The old shovel speech has a certain something when delivered by a space Sasquatch. ;)

    It's got to be horrifying to see someone you know and love like that -- and even worse to be the one. Her despair and embarrassment at being shattered by the new development were really powerful. Everyone's got something that they feel like they fall down on repeatedly, but for Ayesha this has to be beyond agonizing. The details of her kidnapping by the Dark Jedi were horrifying and made perfect, disturbing sense with the relapse she's having. Also brings the chapter with them meeting Car'das into perspective in a wonderful way; we know from that that there's something -- and here it is in all it's awful glory. She cares so much about proving her worth and independence to the world -- I suspect it's not just for her but for her parents (biological and Wookiee) and everyone else who's taken a chance on her. And the Emperor and others in his circle keep setting it up so that she has to prove it, constantly and maybe impossibly.

    (Cut for not wanting to spoil things if they do turn out to become relevant.)
    You know, all along I've been thinking that the Emperor just wants her locked away somewhere and/or dead -- but now with the whole "erinyes" theme I'm beginning to have another suspicion. Ayesha's no Force-sensitive from what you've confirmed. But she has a certain charisma and power over other people. I'm beginning to think that Sidious wants her to be he his little propaganda helper or something like that as his endgame, rather than just driving her to more conventional self-destruction. Just because she's not possessed of excess midi-chlorians doesn't mean she couldn't serve the Dark Side in some way. Well, how's that for a gruesome prospect. [face_worried] Think maybe I preferred it when I thought he meant to just drive her into a permanent breakdown or assassinate her -- something nice and easy like that.
     
  12. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    That is definitely some very fascinating speculation there, Kahara ... now you've got me wondering how that might pan out (if, of course, that's the route the story will go). [face_thinking]
     
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  13. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Things I've learned from Star Wars: Rebels # 1: There's nothing so fun as terrified, worst-case-scenario speculation between fans of an ongoing story. :p
     
  14. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014

    And it's a sign of quality when a story provokes such speculation. :D
     
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  15. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Exactly. You have to get involved and invested in the characters for it to happen. :) (I am rather worried about Ayesha... Thrawn we already know about since this is interwoven with the EU. But Ayesha's an unknown quantity as far as her fate.)
     
  16. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Thank you all for reading and reviewing!

    One thing I really enjoy about posting my story on these boards is that I get feedback to tell me if, for instance, my Pr'ollerg red herring worked. When I write this sort of plot twist I try to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for the reader, but after hours and hours of reworking the details I'm beginning to feel that my breadcrumbs are the size of loaves :p I'd be curious to know after the upcoming chapter if anyone had guessed the identity of Malki's killer.

    Oh, and there was also some very smart thoughts in your comments that I'm going to studiously ignore for reasons of spoilericity (or spoilerification?) :D [face_whistling]
    Ya think? [face_mischief]
    [face_rofl] Ewok poetry (a.k.a. the art of bypassing the banned word list!)
    Thanks [face_blush] But you have to know that I'm picturing you a few weeks down the line, scrambling frantically to dig up the little bit of info that was buried somewhere in a "filler scene" and that you somehow missed [face_devil]
    Hehe. I had to cudgel my brain for a whole day to come up with this sentence. I was staring at the screen and mumbling "how is Ayesha supposed to react to this piece of information" when it dawned on me that she's focusing single-mindedly on the Malki issue right now, so anything else she'll take as casually as if she were being given a choice for dinner.

    Okay, either I am officially predictable or you somehow hacked my computer. Part III is Μοῖρα (fate).

    You are an incorrigible optimist (and ayoo'shified well past the point of no return!) [:D]

    Bingo! Well, I think you have a pretty good idea of some aspects of what will come up then :)

    I'm keeping this comment in store and I'll ask you about it again in a couple of chapters. If you still perceive it that way, it means that I need to go back and re-write this bit, because it's not supposed to come across as an issue of trust (which is another great thing about posting on these boards and getting feedback! :) )



    And I'm glad someone is giving Yakooboo the credit he deserves! I didn't elaborate on that so much in the story, but to me he's the brains behind this plan.
    "Space Sasquatch" had me laughing out loud. It's a pretty good description of Wookiees when you think of it [face_laugh] Also, I just learned the expression "shovel speech" and copied it into my little vocabulary notebook.
    This is an aspect of Ayesha's personality that I drew from the refugees I have been working with over the years. It's anecdotal of course, but I often noticed that people who grew up in a war zone and when through unspeakable trauma strive to prove themselves all the time and seem to be trying to prove to themselves that they didn't deserve what happened to them. As for what the Emperor is up to, there are some answers in the coming chapter (and the assumption you put behind the spoiler tag isn't entirely off the mark, but you'll find out about that in twenty-odd chapters ;) )

    Thanks again everyone! Now take your guess as to who is going to kill Malki and read on :)
     
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  17. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Before I start, a little side note: this was the first "story" chapter I wrote for this fic (after writing the first and last chapters). It took a lot of editing but I think I have it harmonised with the rest now. Please let me know if you find that there's a major change in tone and I'll try to fix it.

    Tags: AzureAngel2 Findswoman Gemma K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku Mando-Man Raissa Baiard
    Please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from the tag list.

    And thanks to Nyota's Heart for beta-reading this (in this case, twice!)

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

    Chapter 4: The uncle

    They sat in silence until a man appeared on the landing pad as suddenly as if he had dropped from the sky. He was bare-chested under a black cuirass embossed with the five-point star of clan Vos and his forearms were wrapped in leather gauntlets. Every inch of his skin seemed to be covered in scars. His gait was youthful and energetic but the abundant white threads in his long, dreadlocked hair and the deep wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth betrayed his years. Thrawn noticed the horizontal yellow Qukuuf across his face as he stepped into the atrium’s light and clipped a lightsaber to his belt. “That nasty business’s taken care of, kiddo,” the new arrival told Ayesha. “There’s a happy dianoga out there tonight.”

    “Uncle Quin!” Ayesha exclaimed with a radiant smile. “I didn’t realize you’d be coming yourself.”

    “You thought I’d leave that son of a Sith to somebody else’s tender care? It’s bad enough I didn’t kill him last time, I wanted to do the honours.” He glanced at Thrawn, who was sitting on the sofa, still in his dress uniform. “Yakooboo wasn’t kidding when he said you got yourself some serious Imperial brass at home.”

    Ayesha blushed a little and introduced a baffled Thrawn to Quinlan Vos. “I thought you were dead,” Thrawn said.

    “I am dead,” Vos snapped. “At least that’s what you’ll tell anyone who asks, or Ayesha will have your head.”

    Thrawn looked at Ayesha. His eyebrows had reached his hairline. “You’re not the only one who took a life-oath, Qubshi be-khadeeb,” she said apologetically. “There are vows that cannot be broken.”

    The Kiffar laughed. “Qubshi be-khadeeb? Seriously?” He pushed Thrawn aside. “Make some space, I need to talk to my niece. Better yet, go and put some decent clothes on. I don’t need Palpatine’s designs to pollute my eyesight.”

    He took Thrawn’s place on the couch and engaged Ayesha in an animated conversation in Old Kiffar. Thrawn listened and caught a few words – his name, Vader’s, Yakooboo’s – and it seemed to him that the dialogue was evolving into an argument, but Ayesha waved him away when he went to intervene and he vanished to the bedroom to change out of his uniform. When he returned to the atrium, Quinlan Vos was standing in front of Ayesha with a hand on her head. Thrawn came around and saw that she appeared to be in a very deep sleep. She was smiling serenely. “What did you do?” he asked.

    “I put her in a Jedi healing trance,” Vos said. “It won’t do her much good, but it’s better than nothing.” He looked around the room, spotted the kitchen and went to the refrigeration unit as if he were in his own home. “Leaping lizards, you got Forvish ale? I haven’t had that since before the Purge.” He extracted two bottles, kept one for himself and passed the other telekinetically to Thrawn over the counter. He took a large gulp and stared at the Chiss, who was staring at him. “What does she see in you?” he asked.

    Thrawn cocked an eyebrow at his bluntness but replied nevertheless. “That is a question I have been asking myself for a long time.”

    Vos stared at him some more. “Wrong answer,” he insisted. “What does she see in you? You’re old enough to be her father, you’re an Imp and you’re boring. You hardly said a word since I walked in here. I always expected Ayesha’s man to be a chatterbox.”

    Thrawn snorted. “Jedi Vos, in the past eight days I watched my lifemate lose her mind and recover it under the care of her Wookiee father, who then explained that she spent two years of her childhood as a hostage to a Dark Jedi. I was adopted in a Wookiee tribe and instructed in no uncertain terms that I am to protect her. I thus went to the Palace today and put on my best behaviour to justify her absence to the said Dark Jedi, returned here to find out that she has the authority to call an Anzati death mark against him and does not need my protection, and for good measure a man who died twenty years ago materialized in this apartment and made a bottle of ale float across the room. You will forgive me if I am a little nonplussed.”

    The Kiffar laughed again. “All right, you have a point. It’s not Jedi Vos anymore though, it’s just Quin. I’m a family man now.” He went back to scrutinizing Thrawn’s face. “Why do you serve the Sith?”

    “I do not serve the Sith, I serve the Empire,” Thrawn said evenly. “If you are referring to Lord Vader, he is merely my commander-in-chief.”

    Vos smirked contemptuously. “Vader’s the apprentice. I was talking about the master.” Thrawn cocked an eyebrow. “You know, Sidious.” The eyebrow travelled higher. “Palpatine,” Vos spat. “You don’t know that Palpatine is the Sith master?”

    “I actually do,” Thrawn said. “But I also happen to know that precious few people are privy to this information.” He studied the Kiffar for a moment. “How do you know?”

    “I should know,” Vos said bitterly. “I wasted quite a few years of my life and almost lost my sanity trying to kill him. He ran the war against the Separatists as Chancellor and he led the Separatists as Sidious. And in the end he murdered us all.”

    “Now you are telling me something I was not aware of,” Thrawn said. “Please explain.” He listened as Vos described how then-Chancellor Palpatine had manipulated the Galaxy into handing him absolute power and exterminated the Jedi. “So this is how he secured control,” he murmured in the end. “That was very clever.”

    “That was very murderous,” Vos countered. “Hundreds of millions of lives were lost in that war. And you didn’t answer my question. Why do you serve him? You see what he did to Ayesha.”

    Thrawn tensed up. “What do you mean, what he did to Ayesha? Her father said it was Count Dooku who recruited Malki as a Dark Acolyte.”

    “Where do you think Dooku and Malki got the idea?” Vos asked angrily. “They never did anything on their own. It was Sidious who brought the Anzati to his cause. He gave them free rein on Kiffex and Kiffu and they taught Malki how to feed. I’m sure Sidious himself learned it from them.”

    Thrawn raised his hands palm upwards in a gesture of surrender. “I have no idea what you are talking about. I come from a part of the Galaxy where there are no Jedi, no Sith and no Anzati. I joined the Empire shortly after it was established, but as you know information on these topics is severely restricted and hard to come by, even for someone like me.”

    Vos eyed him carefully. “You know how the Anzati feed? How they use these proboscises in their cheeks to drain the life essence, what they call soup, from their prey?” Thrawn nodded. “Do you know that part of this process is how they can read their victim’s mind and feel his or her terror while they feed? It’s said that this is what makes their meal... tasty, for lack of a better word.”

    Thrawn’s lips twitched in disgust. “No, I did not know that.”

    “Well, there goes another thing you learned today. This ability to read minds or at least to sense emotions is something the Anzati have in common with other Force-sensitives. But they were the only ones to actually feed on the mind of others until Sidious and Dooku came along.”

    “Are you saying that His Majesty is sucking the brains out of people?” Thrawn asked. “That sounds a little far-fetched to me.”

    “Not literally, of course,” Vos said. “But figuratively, yes, that’s what he does. Using the Dark Side the way he and his minions do puts a serious strain on their bodies. That’s why he’s deformed and wrinkled like a gampassa. Dark Siders need a way to gather more life energy to themselves if they are to survive, they can’t just pull it from the Force the way Light Siders do. They drain life from their victims and feed on it, without physically absorbing their brains. And because they’re twisted and evil, the more terrified the victim, the more enjoyable it is. That’s what the Anzati taught them.” He gave a bitter chuckle. “Then they regretted it of course, because the Sith figured out how to steal the life energy of the Anzati themselves.”

    Thrawn’s eyes were now a furious swirl of molten lava. “Is this what Paraseel Malki did to Ayesha?”

    “Not quite,” Vos replied. “That’s what he did to the other hostages. What I think that vicious nerve burner did to Ayesha – this is my best guess, she never actually told anyone – was to have her watch while he fed, and he let her experience how much he delighted in her fear. He didn’t want to kill her. What he did to the others was tantamount to death, even though they’re still breathing. But Ayesha... he wanted to damage her, to maim her, to make her dark and insane. And as you can see, to some extent he was successful. She spent more than two years in the state of terror you witnessed last week. She’ll never be whole again.”

    There was a silence. “Why?” Thrawn finally rasped. “Why would he do that to her?”

    “Haven’t you been listening?” Vos snapped. “He needed sustenance. She wasn’t merely food to him, she was a delicacy.” Thrawn arched an eyebrow in incomprehension. “Don’t you see how exceptional she is?” Vos went on impatiently. “I understand that you’re not Force-sensitive, but can’t you see how brightly she shines? There’s a vergence around her, she has a role to play to bring balance to the Force. Her soul is richer and more luminous than you’ll ever know, and that makes her a threat to the Sith. That’s why they don’t just want to feed on her. They want to make her dark, to destroy her. And that’s why Sidious keeps her around. For now he’s just toying with her, but I assure you, when he finds out exactly what her role in the Force is, he’ll take everything away from her to prevent her from fulfilling it.”

    There was another silence. “Does Ayesha know all this?” Thrawn asked. “How do you know it yourself?”

    Vos laughed bitterly. “You forget that I was a Jedi. What you may not know is that I was a double agent during the Clone Wars. I was operating undercover in the Separatist movement and I came pretty close to surrendering to the Dark Side myself. I murdered my aunt, I murdered an innocent senator, I murdered countless people and I nearly killed several of my friends, including my former Padawan. I was one of the Acolytes who were taught how to feed on the life essence of sentients, as well as a number of other unnatural things. I know exactly what Sith Adepts can do, because I very nearly became one of them.” Thrawn didn’t even bother trying to hide his astonishment. “Listen, how I know this doesn’t really matter, it’s a whole other story and I don’t have time for that now. What does matter is Ayesha’s safety and well-being. She was under the protection of the Anzati but that’s over now that she called the death mark. And in any case I never trusted those buggers. When it comes to feeding, they’re just feral.” There was such pure hatred in this last sentence that Thrawn went to interrupt him, but he went on. “You have to get her out of here. Take her as far away from Palpatine as you can, otherwise there will come a day when she’ll lose everything, and if you love her, so will you.”

    “Why did she ever come to Coruscant?” Thrawn blurted. “Why did you let her come?”

    “Did you ever try to prevent her from doing what she wants?” the Kiffar asked. “I’m sure you know what she’s like when she sets her mind to something. That alone is evidence that she’s a Vos if any was necessary. But there’s more to it. The Force works in mysterious ways. She found a way to channel the Light with her art, and maybe that’s part of her role in restoring balance.”

    “What does it mean, to restore balance?”

    “You want a crash course in Jedi lore now?” Vos asked in exasperation. Thrawn nodded firmly. The former Jedi gave him another exasperated look before launching into an explanation about the Battle of Ruusan, the Light and Dark Sides of the Force and the re-emergence of the Sith. “Now the Galaxy is shrouded in darkness,” he concluded. “It is people like Ayesha, who are at the centre of a vergence in the Force, who will bring back the Light.”

    “Does this mean that there are more people like her?” Thrawn asked.

    The Kiffar sighed. “Yes, I’m sure there are. There’s this prophecy about the Chosen One, who is to restore balance to the Force. We thought we’d found him at one point, but we were wrong. He failed and he was killed like the rest of us.”

    He went silent for a moment, as if lost in memory. “Do you believe that Ayesha could be this Chosen One?” Thrawn prompted.

    “I don’t think so,” Vos said. “The prophecy is rather obscure, but the Chosen One would be a Force user and Ayesha isn’t. The kid Qui-Gon found was the most powerful Jedi I ever met. His midi-chlorian count was off the charts. The Order would’ve taken him in much earlier if he hadn’t been a slave on Tatooine.”

    Thrawn gasped. “Lord Vader? Lord Vader was believed to be the Chosen One?”

    Vos gave him a puzzled look. “What the blazes are you talking about?” He listened carefully as Thrawn narrated what Ayesha had found out about Anakin Skywalker. His expression turned from perplexity to curiosity to bewilderment. “This is blinking barvy,” he spluttered when the Chiss finished his story. “Skywalker had a kid with the Naboo senator and turned to the Dark Side? And then he shows all this to Ayesha, she makes a sculpture out of it, and he doesn’t kill her for it?”

    “Quite the opposite, he appears to have taken even more of a liking to her,” Thrawn said. “I know for a fact that he is very fond of that sculpt. I have seen with my own eyes that he keeps it in his inner sanctum.”

    Vos shook his head and sank into a meditative silence. He finally looked up at Thrawn and smiled. “You said that the sculpt has this eerie glow about it. Like it’s radiating light.”

    Thrawn nodded. “Yes, like all of Ayesha’s sculptures in a sense, but that piece is quite particular. I do not believe she ever achieved that specific luminosity in any of her other works. It is as if the light is emanating from the wood itself.”

    Vos’s smile widened. “Well, maybe the Jedi Council were right after all.” Thrawn arched an eyebrow in question. “As I said, the Force sometimes works in mysterious ways,” the Kiffar said cryptically. “Now we need to wrap this up, I have to go. You got the idea? You’ll keep her safe and away from Sidious?”

    Thrawn sighed. “I am not well-placed to do either. You should take her with you to wherever it is you are going.”

    Vos’s jaw dropped. “What sort of coward are you?” he hissed. “That extraordinary creature loves you more than life itself, she has bound her entire being to you, and you want me to take her away? Don’t you care for her at all?”

    There was an ominous flash in Thrawn’s eyes. “Quinlan Vos, you have no idea what Ayesha means to me,” he said in a voice so cold that the temperature in the room appeared to drop by several degrees. “I may not have your Force power, but I strongly advise you not to insult me or her again.”

    His fury was such that the former Jedi took a step back. “What is it?” he asked finally. “What has you bound so tightly to the Sith that you can’t let go of them?”

    “As I told you, I am not bound to the Sith, nor do I serve them,” Thrawn replied firmly. “I serve the Empire.”

    “Whatever.” Vos’s eyes locked onto Thrawn’s. “I’m not in such a rush that I have to leave straight away and I’m not going anywhere until you spill. Tell me what’s more important than protecting Ayesha.”

    “It is not more important than protecting Ayesha, it is part of protecting her,” the Chiss retorted. “There is another threat, a grave one. An immense fleet of shadowy beings is amassing beyond the edge of the Galaxy. Right now, the only thing standing between Imperial territory and them is the task force I lead, with the resources the Empire has been providing us. If we fail in our mission, they will sweep through every civilized system and it will be the end of this world as we know it.”

    “That’s mynock muffins,” Vos spat. “Sidious fed you a nonsense story about extra-galactic invaders and you swallowed it? It’s the oldest divide-and-rule trick in the book.”

    Thrawn reverted to his stern Navy officer persona. “It is not a nonsense story. The Emperor is aware of this threat but I did not find out about it from him. My people encountered a scouting party of these invaders in the Unknown Regions more than thirty years ago. They fought with a savagery that cannot be described. They chose to be annihilated rather than retreat, and I assure you that they do not seek to conquer. They seek to destroy. I will not allow this invasion to happen. Not to the citizens of the Empire, not to my people and not to Ayesha. If this means that she must leave with you while I continue my work with the Navy, so be it. The alternative would be far worse for the both of us.”

    Vos blinked at him. “You’re serious? You’re not making this up?”

    “Believe what you will,” Thrawn answered coolly. “I can see that you do not like me and the truth is that I do not like you very much either. However, we have one thing in common. We both want Ayesha healthy and safe. You have been hiding from the Sith for twenty years and you have the Force. You are therefore better equipped to protect her from them than I ever will. Take her with you.”

    There was a long silence as the two men stared at each other. “There’s a lot you don’t understand about Ayesha, Admiral,” the Kiffar finally said with a mixture of respect and condescension. “First and foremost that she isn’t going anywhere without you. You’re stuck with her now. She says you got brains, so you figure it out and come up with something.” He put his empty bottle on the counter. “I’m off. Show me the back balcony.”

    He stopped by Ayesha who was still sleeping on the armchair and caressed her hair. “When will she wake up?” Thrawn asked.

    “You’ll wake her up,” Vos said. “The phrase is that pet name she has for you.” He looked at Thrawn. “You don’t even know what it means, do you?” The Chiss shook his head. “She’s a Vos all right,” the Kiffar chuckled. “You should leave her in the trance for a couple of days, it usually helps, but that’s up to you.” They reached the balcony and he gazed at the cityscape until his eyes found what he was looking for. “You be good to her,” he added warningly. “As opposed to Yakooboo, I didn’t adopt you in my tribe and you’re still an Imp. I’m not as forgiving as he is.” He glanced briefly over the railing and looked back at Thrawn. “May the Force be with you.”

    And with that, he leapt into the void. There was a flash of purple hair as a speeder scooped him up some two levels below and disappeared into the night.

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

    A/N: The story of Quin's brush with the Dark Side is borrowed from the Star Wars: Republic comic series. The idea that the Dark Side leads to physical corruption of its users is canon but the Sith-Anzati Life Drain technique is Chyntuck fanon inspired from the powers of Consume Essence, Force Drain and the unholy alliance between the Sith and the Anzati in the Republic comics (a fanon post about this is coming soon.)
     
  18. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    Chyntuck, you are making my brain hurt.

    Well, you can't say that people (either the human or the big furry Wookiee kind) aren't willing to do anything for Ayesha.

    I think a major conflict for her is that she wants to be sweet and nurturing and loving (and she shows this side with Thrawn), but she also has a very defined steel edge to her when she wants to show it. There's this constant fight in her between being the creator and being the destroyer. It shows up in strange ways in her art. The sculpture of Uumana comes to mind: it's the blending of the creative aspects of the artist and the dancer juxtaposed with the destruction of what happened to the woman herself. Great pain can create great art.
     
  19. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Like divapilot - I am struck by Ayesha's contrasts. =D= She takes a muddle of con flicting things and becomes something/someone unique and extraordinary. [face_love] [:D]

    Ahem. (Gush mode turned off.) [face_laugh]

    Vos is a character, indeed, and his reaction to Thrawn understandable in light of his experiences, and quite a different one than Yakooboo's accepting one. @};-

    I did enjoy, on a technical note, the flow of the narrative, and the fact that info comes through the dialogue. :cool: =D=
     
  20. Csillan_girl

    Csillan_girl Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 6, 2003
    Woohoo, it's Quin!! :) He's alive!!


    I didn't dare hope it would be him - okay, I did. :)

    Greetings from snowy Csilla, er, Austria! ;)
     
  21. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Came back from the snowy Harz Mountains/ Germany yesterday. Since I am back in Berlin I have internet again. Your last three updates left me with my mouth hanging open. So many twists an turns, the dark battling the light, the history of some of your characters - wow! I must really concentrate not to write any gibberish but a worthwhile praise. @};-
     
  22. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    I am not sure if Q-Vos is as unhinged as Ayesha is at the moment or if they could both feed on each other's more basic instict in this case. Whatever is about to happen next, I'm thrilled!

    "There’s a vergence around her, she has a role to play to bring balance to the Force." - this, in combination with her ending up in the Outer Rim makes me veeeeeeeeeeeery curious.

    He went silent for a moment, as if lost in memory. “Do you believe that Ayesha could be this Chosen One?” Thrawn prompted. - Kinda chuckled at how Thrawn's logical mind fails him here. :D

    An immense fleet of shadowy beings is amassing beyond the edge of the Galaxy. - I was waiting for a mention of this as a part of Thrawn's reasons and here it is!

    “The phrase is that pet name she has for you.” He looked at Thrawn. “You don’t even know what it means, do you?” The Chiss shook his head. “She’s a Vos all right,” the Kiffar chuckled - AGRH, YOU'RE A TEASE. For a moment, I hoped what Cursed Big Kebab means. And yeah, I call it that, ANY OBJECTIONS?

    There was a flash of purple hair as a speeder scooped him up some two levels below and disappeared into the night. - Hmmm, his wife? :)
     
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  23. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Wow! I hadn't guessed that Mr. Q. Vos was "whodunit," but then again I don't know much about his backstory beyond Anánke. Nevertheless, I did still think he'd certainly be dead by this time period, so seeing him was a bit of a surprise. I'm loving these introductions to all these important people from various parts of Ayesha's past, and how different they all are: Dex and Simon, Yakooboo, and now Uncle Quin, who has very much that "elderly biker dude" feeling to him (kind of charming, really). :D

    I love how Thrawn and Quin both surprise each other with their various revelations in this chapter, and how different and near-irreconcilable their ideas are on what taking care of Ayesha entails. Perhaps Csillan_girl or AzureAngel2 one of the other German speakers here can tell me whether "Die Ochsen stehen am Berge" is still an idiom for what happens when two people won't budge in their viewpoints, but it definitely comes to mind in this exchange.

    Love too how little by little we're seeing more revealed about Ayesha's unique presence in the Force: I remember the term "vergence" coming up in one of the fanon thread discussions, and now we're seeing the fruits of that, perhaps. :D I too was hoping we might find out more about "Qubshi be-khadeeb." Well, we have, is the thing—just not its exact meaning quite yet (very clever indeed how you set that up ;) ). The way Quin talks about it I almost wonder if its meaning is going to turn out to be somewhat anticlimactic—just like the Old Kiffar equivalent of "my little honey-bun." But something tells me it will manage to be climactic & important even if it does. [face_thinking]

    As horrible as the Anzati are, it's cool to see them in a story here—they bring to mind a wonderful story by a good old friend of mine, the one who introduced me to fanfic. And to think of them using those horrid, macabre powers in cooperation with the Sith... just goosebumps beyond all goosebumps! :eek: Can't wait to see the relevant fanon post. ;)
     
  24. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    It is indeed still the right idiom for the problem that Thrawn & Quin have here! ;)
     
  25. K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku

    K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 18, 2000
    That was a gentlemanly pissing contest if I ever saw one. ;) I think I'd rather deal with Yakaboo than Q. Vos. I can see why Obi-Wan refered to him as "crazy." I am curious what Vos will do now that he knows Vader is Anakin. I'm also curious as to whether Thrawn will take his incredible talent for strategy and indeed think up a way to keep Ayesha (and himself) safe. All of the revelations have me wondering if the Emperor is just that cocky to think that Thrawn isn't a threat to him or to his designs on Ayesha. [face_thinking]
     
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