Beyond - Legends X-Wing: Rise of a Rogue - Revised Edition - Complete 2/22 (Rogues, Wraiths, OCs)

Earlybird - Always fun to see couples forming, isn't it?

DMC - Pilot banter is some of my favorite stuff to write. Thanks for reading!

Hazel - And in the GFFA, the most common type of relationship is the Slap-Slap-Kiss relationship

Nanci - Poor Tyria and Kell. Can't get a moment alone together!

~*~

Chapter Nine - Hokey Religions

Corran Horn thumbed on his lightsaber. With a snap-hiss, the silver blade to sprang to life, casting a bright glow around the room. He let out a slow breath, allowing his mind to stretch out and touch the Force. A sense of calm washed over his body as his entire being slowly fell in stride with the Force. Through the years, Corran had learned that being in this state of mind allowed for his actions to be much more refined. He could better see possible avenues of attack while in combat. When the Force flowed through him, he knew that he could find the edge that could save his life.

He opened his eyes as reached out with the Force once more, feeling the training remote in front of him activate. The round, metallic ball rose into the air, whirring quietly as it began to execute its programmed functions. Corran centered the hilt of the lightsaber in front of his chest, his fingers slowly flexing around the cool metal of the blade hilt.

The remote fired, and Corran?s hands snapped downward. The red bolt hit the silver blade and was deflected towards the opposite side of the room, harmlessly impacting against the wall. As fast as the first bolt had been fired, another one followed in its wake, directed at Corran?s chest. He leaned his upper body away from the blast and flicked his wrists up and away from him, catching the bolt and redirecting it away from his body.

Twenty minutes had a tendency to pass by quickly when training. Just as Corran was readying himself to deflect another bolt, the remote slowly returned to the ground. He inhaled deeply as he powered off his lightsaber. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling as he worked to regulate his pulse and breathing.

?Show-off,? Wes said from behind him. ?Typical Corellian, always trying to flaunt his stuff.?

Corran grinned and gave Janson a friendly punch to the shoulder as he took a seat at the small table Wes was sitting at. A few of the Rogues had decided to get a work-out in while Wedge and Tycho went over intelligence reports. There simply wasn?t much to do. Intel had failed to give the Rogues a strong set of mission parameters and data to work with, meaning they were in this mess blind. Until they had a solid plan moving forward, the Rogues needed to find a way to stay sharp.

?Yes, he?s a show-off,? Inyri mused, stepping away from the punching bag she and Darvix were using. ?But he is good. You're a vibrosword specialist aren't you, Dap? You could pick up a thing or two from him.

The younger pilot, seated across the table, shot Inyri a glare.

?I don?t need a lesson in luck,? Darvix said, as he returned his attention back to the bag.

Corran shook his head. The boy just didn?t seem to get it, or rather, didn?t want to see it. ?There?s no such thing as luck. The Force-?

?The Force is just some tale that mothers tell their children,? Darvix interrupted. ?Just a romantic fantasy left over from the Old Republic.?

Corran frowned and cast a glance at Darvix. Ever since the boy had discovered that Corran was a Jedi he had given him the cold shoulder. All of that had been compounded since their arrival on Nar Shaddaa. Something here, perhaps a memory or some sort of external stimuli, was causing Darvix to lash out again.

?Dap,? Corran said. ?You?re a smart kid, so don?t play this game. I don?t quite understand what happened to you that makes you hate the Jedi so much, but I can assure you whatever lies the Imps told you, it?s not true."

?That assurance isn?t going to bring my father back, will it Horn??

The kid's father was playing into this. Familial trauma at a young age, perhaps? Corran had lost his own father years ago, but it had

 

I loved the latest update! But then I love any time Corran is on the page.

And you are making me crush on Wedge. You need to stop.

 

ooo I absolutely LOVE this story. Not only does it have my favorite fighter squadron in it as well as enough wraiths to make it more than worth the detour, but it's also very well written!

You've got me hooked!

 

nice to see Corran Horn

But Darvix should become friends with him. I hope he will

 

Before Corran could finish his thought, Darvix?s fist landed squarely on his jaw. ...

Was this Psychotic Dap?


And who's Trrax Cynedres? (Cool name, by the way.)

 

So, I finally got around to reading today's update...glad that I did.

Gotta love the snap-hiss of a lightsaber.

Dap really needs to get his head examined...he's got some really issues going on. Sounds like he's in for some more trouble soon.

 

Nanci - Hey there are all sorts of women across the Galaxy who have fallen for the Illustrious Wedge Antilles. I hear he's got a rather fetching looking wanted poster

LadyReva - My goodness, thank you for the kind words! Always nice to get a new reader

Honestly there are days I'm still sort of embarrassed to post this. It's mostly a story I wrote when I was sixteen and just now got around to cleaning up

By the way, if you're a fan of pilot fic you should definitely check out the Downtime Pilot Index over in the Resource Forum. We've got a bit over 230 fics archived, host regular writing challenges, and discussion questions. Feel free to pop in and introduce yourself or answer the introduction questions on the first page

Hazel - You could consider Trrax to be Darvix's past life intruding on present times

And this isn't so much Psychotic Dap as it is Teetering On the Ragged Edge of Insanity Dap

Earlybird - There's a chance Darvix can work something out with Corran, but it seems like their relationship is just on the edge of long-term disastrous

DMC - Dap is really a tortured individual. He grew up under Imperial control, and a rather dark era at that, the period when the Empire was crumbling and panic was resonating throughout it. His formative years were disastrous.

He clearly was rushed out of Flight School despite some rather clear problems plaguing his psyche. Of course, the question is whether or not he'll be able to get over his hangups or if they'll wind up destroying him.

 

Chapter Ten - Skifter

Corran Horn pulled the coldpack from his swollen jaw, grimacing slightly at the brief jolt of pain. For a little guy, Darvix sure packed a hell of a punch. There had been a lot of pent-up anger behind that right hook. The kid's aggression and anger was beginning to unnerve Corran. He had seen it before. In the simulators on the Mon Remonda, Darvix had snapped and gone straight after an Assault Gunboat in retaliation for vaping Corran. Darvix had broken every rule in the datapad and wound up getting vaped himself.

On the flight to Telos, Darvix had suffered a psychotic breakdown while behind the stick of a Y-Wing. Hid his R2 unit not taken over control of the snub, Darvix would have flung himself headfirst into combat with a wing of Imperial TIEs. When Corran had finally pulled Darvix out of the Y-Wing cockpit, he was sobbing uncontrollably. It didn't take the Force to see that the young pilot was extraordinarily unstable and needed help. He likely wasn't even fit for active duty.

Of course, with the shortage of available pilots in the Republic, details such as mental instability had the tendency to slip through the cracks at the Academy. Truthfully, if it wasn't for that shortage of pilots, Darvix likely wouldn't have wound up on the Rogue roster to begin with. Since the Fighter Corps couldn?t spare a seasoned, they sent the Rogues a green pilot fresh out of the flight school.

Another point in time, Darvix wouldn't have made the Rogue Roster. At another point in time, he likely would have been drummed out of the Academy.

Corran had told Wedge that Darvix probably wasn?t fit for another mission, especially considering he had been shot down over Telos and had spent the better part of a month recuperating in a bacta tank. Wedge had agreed, sending a request to Starfighter Command requesting that Darvix be placed on leave prior to the mission. Command refused on the grounds that he was the certified network slicer for the assignment and could not be replaced.

Wedge had only told Tycho and Corran about the request. If Darvix were to find out, he probably would not have taken the news well. Corran couldn?t help but feel that Darvix was out of place with the Rogues, and with Starfighter Command in general. Too much stress, too much responsibility.

He shook his head at that thought. The Rogues had given Corran a fair shot, and it was only fair they do the same for him.

?What is his problem?? Gavin asked as he took a seat beside Corran, a hot mug of caf in hand.

?Anger is a powerful force,? Corran replied, ?and there is a great deal of anger inside Darvix.?

"How hard did he deck you? You're talking like Skywalker." Inryi took the cold-pack from Corran and frowned. ?You're right, though. He?s not stable. Dap?s got the potential to be a solid pilot, but he?ll never get there if he can?t figure out how to get over his problems.?

?He needs a psych evaluation,? Corran said, nodding in agreement to Inyri.

?You know as well as I do that one psych eval could destroy his career,? Gavin said. ?As soon as you?ve got one red flag on your psych record, squadrons won?t want to touch you with a ten meter shock stick.?

Unfortunately, Corran knew that Gavin was right. A pilot prone to breakdowns was a hazard to the rest of the squadron. Many squadron leaders would see something like that on a pilot?s record and immediately declare them ineligible for duty. It wasn?t necessarily fair to the pilot candidate, but it was probably better to err on the side of caution.

?We?re down to taking care of him ourselves,? Corran said.

Gavin raised an eyebrow. ?Just what do you propose we do? Give him a psych evaluation ourselves??

?Why not?? Corran replied with a smile.

?Has it occurred to you,? Inyri said, ?that none of us are qualified psychiatrists? We?re would we even start??

Gavin took a sip from his mug before grinning. ?Ask him about his mother? That?s the stereotypical first question, isn?t it??

?That?s the dumbest thing I?ve heard today,? Inyri replied, shaking her head

 

Good update, Lane! Gavin was pretty funny - but he definitely deserved the abuse that he got.

 

whoops... running into your mother is usually a bad thing... especially if she thinks you're dead.

And thanks for that link! I'll definitely have to go check it out.Btw... you know... if the stuff I had written at 16 was this good... I probably would be a pro-writer now It's not just how it's written (you've probably worked on that quite a bit before reposting, so that's bound to have gotten better) but it's the story idea itself. So give yourself a pat on the back, instead of cringing at the compliments.

 

He shook his head at that thought. The Rogues had given Corran a fair shot, and it was only fair they do the same for him.

Wow, your Corran is actually reasonable! Were you ill when you wrote this?


"How hard did he deck you? You're talking like Skywalker."

LOL! She says that like it's a bad thing.


?That?s the dumbest thing I?ve heard today,? Inyri replied, shaking her head.

?This coming from the woman who is going steady with Wes Janson?? Gavin asked, ducking under Inyri?s fist.

HA! HAAAAAA!!!!


Corran looked over his shoulder. ?Where do most children with hurt feelings go to for consolation??

?Their girlfriends?? Gavin asked, only to be doubled over by Cheriss? fist to his stomach.

HA! Gavin's on a roll tonight!


Besides, upsetting an Adumari woman was a very, very bad idea.

I'm thinking that Cheriss should never meet a certain Mara Jade. Or Mirax Terrik.


Uh-oh. Corran's going to Darvix's mother's house? This CANNOT end well.

 

MOMMY! I'M HOME! ... Now about being dead, thing is... I'm not.

 

Excellent update, seeing more about Darvix past and the care the other pilots are giving.

 

DMC - Ah poor Gavin. For some reason he tends to be the buttmonkey of my fics

LadyReva - Aww thank you. Objectively I know that this isn't terrible, but it's hard to compare this to the stuff I write now. The plot is quite a bit more simplistic than what I'm used to writing now and the characterization is a bit flat. Still, it could have been much worse.

Nanci -

Wow, your Corran is actually reasonable! Were you ill when you wrote this?

Every now and then he has a moment of clarity. Maybe it's Mirax pounding sense into him

She says that like it's a bad thing.

Oh you know those military types. They hate it when people start speaking in riddles

HA! Gavin's on a roll tonight!

He's going to wind up in the infirmary if he's not careful!

I'm thinking that Cheriss should never meet a certain Mara Jade. Or Mirax Terrik.

Oooh that's just what Mara and Mirax need. An impressionable young protegé

Uh-oh. Corran's going to Darvix's mother's house? This CANNOT end well.

It sure isn't going to end well for someone, anyways!

Hazel - Maybe just a weeeee bit of a shocker eh?

earlybird - The Rogues are a pretty close knit group. It's a lot of fun to write about

Thanks for reading all! Update below.

 

Chapter Eleven - Strange and Mysterious Ways

Corran Horn glanced around the corner, stretching out with the Force to find some sort of trace of Darvix. He'd heard some scuttlebutt before leaving that Wedge had torn into the kid for his antics at the safehouse. He assumed that the kid had left in a huff. Under any normal circumstances, Corran would have done the same thing. His own temper had a tendency to get him into a great of trouble, something Skywalker was always getting on his case about. Many times, Corran had simply gone for a walk to get some air, or grab a drink to cool down.

A drink. Darvix drank with the best in the Rogues. He wasn?t sure if he had ever seen another kid hold down liquor quite as well as Darvix could. He wondered idly if perhaps Darvix was part Corellian. Corran was willing to bet that Darvix had gone to one of the nearby cantinas to drown out his anger. He didn?t need the Force to know that, just good old CorSec intuition.

He glanced over at Cheriss. The young woman usually could keep a wall about her, never betraying any emotion but indifference or sheer determination. Corran wasn?t sure if he had ever seen her show this amount of concern before. Often times, he wondered what she saw in Darvix. Cheriss was a girl who held such high moral standards for herself, he wasn't sure if he could say the same about Darvix. Of course, he used to wonder what Luke saw in Mara Jade, and there was definitely something there.

Perhaps he wasn?t the best judge of that sort of thing.

That was neither here nor there right now. All that mattered was that they find Darvix before he inadvertently blew their cover.

***

Wedge glanced around the makeshift conference table. The senior Rogue officers had all shown up, save Corran. That in and of itself was unusual, Corran was usually the first one to show up for these meetings. Wedge had to wonder if there had been more fallout from the incident in the training hall. Unfortunately, Wedge couldn?t put off the meeting for much longer. He?d just have to fill in Corran later.

?Before we start,? Wedge said. ?Has anyone seen Corran? If not, we?ll start without him."

Inyri glanced at Gavin for a moment. She knew that she should tell Wedge the truth, but Corran had been so adamant that she keep quiet. ?He had some of Gavin?s cooking. Needless to say, he?s recuperating.?

?Hey!? Gavin exclaimed. ?It wasn?t that bad!?

Wedge shook his head. ?I?ll put Corran in for a bravery commendation when we get home."

He took one last look around to make sure his pilots, save Corran, were there. At the far end were Hobbie and Wes, casually talking under their breath. After one comment, Wedge could see Hobbie burst into a laughing fit. Wes must have told him that new dumb Agamarian joke again, judging by the head-bobbing he was now doing. Across from them sat Tycho and Inyri, both casually reading over their datapads, trying to ignore the childish antics of Wes and Hobbie. Closer to Wedge were Pash Cracken and Ace Azzameen, as well as Iella Wessiri and Face Loran.

?Let?s get going,? Wedge said. ?Most of you know Tyria Sarkin and Kell Tainer, two of the Wraiths prior to their disbandment by NRI.? He nodded to his side, where the two intelligence agents stood.

?They?ve been intercepting transmissions coded with Impnet encryptions for the last month, approximately the same time in which we stole their Phantom. Partial decrypts suggest that they are being sent by a technician very close to Imperial Moff Jeris Celia."

Wedge nodded to Kell, who dimmed the lights in the room and turned on the holoprojector. The device sputtered to life for a moment, before fizzling out. Shaking his head, Kell slammed his fist into the unit, bringing it back to life. The image of a Phantom TIE cutaway appeared.

?As you may know, attempts to find some sort of weakness to exploit in the cloaking device of the Phantom have come up short. All of the electronic commands are hard-coded into the device itself, rather than having a software package do the work. Our tech?s can?t risk tampe

 

kriff... erm... I mean... what is that Lightsaber doing there? It's not exactly a 'normal' toy. Um... *hides her toy lightsaber* Now I wonder what's gonna happen when Corran uses his skills in diplomacy and confronts Dap with his find.

You know, judging your writing, and judging your writing in the context it was written are two different pairs of shoes. Sadly... those don't always fit together. Your earlier writing is bound to be of a lower quality that your later writing. We have a saying in German: Es ist noch nie ein Meister vom Himmel gefallen. (No master has ever fallen from the sky) This means as much as: even those poor buggars who we count as masters of a discipline had to practice to get where they are now. So stop beating yourself up for what you consider lesser quality, and start giving yourself credit for getting better.

okay... I seriously need to get out of the classroom more often.

 

Hmm, Darvix is a Jedi or was his father one?

Nice update

 

Oooh that's just what Mara and Mirax need. An impressionable young protegé

Oh. There's a fic in there.


His own temper had a tendency to get him into a great of trouble, something Skywalker was always getting on his case about.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Corran and Mara Jade are such fabulous friends.

He didn?t need the Force to know that, just good old CorSec intuition.

Of course it's the CorSec intuition that he learned back home on his Glorious Corellia.

Of course, he used to wonder what Luke saw in Mara Jade, and there was definitely something there.

I love you forever for slipping this in.

Of course, we all wonder what Mirax sees in him. (Well, I don't, 'cause Corran's a hottie! )

Wedge shook his head. ?I?ll put Corran in for a bravery commendation when we get home."

I love smartass Wedge. He should make appearances more often.

?Most of you know Tyria Sarkin and Kell Tainer,

YAAAAYYY!!!

two of the Wraiths prior to their disbandment by NRI.?

BOOOOOOOOOO!!!

In his hand was a worn, but likely still fully functional Jedi lightsaber.

I THINK MY THEORY NUMBER ONE WAS RIGHT.

...I really hope that my theory number two isn't right.

 

He he he he he!

Just confirmed my lingering suspicions.

 

Whoa, plot twist ahead!

Very interesting, Lane!

I'll second what JediMara77 said - I love Wedge like that!

 

LadyReva - Corran suddenly has a bit of a dilemma on his hands, doesn't he?

Thanks again for the kind words

Earlybird - Now that's a question that should be answered within the next few chapters

Nanci

Oh. There's a fic in there.

I nominate you to write it

Of course it's the CorSec intuition that he learned back home on his Glorious Corellia.

I bet the other Rogues have gotten pretty good at tuning out Corran's tales of CorSec heroism on the Glorious Corellia

Of course, he used to wonder what Luke saw in Mara Jade, and there was definitely something there.

I love you forever for slipping this in.

Hey I mentioned Luke earlier. I had to slip that line in somehow

Of course, we all wonder what Mirax sees in him.

And that is one of the great mysteries of the Galaxy. I wonder how often Booster asks that question?

Well, I don't, 'cause Corran's a hottie!

I will take your word for that

I love smartass Wedge. He should make appearances more often.

Smartass!Wedge is so, so, so much fun to write.

I THINK MY THEORY NUMBER ONE WAS RIGHT.

Sure is trending that direction, eh?

Hazel - And with that little discovery another layer of intrigue is added

DMC - Just a weee bit of a twist! And yes, that Wedge is a blast to write.

Thanks for reading all, next chapter below.

 

Chapter Twelve - Beware of Additional Personnel

By 0600 Corran was set to depart from Darvix's home. As far as he was concerned, the sooner he was back with the rest of the Rogues, the better. He had taken a big risk in going after Darvix, but after his find last night he knew that it had been worth the danger. Skywalker had been right to assume the artifacts were here, but Corran hadn?t expected to find them with such ease. Luke would be ecstatic to get the holocrons to put in the Library.

More than that, Corran was sure these new findings would give Skywalker enough reason to finally investigate Darvix.

It was somewhat ironic. Here was a young flyboy who hated the Jedi and everything they stood for, yet, Corran knew the truth. Months ago, he had put Darvix into a Force-induced hypnosis after the young pilot had suffered an emotional breakdown on the way to Telos. The moment he reached out with the Force to calm the young pilot, Corran felt something unusual. For a long while, Corran had dismissed it as little more than the young pilot's nerves acting up on him.

Then came the escape with the stolen Phantom Fighter

In the space above Telos, Darvix should have died. With the intertial compensator in his Gunboat dead, there was no way for him to reach the ejection lever to punch out of the cockpit. Just as he was about to give up, the lever flew forward. The kid had attributed the ejection to sheer luck, it must have been an electrical short that allowed him to bail out. Perhaps a sudden acceleration jarred the handle forward Corran knew better, however. Skywalker often liked to say that there was no such thing as luck.

Especially for a Force-sensitive like Darvix.

***

Darvix Zorvan woke up with a start, bolting upright. He swallowed and tried to regulate his breathing, depressing a tiny switch behind his ear that activated his cybernetic eyes. He blinked a few times as the blue hue of his augmented sight filled his vision.

He had been having the same blasted dream since he found out the Rogues were heading to Telos. It was the same every time, the little Twi'lek girl in front of him. The blaster in his hand. The actual event had happened years ago, but the images were still so vivid in his mind. As he tried to calm himself, his non-mechanical hand slowly clenched and unclenched. Darvix knew it shouldn?t bother him anymore, the boy in his dream holding that blaster was long dead, replaced with the man who flew for the New Republic, putting his life on the line to protect the freedom of countless species.

Darvix lay back down, resting his head on his pillow and turning on to his side. For a moment, he was startled to see a young woman in bed next to him, nestled right up against him. His nerves settled down as he realized it was only Cheriss. There weren?t enough beds in the house, so Darvix had offered his to Cheriss. When she refused to remove Darvix from his own bed, the two got into a bit of a quarrel. In the end, both were so exhausted they had chosen to share it.

That was like a scene out of a bad holodrama, he mused to himself.

He couldn?t quite believe how lucky and fortunate he was. In the middle of war-time, he had fallen in love with a young woman who felt the same way towards him. Sure, she could be rude and abrasive, but Darvix admired that in her. Perhaps that?s one thing he was looking for in a partner. The life of a fighter pilot was dangerous, and the life expectancy of a pilot reflected that danger. He could take solace in the fact that if anything happened to him; he knew she would have the strength to carry on.

He tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear, tilting his head to the side and gazing at her. A pang of regret filled him. He longed to be able to see her with real eyes, not the cybernetic machines he was forced to cope with. Darvix wished he could see her as she really was, not just the blue outline with faint features that his cybernetic eyes saw. It was just another reason to hate the Imperials. Had those warlords and moffs not stockpiled Bacta

 

They were an odd couple, but then again, so were Mirax and himself.

no matter who had ended up with Corran... it would have been an odd couple.

And what does Corran do when things don't add up? He goes digging... until he's good and annoyed pretty much everyone around him.

Nice post

 

?His mother told him that he was killed by the Jedi.?

. . .

?Do you believe that?? He asked the smuggler.

?That the Jedi killed his father?? Trrax replied. ?Not for a minute. It just doesn?t make sense.?


For the record - I don't believe that either!

 

Good update - I like the end, especially. I'm interested to see what really happened with his father.