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

Beyond - Legends Traitors and Trades (Jacen/Tenel Ka)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by SiouxFan, Jul 30, 2018.

  1. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Set somewhere in the first third of Legacy of the Force -- after Jacen is named head of the Galactic Alliance Guard. I've only read the series once, so any timeline inconsistencies are purely the result of my bad memory and/or wishful thinking.

    This actually is the result of a scene I had written for my longer story, but I didn't like the way it fit into what I was trying to do with J/TK in that story. However, I liked the way the scene turned out...so wrote an entire story around it.




    Chapter 1—Plans and Prophesies

    Senate Administration Building--Coruscant

    The head of the Galactic Alliance Guard stood at a sloppy ‘parade rest’ in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in his unlit office, staring sightlessly into the late-night semi-darkness of Coruscant, trying to settle his thoughts.

    “A credit for your thoughts?” asked a slightly metallic feminine voice from behind him.

    Jacen closed his eyes in resignation and leaned his head against the transparisteel. He was not sure how the Dark Lady of the Sith always managed to enter his office without making a sound, but it was a skill he really needed to learn.

    “Good…” He paused, checking his wrist chrono, “…morning, Lumiya,” Jacen replied drily, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Nodding in the direction of the cityscape, “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the view.”

    Lumiya regarded her student for a moment before replying, a hint of a smile in her voice. “Somehow, I get the feeling that you are not standing in the dark simply to admire the view.” She became more amused when she saw Jacen stiffen slightly. You cannot hide from me yet, young one.

    Her tone turned serious, “You’ve been giving it more thought?”

    Jacen sighed, louder this time, turning his attention back to the vista. There was no need to ask what it was; they both knew that she was referring to the final obstacle he needed to overcome on his path to being a Sith Lord: his final sacrifice.

    “Yes.”

    His teacher smiled behind her mask as she heard the finality in his curt answer. “You have made a decision.”

    Jacen noticed that it was not a question. “Yes.”

    “Go-ood,” she drawled, sending shivers down his spine. Lumiya stepped closer and put a hand on his shoulder. “At last you will realize your full potential.”

    Jacen supposed that the way she squeezed his shoulder was meant as an affectionate gesture; instead he found himself repulsed by the act. Turning his head again to glance at her, he risked a confident-looking smile, “It’ll take me a few more days to plan out all of the details, of course.”

    There was the hint of a smile in her green eyes as she squeezed his shoulder again. “Of course.” Sensing his inner turmoil, she tried to reassure her student, “You will save the galaxy.”

    Colonel Solo had no answer to that, and only gave a small nod as he watched his instructor leave.

    Hearing his office door close with a quiet thump, Jacen allowed a small smile of victory. Lying to Lumiya was almost impossible, of course, but obfuscating the truth? Not all that hard. She had accepted his answers and filled in the rest with her own misconceptions. In truth, he had known for almost five weeks whom his sacrifice was going to be. Even now, the memory of what he saw in his visions made him break out in a cold sweat: millions of beings slaughtered, planets burning, his daughter becoming the dark ruler of the galaxy. No, Lumiya was correct; someone must be sacrificed for the greater good.

    Still, it had taken him couple of days to get over his initial doubts. Once fully committed to the task, however, Jacen had started planning out his attack meticulously, going so far as to have all the contingencies detailed in his head for when things started to go wrong.

    Still, even with all of his planning, it had still been an odd twist of fate that allowed Jacen put his plan into action…


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    Eleven days earlier

    When Jacen had taken the job as the head of the GAG, Chief-of-State Omas had kindly omitted telling him the amount of paperwork the job would entail. Sitting at his desk as the first rays of sunlight peaked through the gaps in the distant skyline, Jacen tried to get a handle on the vast amount of money the GAG had been appropriated. Annoyed by the glare on his computer screen, Jacen turned to close the blinds and stopped, mesmerized by the view. In a shameless attempt to curry favor, Omas had placed the GAG headquarters in the top third of the Executive Office building, allowing for a breathtaking view of the Coruscanti skyline. There were, Jacen decided after a moment, definitely perks to his new job.

    After a few moments, Colonel Solo turned back to the month’s budget, wishing he could simply go out on patrol with his fellow agents. Frowning at the thought, he glanced at the wall chrono: Why couldn’t he go out on patrol? He was the boss, after all. Wedge had once told he and Jaina that a leader needed to be seen; that leading from an office was not leading, it was managing. Thus decided, Jacen turned off his computer terminal, cringing at how long he would have to stay tonight to catch up with the paperwork.

    Making his way down the curved hallway towards the briefing room, Jacen lost himself in the sounds of laughter and conversation coming from the armory and small break room as the agents prepared for the day’s shift. More than anything else, Jacen missed the easy camaraderie of being ‘one of the guys’. As he let out a pained sigh, it occurred to him that his mother was right: it is lonely at the top.

    Pushing the depressing thought aside, he gave the desk sergeant a discreet shake of the head as the slightly older man stood and opened his mouth to call the area to ‘attention’. While Jacen appreciated the sentiment and the discipline, he had never been one for formality, preferring to be seen as just another GAG officer. On some level, he suspected that being Han Solo’s kid had something to do with that.

    Smiling at the thought, he stopped at the sergeant’s raised desk, “Morning, Sergeant.”

    The Senior Sergeant nodded in return, “Good morning Colonel. What brings you in so early?”

    A shorter, dark-skinned man in his late thirties, with piercing dark brown eyes, and a hook nose, Vinsu Karthikayan had the look of one of Coruscant’s hawk-bats - seemingly analyzing you to to determine if you were a threat or simply something to eat. Karthikayan had been working for Alliance Intelligence when Jacen met him quite by accident at a local pastry shop.

    In the way that only people who fought in combat can, Jacen had recognized him as a fellow veteran. As they stood in line and discussed their work, Jacen picked up on Vinsu’s dissatisfaction with being a ‘paper-pusher’ for the AI; that he was never able to make important decisions.

    I’m starting a new agency, Jacen had told the older man, I can’t promise danger and excitement, but I can promise that you won’t be cut out of the process. I need people who can think on their feet and aren’t afraid of making decisions. Two days later, Vinsu knocked on Jacen’s office door, asking when he could start.

    Chuckling humorlessly, Jacen shook his head as he answered, “If I would have known how much paperwork was involved when I started, I might have declined the job.”

    The other man nodded and shrugged in understanding, “You think it’s bad here? You should have seen it in NRI.” Vinsu paused and narrowed his eyes, his voice turning gruff, “Or AI, or whatever the hell they call it now. I wish they’d stop changing the name on the letterhead.”

    Jacen smiled at the comment; he had often thought the same thing. It is tough, he decided, to instill loyalty to a government when that government keeps changing its name.

    “Tell me about it.” Looking back up at the Desk Sergeant, a rare glint of mischief in his eyes, “Isn’t a ‘Federation of Alliances’ a bit...redundant?”

    Sergeant Karthikayan snorted a laugh. A joke? From Colonel Solo? He never would have guessed. “Kinda like saying VIN number?”

    It was Jacen’s turn to chuckle, “Or an ATM machine?”

    Both men chuckled at themselves for a couple of moments, content to simply be ‘one of the guys’ for a time. “As much as I appreciate the jokes...” Vinsu shot Jacen another amused look, “...what’chya need, Boss?”

    The younger man gave his Desk Sergeant an almost pleading look, “I have got to get out of the office. Please tell me that you have somebody who needs a partner for the day.”

    One of the reasons that Sergeant Karthikayan respected his boss so much was that Colonel Solo never asked his troops to do anything that he would not do himself. Everyone in the GAG appreciated that their Colonel went on stakeouts with them, threw himself into the line of fire first, and was out making sure that the Senate knew how much safer Coruscant was because of the GAG. He never said so, but everyone in the GAG knew how proud Colonel Solo was of them; they knew because they saw him out doing the same things he asked them to do.

    Nodding once, Karthikayan answered, “I do. Shimizu’s girlfriend had emergency knee surgery yesterday and I was hoping to give him the day off.”

    Jacen became concerned. Although technically not allowed because he was not married, Akai Shimizu still should be allowed a couple of days off to help his girlfriend. “Anything serious?”

    Vinsu gave him a wounded look as he shook his head, “Not life threatening. Someone at work banged into her and she tore a ligament in her left knee when she fell.” He saw Jacen open his mouth to comment but pressed on before his boss could say anything, “She still lives with her parents, so she’s not by herself.” The sergeant nodded over at the briefing room where the day shift was gathering for the shift briefing, “I was going to send him home again today, but he insists on working.”

    “Akai doesn’t want to leave his partner in a lurch.”

    The darker man smiled slightly at the quiet pride in his boss’s tone, “Exactly. We need to let him know that there are things more important than the job.”

    Colonel Solo nodded in agreement and his thoughts drifted to Allana and to Tenel Ka as he made his way to the door to the briefing room. Sticking his head into the room, he looked around and found Akai Shimizu sitting with his partner, Darra Beks.

    “Akai? Can I have word please?”

    A deathly quiet filled the room as one of the GAG’s youngest agents slinked out, his eyes full of dread.

    Once out in the hallway, Jacen turned to face the young agent and saw his uncertainty. Smiling, he shook his head. “No, you’re not in trouble; I heard that your girlfriend had surgery yesterday. I’m going to take your shift so that you can spend some time with her.” Jacen raised his hand to stall Akai’s coming argument. “This job is hard enough on relationships,” he interrupted softly, “We don’t need to make it tougher than it already is.” His thoughts back drifted to what Vinsu had just said. There are things more important than the job.

    Sergeant Shimizu nodded, somehow understanding that Colonel Solo was partly talking to himself. “Thank you, sir.”

    Jacen snapped from his reverie and shook the younger man’s hand, “Anytime.”

    With that, Colonel Solo entered the briefing room to sit next to his partner for the day and listened in on the morning shift brief.



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    A/N: I know, I know...there probably aren't any ATMs on Coruscant, and speeders probably don't come with VINs...but I liked the joke. Besides, people in-universe probably have some way of getting access to actual credits, and speeders probably have some ID stamped on them at the factory!
     
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  2. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Excellent! I totally agree Jacen would NOT take to managing but would rather be in the midst of the action.

    A very considerate thing he did for Shimizu.

    Oooh, [face_dancing] Jacen is deceiving Lumiya, making her think he's falling right in line when really [face_shhh] =D= ... Eager for more!
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2018
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  3. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    I was slightly worried at the beginning of this, but only for a second ;)

    I've never read LOTF, so I'm not going to notice any inconsistencies in the timeline. I actually didn't know the GAG were kinda like regular police officers....

    Anyway, this is off to a great start! I like the way Jacen is eager to be a part of the action and the way he clearly cares about those under his command. I love the description of Vinsu Karthikayan and the comparison to a hawk-bat.

    Looking forward to more!
     
  4. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Thanks! I always got the feeling that Jacen was keeping Lumiya at arm's length and was trying to play both ends against the middle. I still find the whole idea of him needing a 'sacrifice' to be just bad story telling. Did Lumiya sacrifice anything? Vader? Maul? Why made a big deal about Jacen needing one when we didn't hear about everyone else's?

    That's the thing...we don't really know WHAT the GAG was supposed to be doing. I based this chapter off of what I know of the KGB, Gestapo, Stasi, and other internal security units: they all did routine patrols and would aid law enforcement on occasion.

    In one of the books of LOTF, Jacen takes Ben on a GAG raid. It's Ben's first raid, but we get the feeling that Jacen has been on quite a few. Anyway, from what we read, both the police and GAG respected Jacen's leadership and ability. From this, I think we can imply that he cared both about the mission and the troops carrying it out.

    Thanks for reading!
     
  5. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    @Tarsier; @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha


    Chapter 2—Dawn Patrol

    GAG Headquarters -- Senate Administration Building


    Jacen spied their patrol speeder amongst the myriad of GAG speeders in the garage and gestured towards Sergeant Beks, who was searching a couple of rows to his left. “Found it.”

    Darra Beks nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing, clearly very nervous about going on patrol with the boss. A tall kid of twenty-three, and his blonde hair cut in a severe crew cut, Darra was part of the second wave of Guard hires the previous summer. He had been third in his class at the Police Academy, and possessed the rare ability to stand up to contrary opinions without getting upset, which is what led to his interview with the GAG. The hiring board had been impressed with the young man’s desire to follow procedure and protect the integrity of due process and had offered him a posting at the conclusion of the interview.

    After performing a perfunctory inspection, the pair hopped into the speeder, Jacen at the controls. Pulling out of the garage, Solo glanced over at his partner, “I don’t know about you, but I could use a bite.”

    Beks tried to hide his relief; he had been afraid that Colonel Solo would insist on rigid protocol and skip the time-honored police tradition of going to breakfast right after the morning brief.

    “Sounds good.”

    Jacen smiled slightly at the nonchalant tone; he knew that most of the patrol teams grabbed breakfast as soon as they left the station, and could hardly begrudge them. Because the morning brief was at 0545, and with Coruscant traffic being what it was, most of the GAG were forced to eat on the job.

    After breakfast, Jacen re-entered the traffic flow and started heading towards their assigned patrol area. “How do you like….” Jacen started to ask his partner before being interrupted by the police comm:

    All units in Sector 81, we have a 10-39 reported: Grid Foxtrot-2, level 10. Please respond.

    Curious, Jacen nodded at the speeder’s moving-map display, “Can you find that?” Technically, this was out of the GAG’s jurisdiction, but if no one else were closer...well, he had told his secretary just the other day that he thought the GAG and CPD needed to have a better working relationship.

    “Sure thing.” With a couple of keystrokes, Darra pulled up the location. “It’s not far—maybe 5 klicks.” He paused as the computer overlaid all of the GAG and CPD cruisers in the area and shook his head slightly, “Nearest police asset is ten…fifteen minutes out.”

    “Tell them we’re on our way.” Jacen replied as he put down his cup, quarter-rolled the speeder onto its left side and knife-edged downwards through traffic before rolling out thee-hundred meters lower, heading in the opposite direction.

    After swallowing hard to force his breakfast back down, Darra grabbed the handset and keyed the mic, “Dispatch, this is Guardian 54; we’re two minutes away from that location. Proceeding now.”

    There was a pregnant pause on the radio as the dispatch sergeant keyed the mic but did not say respond. Finally, Uhhh…roger that, Guardian 54. Both men got the distinct impression that Dispatch did not want any GAG ‘help’, but did not have the nerve to say it on an open frequency. Expect assistance as soon as possible. Impossible to miss was the unspoken message for them to leave as soon as the ‘real’ police got to the scene.

    Sergeant Beks grinned at Dispatch’s tone, “Guardian 54 copies.”

    As he parked the speeder near the small throng gathering around the scene, Jacen felt a spike of panic and saw a few people quickly disperse. Grimacing at the fear his speeder induced, Jacen grabbed his uniform hat off of the dashboard and followed Darra to the scene.

    On the south side of the dumpster, a man in his mid-thirties with wavy, shoulder-length, sandy-brown hair lying awkwardly with limbs akimbo on top of a modest pile of trash bags—his dark eyes staring sightlessly into the early morning sky. Getting closer, Jacen could see the long cut across the man’s throat, the front of his light blue shirt and grey business coat stained black with blood. Interestingly, there was very little blood on the surrounding trash, implying that the man had been killed somewhere else and then dumped here. Staring at the body, Jacen had the unsettling sense that he should recognize the man.

    For a long moment, both of them studied the body. Finally, Beks broke the silence. “I’ll start roping off the scene.”

    Nodding once, Jacen turned back to the small group of onlookers, hoping that the person who had called in the report was still around. “Did any of you call the police?” He asked, hoping to sound authoritative, yet approachable.

    With a resigned sigh, an elderly Neimodian stepped forward. “I did, Officer.” He answered in heavily accented Basic.

    “Good morning, sir,” Jacen offered, extending his hand, “I’m Colonel Solo. Can I ask you a few questions?”

    Knowing he didn’t really have any options, and looking like he wanted to disappear into the pavement, the Neimodian nodded once. “Of course.”

    Recognizing his unease, Jacen offered a small smile, “We’re only doing the preliminary work—once CPD gets here, we’ll turn the investigation over to them.” Seeing the man relax slightly, the GAG Colonel continued as he pulled a datapad and stylo from his inside jacket pocket, “When did you find the body?”

    “Twenty minutes ago. Am building superintendent and moved trash from bins to city dumpster.” The Neimodian replied, pointing over to where he had found the body.

    “Which one is your building?” Jacen asked, trying to get an idea on what the other’s point-of-view would have been as he approached the large dumpster.

    “That one.” The man answered, pointing over Jacen’s left shoulder.

    Jacen took a look and jotted down the building’s address. “Did you notice anything unusual last night?” Because of their size, many apartment complexes took the trash to the city dumpsters several times a day, and he was guessing that this one did as well.

    The Neimodian shook his head, “My wife, she take out trash last night. She no say anything about body.”

    “What time was that?”

    “My wife, she like clock; take out trash at 11:30.”

    Jacen nodded as he wrote; it was not much, but at least they could narrow it down to a seven-hour window.

    “Can you stick around for a bit? CPD might have a few more questions.” Jacen asked, pocketing the datapad.

    “Yes, Colonel.”

    "Thank you." Jacen did his best to ignore the feeling of relief coming from the Neimodian and walked over to the victim, ducking under the tape Beks had strung around. From the way the trash bags had blown out, and from the man’s disheveled appearance, it looked like he had fell from a considerable height. Sighing, Jacen looked up, hoping to see a balcony or walkway. Unfortunately, there was neither.

    “Who are you, my friend?” Jacen asked quietly, squatting next to the dead man. Gently, he ran his hand up the man’s thighs, searching for a wallet or some other way of identifying the man. Nothing. He then did a cursory search of the man’s jacket, again coming up empty. Whether the man’s wallet had been taken before or after he had been dumped here was impossible to say.

    Getting up, Jacen gingerly stepped over the body and placed a hand on the dumpster, making sure to hide in the shadows: he had one more trick to try. Closing his eyes, he delved into the Force and slowly took in the scene. After a few moments, time started to flow backwards in this small section of Coruscant. He saw his police speeder back away from its parking spot, saw the crowd start to form, watched as the Neimodian drop the trash in surprise at seeing the body, watched as day turned again into night. Shortly before sunrise, the man rose quickly into the air and Jacen stopped his ‘playback’. Immersed in his ‘flow-walk’, he looked up and saw that the man had been thrown from dark-colored speeder from a height of about thirty meters. He tried to get an ID plate number or an obvious dent, paint blemish…anything that might make it easier to find the speeder. Unfortunately, it was just too far up and moving too fast to get anything other than general color and style.

    Sighing, Jacen opened his eyes and let his perception return to the present and saw that a CPD detective was looking at him expectantly, just inside the cordon.

    “Your Jedi voodoo turn up anything?” The slightly older man asked, with no trace of anger or resentment. Word of Colonel Solo’s ‘unorthodox’ abilities had gotten around CPD, and the police were always on the look-out for new ways to solve crimes.

    Jacen shook his head. “Nothing useful. Body was thrown out of a speeder from thirty, maybe thirty-five meters up. Late model sedan, dark color.” He nodded at the body, “I couldn’t find any ID.”

    The detective grimaced and took a couple of steps, kneeling by the body. “Another John Doe. Third one this week in this sector.”

    Jacen could only nod at the grim tone. For the first few years after the ‘return’ of Coruscant, crime had been almost non-existent. But, as happens eventually, the economy started to level off and the underbelly of society started to make its appearance.

    As he watched the detective gently check the body for identification, Jacen scrutinized the victim’s face. “He looks familiar, somehow.”

    Puzzled, the detective turned his head, “He looks like you. Well, the hair is a bit lighter, and his ears and nose are a bit bigger.” He paused, and looked back at the victim, “Otherwise…he’s you.”

    Startled, Jacen looked back at the ‘John Doe’ and was shocked he did not see it before: the resemblance was quite clear.


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    A/N: And so continues Coruscant: Law and Order. Thanks to Tarsier and Ny for the reviews...I tagged you out of courtesy...let me know if you want out! Or if anyone wants in! I'm trying to keep chapters decently short...let me know if they're too abrupt or if you'd prefer longer ones!

    I've got another short update for this week...and I do mean short, it's only 1 paragraph.. My lovely editor (my super spouse) thought it would be best as a stand-alone. Thanks for reading!
     
  6. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    LOL Did indeed have the Law and Orderish feel. :D =D= Very crisp and concise details of the scene, and yup, you can tell when things are back to "normal" or when things start to cycle downwards, crime rates go up. :p
     
  7. Mira Grau

    Mira Grau Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2016
    So our murder victim resembles Jacen, intresting. Makes me wonder if this is a part of Lumiya´s shemes as well. Or maybe something else entirley.
    Defenetly in intruiging beginning, nice to see the GAG as a genuine police not the enforcers of evil LotF kinda seemed to portray them most the time.
    I´m looking foreward how this continues. :)
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2018
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  8. Darth Invictus

    Darth Invictus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 8, 2016
    @SiouxFan-I'm guessing this is the long awaited fanfic I have asked you about?

    Anyway good start and am curious as to who the sacrifice will be.
     
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  9. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    I know, right! All I need is Jerry Orsbach (RIP) or Fred Thompson and the Dummm...Dummm to make it legit. I went with the idea that because there was so much rebuilding, people would be much too busy to be nefarious. From what I've read, crime in post-war Europe was quite low for a while...until things returned to 'normal'.
    Oh it's a scheme alright.... ;)
    From what I remember of the first part of LotF, the GAG really was just a counter-terrorism force. As I've mentioned before, this implies that the GAG went on patrols and had to cooperate/coordinate with CPD and others. Obviously, I never thought the GAG was evil. Jacen? Sure, he became evil, but the GAG? Not as much.
    Yep! My apologies for taking so damned long, and I hope it lives up to your expectations!

    Thanks for reading!
     
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  10. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    @Tarsier; @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha; @Anedon; @Darth Invictus

    A/N: Let me know if anyone does or doesn't want a tag!


    Chapter 2.5 -- Metamorphosis
    Coruscant

    Over the course of the next week, Jacen learned that being a high-ranking official in the Galactic Alliance Guard DID have its advantages. The examiner at the morgue did not think it odd that Colonel Solo asked for a full set of dental x-rays on ‘John Doe’; the computer specialist in personnel took the explanation of ‘Mission priority’ when Jacen asked for Mr. Doe’s dental records be substituted for his own; the sergeant at Pass & ID only nodded knowingly when he was asked to produce a passport for the boss using an assumed name. Not one to leave things to chance, Jacen blanked his visit from their memories, making sure to replace his visit with that of someone attractive and interesting. Indeed, the hardest thing for Jacen to pull off as he waited the full seven days needed before he could claim ‘John Doe’s’ body was using the Force to lighten his hair color to match that of the poor man...


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    Short, I know...but I think it really does work better as a 'stand-alone'. Next one will be normal-sized.
     
  11. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Fascinating and intriguing. Jacen is orchestrating a deception, I think, that is intended to fool Lumiya... [face_thinking]
     
  12. Mira Grau

    Mira Grau Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2016
    Seems like Jacen plans on fakeing his death with the help of our mister John Doe or at least have some sort of swap happen, probably to fool Lumiya as Nyota suggested.
    Intriguing chapter.
     
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  13. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Since I'm telling this story from Jacen's POV mainly, I really couldn't find a way to keep the audience in the dark...so I'm going to have to hope that my story-telling is engrossing enough!

    As always, thanks for reading!
     
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  14. Darth Invictus

    Darth Invictus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 8, 2016
    So what does Jacen aim to get out of Lumiya in this story if he isn't fully on board with Sith apprenticeship?
     
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  15. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Here's my take: I'm not convinced that Jacen was ever really on board with Lumiya...I really think he was trying to find a third way. Unfortunately, he started to believe his own press and trusted fewer and fewer people.

    I'm running with the thought that he's really tired of being Lumiya's stooge.
     
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  16. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    @Tarsier; @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha; @Anedon; @Darth Invictus



    Chapter 3—Trading Places

    Mizobon Spaceport, Coruscant--


    Once inside the cavernous terminal, Jacen ducked into the nearest ‘fresher to make one final check on his appearance. Stopping in front of one of the mirrors, he took a critical look at the face staring back at him. It was a pleasant face, one that was neither rakishly handsome nor frighteningly homely. An honest, good-looking, slightly above average face. Giving a satisfied nod with his new look, Jason Naberre, a businessman from Commenor, straightened his necktie and exited.

    Stepping up to the check-in counter, Jacen smirked at the absurdity of the moment. He had been from one end of the galaxy to the other, had been to more planets than he could count; and not once had he flown commercially. After standing in line for the last ten minutes, he started to understand why so many people complained about flying this way--it was tedious. Shaking his head, Jacen gave the man behind the counter a small smile as he handed the agent his travel documents.

    The young man behind the counter returned the smile and gave Jacen’s identification a cursory glance, “Good afternoon Mr. Naberre. I see that we have you in one of our first-class berths.” Jacen nodded. “Would you prefer an interior berth, or one with a window?”

    Jacen shrugged fractionally, “Actually…” Jacen turned his head to casually glance once again at a woman in her mid-twenties standing in the ‘Coach’ line, “…is it possible to swap berths with someone?”

    The younger man looked up quizzically, “Why would you want to do that?”

    Nodding in the direction of the woman, “Do you see the brunette woman in the ‘Coach’ line; the one in the Hapan Navy uniform?”

    The agent smiled knowingly as he caught on to Jacen’s plan. It was, after all, a two-day flight to their destination. “Ah. Perhaps she’ll offer her appreciation?”

    Jacen rolled his eyes at the insinuation, “No-o-o.” He noticed that the other man look unconvinced. Explaining further, “Our military personnel give up a lot, the least I can do is pay for her to have a decent berth.”

    The agent looked at him thoughtfully. Finally, he gave Jacen a respectful nod. “I hadn’t really thought of it like that.” He looked down at the computer monitor, and typed in a few commands. Mumbling to himself, “No, we can do better than that.” A few more keystrokes. “Hmm…nope. I can still do better.” More typing. “Got it. Unfortunately, I will have to charge two-hundred and fifty credits to change reservations. Is that okay?”

    Jacen smiled; in truth, he expected to have to pay more. “No problem.” As he dug his wallet out of his pocket, he continued, “Her last name is ‘Do’ma’.” Placing three one-hundred-credit chits on the counter, he looked again at the man, “Start booking her berth; I’ll go get her.” Jacen turned and made his way over to the young Navy officer.

    The agent stood stunned for a second. Who carries three hundred credits in cash anymore? And from the look of his wallet, he was carrying more; lots more. Shaking his head, he started to change Mr. Naberre’s reservation
    .

    |
    O
    _____(___)_____
    Impatiently waiting in line, Kenara Do’ma tried to read her holozine. To her, it seemed a bit unfair that not only was the ‘coach’ line longer, but the check-in agents seemed to be slower. She had already been in line ten minutes when she first noticed the handsome man with wavy sand-brown hair in the first-class lane who was surreptitiously casting glances in her direction. Her mother’s voice sounded in her head: You will find that the older you get, the younger men seem to act. Chuckling to herself, she again cast a furtive glance at the slightly older man. To her dismay, he was already in the process of checking in, while it looked as if she had another fifteen minutes to wait. Sighing at the seeming unfairness of it all, she returned her attention to the article she was reading, tuning out the random sounds of the spaceport.

    “Excuse me, Ensign? Ensign Do’ma?”

    Only on the second use of her rank did Kenara realize that someone was talking to her. Startled, she glanced up from her holozine and saw that her ‘cutie’ from the first class line, as she had mentally labeled him, was looking at her expectantly.

    “Miss, if you could follow me, please.” He sounded polite, but she could tell from his tone that he was used to being in command. Sensing, her apprehension as she grabbed her handbag off of the floor, the strange man smiled.

    “No, no, nothing’s wrong. This way please.” As she followed him, Kenara reflected that his smile did not quite reach his eyes. It seemed as if he had forgotten how to smile. This troubled her a bit; he was not much older than she, how could have he gotten so jaded at such an age?

    As the mysterious stranger reached the counter, he turned and held at his hand, indicating that he would take her small roll-on. Placing her bag on the check-in scale, he grabbed a boarding card off of the counter and turned his head to explain what was happening.

    “I’ve taken the liberty of upgrading you to my first-class cabin as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for your service to the Consortium.” His tone turned somber, “I remember how much one has to give up being in the military.” Kenara could not help but hear some of the pain in his voice and she noticed that this time his emotion showed in his brown eyes.

    Kenara offered a polite smile, “Thank you sir, but I haven’t really…”

    “Think of it more as you accepting on behalf of the entire Hapan Navy.” The man interrupted warmly, as he flashed her a small smile. “Please mention to your superiors that there are still Coruscantis who remember the sacrifices Hapes made in the war.”

    She started to reply, but was interrupted by the check-in agent. “Miss, if I could see your documents please.”

    Turning her attention to the man behind the counter, Kenara handed him her travel ticket and ID, “Certainly.”

    “I took the liberty of booking you in the ‘executive suite’, so you’ll have a view out the bow of the ship.” He looked up at her an gave her a wry smile, “You’ll be one of the few who can see where you’re headed, not where you’ve been.” He learned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “You’d be amazed at what kind of power I have when it comes to cabin assignments.”

    Kenara chuckled, “Oh, I’m sure.” She turned to thank her new friend, only to find that he had disappeared. Frowning, she scanned the surrounding crowd.

    “Miss? Ensign Do’ma?” Kenara finally turned back to the counter agent, “Here is you boarding pass.” He said, handing her the paperwork.

    The brunette woman narrowed her eyes when she saw the fifty-credit chit on top of the blue ticket jacket. “What’s this?”

    “That’s his change.”

    Indignantly, she frowned at the agent and gestured around, “He’s gone! How am I supposed to get this back to him?” The young man only offered a shrug. Exasperated, Kenara asked, “Well, can you at least tell me his name so that I can track him down?”

    Smiling an ingratiating smile, he answered, “Sorry miss, it’s against company policy to give out passenger information.”

    Reminding herself that she could be brought up on court-martial charges for throttling a civilian, she huffed at the impossible man, performed a smart ‘about face’ and marched over to the security check, her black dress pumps clicking on the marble flooring.

    Jacen followed Ensign Do’ma from a respectful distance, keeping a discrete eye on the young Hapan naval officer as she boarded the space liner. He could sense her determination to find him, and that bothered him a bit—most service members would have simply shrugged off his generosity and contented themselves with knowing that there are still people who understood the travails of military life. Ensign Do’ma, however, seemed to be a different sort; she acted as if it was in insult not to know his identity. Jacen shook his head: Get used to disappointment, sweetheart. Still, it would not do for an employee of the Crown to undermine his carefully laid plan, so he had best be cautious. Fortunately, the Olympic was a big passenger liner, so it should be easy to hide from one person.

    In truth, Jacen still was not quite sure why he had the urge to pay for her upgrade. Would he have done it if she had been male? Jacen wanted to think so, but he was not quite that naïve—she was pretty, after all. Furthermore, he was not lying when he had told the young Ensign how difficult life could be in the military; she was just too young to understand.

    Maybe it was just that after so many months of interrogations, searches, arrests, roundups, and bloodshed, he simply wanted to be nice to someone. Snorting in disbelief, he thought it a pity that he rediscovered his humanity only after he knew that he had to sacrifice it for the greater good.

    After discretely ensuring that the Hapan got to her cabin, Jacen spent the next hour or so wandering around the Polstjärnan Company’s passenger liner Olympic, taking in the over-the-top opulence. Nobody does pretentious like the Hapans. Chuckling at the thought, he finally found his cabin and was unsurprised at the décor. Even in ‘economy’, the furnishings were opulent. The carpet was a rich green, and the walls were a warm oro wood paneling with darker inlays of Hapan fir and the double-size bed looked almost too soft to be comfortable. Heading into the ‘fresher, he rolled his eyes at the gold fixtures; he still never understood why people thought gold faucets to be a status symbol.

    Checking the chrono on the ‘fresher wall, he saw that he still had a good half-hour before the Olympic departed Coruscant. He toyed with the idea of taking another stroll around the ship, but quickly discarded the idea, not wanting to risk running into Ensign Do’ma again. He wasn’t afraid of her per se, but he did not have much of a back-story for his persona as ‘Jason Naberre’ and had seen too many examples of just how bad people are at trying to invent a personal history on the fly.

    Since going out was not a viable option, he lay down on the bed and quietly talked himself through his ‘Plan Alpha’ again, trying to find any holes that he had not accounted for on his previous run-throughs. One of the lessons he learned from Myrkr was to make sure that he had covered every possible outcome, running each different scenario through to its most likely conclusion. His sister would argue that he was over-thinking again, but he long ago resolved to not ever be caught like they were on Myrkr: unprepared for the reality of the situation. Anakin and Jaina always thought that they could freelance their way out of anything, and it was that sort of cavalier thinking that had gotten Anakin killed.

    After running all the possible permutations of ‘Plan Alpha’, he then did the same for plans Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo, making sure to account for every variable. So lost was he in running through his many permutations that he did not notice when the Olympic made its on-time departure from Coruscant at 0125, nor did he notice dozing off...

    |
    O
    _____(___)_____


    A/N: I'm actually basing part of this story on real life...back in my Air Force days, I was upgraded to first class a couple of times by the airlines and I thought the sentiment was awesome. I knew it wasn't for me, per se, but because they respected the military institution and it was their small way of saying 'Thanks.'

    As always, let me know if you want a tag, or if you want out!
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2018
  17. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Wonderful... so far things seem to be going according to the first plan although I am amused to discover there are several more backups. [face_laugh] =D= I can think of worse reasons to do something spontaneous than that. [face_thinking] Wanting to be nice to someone for achange. That is something WAY too rare IRL too, it seems. @};-
     
  18. Mira Grau

    Mira Grau Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2016
    Seems Jacen realy is thinking of every eventuality with his plan. Nice to see him doing a favor for the hapan ensign like that, he might be a war hero and commander of the GAG but he still cares for the common soldiers.
     
  19. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    Good updates! Sorry I fell a little behind, I'm a slow reader.

    It's a little sad that everyone seems to be afraid of the GAG, but it's nice that Jacen seems to be doing what he can to fix that perception, little by little. And that flow-walking is pretty useful, too bad all detectives can't use it! :p

    I really have no idea where this is going, but I'm interested to find out!

    (I don't mind tags, but I'm watching this thread so I don't really need them. And I'm always a fan of short chapters.:))
     
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  20. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Because of the way the Myrkr mission went, I think Jacen resolved to NEVER be caught without a contingency plan. Anakin's plan was basically 'make things up as they go', and Jacen abhors 'seat-of-the-pants' planning as a result of that debacle.

    And you're right...we need more simple generosity in life!
    I think he obsessed a bit too much in LotF about what COULD happen, but a good strategist always tries to run through as many scenarios as possible to eliminate surprises. And yep!

    I brought that up in Quest once, too...that ordinary people really shouldn't be afraid of the GAG. When I started reading LotF, I really thought it was going to go a different way. Silly me. Flow-walking would be really useful in law-enforcement!

    Ha! I didn't either when I started writing! My scenes end up going their own way often-times.

    Okay, I'll 'de-tag' you so you don't get the annoying alert-y things! Not going to lie...I almost think they're too short, but I'll keep them to about 1500 words when I can....might be a couple that are longer due to pacing and flow. My chapters are much longer on my computer, so I'm always scrambling for a good 'cut point'!


    Thanks for reviewing! Next post on Monday.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2018
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  21. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha; @Anedon; @Darth Invictus



    Chapter 4 – Early morning run

    The clock above the corner bank read 6:04 as Jacen jogged by, the sky turning pink on the eastern horizon. Turning the corner, he saw three men mercilessly kicking a body on the ground and abruptly stopped. Hearing his footsteps, the largest of them turned around as the shortest man gave one last kick to the person on the ground.

    “Turn around, hero, this isn’t your business.”

    Jacen sighed. “I’m afraid that it is.” He might be a lousy Jedi, but he still was an officer of the law and could not just turn away.

    The big man flashed an evil smile as he casually flipped his rounders bat, “I was hopin’ you’d say that.”

    Smirking, Jacen reached down for his lightsaber, but could not find it on his belt. Confused, his smirk turned into a puzzled one and he looked down, only to find that that not only was his lightsaber missing, so was the lower half of his right arm.

    The big man chuckled humorlessly as he took two steps forward, “Looks like you’ve got a real problem there, Hero.” Before he even finished talking, he was swinging his bat at Jacen’s midsection, surprising the Jedi with his speed.

    With reflexes borne from sparring against some of the fastest beings ever to yield a lightsaber, Jacen bent over backwards, the tip of the metallic weapon just missing his chin, and immediately counter-attacked with a Force-aided (and left-handed) punch meant to catch the man in the throat. Unfortunately, his aim was off and he only managed to punch the man in the upper chest, the giant of a man stumbling backwards.

    Jacen immediately took a step forward to seize take control of the fight, but was staggered by a blow to his right temple, followed immediately by one to his right ribcage. So focused had he been on the bigger man, he had forgotten about the other two gentlemen and was now paying the price. Turning to meet the new threat, Jacen was about to lash out with the Force when the first man landed a blow to Jacen’s left kidney, knocking him to the ground.

    As Jacen scrambled to his feet, one of the other men got him in a choke-hold with an arm around his throat and pinned Jacen’s arm behind him. Jacen continued to struggle, but the man simply tightened the pressure on his throat and Jacen was forced to stop.

    “Too bad you’ve only got one arm, Hero.” The big man said, “We might have had ourselves a fair fight. As it is...” he shrugged slightly, “….well, we’re just going to have an old-fashioned whuppin’.” He nodded at the man holding him, “Keep him upright.”

    Jacen really had no idea how long the beating lasted, nor could he keep track of the number of ribs and facial bones the big man either broke or fractured. All he knew was that he eventually found himself on his knees, spitting out blood and fractured teeth. After wiping his chin, Jacen struggled to rise to one knee, earning a respectful chuckle from the big man.

    “You certainly are brave.” He commented, raising his club one last time. “So long, Hero.”

    There was a flash of green light, and Jacen bolted upright in bed.



    |
    O
    _____(___)_____​

    Polstjärnan Starliner Olympic – Enroute to Hapes Cluster


    Throwing off the covers, Jacen grabbed a fizzade from the ‘fridge in the cabin and took a long drink. This was the third time now that he had had that dream, and Jacen felt more and more helpless every time he had it. Grimacing, he forced himself to walk around the small cabin in an effort to relax.

    After a few minutes, Jacen found himself looking out of the cabin’s porthole window, re-thinking his ‘Plan Alpha’. Sighing to himself, he was forced to admit that the cornerstone principle of his plan relied on the Queen Mother keeping more or less to her usual routine, but that could not be helped. Any inquiries as to what her plans were for the next couple of days would only raise suspicions, and he knew from experience that a suspicious Tenel Ka was a tenacious Tenel Ka. If Jacen roused her suspicions, he would have to wait weeks for a new opportunity, and he was not sure he could muster the courage for a second attempt.

    Jacen glanced at the chrono by the bed and saw that it was after 0400. Nodding to himself, he decided that it was probably safe to go get something to eat. If the passengers on the Olympic acted anything like they did on Coruscant, he knew that even the most ardent partygoers run out of steam about 0330 and would start turning in. Getting up, he stuck his head out the cabin door and noted that the hallway was silent as a tomb. Chuckling humorlessly at his prediction, he closed the door and headed forward to try to find something to eat.

    Apparently even luxury liners close down most of the restaurants during the late hours, Jacen mused. His only two options were a bistro in ‘coach’ and a ‘first class’ lounge. Not wanting to mingle with any partygoers who might be still partying in the lounge, he opted for the bistro. After finding it, he noticed, unsurprisingly, that it was not very busy; the clientele included a handful of staff members on a meal-break, and a young Bothan couple who Jacen guessed were on their honeymoon, given the way that they were blatantly ignoring everyone else. Jacen smiled slightly at the pair as he followed a young waiter to a booth in the corner.

    “Something to drink?” The waiter asked as Jacen sat down.

    Nodding, Jacen answered, “Chai, if you have it.” The young man nodded and left to make a cup of the flavored tea.

    After taking a quick look at the menu, he put it at the edge of the table, shaking his head as to why he bothered to look—coming into the place, he had already decided on an omelet. If his years traveling around the galaxy taught him anything, it was this: it is pretty hard to ruin eggs.

    As Jacen took the cup of chai from the waiter upon his return, he ordered a ham, cheese, and green pepper omelet. The younger man gave Jacen a bored look over his flimsi, “Hash browns?”

    “Sure.” Jacen answered as he handed the menu back to the waiter.

    “Loaded?” Seeing Jacen’s confused look, the waiter tried again, “The hash browns, would you like them loaded?” Jacen still had no idea what he was talking about, and it must have showed on his face. With an exasperated sigh, the young man tried a third time, “Onions, cheese, gravy. Loaded hash browns.”

    Jacen gave a half-shrug, “Why not. I’ll spend some extra time on the treadmill.” Shooting Jacen a whatever you say, buddy look, the waiter turned and left.

    Shrugging off the waiter’s demeanor, Jacen turned his attention to his data pad, pulling up a holozine article about the Battle of Vrogas Vos. He became engrossed in the author’s hypothesis that the Empire hadn’t really won that milestone battle, more that the Alliance had lost it due to arrogance and poor tactics. So engrossed, in fact, he failed to notice as a tall brunette walked up to his table.

    “Would you care for some company?”

    Startled, Jacen looked up from his data pad and chuckled humorlessly when he saw the Hapan Naval Ensign from the check-in line, now dressed in a red halter top and form-fitting white pants, a wry smile on her face.

    “Sure.” Jacen answered good-naturedly, gesturing to the seat across from him. As she sat down gracefully, “I give you high marks for persistence.”

    The young woman smiled, and Jacen noticed the sparkle in her blue eyes. Unlike many Hapans, it seemed the naval officer now seated across from him did not lack a sense of humor.

    “Thanks!” Scowling, she continued, “Since you ditched me at the counter,” Jacen smiled at her emphasis of the word, “I made it my mission to track you down to say, ‘Thank you.’”

    Shrugging noncommittally, Jacen replied, “I was hoping to remain anonymous.”

    The Hapan woman rolled her eyes, “So I gathered. Unfortunately for you, I like a challenge.” She looked over to her right, trying to catch the waiter’s attention. Seeing his nod of recognition, she turned her attention back to Jacen. “I figured that if it were me and I needed to hide from a pesky naval officer whom I had just upgraded to first-class, I would pick the slowest time of day and head to the restaurant in ‘coach’.”

    Jacen hung his head as he fought the urge to laugh. Looking back up, he tilted his head, giving her a quizzical look, “You work for Fleet Intelligence, don’t you?”

    The young woman gave a small snort of laughter, and shook her head. “Nah, I hate doing paperwork. I’m just a lowly air traffic controller.” Seeing that the waiter had come by, she looked up at the young man and nodded her head at Jacen, “I’ll have what he’s having. Chai and all.”

    Nodding in reply, the waiter jotted this down on his flimsi and returned to the kitchen. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Jacen and saw his disbelieving scowl. Shrugging, she explained, “I don’t smell any caf, so I assumed that you were drinking chai.” She looked at him expectantly, and saw his smirk. “And I know all about the ‘chow hall rule’: when in doubt, order eggs.”


    Jacen laughed, and the brunette woman smiled warmly as she continued, “See, that’s not so hard. It’s good to laugh, you know.”

    Jacen only offered a polite nod at the irony: seventeen years ago, he tried his best to make a certain Hapan laugh; now it was another Hapan returning the favor. Oddly, she had more luck than he had had. “I guess I haven’t had much reason to laugh, lately.”

    She tilted her head fractionally, “Sounds depressing.”

    Jacen snorted, “You have no idea.”

    The brunette held her well-manicured hand across the table, “I’m Kenara, by the way, Kenara Do’ma.”

    Shaking her hand, “Jason Naberre. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

    “Feeling’s mutual.” The brunette replied, leaning back as the waiter placed her cup of chai on the table. “So, what takes you to Hapes?”

    Jacen fought a grimace as he looked down at his cup. Because he had not planned on socializing with anyone on the trip, he had not bothered to come up with answers to basic conversation. Not having any better story, he decided to run with Lando’s First Rule of cons: If it doesn’t cost anything, tell the truth. Lies are too hard to remember.

    Sighing, he replied softly, “I’m on my way to see my daughter and her mother.”

    Kenara nodded understandingly, hearing the pain in his voice. “I’m sorry.” She replied, meaning it. Hapes was not an easy place to be a father; most of her friends had no contact whatsoever with their own fathers, and were flabbergasted that her mother and father were actually married…of their own volition.

    “What happened?” she asked, instantly regretting her question when she saw the pain flash across Jacen’s face. Shaking her head, “I’m sorry, it’s none of my business.”

    “No, it’s okay. We just sort of…drifted apart.” Jacen replied softly and launched into the story of how he had met a girl at an Academy on some jungle planet; about how the two of them became fast friends, her serious demeanor the perfect foil for his whimsical one; how the two of them started becoming something more than just friends; about how the war forced them apart; about the joint-mission they both ended up on and about how they seamlessly melded together, even after more than a year apart; about how thoughts of her managed to keep him sane during his time as a POW.

    Kenara listened on as Jacen described how his friend was forced to take over the family business when her mother died, and about how her extended family disapproved of him as a boyfriend; he talked about his five-year sojurn and how he had hoped that if he learned enough, became ‘cultured’ enough, her family would approve of him. Kenara smiled as he recounted the tale of him ‘breaking in’ to her estate to surprise her upon his return and how they, once again, picked up where they had left off…managing to conceive a daughter during their reunion; about how, for a while, it looked that he might be able to come to Hapes and become a ‘real’ husband and father, but something always seemed to come up, either with her work or with his. ‘Next year’ became two, which became three and then four…always with more limitations, both real and imagined, about when he could visit, and she could hear the desperation in his voice.

    “Sorry.” He concluded sheepishly as their waiter finally delivered their breakfast, “It does sound like a bad holodrama, doesn’t it?”

    Kenara smiled sadly, “Not at all. Pretty normal for Hapes, actually.” Taking a bite of her omelet, she continued, “How often are you able to visit?”

    “Not as often as I’d like.” He paused slightly and she once again heard the pain in his voice, “In fact, this might be my last trip to Hapes.”

    Kenara could only nod sadly. There were times when she did not much like the society she grew up in. Often, she found that it was too hierarchical, too demanding, too superficial, too….Hapan. In fairness, some of Hapans prosperity was due to their hierarchical way of doing things—she just wished that there were a way to ‘turn off’ the hierarchy in personal lives.

    “Do you have a picture of your daughter?” She asked, more as a way to deflect some of her own sadness than anything.

    Jacen looked up sharply, alarmed by the question. Seeing his look, Kenara leaned back in her chair and raised her hands in defense, “Whoa, sorry I asked.”

    The GAG Colonel slumped in his chair, sensing through the Force that Kenara had no ulterior motives, and was simply trying to cheer him up. After all, he had been talking up his daughter and her mother for the last half an hour—clearly he still was fond of them, and it would be disingenuous to say that he did not have a holo. Disgusted with himself for being so defensive, he dug his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a holodisk of his daughter, inwardly hoping that the Naval Ensign across from him was not a die-hard ‘Royal-watcher’. Besides, most five-year-olds look pretty much the same. Don’t they? Inwardly bracing himself, he thumbed the activation switch and the image of a red-haired girl with adorable curls wearing a pale yellow sundress flashed above the table.

    “Nah, I’m just being paranoid.”

    Ensign Do’ma immediately smiled at the image: the girl was caught in mid-twirl, a huge, infectious smile on her face, her grey eyes twinkling in delight, and Kenara could almost hear the squeal of laughter and the Daddy, look at me! comment that surely came right before the holo was taken. Something about the girl seemed familiar, but Kenara just chalked it up to the fact that she was sitting across from the girl’s father.

    “She looks like she has tons of energy.” Kenara commented, looking up from the holo.

    Jacen grinned as he switched off the holo and pocketed the device, “You have no-o-o idea. She seems to have two speeds: on and off.” Shrugging nonchalantly as he took another bite of breakfast, “You’ll never guess whom she got that from.”

    “I can only imagine.” Kenara deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Taking a sip of chai, she nodded at the datapad on the table, “What were you reading when I sneaked up on you?”

    It was Jacen’s turn to roll his eyes, “An article about the Battle of Vrogas Vas. Turns out that Rieekan wasn’t as good as we thought.”

    “Really?” Kenara replied, sounding surprisingly interested, “Do tell.” For the next hour or so, the two of them talked military tactics and history, each buoyed by the other’s enthusiasm.

    |
    O
    _____(___)_____​

    A/N: I think JediLover will back me up on this: the chow hall rule DOES exist. When in doubt, get scrambled eggs!

    Sorry for this being a bit longer, but I couldn't really find a better place to break this up. Next one might be a bit on the long side as well. Thanks for reading!
     
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  22. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    ACK!!!! That dream!!!! [face_nail_biting] [face_worried] What is that? It's bad enough having it once, but more than once? Oh my!
    And there's no way to know, precisely, what to do or not, to keep it from coming true.
    ~
    Yummy! That breakfast, those loaded hash browns =P~
    ~
    Kenara is a very warm and sympathetic listener. I bet Jacen really felt good after being able to "vent" and confide.
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2018
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  23. Khalia Octa

    Khalia Octa Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2018
    Wow this is great!! I've only just started checking out the Fanfic forums, EU fanfics draw me in :p
    It's so great to read this, after finishing LotF a little while back. You've written the characters so well, and I can't wait for the next part to come! Such suspense! ;)
     
  24. Darth Invictus

    Darth Invictus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 8, 2016
    Regarding Lumiya-wouldn't she become suspicious at some point that Jacen wasn't fully onboard with the sith program and was either playing her or stalling for time?
     
  25. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    After reading about some of Luke and Jacen's dreams...I don't think you could pay me enough to be a Jedi. I don't know how they could sleep at night with all of these dreams they kept getting. And that's the problem...how much in motion is the future?

    I know, I got hungry just writing about them! It always thought it unfair that Jacen had this fantastic story to tell his family, and was forbidden by Tenel Ka to tell anyone. Everyone needs someone they can talk to...even if it's just a stranger in a cafe.
    Thanks! There are quite a lot of EU fics on here that are really, really good. LotF is a series that could have been much so much better than it turned out, IMO. I've ranted loads on that subject other places, so I'll save you from more here!
    Sure. But what can she prove? Personally, I think she was suspicious of Jacen throughout LotF because he always seemed to keep her at arm's length. They were both using each other for other means, and each knew it.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2018