Beyond - Legends At the Brink of the Dawn and the Darkness (Act/Dr/Rom AU, L/M, H/L) Updated 12.10.10 COMPLETE!

Gabri Jade

Hey Gabri



--"ETA actual story feedback: And what do you mean, ?big if? on finishing those long stories? You?re still plotting the pilot one, right?"--

Yes, but as slow as I am and with my tendency to choose reading over writing 90% of the time, we may all be in retirement homes by the time it's done.

LOL! I think that may be true of Empire?s Son at this rate too!



--"They are, I promise you, not my techniques ? I stole every one from elsewhere"--

All the great artists do

Heh,heh. Speaking of techniqies, I went to Amazon to buy that book you recommended and when I saw the cover I though, ?Hang on?? I went upstairs and checked?and it?s already in my bookcase crowded out with stick-its!

(which actually must mean that although I?ve covered half the pages with stick-its, I?m clearly not harking anything it?s told me!)

So I bought ?Beginnings, middles and Endings? instead



--" ?Cadin,? Nathan announced of the grilled grain-bread, with an undeserved and overly enthusiastic flourish. ?And fruit.?
Luke raised his eyebrows as the adjutant bowed and left. ?That was uncharacteristically healthy of me.? "--

Nathan is so awesome. (Keep your evil authorial intent away from him. *glares preemptively*) Luke's response is perfect, too.

Man, you won?t let me kill anybody!



--"As ever, he looked back to Luke for approval, and Luke nodded, standing. ?Thank you, gentlemen.? He glanced immediately to Mara, who raised an arched eyebrow at him but didn?t correct him."--

I do love this little aside?and Mara's restraint.

That was pretty good of her, wasn?t it?





--" ?Mara, you?ll come down to the surface with me. Take the second shuttle and we?ll meet in the base. I?ll try not to let it get too boring for you.?
?I?ll bring a book,? Mara countered dryly. "--

Like the bit between Luke and Nathan over breakfast, this is pitch perfect. The banter and personal interaction throughout is most excellent.

Heh, thank you! I always find it hard to navigate a path between just how long I can get away with having characters just cruising along talking, and actually having to move the plot along with a bit of action?



--" ?You know he won?t do that. I think things will stabilize and the changes he?ll make will be for the greater good?and I happen to think he?s right,? Nathan said firmly. ?Much of the Empire?s old constitution was questionable, some of it grossly unfair.?
?That?s treason,? Wez said calmly.
?It?s fact. And soon there?ll be reforms in place which will make it possible to say such things in public.? "--

Ah, Nathan. As for Wez...





--" She frowned, hiding the slightest hint of uneasy doubt from her features before, flicking long, loose curls of her hair back with casual grace, she stepped close to him and stood on tip-toe, hand to his chest as she reached up to kiss him lightly, her lips brushing against the old scar on his cheek.
Sometimes he let her this close?sometimes not. "--

Go ahead, break my heart. Sure, I don't mind.

LOL! This from the writer who had them sit on a beach and decide to go their separate ways! I was depressed for days!




--" Palpatine had invested years in purging his Sith advocate of human weaknesses, had honed his soul to a razor-edge. In many ways he?d succeeded?but not entirely?and Luke hated him for it. Some days for his success, others for his failure. "--

Marvelous insight. Luke's such a mess.

Heh,heh. Ah, you know I like my dance macabre




--" He glanced away dismissively. ?Running the percentages, then. How much you stay to be with the Emperor and how much to be with Luke Skywalker.?
It was a low blow, not least because in her own darker moments she wondered whether it hinted at

 

The Solo Smirk

Where have these Saturday mornings gone???

I know! *sigh*


Okay, before I go any further, how did you get that pic on your message?! Tell me, tell me! (but very slowly and carefully ?cos I?m computer-dyslexic!)




--" ... Watched until the room about him began to shrink to dull darkness by comparison and it burned into his retinas so that he could see it as a diffuse crimson glow when he closed his eyes? "--
Awww, cool observation! It's the same when closing your eyes on a sunny day - the diffuse crimson glow - amazing that you mention it here!

Heh, thank you! I figured, you?re going past suns? some of them surely have to reasonably close so that they?d be that dazzlingly bright? I love that effect, when you close your eyes on a sunny day and watch the crimson shapes merge and crawl?



--"Frowning, he lifted his hand before his face; it was shaking. "--

Why are his hands shaking? Sleep deprivation? Or is it something else entirely?


Yup, sleep deprivation, stress, pressure, not eating? any and all.



--" Mara shrugged incrementally, trying a different tack. ?Hallin?s worried.?
?That?s Hallin?s natural state,? Luke dismissed easily. ?I?d be more concerned if he wasn?t.? "--

I think that the Hallin character is very well written - and I don't say this often about original characters!

Thank you! I think he gets a slightly bigger part in this last story ? much to his horror, probably (if there?s any action in it)




--" ?You?re Emperor!? she said, lost as ever as to how that could be anything but a desirable thing.
?Is that all you see when you look at me?? The disappointment was painfully evident in his voice. "--

Best part again - Luke and Mara discussion...I have a bad feeling about the current state of their relationship - see argumentation below !!!

Yep, they are on shaky, shaky ground at the mo.



--" ?They are the same person,? Mara repeated.
He didn?t turn but the change in his voice was striking, all earlier hostility gone, leaving only an empty bitterness and muted vulnerability, like a shadow falling over him. ?That?s just it, Mara?they?re not.? "--

Interesting point! Reminds me of the scene when Luke wants to leave and never look back and asks Mara if she will go with him and she asks him if he would give up everything that he has accomplished - what he suffered so much for?seems like she can't give that part of him up?it was not actually Luke?s decision back then but rather her wanting him to take on his destined role as Emperor.

Yeah, part of Mara?s problem is that she wants to see him in that role because that?s what she perceives of as success (because that?s the world she grew up in: one where Palpatine was the top of the pile. That?s how she measures success). Part of Luke?s is his refusal to step fully into that role for fear of becoming Palpatine, so there?s a massive, unspoken rift that?s undermining their relationship, because neither can understand the other?s view. I guess Luke?s also mistaking the faith she has in him for blind acceptance of ?The Emperor?s? decisions, because of his own insecurities (wondering why she would possibly have faith in him). Rocky, rocky road?


--" ?They?re not.? ? He did not overthrow Palpatine to walk in his footsteps but to rid the galaxy (and himself) of him once and for all ? will be very interesting to see who will recognize this intention. "--

I guess that Han still knows that, also Nathan maybe.
I am not sure about Mara and Leia, though ? seems like they are more focused on "The Heir" than on Luke Skywalker

True, but for completely different reasons ? Mara thinks that can only be a good thing, Leia that it can only be bad. Then we?re back to the gray area that exists between black and white.

 

LOL! I think that may be true of Empire?s Son at this rate too!

My first reaction upon reading this was, "Oh, no, you don't! Write, damn you, write!" I'm such a hypocrite.

Heh,heh. Speaking of techniqies, I went to Amazon to buy that book you recommended and when I saw the cover I though, ?Hang on?? I went upstairs and checked?and it?s already in my bookcase crowded out with stick-its!

I've done that! In fact, I have on occasion not recognized a book I own until after buying the second copy. I like how Amazon reminds me that I've already bought an item if I go to look at its page after the purchase. Saves me money.

So I bought ?Beginnings, middles and Endings? instead

I have that one myself, and I think it's one of the ones I underlined thoroughly. I should look it over again and make sure I'm applying what I once learned.

Man, you won?t let me kill anybody!

Oh, shush. I didn't complain a bit when you killed Vader and Palpatine.

That was pretty good of her, wasn?t it?

I was proud of her.

I always find it hard to navigate a path between just how long I can get away with having characters just cruising along talking, and actually having to move the plot along with a bit of action?

I like dialogue. I like it a lot. I find myself writing very long stretches of having characters just talking, and I love reading long stretches of it in other people's stories. I'm probably not the best person to make judgments about that sort of balance. But I really like your dialogue.

This from the writer who had them sit on a beach and decide to go their separate ways! I was depressed for days!

Well, there's my hypocrisy again. I read that and beamed. So I'll repay the compliment and admit that plenty of your chapters have had me preoccupied for days about what would come next, and there've been a few where I was so scared of what you'd do next that it took me hours to gather enough courage to actually read the new chapter.

Heh,heh. Ah, you know I like my dance macabre

Fortunately you're very good at it

Ah, but can you catch an international man of mystery and Powers-esque spy, with the skills to lose himself in any European country by blending seamlessly in with the natives? that or running very fast!

LOL. I've never tried to catch an international man of mystery before, but my outrage would be great, and I also run very fast. I'll just start at that store you told me about with the bees and work my way outward, watching for the man who blends in seamlessly save for the look of latent evil behind the eyes.

 

because that?s the world she grew up in: one where Palpatine was the top of the pile

Ha ha ha! Thinking about it - what's at the bottom of that pile? Do we want to know?




Your artwork mosaic is really cool!

 

I wonder if Luke knows for certain what he will do when he meets with Leia. Will she meet Luke or the Emporer? Perhaps both? I kinda wonder if he has feelings for her still. Perhaps he will get a DNA sample and make a set of dart guns like Palpy had for him... then he will discover her lineage.... just guessing in print. I look forward to more.

 

Gabri Jade

---I bought ?Beginnings, middles and Endings? instead---

I have that one myself, and I think it's one of the ones I underlined thoroughly. I should look it over again and make sure I'm applying what I once learned.

Interesting... Then I have an opening chapter I'd love to send you?


---This from the writer who had them sit on a beach and decide to go their separate ways! I was depressed for days!---

Well, there's my hypocrisy again. I read that and beamed.

LOL! No, it's pride! iwas extatic to read that you could barely read my next chapter at times!


I'll just start at that store you told me about with the bees and work my way outward, watching for the man who blends in seamlessly save for the look of latent evil behind the eyes.

LOL! And shock-white hair! and don't forget the expression of perpetual bemused confusion...





The-Solo-Smirk

-----...because that?s the world Mara grew up in: one where Palpatine was the top of the pile-----

Ha ha ha! Thinking about it - what's at the bottom of that pile? Do we want to know?

You know, when she first met him, I think Luke was! Fortunately, she's changed her mind




Your artwork mosaic is really cool!

Heh, thank you so much! You got me started...





Ocelotl_Nesto


"I wonder if Luke knows for certain what he will do when he meets with Leia. Will she meet Luke or the Emporer? Perhaps both? I kinda wonder if he has feelings for her still. Perhaps he will get a DNA sample and make a set of dart guns like Palpy had for him... then he will discover her lineage.... just guessing in print. I look forward to more."

Guessing in print is always fascinating! As to the answers...coming shortly!

 

CHAPTER THREE








Something was wrong?something was very, very wrong.

Leia had known it from the moment she stepped foot on the staging post at Devaron?s South Pole two days ago?some vague, undefined tremor at the back of her mind. She?d put it down to nerves. It was over a year since she?d last been on a mission, and that had hardly been a soaring success, so this was just nerves?just nerves.

Nothing was out of place?nothing amiss. It had gone perfectly: textbook. Not so much as a peep from the watchers stationed in the base a full eight days before, watching traffic movement and monitoring comm channels. Nothing out of the ordinary; just one more second-rate base which serviced commerce and the military. A little run-down, a little tired, frayed routines which had been in place for years rolling on with scant attention and casual familiarity.

The ISD Peremptory had turned up a half-day early, but that wasn?t so unusual on a Tour of Duty as extended as the Core Loop, and there was nothing untoward in the comms coming from the bristling Destroyer. A higher than normal number of long-distance comms, but only to central hubs. Nothing to worry about?nothing to worry about.

Troopers came down to the station on standard duties in standard numbers, overseeing supply lines. Five unaccountable ships left the Destroyer?s hangar to land on Devaron. Three were private craft and landed on the staging post, the other two were tracked and landed well outside the base, in the nearby continent of Calasia. Nothing to worry about.

Everything?s fine.

Why did she keep repeating that like a mantra?

Rebels had watched all three private craft from the moment they set down, guided in on lights as they made their final descent, the pole?s wave-scattering effects cutting in as they closed with the ore-laden ground. Four officers disembarked from the first shuttle, clearly on ground-leave. All mid-level, all male; any one of them could be their informer. In fact all four of them could, in a pact?it wasn?t unknown.

Leia had split her small group to leave watchers on each of them, one to tag each officer. They?d checked into the best inn on the station and made their way straight to the casino. They?d stayed there ever since.

The second shuttle to land had contained two older officers and two troopers. They too had been watched from a distance, and had gone to the administration base. Leia?s group had spliced into the staging post?s surveillance two days ago, but they hadn?t gotten past the main security codes, so had lost the group within minutes when they?d moved into restricted corridors. She?d split the group a second time to leave two men behind, one for each officer, with orders to mark them coming out of the base and pass it on when they did.

So now they were down to the last shuttle. It had been another three officers: two men and a woman with long, dark hair, wearing a black Intel uniform. The men wore officers? uniforms but walked like professional soldiers. The woman walked like she could take either or both of them down without breaking a sweat.

Leia had split the group again: three more left behind to mark them, Han and Chewie staying with the woman?he?d said she made his trigger-finger itch.

Leia had made her way to the meeting place in the maintenance corridors beneath the base with the three remaining Rebel soldiers; not a huge amount of back-up, but Han and his group were within comm distance still, close enough that the scattering effect of Devaron?s pole hadn?t cancelled out the signal. Besides it was fine. Everything was fine, nothing to worry about? Grief, why did she keep repeating that?!

They arrived thirty minutes early, the meeting place a maintenance side-room which serviced the heating system deep in the bowels of the busy staging-post, hidden among endless maintenance access corridors threaded through with pipes and conduits, the guts of the station, keeping the polar elements at bay.

It was old and it was grubby in these unseen

 

Wowwie.... is Luke telling Leia the truth? Or is he telling Mara the truth? Or are both views the truth, 'from a certain point of view'? And I am still wondering how much Luke knows about his relationship to Leia....

You need to update your first post's Subject Line, so everyone knows this is updated!

 

Didn't know you updated, you got to edit the title.

Lots of stuff going on there... treason=fact=treason... Luke getting a bit on the Palpy side of life... eek...

 

Luke is definitly telling the truth.

Or at least as much of it as he is able...

Awesome update btw!

 

Now, I don't know what to believe. There is a chance for change, an I hope Luke means it, but I'm not sure. Leia will have to be very very careful with this one.

I wonder what Han will think of this... after all, he's met Luke after his "change" and survived the encounter, too.

Luke did promise Palpatine that the Empire would be changed, dismantled, etc. Maybe he is speaking the truth, from a certain point of view.

 

So now they were down to the last shuttle. It had been another three officers: two men and a woman with long, dark hair, wearing a black Intel uniform. The men wore officers? uniforms but walked like professional soldiers. The woman walked like she could take either or both of them down without breaking a sweat.

Leia had split the group again: three more left behind to mark them, Han and Chewie staying with the woman?he?d said she made his trigger-finger itch.


Ha ha ha! Han is nervous? Oh, oh, oh - what have they gotten themselves into this time???



?Hello, Leia.? His voice was quiet and calm and instantly recognizable.

Her hand had gone to her blaster as the door had closed, and she wrenched it free, pointing it at his chest and firing without hesitation. She pulled the trigger again and again, the bolts burning across the short distance between them, shot after shot after shot, igniting the room burst after burst, like lightening striking?

And Luke? Luke simply batted them aside, as Vader had on Cloud City; as his father had. His father.


WOW! That was sooo cool! Seems like Luke sets the guidelines for this meeting!

But I feel that Leia is overreacting a bit? The meeting with Luke was the plan, after all, wasn't it? Is she just too scared to think straight?


?Were you a spy?? she had to ask.

?What do you think??

?I?m asking you,? Leia said, frustration giving her courage. ?Giving you a chance to defend yourself.?

?It?s a little late for that, isn?t it?? he whispered from close behind again, making her start. ?Six years too late.


I agree! An honest answer doesn't change anything anymore! Good point!



"No. My father could never betray me; I never trusted him. Betrayal requires trust?? He looked back to her now. ?Only a friend can betray.?

Loved this line!



"I had to tell them."

"And you did; you made your decision, you allowed them theirs?and then you backed those who acted upon it... I've been forced to deal with the consequences every day since...you'll have to do the same.?

"Tell me I was wrong?" It was more an appeal than a question, her heart momentarily overruling all else. But he shook his head, completely composed, all such personal considerations buried.

?This is immaterial. What matters is where we are now. I am Emperor and you lead a rebellion against me. And it will stop.?



This is the first time that I ever read about Leia trying to find the easiest solution to a problem/the easiest way out - interesting!



?But it?s no longer Palpatine?s Empire?it?s mine.?

?And I will treat it as such. I intend to ease restrictions put in place to deal with the Rebellion, to continue to relax laws which have restricted civilian freedoms. To reinstate personal sentient rights?all rights. Freedom of movement and liberties of speech, the right to protection by the State, the right to trial by a jury of peers, to constitutional equality. To lead my Empire forward on a course which will eventually see the restoration of a democratic State. And to do all this, I?m willing to open a dialogue with the Rebel Alliance?or more specifically, with you.?

W-O-W!


?Firstly, because it would be an outrageous and unnecessary show of weakness on my part."

Dark Luke rocks!



? ?It?s not what you call us and it?s not where we stand. It?s what we do which defines us,? ? he recited evenly. ?Quite a speech. Do you recognize it??

Leia spoke without turning. ?My father.?

?Yes. Bail Organa said it on behalf of the fledgling Rebellion when it was first challenged as unlawful by Palpatine?s puppet Senate?but I think he would have agreed that it holds relevance no matter who we are.?


Epic! Can't wait to see how Leia deals with it all when she has recovered from this defeat!



?When did it come to this, Leia? When did

 

I savored that particular update more than I usually do since I loved Leia's thoughts and remembrances of days gone by and I agree with her conflicted and confused wonderings: Is there still a spark of decency or is it all a game? Does Luke even know?

 

Leia stared?just stared at him for an eternity, huge dark eyes searching his own, looking for something?within him, within herself. She wanted to believe, she knew that now. Despite everything she had said aloud of him, everything she?d thought she felt?here, now, she wanted to believe that there was some spark of decency in him. She wanted to scratch the surface of the new Emperor and find Luke Skywalker. Find the man who?d swept her up and spun her about with such heartfelt sincerity and admirable principles, so close to the ones he?d just declared with such intense, unguarded passion.

Or was it all a game?an act before a wary, critical audience?

Because the man who stood before her now looked nothing like the brother-in-arms she?d lost, scars visible and invisible marking his demeanor? But something whispered?something warmed her soul and froze her heart in the same instant to be this close to him again. Something bound them together?it always had....

...It had taken this: to be face to face, to look into those eyes again and see the soul within, to feel that strange?something in her own soul warm in reply, like finding some lost part of herself. Despite every misgiving, to walk away now believing they would never speak again would be like cutting off a limb? She simply couldn?t contemplate it.

?You should go,? he said at last, taking another step back. ?Your people will be waiting??

She stared for long seconds into his face, at once achingly familiar and shockingly changed?then turned in silence, hand to the door release.

?Leia? ?

She paused, unable to turn back, her stomach tightened into a nauseous knot at the uneasy confusion in his hesitant voice? But he didn?t speak again, and eventually she set forward into the corridor beyond, the door sliding closed behind her, consigning him to the shadows once again.




Awesome, as always.

 

Then I have an opening chapter I'd love to send you?

By all means!

LOL! And shock-white hair! and don't forget the expression of perpetual bemused confusion...

Still shock-white, huh? That does make the search easier.

Leia had split the group again: three more left behind to mark them, Han and Chewie staying with the woman?he?d said she made his trigger-finger itch.

Han has good instincts.

It was old and it was grubby in these unseen spaces, overheated lubricant mixing with decades of dust to cover scratched, paint-chipped surfaces and tired machinery in a film of thick grime, visible as the lights flickered on by sensor in each new section, the corridors behind them stuttering to darkness as doors closed. It reminded Leia of the engine rooms of practically every Rebel corvette or destroyer she?d ever flown on.

More good description! Seriously, I especially watch your descriptions closely, because you do them so well and they're always such a struggle for me. [face_studious]

And Luke? Luke simply batted them aside, as Vader had on Cloud City; as his father had. His father.

What a great visual.

?You?re a cruel man?? She said the words without realizing, a thought murmured out loud.

He stopped absolutely still, his face almost unreadable?but Leia knew him too well, so the tiny flickers of emotion which passed across those blue eyes were there to be read as she could read no one else, not even Han.

Surprise, of course, that she had uttered them at all. Then regret; genuine pain that she would think such a thing of him, followed quickly by indignation which tensed muscles in face and body alike.

For a second she thought he would strike out at her, then the moment passed, to be replaced by that detached, insular amusement again.

?Life is cruel?I merely keep pace.? Those sharp eyes skewered her. ?It wasn?t I who betrayed.?

Psychological twistiness again. Also, that's a great line of Luke's.

?It?s a little late for that, isn?t it?? he whispered from close behind again, making her start.

I really love the way he's circling her. It's intimidating even reading it.

?Palpatine toyed with your rebellion for twenty years for his own amusement and to serve his ends. He used you?and you let him. You helped him stabilize his Empire, provided an excuse for more laws and restrictions than he could have ever raised without the inflated threat of your supposed actions.

I also love this take on things. It makes a tremendous amount of sense.

?What can I do to prove my commitment?? he asked openly, a ghost of a smile touching those scarred lips.

?Step down,? Leia said immediately. ?Abdicate.?

He grinned at that, as if she had asked for a moon on a plate. ?Realistically??

?Step down?or I?ll make you,? Leia said, deadly serious.

Seeing these two at odds, one-on-one, so very personal and yet so very professional as leaders of opposing governments and armed forces, is so much fun.

?I brought Palpatine down, not you.

And in RotJ, it was Vader who brought Palpatine down, not the Rebellion. Luke may have been the catalyst, but Luke didn't defeat him; Palpatine's own second did. Interesting...

She turned without another word and headed for the door. She was almost there, hand reaching out for the release, when his words stopped her cold.

? ?It?s not what you call us and it?s not where we stand. It?s what we do which defines us,? ? he recited evenly. ?Quite a speech. Do you recognize it??

Leia spoke without turning. ?My father.?

This is another bit that makes me giddy. So well timed on Luke's part.

But there was no reaction, no explosion of indignant fury. Instead, his voice was a quiet murmur, a shocking burst of genuine regret. ?When did it come to this, Leia? When did I become less than human in your eyes??

*makes note to write dialogue this poignant someday*

?Believe me, I sound nothing like Palpatine.

I really love this, too. For all her knowledge

 

?The ISD Peremptory had turned up a half-day early, but that wasn?t so unusual on a Tour of Duty as extended as the Core Loop, and there was nothing untoward in the comms coming from the bristling Destroyer. A higher than normal number of long-distance comms, but only to central hubs. Nothing to worry about?nothing to worry about.

Troopers came down to the station on standard duties in standard numbers, overseeing supply lines. Five unaccountable ships left the Destroyer?s hangar to land on Devaron. Three were private craft and landed on the staging post, the other two were tracked and landed well outside the base, in the nearby continent of Calasia. Nothing to worry about. ?
Your amount of details keep amazing me! And despite their number, they all stay relevant to something immediate in the text, thus preventing me from loosing interest and start skimming! And believe me ? that?s something of an achievement!!!

?Han and Chewie staying with the woman?he?d said she made his trigger-finger itch. ?

Han?s instincts never fail, hmm?


? Her hand had gone to her blaster as the door had closed, and she wrenched it free, pointing it at his chest and firing without hesitation. She pulled the trigger again and again, the bolts burning across the short distance between them, shot after shot after shot, igniting the room burst after burst, like lightening striking?

And Luke? Luke simply batted them aside, as Vader had on Cloud City; as his father had. His father. ?
Like on Cloud City, yes ? and like Luke in the first chapter of Into the storm?

??I brought Palpatine down, not you. You see that?s the trouble with black and white, it?s forced to extremes. Real life is lived in a thousand shades of grey. It?s that which brought Palpatine down. This,? he said of himself. ?And I?ll bring his Empire down too, if I can.?

Leia stared, simply stared at him, lost all over again as to who and what he was. He ran from one extreme to the other in a single sentence. From black to white and back again, neither and both in the same moment.?
So true ? and perfectly caught here? ?This? ? really?!!!

??When did it come to this, Leia? When did I become less than human in your eyes??

?When you served Palpatine,? Leia said resolutely, refusing to turn, to be pulled in once again.

?How wonderfully simplistic your world is,? he observed without malice. ?I envy it.?

?It doesn?t excuse your actions.?

?No, it doesn?t,? he said simply, the honesty in his voice turning her around. For a moment?for just an instant?he was Luke Skywalker again, those expressive, vulnerable sky blue eyes staring out at her, begging for understanding.?
Oh, Luke!!!!

?Mara was left alone, frowning at his back...remembering the countless times that Palpatine had said the same thing in that same, dismissive tone. ?Oh ? I remember cold runing down my back when I first read that. It still does? Wonderful, wonderful tensions captured here!!!!

 

Wow! It's getting very complicated with all the different threads coming closer and closer together!

Can't wait to read more!

TnTornado

 

Great post! I still wonder who he is really fooling? Himself, old friends, Mara. He is definitely in need of a peer to counsel with. I see he wont train Mara any further. He needs an old Yoda Holocron or something to play with...

 

Wow what a chapter and I can't wait for more

 

PonyTricks

Wowwie.... is Luke telling Leia the truth? Or is he telling Mara the truth? Or are both views the truth, 'from a certain point of view'?

I think it's a 'Mwuah-ha-ha!' moment!


And I am still wondering how much Luke knows about his relationship to Leia....

Heh, he knows, I promise you, nothing. Yet.


You need to update your first post's Subject Line, so everyone knows this is updated!

Ups! I completely forgot this week! I'd just loaded stupid Explorer eight and TF.N posts didn't work on it! I had to mark up that whole last chapter by hand just to get it on the net. Then I was so surprised it worked, I forgot to change the date





RedGold

Didn't know you updated, you got to edit the title.

LOL! I know! See above!


Lots of stuff going on there... treason=fact=treason... Luke getting a bit on the Palpy side of life... eek...

Heh, he is a bit, isn't he? And he's not even gotten started yet....






SHADOW_MASTER_W

Luke is definitly telling the truth. Or at least as much of it as he is able...

Oh, he's absolutely teling the truth...just who to?


Awesome update btw!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it






dm1

Now, I don't know what to believe. There is a chance for change, an I hope Luke means it, but I'm not sure. Leia will have to be very very careful with this one.

Oh so very careful... And the fun and games are only just starting. Back to the palace this week for a completely new game!


I wonder what Han will think of this... after all, he's met Luke after his "change" and survived the encounter, too.

And it won't be the last time...


Luke did promise Palpatine that the Empire would be changed, dismantled, etc. Maybe he is speaking the truth, from a certain point of view

Heh - nice to see that 'certain point of view' mentioned again






The-Solo-Smirk


-----Leia had split the group again: three more left behind to mark them, Han and Chewie staying with the woman?he?d said she made his trigger-finger itch.-----
Ha ha ha! Han is nervous? Oh, oh, oh - what have they gotten themselves into this time???







-----Her hand had gone to her blaster as the door had closed, and she wrenched it free, pointing it at his chest and firing without hesitation. She pulled the trigger again and again, the bolts burning across the short distance between them, shot after shot after shot, igniting the room burst after burst, like lightening striking?
And Luke? Luke simply batted them aside, as Vader had on Cloud City; as his father had. His father.------

WOW! That was sooo cool! Seems like Luke sets the guidelines for this meeting!

Heh,heh - glad you liked. And remember Palpatine's prediction so long ago, to Luke: ?I tell you this, Jedi, and it is a truth; your trusted allies, your precious Princess? they will all turn on you. She will hold a gun to your head and long to pull the trigger.?


But I feel that Leia is overreacting a bit? The meeting with Luke was the plan, after all, wasn't it? Is she just too scared to think straight?

Oh, but remember Leia didn't know who Ghost was. The Rebels thought Ghost was a mid-level comm officer aboard a Star Destroyer who was going to hand over some codes - she had no idea it was Luke who would be waiting.




-----"No. My father could never betray me; I never trusted him. Betrayal requires trust?? He looked back to her now. ?Only a friend can betray.? ------
Loved this line!

Heh. CynicalLuke



------"I had to tell them."
---

 

CHAPTER FOUR







Squinting in the low morning light, Mara walked briskly through the wide, galleried corridors of the North Tower heading for the Cabinet Rooms in the South, knowing that on his first full day after having returned to the Palace, Luke would be there, attending to his Empire; he?d probably been there since dawn.

Which made her late, though her shift didn?t actually start for another forty minutes. Still, she hurried her pace.

Fact was, you pretty much had to walk briskly anywhere within the sprawling corridors of the Palace if you intended to get to your destination before midday. And anyway, the exercise woke her up, she reflected, as she glanced out over the wide space which separated the four lofty Residential Towers where they sat in a neat square atop the roof of the Main Palace, another burst of low-lying sunlight streaming in through the curved glass wall of the galleried corridor.

Staggered well apart to let long shafts of light into their center, each of the Towers rose from the grand, partially glass-roofed atrium of the Crossways, the sole entrance to the Towers, whose arched and vaulted ceiling was supported by regimented rows of carved, gracefully fluted columns.

As she ascended the South Tower, Mara glanced up and across the tops of the trees to the North Tower opposite, an identical curved wall of ninety stories of dark mercury-colored privacy glass, the subtly reflective finish of the curved Towers mirroring each other back and forth in a never-ending optical illusion. ?The Palace of Mirrors? they?d called it in Palpatine?s time, in subtle double-entendre at the amount of secret alliances, private pacts and scheming manipulations it hid behind its glittering façade.

Had so very much changed since the old Emperor?s demise? Yes and no.

Inside the Main Palace beneath the Towers it seemed like a different world to Mara from that which she had known since childhood, at once completely familiar and yet unmistakably changed.

There were still lots of people, yes, but then the huge bulk of the Main Palace had always been a city within itself, easily swallowing its plentiful inhabitants up in its massive, monolithic structure even in the busiest areas around the ?public? courtyards, where security-cleared staff and dignitaries were free to congregate.

In the early part of Palpatine?s reign, all control had been centralized to the mile-square bulk of the Main Palace, his notorious distrust of anyone demanding that he maintain all power within easy reach and close scrutiny. Even now during Luke?s reign, although a notable amount of control was being transferred to regional locations, the ability to make major or long-reaching decisions still remained solely within the Palace, requiring a huge staff to assimilate, prioritize, allocate and act upon the incredible amount of data coming in daily from the vast reaches of the Empire.

But unlike the past, people who served the Emperor in these areas were no longer obliged to live their lives restricted to the confines of the Main Palace, though many still remained in the virtual city of the Staff Habitation Zones toward the upper levels. And for the first time?for the very first time since the Palace had been constructed?there was a scattering of alien lifeforms among the humans.

Unthinkable in Palpatine?s reign save by his own favor, Luke?s relaxation of the Classification Edict had begun to show even here, in the slow turnover of staff, military and civilian. Still, it was the brave few, Mara reflected, who had the guts to come and work within the Main Palace; the new equality was rigidly enforced here, but almost two decades of human-only existence had to have embedded certain prejudices.

It was strange to think that all that bustling life was still going on in the Monolith below the four private Residential Towers, which seemed now forever empty and echoing by comparison. The huge numbers of people required to ?attend Court? in Palpatine?s reign were long gone, most having been either curry

 

Ahhh... It appears Mara is jealous, and that she has a very good reason to be jealous. Will the practical side of Luke win out, and will he marry for political gain? I suspect he will, and Mara won't take it very well.

 

Wow, you do like to torture Luke huh? Marriage could definitely be a benefit, but love is a much better reason than politics.

 

Well ... I guess Luke's backed into a corner. I'm happy he is honest enough to know the true nature of his feelings and motives and to be torn about them. Necessity it appears breeds compromise -- but you just have to be careful not to give away what you can't afford to lose or do without.

Mara seems to be coming up with the really short end of the stick.

 

ah yes... reality... such a pain in the butt, no?



this kind of thinking can only end in a blaster shot...