Beyond - Legends Saga Eternal Eternity- Nehru's 2023 Kessel Run Diary

Greetings readers, Nehru_Amidala here! This is my official 2023 Kessel Run Diary. Enjoy!

A Note: The following stories contain established psychic vampirism, same-sex couples, Alderaan surviving the Galactic Civil War, and at the request of the FanFic mods, PG romance. Enjoy!

Week 1 challenge:

• Write a story between 100 and 1,000 words that
  • starts with this sentence: “He had not been courageous.”
  • uses this picture as inspiration:
    
• Word limit = 100-1,000 words

I Saw You Standing There

Pairings: Luke/Han, mentions of Thrawn/Leia


-I Saw You Standing There-


He had not been courageous. Luke Skywalker had entered the photograph of leaves covered in snow into an art show as part of his cover story for the bounty he was supposed to track down. He used the alias Luka Lars in the bounty hunter, an up and coming bounty hunter on his native Tatooine. He had taken local bounties at first to help Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru with bills on the farm, but his unflagging optimism and relentless grit to do the right thing had helped him many times. This was his first time on Corellia, the gently used tunic and trousers were borrowed from a consignment store. The reason he was less that courageous was standing at the bar in a black vest and white shirt, pants with blood stripes. Han Solo was a Corellian pilot who frequented the Mos Eisly cantina, and the two had spoken before. Luke had quickly developed a crush on the pilot, and over the past two years it had turned to something else.


He was blushing brighter than the twin suns when his (secret) brother-in-law, Grand Admiral Thrawn caught sight of this. The Chiss admiral let out a sigh, it was quite obvious that Luke was sweet on Han Solo. Walking towards the younger human, “I saw your photograph was entered into the show, you have a good eye for color.” Luke nodded, his eyes leaving Han for his in law.


“Uncle Owen says it’s good to have a hobby, and the longer trips away from home allow me to explore. How’s Leia doing? I heard about the miscarriage,” Luke whispered, and Thrawn looked downcast. He and Leia had been so thrilled at the news of a baby, but it was not meant to be. Isard had ordered a hit on Thrawn (she felt he was rising too fast, too quickly) and the sniper had meant to aim when Thrawn’s young wife, Senator Leia Organa (and the great love of his life), had noticed the sniper….and taken the hit. There had not been enough time to get the platform to perform the necessary medical procedures to save both mother and child. Thrawn and Leia were heartbroken and beyond furious, but could do nothing but mourn.


“Leia is seeing a therapist and we have joined a support group, she misses you,” Thrawn replied quietly as he sipped from a glass of wine. Luke squeezed the other’s shoulder. Thrawn gave a small smile, “So, are you going to talk to Captain Solo?” Luke turned bright red, when the man in question walked over, a lager in his hand. He waved to the two men across the room and strolled over to them. “Hey! Lord Vampire Worshipfullness! Oh, Luke! You’re here.” His face was starting to turn red. Thrawn nodded, best to leave the two of them alone.


Solo eyed Luke’s photo, “This is really good. Say Luke, I was wondering…would you to go grab something to eat? Chewie knows a good pub.” Luke blushed, was this a date? Han stammered something about not wanting to do anything too fast, but Luke kissed his cheek and said yes.


Han was the happiest man in the room at that moment, and they left holding hands.

 

Yay, more vampire Leia/Thrawn! And your Han & Luke are just the cutest. Welcome to the Kessel Run!

 

Good response to the challenge - actually using the picture as a picture in the story - genius.

 

A great use of the prompt and interesting families

 

Week 2 challenge:

• Write a story between 400 and 800 words using second-person POV in which a character is lost.
• Word limit = 400-800 words

Sanpo (Stroll)
Pairings: Thrawn/Leia


-Sanpo (Stroll)-

You wake up from a much needed nap, and you blink your red and silver eyes, chubby baby fists getting the ‘sleepy bugs’ out. Much better, now why are your legs no longer visible? Confused and annoyed, you kick your legs, the Imperial insignia printed sleep sack you are ensconced moving with your legs, infuriating you more at lack of movement. Where are Mommy and Daddy? You wail and vocalize, demanding attention and a new diaper. It’s not your fault you are only 6 months old and the only words you can say are “Da-da” and “Ma-ma”. You only have 8 teeth at the moment, your central incisors and your teeny tiny fangs. When those popped out, you were howling in pain for almost two weeks. Someone walks in, and you crane your head, eager to see who is there to comfort you.


It's Mommy, you can see her smile and dark brown eyes. “Well, hello there little Loth-kitten,” she happily coos, sweeping you into her soft, white clad arms. Babbling happily, you nuzzle into her comforting shoulder as you appreciate the higher view. Mommy lays you down on the changing diaper table, and she changes you while you num away on your fists. Once you are clean, Mommy puts you on the floor, and no sooner has she turned her head, you are crawling quickly towards Daddy’s office. You want to look at the colorful blobs he has holoprojections. Why does Daddy call them art? What is art, anyway? Abstract concepts are beyond grasp at the moment. You hear Daddy, and onward!


Daddy is in his office, cardboard boxes lining the floor. They look tasty, so you take a bite. ICK! They taste like paper, gross! Your little eyes water up and you try to bite it, leaving a noticeable mark. You babble something indicating your displeasure, when you see an open cabinet facing out. You crawl over, and sit up, giggling. Daddy hears you and kneels down, “And who do we have here? Come here, little Rebel,” Daddy cooes and scoops you up before kissing your downy head. It’s about now Mommy enters, relieved you are with your father. She muses you crawl so quickly, is that normal for vampire babies? Daddy says yes it is, and he and Mommy talk about the new ventilation system that will allow mouse droids to move from office to bridge and other areas without having to traverse corridors unless specified.


You start to squirm, Mommy and Daddy are getting boring, so you are set on the floor, and while the adults talk you see a mouse droid. “DOID,” you squeal excitedly and the droid scuttles off, with you in pursuit. Your infant hands and legs propel you on, and the further you go, pursuing the only thing on board close to your size. Meanwhile, your parents search for you in Daddy’s office, when they realize where you went. Your are lost, but Daddy knew this was going to happen eventually. That’s why he planned a safety trap.


Of course, you know nothing about what your father invented. You are having a grand old time crawling and exploring, however the metal walls are starting to hurt, carpeted flooring and some toys would be great, and maybe some mashed fruit to eat. You begin to wonder where Mommy and Daddy are, you can’t hear them. You are lost! Being at that age where Mommy and Daddy are your whole world, you burst into tears and sob uncontrollably.


It is about now you hear voices outside the grate where you are sitting, one of them is Uncle Eli. “Da da! Da Da,” you shriek! You do not like being lost, you want to go home. “Looks like you got lost little one,” your uncle smiles softly as he opens the grate and scoops you into a gentle embrace, and he asks you what you were doing. You give him an indignant scowl and say, “Doid!” Bouncing you on his hip, you are returned to your parents, happy you are safe. “Doid! Doid,” you babble, pleased with your new word.


You are no longer lost, but Mommy and Daddy decide it’s time to invest in a play pen or two.

 

What a splendid idea - get rid of those tripping hazards! I enjoyed your story and the vid particularly, regarding my favorite Miyazaki film.

 

love that POV from a little child

 

What a delight! I love that your vampire Thrawn family is so darn wholesome. This is definitely my kind of mush!

 

Very cute way to write the challenge. From a not-even-toddler pov. The 'voicing' was very authentic, too.

 

Awesome responses to both prompts! I especially liked seeing the baby's POV in Week 2. That was so creative and you did a great job with it!

 

Lady, I don't know where you got the idea of Vampire!Thrawn, but I need some of what you're taking. I need to go and track down the other stories in this AU because I feel that I'm missing some context, but in the meantime I'll hang around here for the ride. Like others said, I thought that your use of the picture prompt in the first story was really neat, and I loved the vampire baby crawling away after a DOID in the second story. Poor parents, do they ever really know what they're getting into?

 

• Write a story between 500 and 1,000 words in which you make up a new OC (original character). Your OC must interact with at least one EC (established character), and your story must include the following line of dialogue: “Something was bound to go right sometime today.”

Ivory LeBlanc was a prime example of a walking hypocrite in Raxus’s educational system. She was tall and lean with thin lips, limp, stringy hair and skin the color of curdled milk. Her voice was soft, but raspy- brought on by years of lawsuits by Imperial educators and parents. Miss LeBlanc had a nasty habit of prioritizing certain students over others. Imperial educational laws with regards to special education students showed favor to girls with autism, especially those who could “pass” as neurotypical; they were considered ideal candidates for technical writing positions for COMPNOR. This also applied to boys as well, with anyone considered lower-functioning was sent to schools that focused on skilled, technical training. COMPNOR prided itself on full employment for all loyal citizens who had an IEP. The system worked well… for humans anyway. Ivory could not stand anyone with an IEP, as far as she was concerned, they did not deserve to live. Time and again, she had been sued, fired, relocated, and had been forced to change her own name to get away from her growing debt and well-deserved tarnished reputation.


She had taken over the Imperial Day School Head Teacher job on Raxus, but had soon fallen into her bad habits. She belittled her staff and direct superiors, many of whom were aliens (deemed to be worthy of citizenship and most rights granted to humans as far as High Human Culture was concerned). So, when she heard that Governor Thrawn and his wife, Leia Organa wished to enroll their infant daughter, Rhiannon into her school. She smiled, hopefully able to play up her fake sweetness and avoid being found out. She had heard much about this Grand Admiral, she had never seen his picture.


The doors whooshed open, and in stepped a young couple- this must be them. Ivory hustled outside to the open hallway with her widest, fakest smile crossing her face. Thrawn’s eyes lit up when he saw who it was greeting them. He knew who she was at once. She could feel his cold gaze and her eyes narrowed at the sweet cherub sitting in Leia’s arms, red eyes with silver irises and shock of thick jet black hair. The little one was “not Imperial looking enough” to gain access to her school.


Standing at the door with her fists on her hips, she got into the young couples faces. “Where do you think you are going,” she barked, startling Rhiannon. Leia scowled, “For your information, my husband and I are scheduled for a tour-“ “No! No you are not!” The woman, who was not much taller than Leia, who barely stood 5 foot 4 (after being turned into a vampire led to a growth spurt) got into her face and frightened Leia to the point where she pulled back in order to protect herself and little Rhiannon.


Thrawn was finally able to get a word in, “Excuse me, you will not speak to my wife and daughter in such a deplorable way. I am Governor Thrawn, elected by the citizens of Raxus to lead this planet as the Empire rebuilds itself after the Emperor’s untimely death at the Battle of Endor.” His voice was low and cold as ice, you could have cut glass with it. He was seething, but not showing it. Instead of backing down and apologizing profusely (which would have been the logical thing to do), Ivory stood on her tiptoes and started poking him in the chest. “Look here, you thing! Whatever you are, get out!”


It was about now Thrawn had had enough, and giving Leia a nod to call for the police, he spun the woman around and pinned her to the wall. She yelped for help, but Thrawn whispered in her ear, “I know who you are, what you stand for, and the children you cheated out of an education. See that woman? She is Princess Leia of Alderaan and also ISB Agent Melis. Once the police get here, you will be revealed as a liar and a bigot. Your days of teaching are over.” He stepped back, and as he did so, Ivory let out a banshee shriek and charged him, only to trip at the feet of security forces, who had a warrant for her arrest.


As she screamed and wailed, Leia could only shake her head at the scene playing out before their eyes, “Something was bound to go right sometime today.” Thrawn was inclined to agree.

 

I like how Leia and Thrawn uncover the secrets of your new OC. A very despicable character unworthy of being a teacher

 

Zero PR skills here - she's needing a takedown.

Aaaand here it comes with both barrels. Multitudes of students current and future thank the Maker for Thrawn and Leia's deed today.

 

Ivory is a fun OC, in that she's kind of this small-scale villain... she's no Palpatine, but she causes all sorts of havoc in her own way. Of course Thrawn and Leia see right through her and give her the boot!

 

Ivory is such a sorry excuse for a teacher, I just can't even. I seem to remember that you work with children; I guess you had the misfortune to meet a few such types in the course of your work.

Now these two titbits:

It looks like there's quite a bit to this AU and I definitely need to read more!

 

Ugh she sounds horrible! She should not be anywhere near children.

YES! So glad to see Thrawn and Leia give her what she deserves.

Great response to the prompt!

 

Your first chapter is sad but ends on a sweet note. Will keep reading! @Nehru_Amidala

 

Week 4 challenge: Write a story between 100 and 1,000 words that is predominantly action. You can have as many characters interacting as you want, and you can include introspection as long as it doesn't outweigh the action.


The small rural city of Desix was a farming colony, with a lingering clone conspiracy. For whatever reason, the clone known as Crosshair was still somehow making himself useful to the Imperial governor of some minor Eftal fiefdom* and adding insult to injury, the pirate Hondo Ohnaka had declared war on the Pyke Syndicate and this was complicating matters because the Pykes wanted to use Desix as their new home base, and Moff Tarkin was having none of it. Ergo, he dispatched ISB Agent Melia (aka Princess Leia, Lady Thrawn) to take care of things.



The cargo ship opened its hatch 200 feet above the city, where blaster fire was ricocheting off the walls of buildings as people fled for the safer fields. Shouting a command, Leia fastened her flight helmet as her speeder bike dropped to the ground before buzzing up around corners. Using the Force, she shot her blaster at the Pyke Syndicate members and at Ohnaka, allowing the local garrison to step in. Once she was off her bike, she was able to get a feel for the ground. With the populace out of the way, she could concentrate on what was going on. From overhead, there were angry shouts as Crosshair made off with the goods. “Hey! Get back here,” Melis hollered. From where he was watching, Crosshair was impressed. She was Skywalker’s daughter, finally somebody worthy to duel for the prize. The prize was the deed to Desix, and he slipped into position.

Pew! Pew! Pew!



Leia had caught sight of him, was that a clone trooper? What was he doing here? She decided to follow him, knowing very well it could be a trap. However, if it was not sprung, who knew how much longer the infighting would go on? “I know you’re up there,” she shouted. Crosshair smirked as he lead her for the throne room. Once the door had burst open, she drew her blaster. “Who are you?”


Now that he could see her, Crosshair clicked his tongue, wanting to draw out the confrontation. He could see how much she resembled her birth mother, Senator Padme Amidala (Skywalker) of Naboo. “How unfortunate, ISB sends a little girl for a Senator’s job,” he jeered icily, shooting at Melis point blank. Melis dodged and countered, meeting his blasts shot for shot. Who was he, what did he want? Crosshair smiled coldly, “There is nothing you can do for me, you take to much after your mother…”


Pew! Fire from the slugthrower Hondo had been using burst through the floor, incinerating Crosshair. Leia was frightened, how had the clone known her mother?

 

Week 5 challenge: Write a set of 3 double drabbles with the following prompts: juggernaut, shepherd, undertaker

Each double drabble must be exactly 200 words, for a total of 600 words


Juggernaut was the best word to describe the new Star Destroyers from Kuat Drive Yards. While fractionally larger than the standard Star Destroyers currently making up the bulk of the Imperial Navy, so when Thrawn was gifted the Chimaera, the Chiss spent no time personalizing it with the crest of his family, House Mitth. Of course, hardly anybody stopped to ask what the design meant. As far as the standard Imperial officer knew, a chimaera was a fearsome creature from Sy Bisti mythology for its numerous heads and slayer of many heroes. Thrawn knew how to truly invoke terror, certainly.

When Thrawn and Leia had been officially dating for a while, and officially betrothed under the dual auspices of Emperor Palpatine and Moff Tarkin, he had decided to give her the grand tour as it was to be their home away from home after they were married. Leia had no idea how massive Star Destroyers could be, but she liked the chimaera design on the ship’s massive hull. “Other ranking officers have absolutely no scope for imagination,” Leia told him. Thrawn slid his arm around her, making her blush. “All is fair in art and war,” Thrawn told her softly.


Shepherd could mean any number of things, Luke Skywalker had discovered in his short time as a bounty hunter. A shepherd could be a simple animal keeper like dewback farmers who haunted the remnant of Mos Espa for affordable housing and scavenging for a living to help pay the bills. A shepherd could also be the guardian of a religious flock, guiding the congregation. Luke had run ins with scammers leading cults and break away religions who were involved with credit laundering and trafficking. Luke considered himself a shepherd of sorts, bringing black sheep back to the flock, metaphorically speaking.


When Luke met Han for the first time at the Mos Eisly cantina, the older man had jokingly called him a sheepdog. Luke had been annoyed, what sort of pick up line was that? Even Chewie was unimpressed, what the heck? Han had to explain Luke was good at guiding people, he had that instinctual habit of herding low level bounties into turning themselves in to local law enforcement offices. “You are a shepherd, kid,” Han had told him after buying him lunch. Luke nodded, he had never considered that before. “I guess you are right about that,” he admitted.


The summoning of an undertaker was a grim task on any world within Known Space, so when Owen and Beru passed away in their sleep shortly after Luke and Han’s wedding, the grim task fell to the young couple to let the man in. The undertaker from Anchorhead was a small woman, with long red hair and sharp green eyes. She was very kind, and spoke about her fees and inquired what the recently deceased had planned for the funeral. Luke and Han were rather at a loss, the Lars’s had an unofficial will, but nothing had been formalized yet.

Han and Luke were drinking caf as they perused funerary options, along with what to do with the moisture farm. For Luke, this was his childhood home, and with the money he was making as a bounty hunter, they could update the moisture vaporators and rent it out. After all, Han wasn’t too keen on living on a baking sandbox the whole year. Besides, know that Han had paid off Jabba the Hutt, they could go wherever they wanted. Luke decided that this maybe be best, turn the moisture farm into a rental property and go forward from there. Terriffic!

 

Great AU's with Leia battling a Clone trooper and showing where Luke's life can lead when he is a bounty hunter and partner of Han

 

Leia and Thrawn? Luke and Han? Hey, that rhymed.

Anyway, good double-drabbles! Interesting AU and glad you got another challenge prompt done.

 

*squeeeeee!* You wrote Crosshair! And Hondo! *dives in*

... and the Pykes, love them too!

IOIOIOIOIO

It's a tender moment between them, art lovers and now real life lovers.

 

Very cool glimpses of this AU, which I seem to remember some of from Mononoke! And thanks for including some lovely soundtrack choices too, those were all new to me and I liked them.

It's nifty that Bounty Hunter!Luke isn't just a tough-as-nails mercenary type; he's still very much himself personality wise. And the addition of his photography sideline is very fun; I always enjoy seeing characters have hobbies that aren't just more of their work. It's sad to hear of Leia and Thrawn's recent loss; that sounds like a very difficult time.

Lord Vampire Worshipfullness! Yeah, I can definitely hear that. And it seems Thrawn is well aware of Luke's feelings for Han, and is all in favor of nudging them along; it's nice to see that he and Luke have a good relationship to that point here.

They are such sweethearts, glad both were in fact able to get past their uncertainty and hopefully their first date is delightful and has a pirate level as close to zero as possible!

Oh, ouch!

D'aww, that's an adorable nickname!

She has her priorities set!

Fearless Chaser of Mouse Droids!

Yes, a super-powered baby would necessitate extra-super-babyproofing, but it sounds like Thrawn and Leia are up to the job.

This is all really grim, which I guess one can expect of old Palps, who I can only expect is behind this system of setting up kids to be shunted into paths that will put them to use for the Empire and not necessarily what is actually their best interests. (Being favored might not seem like it's a negative. Then when you think of the further implications... yikes. Resources and accommodations are great, but setting kids up to be separated and isolated, defined by their careers... ugh. I hope Thrawn and Leia have the influence to give that stuff the boot at some point, much like good ol' Ivory herself.) And rotten people like Ivory can too easily thrive in such a setup. After all, they're told to show favoritism -- icky in itself -- and some are going to go 180 degrees the other way out of ignorance and spite.

YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU. Glad that they seem to have (one can only hope!) seen the last of this sorry excuse for a teacher. Also, a dose of angry dad Thrawn would scare any rational being into some semblance of common sense but nope...

I see Hondo's talent for showing up at the exact least wanted time has survived across universes.

Now that was creepy! What in the Galaxy was this guy's deal and what would it have to do with Padme of all people? Can't blame Leia for being perturbed.

A painted-on chimaera on the Chimaera sounds very pretty! And intimidating, but also pretty.

Rather insightful of Han, and I can definitely see Luke doing just this sort of thing as a bounty hunter!

Aww no, sad to see that Owen and Beru died untimely deaths here too, though at least not violently. I'm glad that Han and Luke are able to start figuring out what to do in the aftermath, though, with lots of thought put into the future.