Title: This is Not Our Fate
Author: iceaffinity
Timeframe: post ROTS
Characters: Barriss, Cody, Ahsoka, Rex, Echo, Fives, OC's, ensemble.
Genre: Drama/Friendship
Summary: Seven years have passed since the fall of the Republic. A group of renegades slowly lays the foundation for a Rebellion yet to come, while one survivor of Order 66 learns her fate is something she can change with her own hands.
Author's Note: This fic is Part 3 in a trilogy. It is preceded by [link=http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/31022531/p1]Said the Joker to the Thief[/link] and [link=http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/31264256/p1/?2]What Any of it is Worth[/link].



[i]This is Not Our Fate


No reason to get excited,? the thief, he kindly spoke
?There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we?ve been through that, and this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late?
All Along the Watchtower ? Bob Dylan[/i]



Chapter 1. A Dark and Laughing Rain



It was a glowing world.

From a distance, Nar Shaddaa gleamed in the night like a faceted jewel, a well lit beacon contrasted by the endless black of space. It shone with a radiance all its own, the paler illumination of reflected sunlight swallowed by the workings of a world so virulently alive.

To approach, though, gave lie to the brightness. The thin, grey clouds in the upper atmosphere were made of pollutants as much as vapor, with towering factories belching fumes to the sky. The spindly, rusted metal fingers of ancient refueling ports and loading docks reached up into the air as though trying to claw their way away from the surface, seeking escape from the world they were so resolutely affixed to. The air was thick, metallic in flavor, dry and dirty from centuries of manufacturing and the swelling press of billions of beings, crammed into towering cities without the infrastructure to support them. To walk the skywalks at night was to see that the light emanating from the Smuggler?s Moon was from a million casinos, cantinas, degraded spaceports and overcrowded slums.

It was a world of decay, of subversive trade, of cutthroats willing to buy, trade and sell what was not easily found elsewhere.

Cody felt vaguely dirty simply walking around, as though a fine layer of filth had crept through every layer of his clothing to encrust even his skin. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, scraping grayish grit out of the corners with a dirty fingernail, blinking several times as they watered. He grimaced and readjusted his position, hunkering down in the corner of the hallway while reminding himself that kicking the drunk on the staircase, just to stop the buzzsaw snoring, was unlikely to do much good.

The entire tenement was squalid; dusty bottles of drink were collected in various spots in the hallway, which was sticky with dried alcohol, refuse and who knew what else. The stairwell smelled unpleasantly of stale urine, and he kept his nose buried in the sleeve of his coat. His coat didn?t smell great either, but it was, at least, the somewhat more familiar scent of his own sweat combined with a bit of dust.

He glared down the hallway, gaze fixed on the apartment halfway down, willing its occupant to come home soon, before he told Caw to forget it. He could find another job to scrape together enough money for a transport elsewhere; he needed the money, but he wasn?t a soldier slogging through a miserable set of orders out of duty anymore. He had enough credits for a couple cheap meals, and could probably scrounge up another nominally safe place to stay for another night. Nar Shaddaa was a useful place, but it made him miss Alderaan?s pure beauty with a physical ache.

The meeting, at least, had gone well. Over the last several months, he?d surmised the entire Corellian sector was quietly arming itself, with scattered pockets of resistance forming steadily. He smirked a little at the thought. The Corellians had a reputation for recklessness as well as bravery. Perhaps it made sense the first stirrings of a united resis>

 

Fantastic beginning. I love that you're focusing on these rare characters and giving them life. The description of Nar Shaddaa made the planet nearly palpable. You also described these post-Purge characters very well. Looking forward to more of their story. PM's please?

 

Wonderful beginning, iceaffinity! Loved the detail of your action scenes in the first half. It was a real surprise and treat to find out that Briseis Whitelighter was in fact Barriss - this possibility hadn't occurred to me at all even though I specially noted that Barriss and Cody were supposed to be the key characters in this part.

How much both Cody and Barriss have changed (and yet not) in seven years! It's nice to see them with old friends again and realise that they're still the same as before in numerous ways, most importantly, in those ways that count.

Looking forward to the next part!

 

Wow. I was so sure Bariss was dead, but here she is and it is entirely plausible especially given how Masters like Quinlan Vos and others had Order 66. I want to see where this one goes.

 

Luna_Nightshade: Thank you! I've always been a fan of the secondary characters. They always can use more love.

anakinfan: Cody did find Barriss! How Barriss survived Order 66 is in this chapter.

Valiowk: That's always the trick with time skips...how much would they change...but still seem like themselves? This is the first time I've written Barriss so intensively, so we'll see how it goes.

darth_treyvah: I tried to stick as close as possible to the comics' representation of Order 66. With her surviving instead, of course.




[i]This is Not Our Fate


Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man
With my three wishes clutched in her hand
The first that she be spared the pain
That comes from a dark and laughing rain
When she finds love may it always stay true
This I beg for the second wish I made too
But wish no more
My life you can take
To have her please just one day wake
Gaeta?s Lament ? Battlestar Galactica ? Bear McCreary[/i]




Chapter 2. Fear is the Mind Killer



She [i]danced.[/i]

Around her, humming, an arc of blue brightness flew, each pause marking the deflection of a bolt of red energy. She moved, her muscles filled with the memory of a million practices, of steps she?d learned since a child first able to pick up a training saber. Each step came naturally, fluidly, her thoughts whirling along with her blade. There were worries of how to combat so many when so badly outnumbered, of how best to keep her enemy at bay. There were concerns about Lieutenant Galle, and whether he would be able to reach her in time to send her the backup she needed, and if he could not spare men because casualties were too high.

She had to survive. So she [i]danced[/i]. Her lightsaber was a shining disc of destruction, and the more enemies she destroyed, the more, she hoped, of her men would live. Felucia was not a kind world, to anyone. Too many already perished, through battle, through disease, through the sheer violence of Felucia?s native flora and fauna. The planet was old, the plants deeply rooted and deeply steeped in the Force. Felucia itself seemed to strike against those who would dare bring war to it, its earth becoming the permanent home to far too many dead. The world was alive, and it was devouring any it deemed its enemies.

Barriss wanted away from Felucia. She wanted the war to be over, and to find time to simply rest. Right now, though, she simply wanted for those in her care to survive. So she fought, slicing through another pair of droids and leaping aside as a heavier blast shot through the clearing, veering close. She swung her lightsaber, hacking off the umbrella of a giant violet mushroom, sending it spinning down into the line of Super Battle Droids clanking towards her. It struck them with a loud, wet smack, sending several caroming off into a cluster of giant pitcher plants. She kept to the higher ground, using the edge of a gulch as a defensive position. They had no Vulture droids with them, and the slow SBD?s were made even slower by the fetid, uneven terrain. A stream of B1?s continued forward more easily, but they too had to move down into the dip of the little ravine, now heavily cluttered with dismembered droid parts.

Eventually, she feared, she would be pushed back. More and more droids were moving steadily out of the massive fungi forest, and she was simply outnumbered. The forest was steamy, with an earlier rain evaporating up due to a rising heat, giving an almost nightmarish quality to her solitary battle, with shots of red light streaming towards her through the rising miasma.

The ground trembled. Sparing a glance towards the forest again, she could see no new tanks moving out of the brush, nor any of stirring amid the plants. When the ground shook a second time, she could tell it was coming from behind her. She?d either been flanked, or backup was arriving.

A few seconds later, it proved to be backup: an AT-TE walker with an accompaniment of clone troopers swarming around it, their dirty white armor distinctive and welcoming. She >

 

Stunning description of how awful it must have been for the surviving Jedi as they realized everything going on around them. You write her fear and sadness wonderfully. You make a great reminder of how bad the Purge really was. Fantastic update. Can't wait for more.

 

This is exquisite, iceaffinity . Your descriptions of Barriss battling on Felucia, being shot by a cannon after being betrayed by the clones, finding out that Palpatine is a Sith and that almost all the Jedi are dead, are all so intricate and have this lovely flowing texture.

After all she's gone through, who could fault Barriss for being suspicious of Cody? If anything, she's already taking a big risk taking a chance that he may be telling the truth. Hope Barriss will be able to trust Cody soon and the two will be able to count on each other for support!

 

anakinfan: Barriss is going to be suspicious for awhile...she's got some issues to sort through. Though I haven't been using the EU/comics as strict canon, I've been 'borrowing' and it was more or less based off the Wookieepedia's description of what happened to her when Order 66 went out.

Luna_Nightshade: Thanks! Surviving what was essentially a genocide can't be pretty. Barriss has a lot to sort through coming up....

Valiowk: She does have a lot of suspicion, and a lot to work through before much trust will be going on. And I'm glad it flowed okay! Sometimes when there's a lot going on, it's hard to get it all together and balanced out!


[b]Author's Not[/b]e: Just to avoid any confusion, the first two scenes in this chapter are [b]flashbacks[/b].


[hr]



[i]What Any of it is Worth[/i]


Chapter 3. May It Always Stay True



Bright headlights cut a swath through the darkness.

The road ahead was dim, with only the occasional streetlamp casting pools of light upon their path. The stars were bright, too, that night, crisp and clear in the cold air of early spring. Waxer had the heater blasting, and Cody closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the warmth upon his face as they drove into the mountains. He couldn?t quite bring himself to sleep. Though the sun set early, the day felt long. Of all the planets he?d been to in his life, Alderaan was not one of them. It was a safe world, a Core world virtually untouched by the Clone Wars, and with minimal Imperial presence. They were pacifists, the Alderaani, or at least most of them were. He?d made a comment to that effect earlier in the day, and Rex, Ahsoka, and Waxer had simply looked at him, smiling, before Rex commented, [i]?They wage peace, here, the way most wage war.? [/i]

The statement puzzled him, but as Waxer drove them through Aldera and out into the countryside, he began to suspect it was the reason behind Alderaanian prosperity. Peace, commerce, the arts, a highly educated society, a just ruler leading them ? these things seemed to breed wealth, stability and prosperity. And with the galaxy as it was, peace needed to be waged as much as war. Bail Organa was, in his own way, a general to contend with. This was the adopted home Rex and his other brothers had chosen, by virtue of Organa being their patron.

Twelve children, or so he?d been told. Twelve Force-sensitive children, still alive, and hiding somewhere in the Alderaanian mountains half a day?s drive from Aldera. How Rex and Ahsoka managed it, he still didn?t quite understand. The orphanage would, they told him, now be his home, just as it was theirs. He could not stay with the Empire any longer. The men he?d spent so much time working with, protecting, holding together ? they were no longer falling apart. They were already in pieces, with so few still hanging on from the old days. Order 66, Order 37, he?d told himself over and over, were his duty, for the good of the Republic, for the good of the many. It was [i]necessary.[/i]

The only thing holding him together after these orders were executed was a desperate need to preserve what was left. Few, out of the millions of clones, had actually been directly involved in Order 66. Only a handful were needed to take down each Jedi, one by one. Most were in the 501st, who stormed the Temple itself. Order 37, though ? that affected everyone. No one with half a heart wanted to hurt unarmed civilians. Too many turned mean in its aftermath, in a sad attempt at reassuring themselves their actions were appropriate. If the civilians were worthless, inferior, vilified, it made mass arrests, lockdowns and brutalities somehow valid.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned, though sleep still did not manage to find him.

?We?ll be there soon,? Waxer told him, hands on the steering wheel. He gave him a glance and a smile, swiftly returning his eyes to the road.

Waxer had been happy to see him. Rex and Ahsoka were happy to see him. Happy to get him out before he got himself killed. There was almost nothing left to save, but he still>

 

In my humble opinion, it's tough to do post-purge wihout dipping into angst. You need the pain and shock to infuse the story yet not be the story.

You have succeeded wonderfully. This is the type of story I've wanted to write for years but have not had the ability to do. Now I have luxury of reading this story.

 

As always, such a beautiful chapter, iceaffinity. I love the way you're able to educe a wealth of wisdom and emotion in some short sentences, such as Rex's observation, "They wage peace, here, the way most wage war", and Rithron's question "Were you really a stormtrooper?" - each of them is such a statement of the contrast between Palpatine's Empire and the ideals of the old order that they are trying to preserve.

Loved the section about Rithron's background - you do a great job getting across the feelings and mentality of a just-arrived Jedi Padawan-to-be.

And Barriss - I hope that seeing Rex, Waxer and Cody interact with the children will help to remove her suspicions of them. It'll take some time, but I'm sure their sincerity will eventually break down her barriers.

 

Great, great chapter. I loved getting to know all of the "refugees" a little more closely, especially the children. Barriss' distrust and pain is so understandable. I love the "family" atmosphere they have going on there and how it has turned into a wonderful home for them all. I love seeing all these characters together and learning to adapt to the new environment. You're tackling the story so wonderfully. Can't wait for more.

 

Valairy_Scot: Thank you. And it is hard to avoid angst in post-purge. There's just so much pain, it can't be ignored in the story.

anakinfan: I wanted to spend a bit of time fleshing out some of the OC's, and wanted to do a bit with the kids in particular. Rithron's trying to be a tough boy, but he's just a kid who's completely overwhelmed.

Valiowk: Alderaan always seemed like it would be such a beautiful, peaceful place. So much the opposite of what Palpatine was trying to create. And I think you'll be right about Barriss....

Luna_Nightshade: Thank you! With so few Jedi/Force-sensitives left, I would think they'd have to come together and form some kind of family - especially since so many of them are so little.




[b]Warning[/b]: This chapter involves a high level of [b]violence[/b], due to stormtroopers doing their jobs. If this makes you uncomfortable, the scene is found in the second part of the chapter.

[hr]


[i]This is Not Our Fate


Then they?ll raise their hands
Sayin? we?ll meet all your demands
But we?ll shout from the bow your days are numbered
And like Pharoah?s tribe
They?ll be drownded in the tide
And like Goliath, they?ll be conquered
- from When the Ship Comes In ? Bob Dylan[/i]

[hr]

Chapter 4. The Whole Galaxy is Watching

[hr]


Her hand flew over the keypad, punching in the numerical password.

The door unbolted itself with a loud thunk, and Behri pushed her way into her apartment. She shut the heavy door, relocked it, and then leaned against it heavily. It was cool against her palms, and she pressed them flat against its surface, trusting in its solidity.

The apartment was as she left it that morning, mostly. Sia had left after her, and so there was a used towel draped over one of the chairs at the kitchenette?s table. There were also a few articles of clothing scattered across the floor near Sia?s side of the closet. Otherwise, everything was as it always was; Behri?s bed was made, Sia?s wasn?t. The dishes in the drying rack were now dry, though there was an empty bowl with a spoon and a glass sitting beside the sink, waiting to be washed. A few more delicate bits of clothing were strung on a clothesline near the heater. It was spring now, and they would be able to save some money on electricity bills powering the heater, but it would take a bit longer for clothes to dry. They didn?t make enough, between them, to afford one of the apartments with a balcony.

The little studio apartment was cramped, but it signaled their independence. Both had been ecstatic when they realized they?d finally saved enough money to move into the city proper, to live on their own. They?d moved in to the apartment feeling very grown up. She still did, most of the time, feel grown up, though living in such tiny quarters with someone else wasn?t always as much fun as she imagined it to be. Still, right now, she really wished Sia were home.

Or maybe she didn?t. Sia would be great about listening to her rant, would pull out a couple of Corellian ales and happily dish out insults filled with righteous anger at men who didn?t live up to a certain set of standards.

She wasn?t sure if that was what she really wanted to do. Fives had quite possibly saved her life. Complaining about something as trivial as a confusing man seemed, well, trivial, in the wake of everything else. She did, however, feel like wailing about the general injustice of life, or would soon. Right now, she was still too stunned by the events of the day.

Behri reached up and pulled her hairband out of her hair, freeing it. She tossed the band onto the kitchen table and looked around the apartment. She took two uncertain steps forward, then spun, raking a hand through her hair and shaking it out. Three steps brought her to the conservator. She opened it and stole one of Sia?s ales, popping it open and taking a long pull. She shut the conservator with a hip, pulled out a chair at the table, and sunk down into it.

She?d volunteered to help run the petition. The outsourcing of jobs was>

 

This is a very moving story. It's beautiful! If you have a PM list, could you add me to it?

 

Amazing description of the personal fallout of the Empire's rise, and showing how the Empire was shown as so much of a one-species thing. Altogether very moving, especially when Behri eventually marries Fives and has a little baby she names Sia. I love this story. Can't wait for more.

 

A very moving chapter. We see how an individual, one day living a completely normal life, has her world turned completely upside down when the Empire decides to crush a protest ruthlessly, and one cannot help but wonder how many other people's lives were completely altered because the "higher-ups" decided they wanted one less thing to worry about. The Empire's anti-alien sentiment is chilling and makes us reflect deeply on similar sentiments in our own world.

Loved the parts where we see Fives' innocence: Fives seemed so nice, almost shy about talking to her, as though he couldn?t quite believe she?d be willing to spend a few minutes with him; It felt too strange, given the circumstances, but her forwardness brought out the most ridiculously oversized smile she?d ever seen on a man. How ironic that Fives and the clones who carried out the massacre were created in the same way - this is what the clones could be like if they were able to see beyond the orders they were given.

And naming the baby after Sia - I'm sure Sia would be extremely touched if she knew it. How sad it is to lose somebody in a war, and furthermore not to know whether they are dead or alive.

Well done!

 

AMAZING!!!! I absolutely love the way you do these!!! Love it!

 

Padawan4687: Thank you so much! Consider yourself added to the PM list.

anakinfan: Digging around the Wookieepedia brought up a lot of little Hitler-esque parallels to what Palpatine was doing. It had to be such a shock to people, to suddenly find all their rights being stripped away, after having always lived in a very long-lived democracy (10,000 or 25,000 years! I didn't realize it was so long, but I guess that makes sense....).

Luna_Nightshade: Thanks! As much fun as the epic level stuff we get from Star Wars is, I wanted to do a little bit of ground-level exploration of what it would be like, living under the Empire. Apparently it is not pretty....

Valiowk: I tried to pose the protest/riot as a kind of civil rights issue - which really, it is. Other species in scifi often are stand-ins for other races or cultures. One of the reasons I love writing the clones is that they can be so innocent, even though they've experienced so much - in terms of fighting and loss, at least.

DoubleEO: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!



[i]This is Not Our Fate[/i]




Chapter 5. My Skin is Not My Own


The familiarity of the place was comforting.

This library was far smaller than the great Jedi archives, but there was a warmth to it that was both intimate and reminiscent of that place. She?d spent many hours ensconced in the Jedi archives studying, memorizing or reading throughout her padawan years and the sight of stacks of holobooks and holonet terminals, glowing electric blue, was more than welcome. Barriss breathed in a breath, inhaling the pleasant, if slightly dusty smell of one corner filled with old flimsibooks. Large, teardrop shaped windows cut into the walls let in pale grey light. The room was warm from the many computers and quiet with the lack of people talking, though she could see people whispering to each other across tables. A couple teenagers were dozing at the study carrels, heads pillowed on arms.

There was the smallest of smiles playing about her lips.

The children began to stream past her, Waxer herding them forward, and the smile faltered. Thoosa and Temese were rushing towards the back of the reading room, Olwen following somewhat more sedately, with Waxer walking along behind them. Roo-Roo paused a few feet in front of her, turned and asked, ?Are yousa going to stay with us today? The activity room?s in the back.?

It was the first time she?d joined the younglings on their weekly trip to the library. Over the past couple weeks, she?d been going into town with Nura, grocery shopping or buying other necessities, familiarizing herself with her new home. She could not quite shake the nervous feeling she had, leaving the younglings at home with the clones, and she was glad of Behri?s presence. She knew her concerns would not be appreciated, and would only garner more sympathetic looks from Nura and Behri. She found herself fighting off paranoia constantly.

?Yes, I?ll be right there, Roo,? Barriss told the girl, who beamed at her for a moment before turning and running after the other children. Almost as much as the clones, she was adapting to the constant presence of the children. They were almost overpowering in their enthusiasm for everything. Even when one or two were calm, at least one or two others were running around, playing and shrieking at each other. It was heartening, but also exhausting. Barriss often went to bed as early as she could to simply have some peace, which was not easy, because she was sleeping in a partitioned area in the basement, where the younglings spent so much time playing. All other rooms were occupied by children, families or clones. She sighed, tired.

Waxer was talking with a woman just outside a pair of large doors. Beyond them, she could see several children roaming between low tables, gathering art supplies while another woman watched. Barriss took a few hesitant steps forward, not quite sure if she could interrupt Waxer?s conversation, or if she even wanted to. The question was resolved when Waxer nodded po>

 

I've got no idea who her favorite detective is just yet...I'll have to read it one more time. But the shopping trip was funny. So was Barriss's reaction to her reflection.

 

Another wonderful update. I'm so glad that Barriss had the opportunity to talk about her concerns and think about her new way of life. It'll take time for her to adjust, but one can tell that she is trying to adapt. I liked her conversation with Suisen very much - while the two of them aren't yet close friends, they've shown a willingness to help each other, and that's such a precious thing when one first arrives at a new place.

And do I sense another romantic relationship beginning to form?

Konen Doil's A Study in Vermilion - why, that sounds familiar...

 

It sounds very suspiciously reminiscent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlett starring our favourite "elementary" logical detective Sherlock Holmes

I wonder if Barriss may meet any former clones of the 41st at some point. It's interesting. Like I said, in the films you only get a small glimpse of the camaraderie between the Jedi and the clones, but then I got that information on the troopers that tried to kill Yoda and you realize that Gree had a personality of his own and was interested in obscure alien cultures. I think even though he was also incredibly loyal to the Republic and its High Command and did what he thought was his duty, he probably felt regret. I also think that Yoda felt regret in killing him: if only because he knew it was not personal on Gree's part and if only because a Jedi only takes life as a last resort. Killing is not something a Jedi rejoices in and really, in many ways I don't think a lot of the clones did or do either. I suspect that Yoda and even Obi-Wan would have words with Barriss and others about this.

You really wish it all turned out differently when you look at these characters and you made one scenario where in some ways it has.