Beyond - Legends The State vs.--The Diary of Darth Vader's Prosecutor--tie-in to Lest Ye Be Judged

Day 1

Technically, I should be writing the date of this entry. After all, it will be a day long remembered in the history records and we'll probably have some grandiose holiday dedicated to it every year.

The problem is that I don't know what format the new era will use to mark its time. The leaders we elected last night are traditionalists, but we can't go on saying that we are now in 25 AI because this is not an annum imperium. Taia willing, there will never be a Year of the Empire again. We certainly have shed enough blood to pay the price for that right.

I won't be remembered in any of the historical records. After all, the men and women who flew down the Death Star's throat will be remembered. Someone will mention in passing the names of the ship commanders in the Alliance Fleet. I flew a medevac rescue shuttle to pick up any pilots who had gone EV or to retrieve survivors of a hull breach before they were sucked into space.

That's not the sort of heroism that gets you remembered, but I'll be proud to tell my kids about it all the same. Whatever the history bookchips say, I fought at Endor. I even took a few of the TIE fighters out when they were blocking my way.

Vera always teases me when I mention that sort of thing and says I should just mark up my kills on the repulsorgurney the way Wedge Antilles slaps a new paint job on his X-wing after every battle.

I say I'd rather mark a tally for each person I've saved. Those matter more.

She calls me a rank sentimentalist.

I don't argue.

I feel much older than my thirty years. Vera's the same age as Leia Organa, who we voted in as Minister of State last night, but she claims that she knows how I feel.

She doesn't because I held her in the aftermath of the battle last night and felt guilty for thinking of another. I don't regret having known and loved Vera, but if things had turned out the way they were "supposed to," Lian would have been the one I came home to after the final battle of the war. After I'd given Lian a properly celebratory kiss, I would have grabbed my little Myram and made the both of us dizzy from so much spinning around. We would have laughed until our throats were too hoarse to even speak.

I'd have handed in my insignia and tendered my resignation that same night and taken them home to Alderaan. I would have disappeared into the society that I wanted to show my daughter and would have only talked about the war when I was drunk enough to get nostalgic.

But Myram and Lian were both on Alderaan five years ago. I was off to Corellia to act like the big-shot lawyer that I aspired to be instead of someone who took whatever cases he could. Since I was unofficially a Rebel sympathizer and officially a member of the Antibes cell, I mostly found ways of keeping Rebel sympathizers out of prison.

Instead of finding a way to fight the war and keep my girls safe as well, I didn't even know they were gone until a newsfeed suggested that Rebels had been responsible for the destruction of Alderaan. I wondered how I could have not realized that the wife I had married when we were still too young and the daughter who was only five months old at the time had been murdered.

Because I was an Aikia and had been raised to forget everything except my duty, I defended my client for the next four weeks and won the case. I refused to turn to any kind of alcohol because I wouldn't have been able to stop, but I wept like a woman until I could sleep every single night. It was the only thing I could do until my task was finished.

The moment that the charges were cleared, however, I used my client to formally join the Alliance. Three years later, I piloted the transport that Vera was using to get off Hoth. Now, nearly a year later, we've been married for four months. An analyst for the Fleet, she gets to sit in a comfortable chair all day and tell the brass what kind of trouble's brewing. I get to go out into the black and make sure our people survive the trouble.

It's a good job for her, especially since

 

Whoa. Some heavy stuff, here. Didn't know he was previously married. That background sounds familiar, though... *Rubs chin in thought*

Can't wait to see more!

 

wow. Wonderful! You can really feel the regret and heaviness of his emotions.

I'll be following this diary.

 

His history makes one cry- Which is a good thing because of course your sympathies go with what Leia is tryng to accomplish swimming upstream in LYBJ.

Great Start!

 

RK_Striker_JK_5--It's mentioned in LYBJ, when the trial is opening and the opening statements are from his point of view. Thanks for liking!

divapilot--Thanks, diva! Glad you're picking up on the intended emotions. This is a very tough character to write given his role in the other story.

Noelie--It really does. *sigh in sympathy* And yeah, it's a bit of a contrast to what you get out of LYBJ. Thanks!
*****
DAY 2

We haven't even organized the New Republic Judiciary yet and already I have a case. A friend of Vera's was attacked by one of the Imperial prisoners and Vera wouldn't stop glowering at me until I agreed to prosecute. Of course I don't have a conflict of interest, but I would have preferred to let one of the female attorneys who made their way to the Alliance handle the case. There's a kind of kinship that they can have with their clients that I never seem to manage, for all my efforts.

Practically speaking, though, I need to take this case in order to have some kind of kinship with my very hormonal wife. On a more personal level, I actually would like to make her happy and surviving the war has only done that on a temporary basis.

We've been reassigned to the Home One because many of the ships in the Fleet are either heading to Bakura or putting in at Sullust for repairs. The Fleetfoot falls into the latter category and rather than commute to the hearings, they thought we might want to go along for the ride. The quarters are larger and, since it is a Mon Cal ship, there are large bathtubs that Vera is now addicted to. Or maybe she's avoiding me to teach me a lesson about arguing with her.

I'm going to work on the case and then sleep. They may happen simultaneously.

 

There is something endearing about a man.. that is a Lawyer.. afraid to have arguement lessons from his wife

 

For some reason, I found that post to be very funny...

Grr... *Hits attacker with a lightsaber* Nice little introspection, there.

 

Excellent! Very creative challenge response!

Well done!

 

Noelie--Aikia is based on a friend of mine who was Young Men's president, a lawyer and absolutely cowed by his wife at times. I thought he was a nice guy for not always having to be right. Glad you found it endearing.

Jade_Pilot--Thanks, Jade! I like trying to look at this character on his own.

RK_Striker_JK_5--As long as you didn't find it sexist or misanthropic. I think that Aikia actually would be the type to be this way. Thanks.
*****
DAY 3

I asked Vera today what she thought about the two of us going civilian and giving up on our need to be some sort of heroes. After all, I don't want our child to be raised in the line of fire and we both have civilian training. She has her degree in education and under different circumstances, might have spent the last five years bullying sixteen-year-olds into learning prepositional phrases instead of keeping her eye out for Darth Vader. Then again, I originally went to law school to be a public defender and handle the cases of juvenile delinquents who needed a second chance.

Then again, if she had been a Writing teacher and I'd been a public defender, I'd be dead with Alderaan, she would probably be married to someone else and we wouldn't have met in the first place. I think the war was worth the effort of finding each other.

As it is, she laughed at me when I made that suggestion. I was confused, admittedly, until she patted my hand understandingly and just smirked. When I demanded to know what was so funny, she shook her head.

"Jarom," she sighed, "you couldn't leave this if you wanted to."

"I want to," I protested.

"I'd like to see you try."

Fine, then. I'll try as soon as this case is over. As soon as I'm sure the NRJ is set up properly.

Ah, damn. I really can't leave this.

 

Such depth of character here. Jarom seems to be devoted to his wife, to establishing a stage for justice, and to the causes of his career. He seems intensely loyal.

I suspect he won't turn away a case that appeals to his spirit of justice. Sort of a NR Atticus Finch.

 

Poor guy. He is so going to wish he left.

 

divapilot--LOL, yes! He is a NR Atticus Finch to me at times, but then again, so is Leia. And that's what puts them at odds with each other later. He's got a lot of things going on, especially on the family level.

Noelie--*giggle* He has no idea!
*****
DAY 4

We got to the Home One today and I met with Admiral Ackbar and the defendant's attorney. He seems to be very convinced of his case, but I suppose all delusional Corellians are like that. I might as well have Han Solo for opposing counsel. Now there's a thought worth banishing from my head.

As it was, Ackbar set the preliminary hearing for a week from today. He doesn't want to bring up the possibility of arrest, but the officer in question has agreed to a kind of loose house arrest at the moment. It mostly comes down to him being in his quarters when he's not on duty and him being forbidden from approaching the plaintiff.

I've deposed both of them and have found nothing particularly convincing in his favor, but then again, that's my job. Vera had the plaintiff and her wingman over for dinner tonight. Her name is Alyana and she's twenty-two. She's been with us in one position or another since a year after Yavin and I rather like her, but I don't like to think of her in an unofficial capacity. It complicates things.

 

I sense this isn't going to be open-and-shut. Just a feeling, there.

Nice insight into this guy's mind, Ish. He's a really 3-D character!

 

Aikia has a mind that needs order so he can't mix the business pleasure thing too well. At least you are firming up this is a man that will do his job to the fullest extent.

 

Looks interesting, I'm going to have to look into the story this is based on. I really like how you've given the character a background. LOL at his talks with his wife.

Great job!

 

RK_Striker_JK_5--Very much not. Glad you're liking him.

Noelie--Yeah, definitely. Glad you're liking that establishment.

Jedi_Tigris--I think you'd like the story this is based on based on what you're picking up on. Glad you like the talks with Vera. Thanks!
*****
DAY 5

Complications arose as they always do in this sort of thing. It's nothing to do directly with the hearing, but the defendant is part of a squadron being reassigned to the mission to Bakura. I spent the better part of the morning convincing the brass that I'd find a way to keep him here even if he was ordered to Bakura.

In the end, I didn't have to accuse the Alliance Fleet of obstruction of justice and they found a relief pilot to take his place at Bakura. He's staying here and he is not happy about it.

Then again, it's better that he stay here. I remember hearing a story in school about a man who was sent off to a decisive battle, then called back on the eve of that battle to combat a false charge. If I remember correctly, his army lost that battle and then the war and they probably blamed it on the lawyers. Either way, if this man is innocent, it's better to have him arrive at the mission late than have to be recalled from it.

If he's guilty, as I suspect he is, he has no business being on that mission in the first place.

 

Interesting, there. Who is thuis guy? Is he a simple OC-well, not simple simple, but not a canon character? Nice, there.

 

Interesting. Aikia does leave room in his own mind for doubt on what he believs he sees.

He is a good prosecutor.. no NC problems here

 

He's a very good OC - I like that he's just a common guy, and not some hotshot.

 

Whoa. This is very, very good. Getting insights into the medivac and legal sides of the Alliance/N.R.

So where is this mooning Vader piece, then?