Beyond - Legends The Deep Wounds that Never Heal.(J/TK post war angst fic) Post # 37 February 13th

Author: LeatherNeck
Title: The Deep wounds that never heal.
Timeframe: 5 years post NJO AU
Summary: AU from NJO, Han, Leia and Chewie all died in the war with the Vong, Anakin never fought and Jacen left the Order to fight the Vong. Now five years since the war ended, Jacen returns after five years of healing.
Notes: The Master apprentice structure will be more like Naruto than star wars.




Luke Skywalker looked up when his comm beeped. It was Master Horn, outside with Master Kam. They two handled the bureaucratic junk so Luke didn?t have to deal with it.

?Yes Corran?? Luke sighed, inwardly happy for any diversion. The five years since the war ended had been tiring. Hundreds of planetary governments screaming for aide and reconstruction, and hundreds more that required Jedi hlp with dealing with the Vong retreads. And he only had a hundred fifty Jedi, and only three dozen were fully trained Knights, He and the other Masters(there are eleven) were tied up with political duties aside from teaching and administrating the Order.

?Knight Solo is here to see you.? Corran said. Luke frowned, what would Jaina or Anakin want?

?Is it important?? Luke said.

?Luke... I?m talking about Jacen...? Corran said. That comment stilled Luke for a moment.

?Send him in.?




The entire Academy was gathered for this one event. The Senior Padawan Finals. Every
graduating year, the graduating Jedi Padawans meet in a bracketed tournament. No one is barred and now one is allowed out. There were 37 graduating apprentices, Because of this fact, five had a bye the first round, and would then compete for a place in the second round. Five had to fight twice in the first round. The Masters assigned these people randomly Having placed names and numbers into a hat, and drawing every name and number. And so in five round, they were here. The Final. One Senior Padawan was expected to be here. Aeryn, Jan was the school?s top student, and ironically her opponent today was the very worst student. Karl. Karl had no last name, an orphan from a world he never could remember. And for a long time an urchin of Coruscant. Aeryn by comparison was born into the elite class of Kaut.

?You ready to lose Aeryn?? Karl taunted. Aeryn sniffed disdainfully.

?As if. I shouldn?t be fighting you at all, it is beneath me, vent crawler.? she said in disgust. In the
shadows of the top row, the Masters and Senior Knights shook their head at her arrogance. Karl
snickered.

?Fine, you can forfeit then.? he said with a laugh. Aeryn glared. Jedi Knight Zekk of Ennth glanced warily between the two.

?The safety settings on your lightsabers have been disabled, if this gets out of hand I will intervene.? Zekk said, watching Aeryn in warning. Aeryn had a notorious cruel streak.

?You may begin.? Zekk said and the two streaked at another.





?Now this is an utter mess.? Corran said unhappily. The other faces at the table agreed with his assessment, but not with anything else he said. They were supposed to assign Masters for all thirty seven Senior Apprentices. Unfortunately, all they had agreed upon, was that the three Dathomiri girls and the one Dathomiri boy would train under Tenel Ka, and that was already a given. She knew all of them, and they all had skills and backgrounds in common with the Red haired witch. A good thing Eleven of the Apprentices opted to become Healers and train under Chilgal and Lusa. A final thing they did agree upon, was that none of the Knights would want either Aeryn or Karl as their Apprentices.
Luke sighed painfully.

?Are you sure?? he asked the other masters, choosing to ignore Corran?s comment.

?I am, I know for a fact that only Zekk see?s Karl in a favorable, a mildly favorable light at that.? Kyp said. ?And he is in the second year of Apprenticeship with his Apprentices.? Kyp
continued. Apprentices served under a Master or Knight for three years. Once the first year was over, there was no reason possible to separate any member of a Apprentice team.

?Unfortunate, but it would not have done

 

very interesting beginning....can't wait to see how it all comes out in the end...

 

I like Aeryn and Karl. Neat post

 

Kidan: This will be on the wacko side of my writing scale, so bear with it.

SilSolo: Thanks, those two are there, because this fic would be too depressing to write if they were not there.

 

Nice AU. You've set everything up so perfectly, even though it's only the first post. You seemed to have already established a background for the story and the characters. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Great job!


Janet

 

Thanks, prepare yourself for a depressing fic, it will have a happy ending, but it may be a little hard to read.

 

?I was wondering when you?d show up here.? Mara said. Jacen?s face did not change, he merely kept his steady gaze on his aunt. Mara sighed. What I would give to see that expressive boy in him again. She thought. Beside her Jaina looked at her brother, a look usually for criminals and the dregs of society. Jacen turned his attention on Jaina and waited. Her temper flared and she slapped him, or tried to. Jacen tilted his head fractionally, avaoiding the blow entirely.

?Jaina.? Mara said sharply. Jaina glared at her for a moment, and then composed herself.

?Jacen . . .? Mara started, a warning tone in her voice. ?It is disrespectful to ignore your
host.? she said. Jacen canted his head slightly.

?Indeed it is I apologize.? he said, drawing more anger from Jaina, and more saddness from
Mara.

?I hope for your sanity that this is an act Jacen. I?ll get to the point. For the survival
section of your student?s training, you will be teamed with Tenel Ka?s group.? she said.
Jacen stilled visibly. Annoyance briefly crossed his features. Then it disapeared as though
it had never been there.

?Very well Master Mara.? Jacen said respectfully, stood, bowed, and left. Jaina and Mara
glanced at another.

?He was annoyed.? Jaina said with a sigh.

?And we could tell he was too. I guess there is some hope.? Mara said. Jaina looked at the
table.

?Aunt Mara . . . what did happen to him on Trividan?? Jaina asked. Mara froze. Only herself, Luke and Tenel Ka really knew what heppened to Jacen there. All Jaina and her brother knew, was that Jacen's abrupt personality change occured there.





? . . . nealry one hundred percent casualties.?

?The Commander came out without even a scratch.?

?Must have hid. Coward.?

?He was still fighting when they found him, took a platoon using stunners to stop him.?

?Kriff.?

?The docs say he?s gone nuts.?

?How many survived??

?Aside from him? less than ten.?

?Kriff.?


?He survived.? Mara said. Jaina frowned not understanding. Mara ignored her. Jaina couldn?t understand, she was a pilot, she did not have to see what her actions did to the other pilot. Nor did she have to see her fallen comrades once their craft blew up.

?In time you may understand, but I doubt it.? Mara said. ?And for your sake, I hope you never do.? Jaina had no response to that.

?... In one month we will return.? Tenel Ka finnished telling the six teens.Jacen stepped foreward.

?Be aware that all civil laws will be upheld while you are here. If you kill one another, I
will know and I will punish.? he said gazing remorselessly at first Aeryn and then at Karl.
Karl spoke up.

?What if we fail?? he asked.

?Don?t.? Jacen said simply. Tenel Ka saw the look of complete confusion on the boys face and
gave in.

?The only way to fail, is to die, be alive and healthy in one month and you will have
passed.? she said. Out of the corner of her eye she notticed the twitch in Jacen?s facal
muscles. Others might have missed its significance, but Tenel Ka was well school in stoic
facial expressions, as she herself had been an emotionless teen. Her words had annoyed
Jacen. Good, at least he is human again.

?The physical and psychological health of your teammates will reflect your score.? Jacen
said.

?Now go.? he said shooing them into the Jungle. The Dathomiri girls disappeared into the
jungle, dragging the boy behind them. Karl and Aeryn slunk off into the woods on their own.
Jacen actually sighed in exasperation.

?And neither of those two will see the other for a month, not intentionally.? he said and
shook his head. Tenel Ka smiled faintly. She glanced in the direction her students have gone.

?If I am lucky, Hilda, Elana and Ziva will not have killed another over Jart.? she said. The
corners of Jacen?s lip very faintly upturned.

?That boy, I pity.? he said.

?Why? Is it not a male fantasy? Three women, and himself?? Tenel Ka said, almost teasing him.

?For some.? Jacen said, not looking at Tenel Ka. ?But three hormonal tee

 

Nice. I like how you alternate between past and present.

Is there supposed to be some subtle meaning to that last line? I kind of missed it.

Grat post!


Janet

 

Aeryn is very cold hearted and uncaring for the majority of the other students, and barely tolerates the Knights and masters.

 

Aeryn is your fic's Sasuke?

 

aye...the little snatches of backstory are quite interesting....but I gotta say that what happened to Aeryn an co. was great!

 

ruinevil: No, she's just a spoiled Kauti brat with deranged eugenic Ideals(so she's more like Neji as far a personality is concerned)

Kidan: Thanks

 

Sorry. Got another comment...

First: "That's funny!" Especially since it's Tenel Ka.

Second: During this scene I totally got this image in my head of Aeryn running after the Dathomiri girls. Albeit, that didn't actually happen, but it's my wacky imagination and I just had to shared it (besides that's what she wanted to do, right?).

Again,excellent!


Janet

 

No, Though she does not care for the others, she does know who her enemies are, and the other students are not enemies. Aeryn and Karl are ment to anthithesis of another, Karl the emtoinal one, and Aeryn the creature of logic.

 

Hey LeatherNeck, thanks for the PM (was out of town or I would have read this sooner)

I really like what you have going here, I've only been able to read some fics where major characters die, and others go wacky, and some(such as Kidans Jades Scion) I can't stand to read because they change the characters so much that they are unrecognizable.

I haven't seen that here, and since you said that it will have a happy ending, I know that everything should end up good so that gives me hope from the start

Again, great job on this, I really like it.

TnTornado

 

Thanks, part of this is frustration on ignorant, but well meaning people, who codle vets like me(however rare the instance is). War does not change the pesonality of a person, it merely submerges it with grief, and angst. SOme things you can never recover from(seing a man literally vaporized, which I unfortunately did witness), but you can learn to live with such anguish.

 

When Karl woke up, he was propped against a tree under a large branch, which sheltered him slightly from the rain. Aeryn was also under the branch. Looking angrier than ever. Karl stared for a moment.

?What are you staring at street trash?? Aeryn said. Her voice triggered his low grade paranoia. Karl glowered.

?What?s your game?? he growled. Aeryn frowned.

?What?? she asked in confusion.

?What did you do to me wile I was asleep?? he said, checking himself for bruises, cuts, anything. Aeryn scoffed.

?Please, as if I would waste my time pulling pranks.? she said. Karl gazed at her suspiciously. At length he decided that it was plausible that she might not do anything because she felt it below her. Every so often, the girl shivered.

?Cold?? Karl said. She jarred him every time she shivered.

?No.? Aeryn lied. Karl shrugged.

?Have it your way then.? he said and drew himself into a ball, and resting his head on his
knees. Aeryn glanced at him. He seemed to act like it was a warm position. She frowned. Why
would he have reason to know that in the first place? She wondered.




Elsewhere, Jacen sat in a hollow of a tree.

?What happened??

?Artillery bug, hit us.? one of his sergeants. Jacen looked at the group of soldiers gathered
warily.

?What are they looking at.? Jacen asked with dread. The sergeant?s face softened.

?Macnamera.? The sergeant said, with great regret.

?Bull ****, he?s going to pop up in a few seconds.? Jacen said, in denial. The sergeant grabbed Jacen by the shirt.

?Sir, MacNamara is dead, and weeping over him, in front of the men, will just hurt moral. No go over there, collect his tags, and keep discipline.? The sergeant growled. Jacen starred numbly. Discipline had to be maintained. Discipline kept men alive longer. Jacen straightened himself. And approached the body. The sergeant watched him, pity in his eyes.
?Sorry sir, but it has to be done." The sergeant knew all too well that the officers had responsibility piled atop fear and desperation.


?Yet again I find you brooding.? Tenel Ka said. Jacen glanced at her.

?I was brooding when I was thirteen.? he pointed out.

?True, but then, it was over the best way to catch a woolamander.? she said. Jacen blinked, he
couldn?t even remember that.

?Why do you even bother Tenel Ka?? he asked.Touched though he was at her concern, he did not want to be pitied.

?Because you did.? she said. He frowned, thinking back.

?My arm. . .? Tenel Ka prompted. Jacen looked down at her prosthetic arm.

?Yes. . .? Jacen said, not seeing the connection.

?I was depressed, and you helped me. So I should do the same.? she said. Jacen glared at her. She was comparing a single limb to thousands upon thousands of lost soldiers?

?You think that?s the same? Losing one arm that can be replaced?? he said in a dangerous tone. Tenel Ka glared at him.

?For me, the loss of an arm and degrading myself was worse than death.? she said.

?I lost thousands of men. That is far worse than any limb ? Jacen hissed Trying to ignore just how painful this subject really was.

?That was not your fault.? Tenel Ka said cutting at the core of the issue. Jacen blamed himself.

?Shut up ? Jacen hissed. ?Yes it was.?

?It was not your fault Jacen.?

?You weren?t there.?

?Even so it was not your fault.?

?I was their commander.?

?You are not a god Jacen, even if some people think you are.?

?I never claimed to be a god.?

?Then don?t accept their responsibilities.? Tenel Ka said. Jacen looked hurt. Finally a true
emotion on his face.

?Tenel Ka . . .? He said with a crushed look.

?I am not saying it is wrong to miss and regret the passing of your soldiers, but you cannot
let the fact that they did die, rule your life. You hurt your brother, and your sister, especially little Ben, he idolizes you ? Tenel Ka said. Jacen tried to look away and was slapped for it. His ears rang slightly. Had his demeanor affect everyone else so?



Jacen saw Tenel Ka and his sister approach. He looked aw

 

Great update LeatherNeck, I like how TK was forcing Jacen to look at his problems, but I also found it interesting how neither of them was looking at their underlying problem (as you showed by their last lines).

Aeryn and Karl are an interesting pair and it should be interesting to see how they develop.

TnTornado

 

Great story! Its nice to see you posting on a fic *hint*hint*nudge*nudge* I wasnt trying to say anything, no sirree, not me. *cough* *cough*

TWIN_SABER

 

nice fic

 

awwwwwwww... Nice J/TK. Lots of angst. Me like angst.


Janet

 

Thanks for the comments everyone


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Tenel Ka crept through the underbrush. Quietly observing her students. As she expected she
found Jart cooking over the camp fire.
Hilda glanced at his work.

?Do not forget the Cinver leaves, male.? she said, the last part in afterthought.
Unfortunately for both the other two girls noticed.

?Male.? Ziva said in a dreamy voice and fluttering eyebrows at Hilda. ?Don?t be so soft on
him, his future mate might take offense.? Ziva said. Elana?s lips twitched. All three girls had been compeating amongst themselves over Jart. Tenel Ka shook her head. Take one Dathomiri girl from the homeworld, and she is taciturn, as Tenel Ka had been. Take three and a Jai with, and they fight and conspire with another. She had no doubt that one of these girls would claim Jart in later life, if they did not kill him in the process that is. Hilda hissed and three a stone at Ziva, who snickered and twisted aside. The stone continued on its path and struck Elana in the forehead. Elana?s eyes rolled upward and the girl collapsed unconscious.

?You fool ? Ziva shrieked. Hilda?s jaw was agape.

?I did not mean to ...? any further words were lost as the two shouted and screamed at
another. Jart looked between the two and the unconscious girl. He rolled his eyes(taking great care that the others did not see it) and knelt beside the unconscious girl. While Kilda and Ziva started exchanging blows he checked her skull for fractures. Satisfied that Hilda had not cracked bone, and that Elana?s brain was not swelling, he carefully laid her down and put her bedroll under her head. Then he went back to his cooking. Unbeknost to him, Tenel Ka had seen how he preformed his duties without even being noticed. She nodded and headed towards her fighting students.


For two weeks they had hardly spoken a word. Except that is, when one had a grievance. Like now.

?Karl ? Aeryn said sharply. Karl looked up in annoyance.

?What?? he said

?What do you think you?re doing ? she asked angrily. Karl looked around himself. He was
stripping a stick of bark, for use as a fire poker.

?Making a fire poker.? he said with slight confusion.

?How about not using part of my shelter?? she said angrily. Karl glanced at the stick and then
at the pile of sticks behind him.

?What the hell are you going to do with a few sticks?? he said. The argument was becoming very
petty.

?I told you, that will be part of my shelter. ? she yelled. A cough interrupted them.

?As amusing as this is, I need you two to follow me.? Their master said, mere feet from them.
They both jumped away in surprise. But the Jedi Master was already walking away. The two teens
exchanged unnerved glances. He had approached without even a sound, even a glimmer in the
force that he was there. Slightly rattled, they followed their mysterious master, their petty
squabbles forgotten.



The Man led them to a clearing, where Tenel Ka and her four students were emerging from the other side.

?Why are they here?? Karl said. Hilda glared at him and then added her own voice.

?Why are the dunce and the drama queen here anyway?? Hilda asked. Tenel Ka gave her a stern
look, Hilda pretended to be apologetic.

?You are here for the second part of survival training.? Jacen answered their questions.

?We already were surviving.? Elana said. Jacen?s face twisted for a second.



?Okay boys, today were going to attack the southern salient.?

?Why?? Opinum asked.

?Because I said so, now go before some sniper kills you.? Jacen said. Opinum laughed.

?Go and attack an entrenched enemy , but avoid the wack job running around with a plasma
spitter.? Opinum said sarcastically. Jacen looked with amusement.

?Opinum, you?ve just earn point.? Jacen said with a grin. "Any more Smart*** comments?"

"No sir!"

?That is quite true.? Tenel Ka acknowledge. ?But nature will no longer be your antagonist.? she said. Aeryn looked war

 

GREAT update, loved the whole thing. TK may have thought he was harsh in how he incapacitated the students, but I think he did it right. Teammates are essential to just about anything (not everything, but close).

Keep it up, can't wait for the next post.

TnTornado

 

Teammates in the Jedi are especially important, as there are so few Jedi to begin with, they are the few people that can understand another's problems. As for the kids, there are some parralels that can be drawn between them and cannon characters, but they are not characters redressed as a younger person. Karl is meant to be a combination of young Jacen and young Zekk(orphan angst, and clumsy, yet humorous disposition.

 

Should I get a PM list going?