Beyond - Legends (completed for 2015) Notes for When You Are Older – Elena Shelvay; DDC; new 12-22

Title: Notes for When You Are Older

Series: Unquiet Waters (prequel to Shark Kibble)

Timeframe: Beyond the Saga (Legends); starts in 4 ABY

Genre: family, angst, character study, humor, dysfunctional relationships, friendship, single parenting of a human child (information not included in the manual), post-Endor Imperials, Dark Jedi who cannot be housebroken, Star Wars wildlife and its muddy, muddy feet

Characters: Elena Shelvay (Legends), Lydia Shelvay (OC)

Legends (Expanded Universe): Ahnjai Rahmma, Antinnis Tremayne, Corwin Shelvay, others

Original Characters: Amery Tancred, Zain, Meuric Chelii, Ziisel Medarda, others

Summary: Elena Shelvay isn’t crazy. It’s not paranoia when the galaxy really is out to get you. But she never expected her current mission. Now she’s faced with a broken Empire, a revelation dropped on her psyche by an alien coral consciousness, and Objective One: to turn the squalling, hostile, prune-like humanoid she carried for nine months into a productive member of society. Any society. The Mandalorians adopt, don’t they? The one thing she’s sure of is that it’s important to keep good notes. Notes make order out of the universe. Someday, her daughter may need to know these things.

Reference Post: This is a post set aside for the collection of reference stuff -- character lists, timelines, family trees, and so forth. http://boards.theforce.net/threads/notes-for-when-you-are-older-–-post-endor-imperial-her-kid-elena-shelvay-ddc-2015-new-5-4.50026184/page-3#post-52409893


Note: This diary is meant to stand alone, but it’s also a technically a prequel to my other story Shark Kibble. Kibble is an ongoing OC story which was originally also written for the Diary Challenge. Notes may contain spoilers for elements of that story, since it reveals some of the background of the characters. Elena Shelvay is a very minor (as in, appears in one RPG book) character from the Legends EU. While developing Elena as my narrator OC's mother, I became fascinated with her story and wanted to explore more of it.

Edit 2-14-15: The diary entries and messages that appear are not meant to be part of any one character's inbox or collection; they're a series of messages and relevant documents in a semi-chronological order that will hopefully help put things in context.



One

[message sent to Iella Wessiri (New Republic Intelligence, Intelligence Operations Command) by Marcham Prace (New Republic Intelligence, Special Threats Division) -- 22 ABY]

Iella, look at the files attached to this message. It’s something one of our agents found out in the Parmic sector. Remember Elena Shelvay? Blonde, pretty, Imperial Security Bureau, criminally insane? Neck-and-neck with Lanu Pasiq for the Imperial Miss Collateral Damage of the Outer Rim pageant?

You’re not going to believe this. Not entirely sure that I do, though the data forensics team thinks the identity of the writer is for real.

Crazy Ells spawned.

[end message]



[warning screen displayed before contents of file -- Elena Shelvay -- 4 ABY]

Corwin Shelvay: If you are reading this, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU. This is not an idle threat. It is a deeply cherished ambition. If you or your scurrying womprats should ever take the opportunity to go sniffing through my private files, the consequences will be severe.

If you ever, ever think to use the contents of this in your Rebel spy games, I will not settle for killing you once. I have access to people who have access to things. Those things will make you exceedingly unhappy for a very long time. Do not test me. DO NOT EVER let me catch you or your delusional ideals within a million parsecs of the subject of this folder, Corwin. I will smell it.

[end screen]



[entry dated 23 AE: 5: 16 – 4 ABY by New Republic calendar]

Lydia Antinina Shelvay: Hello, my little one. I love you. These are my notes for when you are older, just in case anything should happen to separate us between now and then. Anyone who tries to take you away to some Jedi Temple is going to find themselves pulling back bloody stumps where their limbs used to be kept. However, I know too well that parents are not immortal and cannot always choose where their children will go. My messengers will find their way to you if I cannot. I have arranged for it.

There should be no need to tell you where you come from. I will anyway, just in case. I’m your mother, Elena Ceren Shelvay. I have been with the Imperial Security Bureau for fourteen standard years. Your father is High Inquisitor Antinnis Tremayne. You were born on the Imperial Star Destroyer Imperishable. Be proud of that. She’s a good ship and her captain is a hero of the Empire – or will be, if I have anything to say about it.

Soon, you and I will go to live in a safe place. There I can continue to serve the Empire, and you can grow up out of the way of the disorder that is even now spreading into the Core. I hope you do not feel disappointed in me for this. It is one thing to fight the Rebels, but another to fight one’s own people. I know Imperial Center and its currents. Believe me when I say that I can feel the cracks already grown beyond my power to fix. The wise will get out while there is a chance.

If all precautions have failed and you were raised somewhere else, I suppose you’re probably wincing in utter horror at the thought of your Imperial parents. All I can do is ask for your faith. There is nothing that would keep me from bringing you home, and I would never harm you.

It’s probably best if you don’t seek out your father if you’re with the Rebels. Contact me instead. I will take care of things.

I honestly hope that you have not inherited Antinnis’s ability with the Force. The Force’s gifts tend to come with curses. The perceptions that I received as my own trickster’s gift from that energy field are unpredictable. There are a few whisps of possibility, but nothing sufficient to tell me what you will be. If my senses are saying anything important, it’s lost in all the background noise of exhaustion.

It’s been nearly a month since you came into the world – and you took your time about it too. Actually, it turns out that I do have a prediction after all. I believe that your timing will always be inconvenient. You did have to pick a delivery date a mere three weeks after the Battle of Endor. Somehow, I think that you will not live a boring life.

[end entry]



[message sent to Marcham Prace (New Republic Intelligence, Special Threats Division) by Iella Wessiri (New Republic Intelligence, Intelligence Operations Command) -- 22 ABY]

What.

What did I just read?

[end message]



Notes:

Iella Wessiri (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Iella_Wessiri_Antilles)

Marcham Prace (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Marcham_Prace)

Lanu Pasiq (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lanu_Pasiq)

 

Love the way this is formatted! Very cool story so far.

 

I don't even know what's going on and this was awesome, LOL. *random drive-by comment*

 

I'm with her. ^ But I love the style of it!

 

Yay, we can be cluelessly appreciative together. *feels less shame*

There seriously needs to be a prize for those who can manage to find a character needle in an EU haystack and spin a superb yarn out of it.

 

Interesting beginning

 

LOVE! Lydia' s relationship with her mom was one of the cool things about Shark Kibble, so it is awesome to see Elena's side of it! All I can say is

Could you please tag me in updates?

 

Replies - Post 1

divapilot, ThreadSketch, taramidala, earlybird-obi-wan: Thank you all for your comments! I'm thrilled to see people take an interest in this, since I know it's a bit different. I promise, I don't expect anyone to recognize who these people are! My hope is that much of it unfolds through the story with some help from the notes section. I'm still trying to figure out the balance between over-explaining and being just plain confusing, so please bear with me. For those who want more context, I've compiled some info and fangirling about Elena (obscure characters, how I love them ) under the NERD-CUT below, which will probably be the first of many.

Spoiler: SPOILS!

The links in the notes section will also tell you more. But some of this information is unique to my interpretation -- or the situation that I've set up for this story. Here, have all the fanon! (Well, actually I'm saving a lot of it -- I concentrated on our narrator here.)

Imperial Security Bureau : The group that Elena mentions belonging to. They were the Empire's answer to secret police, though not especially secretive much of the time; they also openly commanded troops and appeared as public figures at times. (Example: Agent Kallus in the Rebels cartoons. New canon, but not out of place with what the ISB was portrayed to be in the Legends version.)

Not the same thing as Imperial Intelligence, with whom they were fierce rivals. One of the many cases of redundant organizations in the Empire. Palpatine seems to have liked to have at least two groups competing for each function.

The ISB were closely connected with COMPNOR, the creepy fascist-like political group that was created to manipulate public opinion in the Empire. Neither the Imperial military nor Imperial Intelligence were fond of COMPNOR, and the ISB were probably considered their most powerful representatives. Members of the ISB were often (and often accurately) dismissed as jackbooted thugs. However, like most servants of the Empire they often served legitimate purposes and some earnestly believed that they were defending the people through their work. Some like Elena, bless her indoctrinated little heart.

Elena Shelvay:

Early History: What we know about her from the RPG guide she appeared in is that Elena is the younger sister of Corwin Shelvay, a Jedi Knight trained during the Purges -- more notes on him later. Some time after her brother was identified as a Jedi, Inquisitor Tremayne hunted down the Shelvay family (it's not really clear what he intended to happen, as Corwin apparently never knew about all this and only learned something had happened after returning home to find everyone gone.) All the other family members were killed (canon doesn't specify much, so I've added that both parents, a sister and brother, as well as a brother-in-law died) but Elena was sent to intensive ISB training -- brainwashing, essentially.

Traits/Personality: She was taught that Corwin's anti-Imperial activities were to blame for all that happened to her family. Interestingly, Elena's game statistics indicate a small amount of Dark Side power. From what I can tell about RPG stats, this doesn't always translate into a Force-sensitive being. But I found the idea of minor Force perception was an interesting angle to take. Elena is described in the guide as having unpredictable mood swings and off-center emotions thanks to her conditioning, but also being successful as an ISB operative in spite of this. Her attitude is described as an "ends justify the means" view, with not much care being given to the harm caused.

Hence the way that many of the New Republic characters are commenting on the finding of the diary entries; she was a despised figure to the Rebels and they regarded her as something a bit inhuman. I get the feeling she's also someone that former Imperials like, say, Mara Jade would look at and think "well, there but for the grace... at least I wasn't like that!"

Some of my headcanon additions to this: Elena is quite aware of how others see her, and of her own inner turbulence. She's had some help steadying herself lately (for reasons that we'll later learn a little about) but she knows that she's not always 100 % reliable and in control. It's something that she hates and it plays into many of her fears. She's extremely orderly in her habits, hates being seen to act strangely (although, unfortunately, it used to happen a lot), and believes that the populace of the Empire needs carefully-tended security above all else.

Elena has never forgotten that she comes from the middle of nowhere (not canon, but it makes sense for a character whose sibling evaded Imperial detection for years) and she regards the class snobbery of the Empire's wealthy Core Worlds with contempt. She is somewhat aware that not everything she has been told about her family's deaths really adds up, but she survived for years by believing it, and the life she's built with all its successes is founded on believing it -- so she still does. Her anger at Corwin is genuine and is influenced by old childhood resentments that the Empire did not generate.

In spite of her polished appearance and spotless uniform (or dress, depending on the occasion), Elena would really rather wear the GFFA equivalent of a T-shirt and sweatpants all the time. (This actually has some basis in the RPG info, amusingly enough; she's said to prefer her basic Imperial uniform over the more elaborate gowns and fancy gear she carries around.) She used to be the sort of grubby-kneed tomboy child who runs at the speed of light and tracks the bounty of nature all through the house. She's blissfully forgotten most of that, but her DNA has not, and is going to remind her soon enough when her toddler daughter discovers the great outdoors.

Recent History: So, now we get to the events that lead to this diary. The RPG book has her working undercover for the ISB while acting as an aide to Moff Balfour (basically, imagine a Moff so direly incompetent that the Emperor cannot tell if he's defected to the Rebels -- and so she was sent to check up on him.) This all happened somewhere between ANH and ROTJ (the time range of the guide book.)

Since then, she gained the loyalty of Ahnjai Rahmma (a feline alien who was formerly Inquisitor Tremayne's bodyguard -- it's a long story) and helped Tancred and his small section of the Imperial fleet survive the chaos after Endor with her limited talent for prediction. This was all somewhat complicated by the fact that she was pregnant through much of it.

Elena's relationship with her child's father is a weird and difficult-to-explain thing. Inquisitor Tremayne is a Sith-wannabe Imperial Jedi hunter, who is her brother's archenemy and caused the events that orphaned her. Basically, the very existence of their relationship is awkward from any outsider's POV and there's probably a good argument to be made for some kind of Stockholm Syndrome-equivalent on her part -- at least with her initial infatuation. However, she and Tremayne are genuinely fond of each other in their own ways (though this is affected by how they are both rather damaged by the Empire, also each in their own ways.)

Raissa Baiard :

Yay! I've been drawn in by the mysteries of Elena's character as I develop backstories for Kibble, so I'm thrilled to see that there's someone else intrigued by it all. And I'm looking forward to showing more of the Lydia-Elena mother/daughter stuff both here and in the other story. I love having a bit of a twist on the Jedi/Sith family drama that so fascinated me in the films. Nothing new under the stars maybe, but I'm fascinated by the idea of a character coming to terms with her mother's legacy as much as -- or even more than -- her father's.

 

This has a confiding tone Kahara - just what you'd expect from a mother to her child ... She treads the line between saying enough and not too much just in case the diary/journal falls into the wrong hands.

 

I love the way this is constructed with the framing device, and you can really feel Elena's character come across through her entry. It works on two levels, in her actual story, and in imagining how Iella and those who have found the entries are reacting to it.

 

Nyota's Heart

Thanks! Those are all things I was trying to show, so I'm doing the author's dance of "it worked, it worked!" In most cases, I think the hands she is most worried about it falling into are those of her own side. Lots of things she can't say, and was brought up not to think.

JadeLotus

Thank you. It took a while to figure out how I wanted to format this. I'm happy to see that you liked the use of the different in-story sources. (This is what I was told by TrakNar is a "found documents style", after I asked her a while ago about using it in a story. She has some fantastic Zuckuss diaries somewhere a couple of years back that did that, though they went even further in fully simulating the document language. They're pretty cool!) And I can only imagine some of the faces on ex-Rebels finding this stuff. It's just entirely out-of-context for the ISB agent they knew, and thus deeply disturbing. There is some stuff you just don't want to know about people that you fervently disliked.

Note: The next entry will probably be up tomorrow or Friday, depending on when there is time to post.

Note 2: Okay, Saturday is more likely now. Soon!

 

A/N: While the other comments and documents will continue to appear, some entries won’t have them. Every other post will be the general rule, depending on what works.

Raissa Baiard -- Oops, here's your tag. Forgot it when posting the first time. Hope it works.




Two

[Elena Shelvay – entry dated 23 AE: 5: 17 – 4 ABY by New Republic calendar]

Lydia: You are extraordinarily loud and your demands are ambiguously phrased. Your interests thus far seem to consist of food, sleep, crying uncontrollably, gazing into the distance with a vague interest in moving objects, pooping, and whining to the universe when you need to be cleaned. I cannot fault you for this, especially since the adult versions of these have largely been my interests as well these last few weeks. Fortunately, the med-droid reports that I am healing from the birth process at a normal rate. The emotional turbulence seems to be simmering down a bit. I’ve even managed a sonic shower sometime in the last 48 hours. Soon my immediate problems may be reduced to sleep and gazing into the distance. That sounds good.

For once, you are sleeping soundly tonight. This is miraculous and I should be doing the same, except that the Imperishable is currently engaged in a skirmish. You did this the last time as well, if I recall correctly. Apparently the sound of turbolaser fire on well-maintained energy shields is what it takes to lull you to sleep. Good to know.

[end entry]



Notes:

Most of the information sites that I checked for this chapter would (possibly) not fit the TOS thanks to the not-so-serene medical details of the subject. Basically, I did my best to do at least minimal research on the common aftereffects of childbirth on the mother. I can PM-point to at least one site geared towards writers that I used, if others here writing the same sort of topics are interested. It was quite useful to me, and they seemed reasonably well-informed.

That said, I think it’s probably time that I stated that I’ve had very little personal experience with babies or children. There are no mini-Kaharas, no younger siblings, and I didn’t babysit in my teen years, so yeah. Admitting my basic ignorance right here. If you know something I don’t, feel free to let me know by post or PM that “two-year-olds don’t sound like that, are you serious?”

Ewok Poet: Thanks for commenting! I normally wait to do responses, but thought I should mention some things here in the notes just to avoid confusion. (And I will get to some other things that you picked up on when I do the later replies -- there is a lot of anxiety and such going on with Elena.)

Spoiler: SPOILS!

Elena's life has indeed been a bit 1984-ish, but I didn't intend the situation to sound quite as dire as your theory -- basically, she's sent out a message that was always intended to go out if she died for any reason. But then, the fact that she felt she needed to have messages and failsafes to an extreme is a sign of the 1984-ish life she led. (Your theory sounds like it would make a fascinating movie though!)

The entries themselves were written over the years of her daughter's childhood, at times ranging from shortly after Return of the Jedi up to a point nearly two decades later. Elena did die shortly before unintended people acquired the document, but wasn't executed by Rebels or the Empire.

A copy of the diary excerpts that she meant to be delivered to Lydia was intercepted on the way, and the New Republic got ahold of it (New Republic = government made by the former Rebels after Return of the Jedi -- let me know if I'm way over-explaining things, because I'm not sure how far back to go.) Since she worked for the Empire while the New Republic personnel were out Rebelling, they're reading it out of combined intelligence gathering/horrified curiosity. In some cases, these New Republic readers are sending it to others who might give insight into what this is all about, or share their dismay -- it's not nice of them, but the urge to gossip is probably strong given the circumstances. An enemy vanishes and years later their diary turns up? People are probably going to chatter about that.

The warning message for her brother is actually her own -- I think I might go back and make that more obvious. She has a lot of problems with Corwin. Having him know any more than he already does about her life is a threatening prospect for her.

 

I really like Elena, and this whole entry was great.

 

That's so cute! You never know what will make them fall asleep. For my son, it was fireworks. Go figure.
Elena will make a good mother. She is attentive and trying, even though this is clearly all new to her. Great update!

 

Holy bantha! Star Wars meets 1984!

If I got this right, the first message is from a person betraying her and somehow sneaking into her stuff, the second message is the warning to her brother from the father of her child some time before the execution; then comes Elena's own words to her infant and eventually, the betrayer sends it all to somebody else?!

Thanks for the spoiler on Elena, as the Wikipedia entry did not reveal much on her and I'm unfamiliar with RPGs. For some reason, this reminds me of the earlier stages of the 1990s film "My Life"; with two notable differences: Elena is not terminally ill and Lydia had already been born when she started writing this.

And anxiety, gas lighting and such are hard to portray; it's only us who were subjected to it a lot who can sort of judge it. And you pass with flying colours. I cannot relate to the idea of her being sleep-deprieved on top of it for obvious reasons; but one can just sense that sleep deprivation could be adding fuel to how she's usually like.

 

LOL! One thing this sets up is Lydia's later affinity/comfort for adventure.

 

Nice entry with all the baby-stuff going on during battle

 

Replies - Post 2

Thank you all for the comments! The next entry is written and coming soon.

Thanks! Her canon bio doesn't exactly suggest a sense of humor, but there's something about her ambivalent expression in the one pic that exists. I keep reading that look as "the directives of my job forbid me from informing you precisely how full of bantha poodoo you all are."

Spoiler: SPOILS!

Somehow, I can just see that the inside of a Star Destroyer under attack would be insulated enough that a baby who doesn't know any better might find the sounds and movements of the ship downright relaxing.

Elena is trying very hard. It's a completely alien thing for her, having lived most of her life in an environment where kids were an extreme rarity. And an entirely different kind of responsibility than the ones she's used to.

Okay, I already replied to part of this -- here's the rest of my thoughts. I've never seen that film, but it sounds really interesting.

Glad that you found the psychological stuff believable, and that the spoiler-infodump helped. It's a bit dicey trying to figure out how to write Elena as her life has been so strange and traumatic. If anything, I've swerved towards the side of making her more well-adjusted than one might expect for someone with her history. There are some reasons for that, and some cracks in the emotional plaster that we haven't seen yet, but that'll come later.

True enough!

The kid's got no sense of timing. But naps are important.

 

Author’s Notes: Added this to the top of the page as well, but just for clarity’s sake: the diary entries, conversations, and documents in this story are included in vaguely chronological order based on the idea that people from the New Republic have discovered the diary many years later and are discussing/looking up related evidence. It’s not meant to represent any one character’s conspiracy or collection of information.

This and Shark Kibble both take place in their own supposed-to-be-Legends-canon universe. (I’m not strict at adhering to canon, however.) This set of stories is now called the Unquiet Waters series, which will also be the name of the related short story collection thread if and when I find time to make one.

Three

[message sent to Devon Fuller (New Jedi Order) by Talia Reede (New Republic Intelligence, Ongoing Investigation Division)]

Hey Dev. How’s the compound fracture doing? You should let your Pad-thingy take the daredevil leaps to certain doom. That’s what he’s for. You’re supposed to be all sage and set a good example, Master Fuller.

While you’re not getting under the medics’ feet, check out this thing. I don’t know what to make of it. It’s supposedly written by Corwin’s sister – that one who used to be with the Imps and disappeared after Endor. I’m not sure if he should see it. The Jedi stuff is not my strong point, as you know. See what you think.

[end message]



[Elena Shelvay – entry dated 23 AE: 5: 20 – 4 ABY by New Republic calendar]

Lydia: Ahnjai keeps laughing at me because I have developed a habit of smelling your hair. He doesn’t vocalize. He rarely does. It bothers me sometimes. But I know.

There’s no delicate way of putting this. Kidlet, you smell weird. The med-droid informs me that this is something that will fade in time. It already has gone a little. Too bad. It’s not an unpleasant scent.

[end entry]



[message sent to Talia Reede (New Republic Intelligence, Ongoing Investigation Division) by Zsiga Bakat (New Jedi Order)]

I suppose it would be pointless to ask what was in that audio file you sent? Devon’s been listening to it on loop and talking to himself. I think you may have broken my teacher’s brain. Thanks for providing a distraction, I think.

[end message]



Notes:

Devon Fuller (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Devon_Fuller)

Spoiler: SPOILS!

Another of those RPG guide characters. He was described as Force-sensitive, but also a bit of a … well, scoundrel. Kind of a Han Solo lite (poor guy, he’s stuck competing with Dash Rendar for that slot. ) but with a bit of con artistry and thievery mixed in, and terrible at keeping any ship in one piece. He’s listed as one of Corwin’s Rebel contacts right around the OT era. Thought it would be amusing to have him end up as one of the NJO teachers, given his rather shady past and high-strung temperament.

Talia Reede (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Talia_Reede)

Spoiler: SPOILS!

Extremely minor non-player character from the Star Wars Galaxies game. There, she was a newly discovered Force-sensitive who was being hunted by the Empire and had to be rescued by the Rebels. The game leaves her beginning Jedi training at Anchorhead (no, I don’t understand either – it’s a video game, logic does not apply. ) She’s described as having a skeptical outlook on the possibility of having unusual abilities. It seems plausible to me that she just wasn’t enthused about the idea of becoming a Jedi. Here, she ended up going into another field after some preliminary training to help get her powers in order (no random floating objects. )

Ahnjai Rahmma (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ahnjai_Rahmma)

Spoiler: SPOILS!

Yet another from the RPG guide. He’s introduced as Inquisitor Tremayne’s bodyguard, an imposing feline alien who serves him under a life debt for unknown reasons. There’s a great deal of resentment between him and Tremayne. In this particular series universe, he ended up transferring that life debt to Elena and Tremayne evidently allowed it – we have not yet seen how or why that happened.

Srrors’tok (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Srrors%27tok) – Ahnjai’s species

Zsiga Bakat is an OC. If you’re like me and wonder about the visual image for characters, he’s intended to be a Klatooinian male in his late teens. (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Klatooinian)

As for the peculiar smell of newborn babies, there are surprisingly few sources on the topic. A couple of studies trying to prove that women respond to baby scents in some way or another. Maybe it's something people just imagine, though I could almost swear that I've noticed it before. Strange. A mass hallucination? Anyway, here’s one article that I was able to find while researching: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/ah-theres-nothing-like-new-baby-smell/?_r=0

 

I'm enjoying the dual narrative, each casting light on the other.

I really like Elena's dry and honest approach but her but the love still coming through.

 

LOL on the duel narrative - the puzzlement of dev and Talia. I love new clean baby smell I think it's baby powder etc.

 

Replies - Post 3

A big thank you to everyone who commented or liked the post.

It's been really interesting to try and interweave the different time frames, seeing how the characters see the story from outside. Thanks! And I'm glad you liked Elena's voice here.

Yes, it's very confusing for them. "You found a diary from who? Emperor's black bones. Did it have little Empire-gear-symbol hearts in the margins?" Baby powder does smell good.

 

I thought I replied and I was like: "Why is she not replying to my comment?" And then I realised that I probably left the room mid-replying and that Windows Update did its old, cruel thing.

So, first of all, regarding that series of shorts, three words: PLEASE, DO IT.

I am enjoying the image of sleep-deprieved Elena altering from statements that make sense to nonsense and back.

 

Ack, I hate it when webpages do that. Especially if I don't catch it in time to save the data. My sympathies. Re: the shorts, I totally intend to at some point. Mainly, I need to get far enough into this and Kibble that I won't spoil all the plot points of my main stories with the shorts. Glad you're enjoying the comments from the attempting-to-be-awake.

 

Four

[Elena Shelvay – entry dated 23 AE: 5: 24 – 4 ABY by New Republic calendar]

Lydia: We’re going to arrive at our new home today. It means saying goodbye to Zain and Amery, which is going to be more difficult than I imagined. At least Ahnjai will be there. Everything keeps changing on me.

But this is a world that I know; it’s incredible good luck for us that the Imperishable happened to be taking on food supplies here. It’s called Shullia and it is located inside the very edge of the Torch Nebula. It is not a rich or well-known planet, but I think it will be a good place for you to grow up. There is enough going on there that I do not think the usual Outer Rim tawdriness has set in yet, and if things are managed well it may never do so.

In all the uproar, the Rim Imperial administrators don’t seem to know what to make of my soon-to-be presence in their system. The ISB plague, as some of my colleagues have referred to it. However, I’ve made sure that the right procedures were followed; isks pronged and trills forked on every document. I did not always realize how much of what I do depends on making people think it’s their own idea. So much of it has been second nature to me. You, kidlet, you would not believe how many people must think you were their idea. Darth Vader himself probably thought you were his idea. He always did seem to have an odd preoccupation with his protégés’ personal lives.

We’ve been hearing the strangest stories about Vader out here. Many don’t want to believe that he and the Emperor are truly dead, but I know that it is so. The Core would not be imploding the way it is if they were there to say anything about it.

New home, new job, new everything it seems. New you, asleep without the ship being in battle this time. That part, at least, must be progress.

I have no idea what comes next.

[end entry]



Notes:

Torch Nebula (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Torch_Nebula)

Isk = I and Trill = T (from the Aurebesh: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Aurebesh)

For more information on what Legends-canon we have regarding Tremayne’s training and Vader, see here: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Antinnis_Tremayne#Recruitment