Beyond - Legends Thunderbolt and Lightning (2021 Fanfic Olympics - OC Chaos Twins Decathlon - Enter!verse AU)

Title: Thunderbolt and Lightning
Author: ViariSkywalker
Timeframe: 33-58 ABY, in my Enter!verse
Characters: OCs Darth Festus|Dorian Starskip & Darth Ferrus|Veeran Starskip
Genre: AU, drama, angst, introspection, action, family, horror (probably? I mean, let’s be real here)

Summary: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a pair of twins. Nope, not those twins. Or those ones either.

Notes: This is my second entry for the 2021 Fanfiction Summer Olympics, featuring my favorite trash lord OCs, Darth Festus and Darth Ferrus, aka the Super Evil Chaos Twins of Evil. These ridiculous Sith brothers are from my Enter!verse, where they first appeared as antagonists in Enter the Foreign and have since featured in several spin-off prequel/sequel vignettes and short stories. (More info and links under the spoiler tag.)

Snagged the title from Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Spoiler: Enter!verse primer

This dark and twisty ‘verse branches off from the Legends timeline early in the LotF series and veers into wildly AU territory. In this world, Darth Caedus rose to power but was eventually defeated, leaving the galaxy ripe for conquest by Darth Krayt’s One Sith, who came onto the scene after kicking around on Korriban for several years. As for Festus and Ferrus, well, they were once Jedi children before being kidnapped by the Sith and turned to the dark side. Not the happiest childhood.

Enter!verse stories:

Enter the Foreign – in which Anakin Skywalker winds up in Ben Skywalker’s crapsack future and joins his fight against the Sith Empire; also featuring Allana Djo Solo, Tahiri Veila, and many more (51 ABY; epic)

The Lands of the Dead – origin story for the Super Evil Chaos Twins of Evil (43-49 ABY; short story)

Here There Be Monsters – Dorian Starskip almost dies (twice) and has a nice chat with Jacen Solo; (47 ABY; vignette)

HK-47 and the Super Evil Chaos Twins of Evil – Festus buys a droid, Ferrus is annoyed, and HK-47 is surrounded by meatbags (52-53 ABY; vignette; humor/crack!fic)

Where the Waves Shatter – feelings are hard, especially for a not-quite-former Sith Lord; Festus & Allana (54 ABY; vignette)

What If This Storm Ends? – five times Darth Festus definitely wasn't in love with a Jedi princess, and one time she definitely wasn't in love with him; Allana/Festus (43-61 ABY; one-shot)

Forces of Gravity – in which Festus has terrible people skills and Ferrus has terrible aim; Allana/Festus (55 ABY; one-shot)

In Dreams We Dwell – Allana attends a masquerade ball and deals with a dangerous uninvited guest; Allana/Festus (59 ABY; short story)

The Way Out Is Through – my Ben Skywalker decathlon for the 2021 Fanfic Olympics (42-52 ABY; vignette collection)

Our Weakness Is the Same – my Allana/Festus decathlon for the 2021 Fanfic Olympics (43-61 ABY; vignette collection)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Star Wars. Still playing in the darkest, creepiest corner of the SW sandbox, don’t mind me…

Enjoy!

---

Index of Decathlon Events


I. This Is My Snow-Covered Home – 400 Word Cross Country | 33 ABY & beyond
Before they were Darth Festus and Darth Ferrus, they were Dorian and Veeran Starskip.

II. Sometimes Goodbye’s the Only Way – 200 Freestyle | 37 ABY
Dorian and Veeran arrive at the Jedi Academy on Ossus for the very first time.

III. Brute – 110 Word Sprint | 41 ABY
One of the twins pushes his limits.

IV. Creep – 100 Word Hurdle | 42 ABY
One of the twins adjusts to life in the hidden Jedi enclave.

V. Last Day of the Rest of My Life – 4x100 Relay | 43-52 ABY
Drabbles that span the length of Dorian & Veeran's captivity with the Sith, as well as their transformation into the Sith Lords, Darth Festus & Darth Ferrus.

VI. There Are No Jedi Here – Fantastical Fencing | 53 ABY
Festus and Ferrus stop for supplies and are mistaken for Jedi.

VII. This Kind of Fire Don’t Keep Us Warm Inside – 1500 Word Dash & OC Extreme Environment Challenge | 55 ABY
Ferrus and Festus are stranded aboard their failing starship.

VIII. End of the Line (Creep II, Brute II) – Prime Time Coverage | 58 ABY
The one and only time Festus went out drinking with Ferrus.

IX. The Bright Fields of Day – AU Archery | 49 ABY
In another world, Jedi apprentices Dorian and Veeran Starskip live totally different lives.

X. You’re a Bolt of Lightning in the Sky Now – Single Sentence Shot Put
This is how these stories end.


~~

 

Notes: Okay, friends, I’m starting things off with the 400 Word Cross Country (400 words about your character, couple, family or friendship with any theme). The title for this one comes from the song “My December” by Linkin Park, which I listened to on repeat for a good portion of the writing of The Lands of the Dead. The melancholy vibe is strong with this one.

---

This Is My Snow-Covered Home | 33 ABY & beyond | 400 Word Cross Country


They were born at the tail end of winter, when the world begins to wake from its long, dreary slumber, and the earth and the air and the Force itself seem poised on the precipice of rebirth. But their hemisphere clung stubbornly to the cold that year, and the day was gray with sleet and slush.

Dorian came first, without much difficulty. Small and quiet and eyes wide open. Veeran took longer – he wasn’t breech, like they feared, but he came out face-up, with some bruising and a crease in his nose to show for it.

(it went away after a few hours, thank the stars – not that they would have loved him any less – and their mother said he was going to be a fighter)

There are holos of her, of course. She smiles wide in every single one of them, and she holds tight to the toddlers in her arms. She was already sick when they were born, though she hardly showed it. And she held on for two whole years before slipping away.

(she was the strong one, a force of nature; but even a storm eventually meets its end)

Dorian’s first memory is of his father. He was quiet, which Dorian liked; but he was also sad, even when he was smiling, even when he tucked them in at night, even when he told them he loved them. He knows it hurt his father to look at them sometimes. They’re too much like their mother; same eyes, same hair, same smile, even.

(he doesn’t remember her, only how sad his father was without her, how he carried her death around like an emptiness inside him, one that he could never completely hide from his Force-sensitive children)

Veeran’s first memory is of Dorian, of the way he held his hand during a thunderstorm and whispered that everything would be all right. Veeran swears he doesn’t remember their parents at all.

(that’s a lie, he does remember his father; but he doesn’t like admitting it, because remembering means hurting, and he’s never been good with pain)

Veeran is like his mother: magnetic and relentless and always in motion.

(his father’s son, he attaches deep and fears being left behind)

Dorian is like his father: quiet and gentle, and he lives too much in his own head.

(his mother’s son, he puts on a smile and never backs down)


~~

 

Great introduction to the two and their differences

 

@earlybird-obi-wan

Thanks, I'm really glad you think so!



@Mira_Jade

I think I can guarantee that there will more of that good pain throughout.

I know it probably doesn't seem like it, but I honestly didn't think up this backstory for them because I was trying to inflict even more pain and make them the saddest children to ever be sad. But whenever I pictured them as kids at the Jedi Academy, I just couldn't picture them as anything but orphans, so I had to come up with an explanation for that. Honestly, I'm sure they were pretty happy overall before the Academy was destroyed, because they came there so young and didn't have the clearest memories of their parents. But I also wanted to make it clear that there will be no secret family relations or noble births or epic family lineage. The Starskips were a normal family on some insignificant world, and their kids were Force-sensitive. That's it.

But yeah, I've really put these two through the ringer, haven't I?

Sooooo good. Would you believe, I've been listening to Linkin Park for what, twenty years? And yet I only heard that song last year? Not sure how that happened, but I had to make up for it by playing it constantly while I was writing TLotD. And it SO fits.

All kinds of terrible, awful rebirth in their futures. (And I'm glad you liked the imagery! I gave birth to two of my kids in the winter, so that partially inspired me here.)

Lol, I side-eye birth scenes in fiction SO HARD now that I've done it four times myself. (Seriously, how hard is it to do some research?) And while I've never had to deal with either twins or a breech birth, I definitely know that's a possibility with twins! All that aside, I pulled very strongly from my own experience here, so I'm sure that helped me envision it more clearly. I will say that while the births might be similar, Dorian and Veeran's personalities aren't really a close match for any of my kids, even if there are similarities. They're very much their own personalities. And I'm glad you could see those personalities shining through even from the beginning.

He iiiiiiiissss.

I'm so, so pleased that you think so! Even though they're barely more than a memory - if that - for Dorian and Veeran, I could somehow see who they were so clearly. And I enjoyed making the twins a mix of both parents' attributes.

Yep, I think you are.

(And gee, I wonder where Festus gets his romantic sensibilities from )

Hee, I do love me some foreshadowing. (And I couldn't help throwing in the storm imagery because, you know, "Thunderbolt and Lightning". )

Does it make sense if I say it was half-intentional, half-unintentional? Something else got me thinking of "Bohemian Rhapsody", so I listened to it, and I was like, hello, that gives me some chaos twins feels right there. And with the Thor and Loki dynamic, the "thunderbolt and lightning" line, plus the storm imagery I already sort of associated with them (think: "Dark Matter" and you're a bolt of lightning in the sky now)... that's where my head was at. And yeah, I've probably put too much thought into this.

I knooooooooow. That story has really taken on a life of its own, which is exciting, but completely unexpected, and I do really want to get it finished sooner rather than later! It's for sure going to be a multi-part story, and I want to finish it all before I begin posting. There are just so many things to write!

I mean, really? He is, and in some ways maybe more than Veeran. And I know I've talked elsewhere about how I find the quiet villains to be some of the scariest. Even though Festus is at times outgoing and dramatic, he still has those quiet moments that are just so damn scary. But I definitely agree about never backing down being an important quality for surviving. As for what the future holds for both of these screwed up chaos twins... I guess you'll have to wait and see!

Well look at that, I've got more for you now! (No self-control, I tell ya.) As always, your feedback means the world to me, and I've loved reading it!

 

Notes: Okay, guys, next up is the 200 Freestyle! (A 200-word story about your characters with a free choice of any theme.) I took this title from another Linkin Park song, “Shadow of the Day”.

---

Sometimes Goodbye’s the Only Way | 37 ABY | 200 Freestyle


It’s pouring down rain when they arrive at the Jedi Academy on Ossus.

Only four years old, they cling to their father’s hands, watching silently as he greets the two Jedi standing inside the entrance. The first is a tall man with white hair who looks like he could wrestle a gundark. The woman beside him has long, silver hair and strange, milky eyes, but she smiles wide when she sees them.

“Welcome,” she says, and despite the chill from the rain, they can feel a warmth that they somehow know is her. “I’m Tionne Solusar, and this is my husband, Kam.”

Their father lets go of their hands to greet the two Jedi, but as soon as he’s done, Dorian and Veeran latch onto him again. The grown-ups exchange pleasantries, and their father explains that he can’t move to Ossus like some of the other parents, but he’ll be back as often as he can afford.

He stays with them for three days before returning home. Says he loves them, and they’ll be happy here.

He visits two more times before the speeder crash. They don’t understand, but Master Tionne stays with them, and she sings them to sleep.


~~

 

Poor kids but Tionne is nice to them

 

@earlybird-obi-wan

Tionne is the best.



@Mira_Jade

It's nice to have some useful RL experience I can actually translate to the GFFA.

I'm going to have to use some of those lyrics for a fic title at some point.

That was exactly my thinking.

I liked imagining the simple way that the twins would have viewed them. Kam is strength and Tionne is warmth. It seemed right.

They're so smol and precious, Mira, and I'm so horrible to them.

I know what you mean. There were plenty of students and their families living on Ossus during this time, and I'm sure the Jedi would have fallen into a comfortable rhythm by this time. But still, going to a new place at four years old, without the only parent you have left? That hurts enough; but then I imagine being the parent leaving those children behind and... ouch.

What gave you the right? (I definitely need to do a re-watch myself, at least the first season or two!)

Seriously, we need some angstier emojis.

I was honestly a little hesitant to include this detail, but again, I keep saying they're orphans, so I couldn't really ignore it.

And I really couldn't imagine Tionne any other way here. I'm so glad you liked that last line.

*looks at list of decathlon events* Hmm, right now I've got the AU as the ninth event? C'mon now, Mira, we have to have some real pain first before we can get even a glimpse of something happier...

... although how do you know the AU isn't going to be the dark AU of darkness?

(Okaaay, it'll probably be the happy AU )

And Gabri can say she wants happy!fic all she wants, but I know she's an angsty little so-and-so.

 

Notes: Today you’re getting two ficlets for the price of one! Since these characters are twins, I decided to devote the 100 Word Sprint (a 100-word drabble with any theme) to one of them, and the 110 Word Hurdle (in which the name or names of your character aren’t mentioned) to the other.

A bit of background info: in this 'verse, the Jedi Academy was destroyed in 41 ABY, after which the Jedi – especially the children – were hidden away in a few secret enclaves. “Brute” takes place before the destruction of the academy, and “Creep” takes place after. These titles aren’t taken from any songs, although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hear a live band cover Radiohead’s “Creep” recently and immediately think of a certain Sith disaster…

---

Brute | 41 ABY | 100 Word Sprint


The rock is too far, his friends say. He can’t jump, he’ll never make it across the gap. They tell him to climb down.

He grins over his shoulder at them, then sprints to the edge, leaping across the divide.

He misses by a meter and plummets to the ground, reaching out with both arms to stop the impact. A loud crack, then numbness, and stars exploding in his eyes.

Dorian arrives first with help. He clutches his own arm against his body, his face paler than normal.

Before passing out, Veeran smiles up at his twin through tears. “Almost.”

---

Creep | 42 ABY | 110 Word Hurdle


He’s known from a young age that he unsettles people.

—you can’t just stare at people like that, they don’t like it, don’t be so weird, why is he looking over here—

How does he explain it, that this is how he figures people out? From a safe distance, but still close up, because people show their true selves when they don’t realize you’re watching.

—you shouldn’t stare, they don’t like it, why can’t you just be normal for once—

He tries, he really does. Reading helps, because stories don’t judge or talk too loud or avoid him completely.

Inside his head, he can be whatever he wants to be.


~~

 

Slander

 

Veeran doing a daring stunt but helped by Dorian nice
and a weird one will always be looked upon

 

Oh, I love Dorian and Veeran! Their differences, similarities, their shared loss and their struggles to be understood. Fabulous! Loved seeing Kam and Tionne. They don't show up in fics much anymore so that was a treat.

Looking forward to more and definitely going to read your others stories in this verse.

 

I don't know what you're talking about, I am a beacon of delight who has never so much as whispered a breath of angst

Viiiiiiiiiii

Dorian liking that his father was quiet, I love it But yeah, that's going to affect any children, let alone Force-sensitive ones

Just perfectly crafted bookend parallels here, I'm so proud

That's Tionne, all right Which kind of feels weird to say, because she's among that handful of characters that I know almost entirely from fanfic, so how do I know when they're in character? But this is the way I always envision Tionne.

VI, I SWEAR *shakes fist*

This DOOFUS

Aw, our little weirdo

"In my own little corner, in my own little chair..." I relate to Dorian. Before, um, the whole murder thing, anyway

 

@earlybird-obi-wan

The relationship between these two is always so interesting to write. I really love it. And it's hard being the odd one out, isn't it? I do like exploring how this would have affected him throughout his life. Thanks for reading!



@Mira_Jade

She’s so angsty, and she knows it.

I’d say that’s probably the right reaction to have.

That was a shame! Especially when they had such promising ideas to explore heading into the Neverland arc... too bad we never saw those come to fruition.

I really am going to have to get going on that AU ficlet thread, hmm. While trying to finish EtF on time, plus these two decathlons, plus the Swanfire triathlon… so much writing, so little time.

Quite literally one of my favorite things about writing siblings in SW is getting to capitalize on Force bonds, AND TWIN BONDS ARE THE BEST. It’s been so fun and interesting exploring Dorian and Veeran’s bond, and how it changes as they adapt to captivity and then after they become Sith Lords. We’re used to seeing those bonds as positive, but what happens when the characters in question are darksiders? (Well... I guess you already know the answer to that.)

This relentless idiot, I swear.

It certainly does.

RIGHT? And all the more so when you know what he goes through later, and what he ultimately becomes.

I’m so glad you enjoyed these, and thank you as always for reading along and sharing all your thoughts!



@JediMaster_Jen

Yay, I’m so happy to hear that! If it isn’t already obvious, these two are hands-down my favorite OCs, so I’m always glad when anyone else enjoys reading about them.

The academy on Ossus didn’t get nearly enough attention, given how important it would have been to the Jedi Order. I guess because the training of kids doesn’t mesh well with the high-octane thrills the EU wanted to deliver in LotF and beyond; but I would have been very interested to see more of how Kam and Tionne ran things there, as well as how they dealt with families and orphans and the emotional needs of young, Force-strong children.

I hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for reading!



@Gabri_Jade

Perversity of Life, dearest.

I rest my case.

It does make me legitimately sad to think about this young mother who loved her children so much… especially with what ends up happening to those children.

I’m telling you, their parents’ personalities just came through so clearly in my head the first time I thought about who they might be. I especially liked the idea of Dorian’s father being like him, that they shared the same introverted personality and spent more time in their own heads than they did on the outside world. Which I think would have made things especially difficult once their mother died, because it’s hard enough to raise two toddlers with help – but to do it alone, when you’ve lost the one person who really connected you to that outside world… yeah, I’m making myself sad again.

Your reaction to this, both now and when I was working on it originally, is everything. I am really happy with how it turned out.

I’m in much the same boat as you, so I’m glad to hear she rings true.

They’re orphans, Gabri, I had to do it!

OMIGOSH HE IS.

And how hard would that have been, again, for someone with Force-sensitivity? Who can sense other people’s emotions or at least get a pretty clear read on their reactions to him, even without talking to them? And I didn’t make this overt in the fic itself, but I imagine a lot of Dorian’s negative self-talk stems from things Veeran has said to him, especially after they were sent to the enclave and Veeran started acting out. So there’s that.

“I can be whatever I want to be…” (So, like, the most horrific Cinderella story ever, right? )

I think a lot of us can relate to Dorian… before the whole murder thing.

Thanks for all your comments, babe! I always love reading your thoughts on these two disasters.



More coming up in a moment!

 

Notes: And we’re back! Next up is the 4x100 Relay (4x100 words on four types of love: affection, intimacy, friendship, and charity). Here’s where we touch on the twins’ time in captivity and their training as Sith initiates. Title comes from “Youth of the Nation” by P.O.D. – I know, I know, the subject matter of the song isn’t really a match for a couple of Sith Lords in a space fantasy world; but inspiration strikes in all kinds of strange ways, and this song just sounds like Festus and Ferrus to me, if that makes any sense at all.

These drabbles are mostly concurrent with my short story The Lands of the Dead, which serves as the twins’ origin story and details their descent into darkness. It’s my hope that you’ll be able to understand and enjoy these characters without prior knowledge of other stories, but if there’s one fic I recommend reading about them, it’s that one.

Okay, one more note: I wrote a second drabble for "Affection" because I couldn't decide what I wanted to do at first. And then I saw @Mira_Jade added a bonus event on one of her threads, so I'm copying her.

---

Last Day of the Rest of My Life | 43-52 ABY | 4x100 Relay


“Charity” | 43 ABY


There’s nothing but kindness and sympathy in Master Bash’s eyes as he tells them the news. That’s what makes it worse.

“I’m sorry, boys,” he says gently. “I know this isn’t easy, but the enclave has reached its breaking point. We have to start transferring people.”

The selection was random, he tells them. They didn’t do anything wrong.

They both know that isn’t true, though; and when Veeran asks if it’s his fault, none of the masters try to deny it.

This will be good for them both, Master Bash says. A gift, in its own way. A fresh start.


~~

“Intimacy” | 43-44 ABY


They’ve lived so long in each other’s heads, even when they could barely stand one another, that the loss of their twin bond feels like nothing less than having a part of his body ripped from him and torn to shreds.

Veeran doesn’t know what goes on in the doctor’s laboratory. No one does. All he knows is that Dorian closes himself off from their bond every day, and each time it takes longer and longer to come back. His brother is slipping away, little by little, and there’s nothing he can do about it – and it’s all his fault.


~~

“Friendship” | 46 ABY


“This is where I sleep, and you can have the bottom bunk, see?”

Veeran steers him through the barracks, past the other initiates. Dorian can sense their fear, their rage, their confusion.

—oh look, it’s the doctor’s little psycho, should we kill him before he kills the rest of us—

“Ignore them,” his twin continues under his breath. “They won’t try anything.”

Dorian looks down at the blood on his hands. He didn’t have time to scrub it all off. “How can you be sure?”

There’s something dangerous in Veeran’s grin. “Because I’m here, and nobody messes with my brother.”


~~

“Affection” | 49 ABY


“I hear congratulations are in order,” the doctor says, his voice grating on every one of Ferrus’s nerves. The old man reaches out and places a hand on his twin’s shoulder. “Lord Festus.”

His brother bows his head, smiling. “Thank you, sir.” He doesn’t try to move away. Gods, how can he let that bastard touch him?

Cold, dark eyes turn on him. “And you as well, Lord Ferrus.”

“Yeah,” he says with a grunt. “Thanks.” After the doctor leaves, Ferrus shudders. “So creepy.”

“You say I’m creepy.”

Ferrus punches his twin in the arm. “Yeah, but I like you.”


~~

“Affection II” | 52 ABY | Bonus Drabble


“Why do you always stare at them like that?”

“Like what?”

“Come on, you know what I’m talking about. That super creepy stare you do.”

“You mean the one you love so much?”

Ferrus rolls his eyes. “Yeah. That’s definitely the one I’m talking about. Because I love creepy things.”

“It’s always nice to hear how much you care.”

“You’re so damn weird.”

“Would you have me any other way?”

Ferrus looks away from the man he’s throttling and glances over at his smirking twin. “You know I wouldn’t.”

“Flatterer.” Festus nods toward their victim. “Pretty sure he’s dead now.”


~~

 

from Jedi to Sith quite a journey in their emotions

 

Bad boys!! Quite a journey they've taken. A bit chilling, really. But I loved it.

 

Well, mostly random. Look at poor Veeran's self-awareness, though

Hmm, this boy is getting quite the complex. I wonder how that's going to play out...

(angst. it'll play out as angst)

(happy AU, dooooo iiiiiiiiittttt)

Aw, brotherly love

And twisted Sith teachings and a bunch of murderous roommates

What more could anyone ask for

Well, y'know, most of the time

Now that I see Cillian Murphy as Dorian, the creepy stare is easy to imagine, that dude has some piercing eyes

These two really did find a pretty good working relationship, all things considered. Helped 'em be more effective with the murders

 

@earlybird-obi-wan

It's definitely been an intense journey, that's for sure. Thanks for reading!




@JediMaster_Jen

They really had a nightmare of a childhood. I mostly skimmed over it here, but there's more in some of my other spin-offs. Glad you liked it, though! For as tragic and scary as they are, they're also kind of hilarious sometimes, and I love writing them. Thanks so much for your reply!




@Mira_Jade

Girl, what are you trying to do to me???

The Swanfire decathlon triathlon will probably go up later in August, and then it'll be a mad dash to finish before the deadline, lol. And I'm making NO promises that it will be more than a triathlon. But you never know...

I do love dramatic irony.

(I really have to get the Ferrus fic done. There are some events I would have touched on or alluded to in this decathlon, but I'm saving them for the Ferrus story... events like the ones that happen right after Dorian and Veeran become Sith Lords... )

For as much as I can't seem to stop writing about the twisted tragedy of Allana/Dorian, I also can't stop exploring the tragedy of these two brothers and their sometimes-warped-sometimes-normal relationship with one another. It is a tangled web I weave...

Right???

Heh, that's what I was going for. And Veeran especially has a knack for at least appearing normal in the middle of the nightmare that is their adolescence. (Plus, he's had time to grow accustomed to it, while Dorian has been in isolation when he hasn't been with the doctor. )

There are those shifting dynamics like we've talked about. It's so interesting to me, to explore those dynamics over time.

It hasn't come up a lot in the post-EtF content, but this is absolutely still a thing for Festus. He was totally devoted to Krayt once he became his apprentice; but before that, he was shaped by the doctor, denied contact with anyone other than his brother (and then only for limited amounts of time) and the majority of his human interaction for three years was in the context of cold, clinical, horrific violence and violation. So the fact that he ends up seeing this man as a mentor, someone whose praise and attention he would seek, is just...

These dorks.

Gotta put the super evil in the Super Evil Chaos Twins of Evil, after all. (Plus I had to get us up to speed because I'm moving basically in chronological order, and the next events are all after EtF...)

Thank you so much! I'm glad you're loving everything so far, and I hope you like what comes next!




@Gabri_Jade

This poor boy, I've been so very, very mean to him.

Man, remember back when it was like, "Ferrus is just a terrible, Biff Tannen jerk, who even cares about that guy?"

I'mma do it, Gabri! (at some point...)

I made such a mess of these two. I mean, I had to, but still.

Yep. When they're not wanting to punch each other in the face.

I'm glad I could help you along with that visual image. Apart from having the look that I imagine for the characters, I really think he would be the perfect actor for Festus.

Teamwork!

As always, thank you so much for your comments, babe! I love having you along for the ride with these two.




And now, the next event!

 

Notes: My next event is Fantastical Fencing (a story of at least 100 words involving your characters in which something fantastical happens). The title was snagged from Matthew Stover’s The New Jedi Order: Traitor.

This vig takes place late in 53 ABY, at least six months after HK-47 and the Super Evil Chaos Twins of Evil and probably a few months before Where the Waves Shatter. It's been over two years since the end of EtF, and the chaos twins are on their own, working as bounty hunters.

---

There Are No Jedi Here | 53 ABY | Fantastical Fencing


Bright Moon City is a misnomer. The space station isn’t a city in any real sense, and it lies suspended in an expanse of space devoid of any planets, let alone moons. And there’s certainly nothing bright about the run-down shadowport – not its appearance or its clientele or its future. It’s not even big enough to house the ships that make port there; instead of hangar bays, visitors are forced to make use of questionable docking rings that might collapse or splinter from the space station at any moment, exposing unprepared crews to the cold, merciless vacuum of space.

It is, in short, exactly the sort of place Darth Festus and Darth Ferrus find themselves visiting all the time.

They never stay long at ports like this – just long enough to refuel and restock on food and supplies, and check for newly-posted bounties. Bright Moon City is still fairly unknown to them. They stopped here once about six months back, and Festus stayed on the ship the entire time. His brother was annoyed, but he knew better than to argue.

Now, they wait for the docking ring to lock into place. There’s a loud, metallic clank and a low hiss. Satisfied that they’re not about to walk to their doom, the brothers open the hatch and peer into the gray, dimly-lit corridor.

Something grinds above them, and they look up to find the hatch only three-quarters open, with sparks shooting out of the adjacent control panel.

“Fragging hell!” Ferrus shouts, shielding his eyes from the flying sparks.

Festus leans against the partially open hatchway. “Is it supposed to do that?”

“Of course not, idiot!” Ferrus rounds on him. “I told you we needed to put in for maintenance at Nar Shaddaa!”

“Why would you listen to me? I don’t know the first thing about starship maintenance.”

Ferrus pulls back the cover for the control panel and glares at it. “If only we had a droid whose sole purpose was to fix stuff like this before it nearly kills us…”

“You’re still mad about that? Come on, you loved HK.”

“I did not.”

Festus bites back a retort and watches his brother in silence as he continues to examine the control panel.

“Are you a Jedi?”

He spins around, all mirth forgotten as he looks for the person that belongs to that voice. A Pantoran child stands beyond the open hatch, staring up at them with wide, golden eyes. She points a finger at his hip.

“Doesn’t that mean you’re a Jedi?”

He looks down at the lightsaber hanging from his belt and clenches his jaw. “No,” he says, not quite a growl, “that’s not what it means.”

Next to him, Ferrus raises one arm to rest against the bulkhead over them and leans forward, towering over the girl. “Get lost, kid,” he says.

The girl scrambles to obey, stealing one last glance at them before disappearing around a corner.

Ferrus lets out a frustrated breath. “The hell’s a kid doing here?”

Festus realizes he hasn’t moved since answering the girl’s question. He shrugs and turns back to the inspect the damage. “Who cares? We need to get this fixed.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re even looking at?”

“No, which is why it’d be great if you could quit standing there and get back to work.”

Ferrus glares at him. “You forgot to put your lightsaber away, idiot.”

Festus snatches the weapon off his belt and shoves it into the inner pocket of his jacket. “We weren’t even off the ship yet; I didn’t know there was going to be a fragging kid standing there.”

“We don’t need any extra attention.”

Festus slams his fist against the broken door. “I know that.” He takes a deep breath, pushing down the tendrils of rage that are starting to climb up his spine. “Have you figured out what’s wrong yet?”

Ferrus watches him for a moment, then returns his attention to the control panel. “A couple of the wires are shot, and we need a new fuse.”

Festus looks over his shoulder down the empty corridor. “Should be able to find what we need in there.”

“You hope.”

He shrugs up at his twin. “I guess we’ll find out. Come on.”

They make their way through the space station, toward the central arm that houses the Bright Moon Bazaar, a busy marketplace teeming with smugglers and thieves and all manner of unsavory characters. As he and his brother enter the bazaar, Festus looks up at the luminescent globes suspended from the rafters; they give off a cold glow that reminds him of celestial light, and he thinks they’re the only things in here he actually likes looking at.

“There are a lot more people here this time,” his brother says under his breath.

Festus sweeps his eyes over the market, studying the crowds of people pushing their way through its narrow aisles. He sees clusters of people sitting off in the corners, distributing food, watching quietly. Some men, but mostly women and children. Several Pantorans, like the girl who’d spied on them earlier, but also some humans and a few other species. He remembers the news reports he’s been reading lately, and it clicks.

“Refugees,” he replies, returning his attention to the line of vendors on their right. “The Republic and their noble Jedi have had a hard time keeping the peace in this sector.”

Ferrus grunts something unintelligible, then stops in front of one of the vendor stalls. The proprietor is a tall, thin Weequay man. Ferrus begins to sort through the spare parts lying on the man’s table.

Festus listens to the murmurs of the crowd around him, picking up fragments of conversation here and there. Most of it is idle chatter, or the sorts of things criminals say when they’re trying not to give anything away. It sounds like there’s a sabacc game setting up behind one of the stalls. And there are mothers hushing their children, urging them to eat and stop staring at all the strangers. It’s one of those voices that stands out above the din.

“Slavers.”

He resists the urge to turn toward that fearful whisper. Next to him, his twin picks up another part and pretends to examine it.

He senses them enter the bazaar, at least six of them. Feels the change in the air as refugees try to discreetly exit. Watches from the corner of his eye as the slavers pass behind him and his brother, walking at a leisurely pace. Four humans, two Nikto, and a Duros, all male. Okay, so that’s seven.

“How much for this?” Ferrus asks, holding up a fuse and a bundle of wires.

The Weequay vendor’s eyes dart past them for a second, then he licks his lips and grunts. “Fifty,” he says.

Ferrus groans a little and glances at Festus sidelong. “Are we supposed to haggle? I can never remember.”

Festus shoves his hands deeper into his jacket pockets. “Just pay him and don’t worry about it.”

“Fine.” His brother hands over the credits and pockets his purchase. The slavers have passed them by and continued on toward the far end of the bazaar. Most of the refugees have vanished.

“Let’s get out of here,” Festus mutters, turning away from the stall.

They make their way back to the ship, and Festus leans against the open hatch while his twin works on replacing the damaged circuits.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” he says after his brother lets out a string of particularly colorful metaphors.

“Nope,” Ferrus answers, narrowing his eyes at the control panel.

“So this door could open mid-flight and suck us out into hyperspace?”

“Yep.”

Festus sighs and shifts his weight from one leg to the other. “You’re really inspiring confidence today.”

Before his twin can open his mouth to growl a reply, a scream echoes through the corridor. They stop what they’re doing and turn toward the sound, listening as it’s joined by a whole chorus of screams, a faint electronic buzzing, and the brief staccato of blaster fire.

“Guess it’s time to go,” Festus says.

He looks up at his brother. Ferrus lowers his hands from the panel. “Guess so.”

The screams grow more frantic, and he can make out the distinct sound of someone sobbing. “Not our problem,” he says distantly, answering an unasked question, feeling that same old pressure crushing his chest. It came on so fast this time.

Ferrus looks down the corridor and shrugs. “We’ve been cooped up on this ship for three weeks with no work. Might be nice to flex our muscles a bit.”

Anticipation shoots through him, lightning fast and just as hot. “Look at you,” Festus says, hand drifting to the lightsaber tucked in his jacket, “making all kinds of sense.”


~~


Lena Aloidas is eleven years old. Too young to be wandering around a space station like Bright Moon by herself, and boy, does she get an earful from her mother when she returns to the little makeshift shelter they’ve been sleeping in. Doesn’t she know what sorts of filth roam these corridors? Doesn’t she understand that a girl her age is a prime target for slavers? Doesn’t she know there are probably slavers here right now?

Her mother is the only family she has left in the world, though, so Lena submits to the scolding like a good, obedient child and promises to do better.

They’re just sitting down for their evening meal when all hell breaks loose in the refugee camp.

There aren’t any fighters among their group, and their assailants wield blaster rifles and shock collars and weapons she doesn’t even have names for. It takes a moment to realize the men attacking them have their blasters set for stun, and they’re rounding up the fallen women and children, slapping binders and collars on them as they shove them against the far wall.

One of those men turns his dark eyes on her and her mother, and he lunges forward, grabbing her mother by the arms and dragging her out of their shelter. Lena tries to reach for her.

“Mama!”

Her mother tries to fight back, but her captor is too strong. She twists around and locks eyes with her.

“Lena, run!”

She can’t run, though. She’s frozen in place, shaking as she watches the slavers yank her mother along behind them, throwing her against the wall with the others. Another pair of hands reaches for her, dirty and greedy and grasping. She shrinks back as far as she can while her mother continues to scream.

“Come here, you little brat—”

Suddenly the hands are gone, and she looks up with wide eyes and realizes every one of the slavers is pinned up against the bulkhead, held there as if by magic.

Then she sees them, the two dark-haired human men she spied on earlier, the ones she thought might be Jedi. They stand in the doorway, the taller one holding his hand outstretched toward the slavers. He grins and dips his head sideways toward the shorter one. “Your turn,” he says.

The other one – she thinks they must be brothers, they look so much alike – grins in return as he pulls his lightsaber from his jacket and ignites it at his side. The meter-length beam of light burns crimson in the dim room. He takes a step forward, then turns his head, eyes on her. She shrinks back from that pale, piercing stare.

His smirk fades as he tilts his head just slightly to one side. “You might want to look away.”

She doesn’t, though. She can’t. She’s heard stories and legends of the Jedi Knights of old, of their bravery and goodness, of how they protected people like her, people who were in trouble. She always thought they sounded amazing.

This is nothing like those stories. This is a nightmare.

At first, it’s not a complete slaughter. One by one, the taller man drops the slavers so that they can fight his brother. The first three attack without pause, shouting curses at the man with the lightsaber as they fly at him in a rage. He cuts through them like they’re nothing, holding them close as he runs them through, staring straight into them, unblinking.

The rest of the men don’t even try to fight once they’re freed. They scramble to get away, before being wrenched back by that mystical energy and thrown onto the ground. That’s when the taller man decides to get really involved.

He doesn’t bother with a lightsaber. She wonders if he even has one. If he even needs one. His assault on the next two slavers is brutal and bloody, and she can’t stop watching. If the shorter man approaches his victims with surgical precision, his brother is a gladiator, throwing himself bodily into every punch. The sounds she hears as he beats into them, over and over…

And still, she doesn’t look away. Because it might be a violent, gruesome nightmare, and it might be terrible and unspeakable and wrong… but it’s also the most incredible thing she’s ever seen.

The last two slavers are pleading for their lives before they’re even released. They swear they’ll leave and never come back. They’ll never touch another woman or child again. They promise anything and everything they can: credits, spice, even their ship.

Those pleas fall on deaf ears, and the two slavers die together – one strangled to death, the other silenced by a blade through the heart.

This is nothing like those old stories. Nothing at all.

The two men look around at the bodies of their victims, and then the shorter one deactivates his lightsaber. He waves a hand, and binders clatter to the floor. Her mother and the others stumble away as quickly as they can. Mama collapses in front of her and gathers her into her arms, turning her body to shield her from their liberators. The room falls eerily silent.

Then, finally, they speak.

“You know,” the shorter one says, “I don’t think they’re going to let us come back after this.”

His brother scoffs. “Like I’d want to come back to this hellhole a third time.”

“You’re just mad because there aren’t any girls here.”

“Shut up.”

They turn in unison to look at her, and she lets out a yelp as her mother grips her tighter. “Sith,” Mama hisses under her breath.

The taller one rolls his eyes and turns to walk away, but the shorter one stares at her a moment. Then he throws a casual salute with the hilt of his lightsaber and follows after his brother. They head back the way they came, down the corridor to where their ship is docked. When they don’t come back, her mother finally releases her.


~~


Festus ducks under the partially open hatch, frowning. “You forgot to close the door.”

Ferrus growls some indecipherable obscenity as he grabs a rag from his tool kit and wipes the blood from his hands. “Really? We just killed seven guys, and you’re worried someone’s going to sneak in and steal your dumb datapad?”

—you’re always on that stupid thing, stop obsessing, stop obsessing—

There’s that rage again, still simmering just under the surface. A post-battle haze that’s slow to clear. He wants to deny his brother’s accusation, but he can’t find the words.

Ferrus stares back at him and shakes his head. “That is what you’re worried about. Unbelievable.”

Festus swallows and pulls all of that fury back, hides it behind a mental wall, the one he puts up between himself and the world, between himself and his twin. Things are quieter without his brother in there, judging him.

Ferrus flinches visibly as their connection blinks out, but he doesn’t say anything more on the subject. Instead, he turns to the control panel, pushes the wires back into place, and closes the cover. The hatch shuts completely and seals with a loud hiss. “Fixed,” he says. He glances down at his hands and rubs at flecks of dried blood.

Festus clips his lightsaber back onto his belt. “Guess we should get going.”

“Guess so.” His twin clears his throat and nods toward the cockpit. “We’re not far from Kothlis.”

“Kothlis is nice.”

One corner of Ferrus’s mouth twitches as he fights to hold back a grin. “Better than this hellhole.”

Festus looks over his shoulder at the door. “Yeah. Definitely better.”

Then he turns his back on the door and the girl and Bright Moon City, and he follows after his brother.


~~

 

I love the bickering between them, it's hilarious. Reminds me of my own kids.

 

bickering Sith but they are getting rid of slavers