Saga - Legends “Appointment with death”, short stories around my OC Cassandra

“Appointment with death”, short stories originally meant for the spring bingo 2023… ha, ha! This shows how busy being a kindergarten teacher means for hobbies such as writing fan fic.


Story 1: “Ashes, ashes”

Author: AzureAngel2

Main editor: @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Co-editor and muse: @DarthUncle

Length: at least 2741 words, using the words: awakening, procession, bonfire, egg, and sowing

Summary: Of late, the dark side had too many triumphs throughout the known universe. Therefore the Cosmic Force tries to balance itself out. One trusted adversaries is on her way to help out. Her esteemed ancestors were regarded as gate keepers by other Naboo. Will the young woman be able to restore the honour of her ancient house? Bring the Undead to surrender to the natural order of things?

Time frame: The story takes place in 34 ABY.

Planets of choice: Ilum, Naboo, Jakku, Ahch-To and Takodana

Disclaimer: SW is owned by George Lucas, Lucas Ltd. and now The Walt Disney Company

Do you believe in heaven above
Do you believe in love
Don't tell a lie don't be false and untrue
It all comes back to you

Open fire!
On my burning heart
I've never been lucky in love
My defences are down
A kiss or a frown
I can't survive on my own

If a girl walks in and carves her name in my heart
I'll turn and run away
Everyday we've all been led astray
It's hard to be lucky in love

It gets in your eyes
It's making you cry
Don't know what to do
Don't know what to do
You're looking for love
Calling heaven above

Send me an angel
Send me an angel
Right now, right now

Empty dreams can only disappoint
In a room behind your smile
But don't give up,
Don't give up
You can be lucky in love

It gets in your eyes
It's making you cry
Don't know what to do
Don't know what to do
You're looking for love
Calling heaven above

Send me an angel
Send me an angel
Right now, right now.


Starkiller Base, located on the ice planet of Ilum in the Unknown Regions:

The holoprojection is as majestic as it is immense. About twenty-five foot tall. Just to drive the notion home who is in charge around here. It is certainly not Hux who just has been send off with new orders.

Kylo Ren smirks underneath his helmet as his opponent struts away like some mannequin on the catwalk.

“There has been an awakening.” Supreme Leader Snoke's voice is heavy with foreshadowing, while saying thus. “Have you felt it?”

Immediately, the young man thinks about her, the hostage from the oubliette. But then again, his master cannot possibly know about his little and rather embarrassing secret. Therefore, the darksider considers to answer the question as simple and truthful as possible. “Yes,” he clips.

“The Dark Side and the Light,” Snoke moves on reverently.

Relief spreads through the young man. His master just refers to an overall general awakening in the Force. That makes sense!

As Kylo Ren draws in a deep, relaxing breath, there is a sudden pain in his chest. This unnerving pull to the light again! An echo from that moment of ineffable peace when, months earlier, he had gazed at the sleeping occupant of the stasis sith casket. She had looked like an Iego angel food cake: light, sweet and, most of all, tasty.

A bitter smile curves his lips.

There is a Corellian saying which insists that it's unwise to wake sleeping canines.

Anger boils up in the powerful Force user, racing through his veins. Dark red shades superimpose his vision.

The moment he had dared to kiss that mouth, an immediate Jedi mind meld had taken place. Thoughts, memories and emotions had been shared between them, until the woman had thrown insults and other things into his face with her telekinetic powers. What a temper!

Kylo Ren never has been lucky in love. It is simply not meant for him. But one day he will overthrow the Supreme Leader. Preferably cut in half like a nerf steak. But not with a mere knife. With his stalwart light saber.

He respects what his grandfather, Darth Vader, accomplished in the interests of the Galactic Empire. It is his greatest wish to complete this legacy. And, in addition, to became a tyrannical force to be reckoned with.

********************************************************************

The Gallo Mountain region, Naboo:

The Naboo believe that a soul which travels along the path of the sun, never returns again. But it's also known that souls which travel along the path of the moon return. Like the tides.

Some souls are reborn in a new body to finish missed goals. Others turn into evil spirits though.

Folklore from Grizmallt, having come along to Naboo with the first settlers, speaks of vetalas. Undead creatures that haunt cemeteries and take demonic possession of the corpses buried there.

A man called Dvaarapaal Paalpatain brought with him with the idea to burn the dead. After various incidents on burial sites with hungry Veermok beasts, mistaken for demons, the founding fathers and mothers started to warm up to the idea of cremation.

Ever since holy fire, started by a swami, cleanses the bodies of the deceased. This purification ritual enables them either for a journey towards the eternal light or another beginning on the mortal plane of existence.

The funeral procession of Gita Anil, who has died with almost a hundred years of age, is a solemn affair. It is accompanied by an army of her foster children and countless social workers from different planets.

“Madhura svapna
ghora-dama-svapna
mŗtyo, madhura svapna

Madhura svapna
ghora-dama-svapna

Madhura svapna
ghora-dama-svapna
mrtyo, madhura svapna

Ancient mantras, sacred utterances of the faithful, are spoken, while the flames eat into the laid out corpse.

Oh sweet sleep, ah
Rest subduing fear
Oh death, sweet sleep

Oh sweet sleep, ah
Rest subduing fear

Oh sweet sleep, ah
Rest subduing fear
Oh death, sweet sleep

When evening comes around and the funeral pyre is nothing more but a bed of embers, Crix Madine lets go of his lover's gloved hand. His voice is rough and raw from tears. “Thanks, Mon, for coming with me.”

“It was the least that I could do,” the former Chancellor of the New Republic, dressed in jet-black mourning attire for the occasion, replies.

“But now it's time for you to return to Perrin's side,” the seasoned freedom fighter tells her straightforward.

First there is shock, then protest. “I will not leave you like this!”

“You have to,” Crix Madine insists ever so calmly. “At dawn I will have a bath with my sisters and brothers at the nearby waterfalls. At it is customary.”

In her head she is already looking for arguments to participate, but he has not finished speaking yet.

“Besides, the Asthi Sanchaya ritual is in four days. To prolong your stay on Naboo until then would make your husband suspicious. He still believes me to have perished during the attack on Chandrila thirty years ago. We really should keep it this way.”

“I have been away far too often, when it really mattered”, Mon Mothma argues.

“But you always came back to me, when I need you.”

While saying thus, the highly trained covert agent uses his smoulder on her, hoping it will do it's usual charme. But the Chandrilan does not move an inch. Instead she stands as rigid as she always has done during her speeches in the Imperial senate.

He sighs. “Mon, I perhaps should not stress it, but I am not Leida.”

The mentioning of her daughter runs like an electric charge through her entire body. She is unable to suppress the effect.

“Therefore I am able to forgive you everything you've ever said and done”, Crix ensures her. “Including your explicit order to bring Cassandra Krennic in after the Destruction of DS-1.”

Mon Mothma is on edge. This is classified knowledge. But then again, he was always one of her best spies.

“You do not need to deny it. Why do you think Vader killed my brother in the first place?” His blue eyes glint at her. “Because Drav was just another rebel soldier standing in his way on a mission for the Emperor? The usual collateral damage? Oh no, Mon! The dark lord knew about the death warrant concerning his precious ward.”

Her heart contracts. Why does he think so low of her? Of course, she had to make difficult decisions in the past. But she had never condemned people to die at the hand of intelligent agents. Her job had been to make inspiring speeches, to rally the troops and convince planets to aid their cause.

“You really do believe me to capable of such an order?” she inquires, her shoulders hunched.

“Drav always was a loose cannon. As his taskmaster you knew. But this did not hinder you to grant him certain privileges as long as you were able to claim innocence.” His voice has become low and urgent. “Can't you see that you literally gave him the ammunition to go after one of us?”

She purses her lips. “True, she is a war orphan with no family left. But to regard the director's daughter as one of you, isn't that a bit much?”

The former Imperial looks stricken. “Palpatine found a way to hold on to Nagina's soul and put it in a new body.”

Mon Mothma blinks several times like a lost, little convor. Fact is that she remembers that particular foster sister of Crix all too well.

Mistress Samye had gotten tangled up in the fall of the Galactic Republic and had been forced to live in exile on Lothal. With no other than the notorious Orson Krennic as her guard. But he failed. Saw Gerrera and his partisans managed to kill the kindergarten teacher.

For a while only the sound of the dying pyre is to be heard.

“You never told me!” The voice of the former rebel leader is small and somewhat reproachful.

Crix Madine shifts, his expression uncomfortable. “We even kept it away from Gita while she was still alive. How can you explain something like this to anybody? Sounding reasonable? Even sane?”

The retired head of state had rather confidential insights into the Imperial cloning program. People like Kanan Jarrus, Ahsoka Tano and Commander Rex had made her aware of the array of projects undertaken by Palpatine.

While gazing into the glowing embers Mon Mothma speaks in a slow, deliberate tone, “And Palpatine really did something like this to his own niece? Forced Resurrection?”

Her long-time lover shrugs. “Sith lords have a strange concept of family life and happiness. Just look at General Skywalker and his twin-sister.”

Trained as a diplomat, she tries to change the subject. “What makes you so sure that it's really her, Nagina?”

“Oh, we got all the necessary facts by Cassandra's actual godfather.”

She wraps herself for the next emotional impact.

“Alexsandr Kallus.”

“Of course,” she breathes once the name is out in the open. “After the Battle of Endor he must have helped her to avoid the authorities.”

“Cassandra managed to settle down on Jakku and married Lor San Tekka.” He looks stricken. “But about ten years ago she vanished. She might be dead for all we know.”

***************************************************************

The destroyed Tuanul settlement, Kelvin Ravine, Jakku:

Simos keeps smoking her pipe. It is filled with Kinnikinnick, her own herbal smoking mixture. Her gaze is inwards, not directed at the destruction around her. With low hums she moves her torso forth and back. Her old bones resonate.

“Snake woman shedding her skin
Shedding, shedding, shedding her skin...”

The visions come and go as the Force wills it.

“Bird woman taking flight
Taking, taking, taking flight...”

The shaman of the Whills gets up from her seated position with an ease that betrays her true age.

“Star woman shining bright
Shining, shining, shining bright…”

She looks towards the bonfire. With nobody else left alive in Tuanul she has erected it all by herself.

“I should have told Lor about the whereabouts of his wife, when I still could,” she mumbles.

It has been extremely bad timing on Simos behalf. But with her mind being in the Netherworld of the Force most of the time, she simply had missed the attack of the First Order.

“Moon woman riding the night
Riding, riding, riding the night...”

Even the precious star map with the route towards the famous Luke Skywalker was gone.

“Blossom woman opening wide
Opening, opening, opening wide...”

The Force seems to have willed all this.

Who is she to stand in the way?

The shaman of the Whills rumbles around in the pockets of her skirt, where she finds the items that she needs. Sage leaves. She delivers them straight into the fire, keen on cleaning the polluted air at least ritually.

Her chant fills the village square again.

“Snake woman shedding her skin
Shedding, shedding, shedding her skin…”

The First Order will get what it deserves, as the Force wills it. So will Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma.

“Rage, rage against the dying of the light, Cassandra,” Simos whispers into the hot, merciless desert day, “And death shall have no dominion. Not on Exegol. Not anywhere else.”

********************************************************************

Temple Island on Ahch-To:

Luke Skywalker wipes the spray out of his greying beard. Even here in the breeding habitat of the Porg, surrounded by all their reproachful, little faces and eggs, he keeps thinking of Nagina San Tekka. The first wife of his old friend.

“I must be jinxed by a Night Sister. There is no other explanation,” he mutters as he leaves the bird colony at the edge of the cliff.

All too soon for his taste, his legs stride towards the place he has been avoiding since weeks. His entire body is drawn to it like a Sith pathfinder.

“Whatever!”

The ancient, mossy husk of the uneti tree is still where it's supposed to be. A bulwark against the tides and weather changes. He disappears into the opening and further on into the semi-darkness of the trunk.

Down here the former Jedi Master has gathered a collection of eight bound books and scrolls that date back to the dawn of the Jedi Order.

“Here we go,” he speaks to himself, picking up the volume in which he suspects the family history of House Palpatine. He is right. Several heartbeats later his eyes fly over the scriptures.

One of the Emperor's ancestors had been a grave digger. He also had been responsible for maintaining the peace and order of the graveyard. Doing so, he acted as its warden, offering protection from possible robbers and defilers.

When encountering a demon one night, the deeply religious man additionally acquired the important skill to stop creatures from leaving a resting place. It became family tradition.

With a loud clap Luke Skywalker shut the book.

The way he sees it the Palpatines once where gate keepers. They fought necromancers and demonic creatures instead of joining their ranks.

The former Jedi Master cannot imagine messing around with life and death.

Mara's demise had been hard. But he never harboured any ambitions of bringing his wife back from the dead.

“Why Father wanted that for Mother totally escapes me,” he bites out and kicks a small stone pebble down the staircase.

True love means to let go. Obsession leads to unhealthy results.

“I hope that he saw the sheer madness of his actions with Darth Momin.”

********************************************************************

Nymeve Lake close to the smoking ruins of Kanata's castle, Takodana:

Very much like Ben Solo, also known as Kylo Ren these days, the woman in front of her has central heterochronia. Rather than possessing one distinct eye colour, people with this condition have a different colour near the border of their pupils.

The iris of the visitor is predominantly hazel with darker inner and outer rings of grey.There are also blue and green tinges.

Maz Kanata has gazed into these eyes before. Not once but countless times. During relaxed dinner sessions with an old friend and companion of her crypt adventures.

“The condemned live longer! About twenty-three years as it seems!” ” she announces to everybody present, including her gang. “But you are not welcome here any more! Not after what you pulled with Lor! He deserves better, much better. There was not even a letter of good-bye.”

The pirate queen is known to be loyal towards her friends and those in her service.

“Sixteen guns are pointed at me, oh Benevolent!” Mistress Cassandra points out, giving her best to appear cool. “What ever happened to your 'No fighting!' slogan?”

With that the pirate queen raises her blaster pistol again. “Drastic measures in drastic times. Especially after the recent hostilities with the New Order.”

With her palms outstretched, Mistress Cassandra saunters closer. “Instead of gunning me down, folks, I'd rather like to know where Benny Bunny is hiding,” she comments sourly. “I want to flay him alive for what he did here.”

There is awkward silence, but not for long.

“Your flag collection! The prayer flags from Ando Prime. Even the Bonta Eve trophies!” the red-haired human woman calls out in true shock. “I don't believe it! Darth' insignia, this madman burned it down as well!”

Maz Kanata sighs. “The boy did much more than that.”

“Boy?” Mistress Cassandra laughs dryly. “Solo must be, what, thirty-five by now? Old enough to answer for his crimes if you ask me.”

Following a sudden insight, the pirate queen lowers her weapon and gives her crew a sign to follow her example. The human woman facing them does not radiate an evil aura.

Sowing violence like the First Order is not helpful.

Maz Kanata sits down on a crate. Wordlessly, she invites her surprise guest to join her.

“Make up your mind, queenie!” Arrogance builds up in Mistress Cassandra. “First you want me dead and gone. Now a sudden parley.”

She stares the human woman down.

“Okay, I will listen, Maz. But first know that some crazy Sith cultist put me in an oubliette. I never meant to leave my husband like this.” Tears smart out of her eyes. “Since I am out of it, I tried hard to get back to Jakku. But this new regime made it impossible for me to…”

“Shush now!” The pirate queen takes hold of Mistress Cassandra's hands. “What I have to say to you now, will not be easy for you. But rejoice for Lor! He has become one with the Force.”


Sources:
The song “Send me an angel” by Real Life (1983)
Lyrics from “Padmé's Destiny” by John Williams from the movie “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”
The chant “Snake woman” by Starhawk (1987)
Wookieepedia – The Star Wars Wiki
Hidden quotes from SW movies and the SW universe

 

@AzureAngel2 -- excellent scenes that you weave together expertly.

 

Thanks, Ny! And if you find some mistakes still then let me know and I write your name down under beta editor.

 

Great to see you back and writing again with your exciting stories telling about Cassandra and her involvement with important events. Come back more with this

 

I should not do that with my massive tendonitis, @earlybird-obi-wan. But since it´s the left hand and I am bored to death being handicaped...


Story 2: “Temptation”

Author: AzureAngel2

Main editor: @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Co-editor and muse: @DarthUncle

Length: at least 3.147 words, using the words: migration, thaw, candle, colours, bunny

Summary: Due to the recent triumphs of the dark side, it is a though business to get the scales of the Force back to balance.

Time frame: The story takes place in 34 ABY.

Planets of choice: Tatooine, Naboo and Chandrila

Disclaimer: SW is owned by George Lucas, Lucas Ltd. and now The Walt Disney Company


Upon a darkened night the flame of love was burning in my breast
And by a lantern bright I fled my house while all in quiet rest
Shrouded by the night and by the secret stair I quickly fled
The veil concealed my eyes while all within lay quiet as the dead

Oh night, thou was my guide
Oh night, more loving than the rising sun
Oh night, that joined the lover to the beloved one
Transforming each of them into the other

Upon that misty night in secrecy, beyond such mortal sight
Without a guide or light than that which burned so deeply in my heart
That fire t'was led me on and shone more bright than of the midday sun
To where he waited still it was a place where no one else could come

Oh night, though was my guide
Oh night, more loving than the rising sun
Oh night, that joined the lover to the beloved one
Transforming each of them into the other

Within my pounding heart which kept itself entirely for him
He fell into his sleep beneath the cedars all my love I gave
From o'er the fortress walls the wind would his hair against his brow
And with its smoothest hand caressed my every sense it would allow

Oh night, though was my guide
Oh night, more loving than the rising sun
Oh night, that joined the lover to the beloved one
Transforming each of them into the other

I lost myself to him and laid my face upon my lovers breast
And care and grief grew dim as the mornings' mist became the light
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair


The dewback migration route, Northern hemisphere of Tatooine:

There was just scorching heat and vast emptiness. Why she had asked Maz' pirates to drop her off here, of all places, Cassandra could not tell. She must have been out of her mind.

But returning to Jakku would have achieved nothing. Only pain and the dead waited for her in the Kelvin Ravine.

Cassandra stared into the dunes ahead of her, motionless. Her heart had turned into an enormous chunk of ice. It would never thaw again, of that she was sure.

According to the pirate queen Lor, her beloved husband, had been slain by no other than Ben Solo. Killed over a star chart that paved the way to find the famous Luke Skywalker.

“I just hope you did not suffer much, my darling,” she whispered into the hot desert wind. “That you died quick and are one with the Force now.”

Cassandra felt guilty that she had given Lor the map in the first place. The ancient records had included a number of worlds rich in the Force. An innocent seeming wedding present for an historian and treasure hunter, but she should have known better. Any heirloom of House Palpatine carried with it a deadly curse. There was no other plausible explanation.

“Unless... you knew Lor and I were not only married in this life but in my life before that,” she figured, thinking of Ben Solo. And the kiss that he should have never dared to forced on her.

Her hunched shoulders tightened.

Since her eighteenth birthday Cassandra knew that she had undergone reincarnation. A forced one, but still. Her chakra and her soul had been put in a new vessel, a clone copy of her former self, by dark Sith magic.

The unwanted mind-melt with Ben must have torn those secrets from her brain. Secrets that were not his to have.

“I will find you and I will kill you.”

Those words filled her with a new purpose.

Apart from the constant desert breeze there was silence. Even by the Force itself. She was alone with her feelings.

Cassandra remained starring and plotting.

When the sun started to settle down, she fisted her hands. “I will come for you, Ben! But first I will have a chat with your uncle. The greatest coward alive!”

There were ways for her to find Luke, her second cousin, in his self-chosen exile. Paths, no one but herself was able to thread on. For her blood linked her not only to the infamous Sheev Palpatine.

The World between Worlds, also known as the Vengeance Scatter, was home turf for her since her youth. She just needed an exit, a door way inside.

“Chuba!!” Someone called out all of a sudden in Huttese. You!!!

Cassandra knew that voice as well as the man it belonged to. Even though he began to enter her personal comfort zone in quite an unbearable way, she stayed as still as a rock.

“Perhaps you are keen on a sky burial?” her old foe murmured into her ear. “I can manage that. You need but to ask and I can take you apart inch by inch. The local scavenging animals will be pleased about such an Imperial meal.”

It took Cassandra enormous strength to answer politely. “No, thank you, Mister Fett! This is not Ando Prime. And you, of all people, are not a Dai bendu monk.”

“Yet, you seem to harbour an urgent death wish,” the notorious crime lord concluded darkly. “Or why did you come to my realm?”

“Excuse me?” She jerked around to face her old foe. “Your realm?”

Mister Fett was dressed in black Tusken garbs and not in his famous Mandalorian armour. His head and most of his face were covered by a cloth. His brown eyes, as hard and merciless as ever, drilled into hers. He was leaning on a gaderffii stick.

“Your realm,” Cassandra repeated furiously a second time, “The desert belongs to nobody. It is but a natural extension of the inner silence of the body.”

The elderly man laughed humorously. “Spoken like a Jedi knight.”

“I am not Jedi,” she snapped back. “Never was. And before you dare to drag Lord Vader into this, I am no Sith either.”

His eyes turned into murderous slits. “What you are is a great annoyance like Krennic.”

The mentioning of the person who had taken her in and adopted her, added more weight to her already heavy heart. She hung her head.

But Mister Fett was not finished yet. With the speed of a sand snake he reached for her head scarf and tore it off. “Look, your red hair flies in the wind like an Imperial flag!” he roared and grabbed a handful of strands with his gloved fingers. “Calling out to the troops!”

She made no move to free herself.

“You come here uninvited, bringing trouble along to my planet and my people,” Mister Fett exclaimed. “I want you gone. Now!”

“You cannot order me around like one of your minions!” Cassandra stated, her eyes fixed on the dune sea. “Besides there is no Empire any more, but the First Order trying to take out the New Republic.”

“This is not my problem,” he spit out and started to pull her even closer by the hair strands that he already had in his fist.

“It is bad for business, isn't it?” she gave to consider.

“You are bad news!” Mister Fett stated. “Always were!”

They were almost nose to nose. She did not flinch though, looked straight into the hateful abyss of his eyes.

“I am what is left of your beloved Nagina. Therefore you would not harm me.”

Slightly, he shook his head. “You assume too much.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that her destiny was not over when Saw Gerrera and his men murdered her? That the Unifying Force…”

“Kee baatu batuu.” He rose his gaderffii stick, ready to bash her head in. You bother me.

But she would not die like this. Not by his hands. Of that she was certain. Her fate lay else where. “If you give me one of your best ships and a new identity, I will stop bothering you! Oh and some weapons. I need decent laser weapons.”

Roaring laughter engulfed her, but instead of letting her go Mister Fett pushed her to the ground.

Fearlessly, she gazed up to him. “Gai bal manda.”

Her words wrenched a rasping sound from his throat. He raised his weapon in blind furry. “It does not concern you!”

“But Nagina took you in, right? Claimed you right there in the arena, while you still held on to your father's severed head.”

The gaderffii stick came down, but missed her head by an inch.

Cassandra stayed still. “I have seen it in my dreams.”

“You are not her!” Mister Fett yelled on top of his lungs. “Just a bad copy!”

“Call it a life debt,” she shrugged, before the club came down again. This time it did not miss.

********************************************************************

Theed Medical Centre, Naboo, a couple of days later:

A lone candle burned on her night stand, when Cassandra woke up from uneasy dreams. There should not be an open fire like this in her room. Especially not in this facility. Aghast, she stared at it. And at all the Milla flower bouquets that basically flooded her hospital room.

Somebody felt very sorry for her. But she knew that it was not Mister Fett. The notorious gangster boss had not felt an inch of regret, when he had dropped her off at the stairs of this hospital. Back then she had been more dead than alive.

Cassandra felt a presence in a corner of the room. And the vague scent of an expensive perfume tickled in her restored nose.

“You should have not gone to that clone when collecting old favours,” a female speaker told her in a sultry tone of voice.

Even though it was difficult to lift herself up, Cassandra gave her best to do so anyway.

Through the slits of her bandages she gazed at a middle aged Falleen woman.

Her visitor was donned in exquisite robes that complimented her olive green skin. She wore her long, black hair in a tail.

“I fear that crazy clone took your request for a new identity by far too literal,” her visitor moved on. “Reconstructive surgery is a very painful way to achieve anonymity. The only good decision that Boba Fett made was contacting me.”

A shiver went through Cassandra's body. She had a vague idea about the identity of her nightly visitor.

“My uncle Xizor was quite smitten by you. In another life that is. So he had enough holo pictures of your adoptive father and his family. I shared them with your medical team. They tried to mould your features into something that shows that you are a true Krennic after all.”

Savan sauntered closer, every movement flawless elegance. “It is amazing, you still smell like Nagina. Even though you are another version of her. An avatar really.”

Cassandra had nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. All she had was a hospital nightgown, a bandaged head and immense pain.

“I am doing this for the nice kindergarten teacher that once helped me when I got lost in a museum.” The Falleen woman took her trembling hands. “If my uncle was still alive, he also would have helped you. But not with a gaderffii stick. Those Kamino clones are really a bunch of lunatics.”

A gurgling sound escaped her burning throat as Savan softly pressed her fingers together.

“You need not fear me, Cassandra. I mean you no harm. Not even what happened to my uncle due to Lord Vader. It was not your fault. Collateral damage between them was inevitable. Look at what happened to the rest of my family, my home planet. No, you are not to blame. Not for any of it.”

The Falleen woman paused and moved her lovely face very close. Her purple eyes glowed with lust and pleasure.

“If you want revenge on Ben Solo, go ahead! Be my guest! I would appreciate it very much if you took out his entire family as well. But it is up to you to decide that.”

To kill Han Solo, Leia Organa or Luke Skywalker had never been an option for Cassandra. If she liked it or not, she was related to them in weird ways as well.

The Falleen woman took her right hand and kissed it gently. “The bandages are off by the end of the week and you need another three weeks of bacta tank sessions. Plus decent physio...”

“Who are you?” a flustered member of the hospital staff asked, entering the room unannounced. “And who gave you permission to light a candle in here around midnight? Besides, visiting hours are from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., lady.”

With a beguiling smile Savan licked over her right thumb tip and most of her index finger, leaned forward and extinguished the candle flame. Her breasts came a bit too close for Cassandra's taste while she did that. “Since I am the one who pays this woman's hospital bills, I can do whatever I like.”

“Not on my watch!” the human male gave back. He was in his early thirties and looked like a local.

The Falleen woman sighed with regret and took Cassandra's hands one more time. “They had to lock up Aurra Sing because she could not get enough of you. I clearly understand why that is. You are indeed eye candy.”

“Stop harassing my patients, lady!” the male nurse exclaimed.

Savan got up and walked past the human man with a dark look. “You may keep your pathetic little life and your job!” Then she turned around and blew Cassandra a kiss. “Nighty night, sweetie pie! You are free to dream of me! Even something naughty!”

Sweetie pie.

This was what her god father, Alexsandr Kallus, used to call her ages go.

Tears flooded her eyes. She must not contact him. He was happy with his new life. And should believe her to be dead.

The male nurse stormed towards her. “I hope this dirty lizard did not use her pheromones on you.”

Cassandra was about to answer when she realized that due to all her current bone surgeries she could not.

“There is no need to speak, Miss Boomer. All is well!” He gave her a sweet, ensuring smile. “Those pheromones do only work on the opposite sex. But that Falleen predator tried anyway. Phew, I must say I am quite dizzy here!”

Boomer. Her beloved Correlian hound. Mister Fett had re-named her after her long gone pet.

Cassandra did not know whether to laugh or to cry.

She was not even sure if she wanted to know her new given name.

“Aay'han.”

The male nurse got up from her bed again, trying to get some physical distance from her.

“I mean, Miss Boomer.” He flushed visibly. “I fear that I need to check in with my superior. I will send somebody else to keep an eye on you for tonight. Preferably a female colleague.”

With that he stormed out of the room.

Aay'han.

In the Mandalorian language that word described the bitter-sweet perfect moment of mourning and joy. The state between remembering and celebrating.

A single tear rolled out of her eyes.

There was some acknowledgement for her in Mister Fett still.

********************************************************************

Chandrila, the former Krennic property in the West Country:

It was dangerous returning to the places that connected her with her past. The notorious Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo would certainly have entire armies of spies to look out for her. Especially here at the Krennic property.

It was a sunny day in early spring and she had first visited the Anil farm, that was still inhabited by foster-kids of Gita and her husband Chetan. Nobody had recognized her for who she truly was. But they had accepted her to be family of Kelsa Krennic, once the wife of Agrippa.

Full of longing, Cassandra gazed at the little apple orchard close to the farm house. The trees were in full bloom.

She remembered much happier times. A childhood full of sweetness despite military affliction. Days in the sun, far away from Mustafar's lava rivers. Even her cousin, the Dark Lord, had liked to visit her here. But that had been in the months right after her father's death. He never would have welcomed Darth Vader while alive.

“Miauw?”

A black Tooka suddenly stood in front of her. It had basically come out of nowhere. No markings were on its fur.

Her sixth sense send tickling sensations all over her body.

Cassandra got on her knees.

“Miauw?”

Burning red eyes gazed back at her, reproachful and full of sorrow at the same time. She knew that look. Once a parent, always a parent. Even in the afterlife.

Cassandra bit her lip, drew some blood. “Sorry, Daddy!” she hiked and the tears ran over her new facial features like a river.

The cat dissolved into black mist that clung to her, but she was not frightened. It was a loving embrace and not an attempt to smother her.

“Here you were all the time and I searched in vain for you. Even above the skies of Scarif.”

“Silly!” a bodiless voice hissed into her ears, but it had more compassion that the gaderffii stick that Mister Fett had used to turn her skull into a mess.

“I cannot help it, because I am your daughter,” she sniffed. “I do not regret it. Apart from the hard times that I gave you now and again as a teenager. And yes, I could have cleaned my room much better and could have taken more responsibility for Boomer.”

There was so little time and so much to say. But she believed him to be aware of the son she had had with Zevulon Veers. And of her marriage with Lor San Tekka, that had come with the blessing of two more children.

“What I really want you to know is: I forgive you freeing me from my clone tank and Sheev. What I cannot possibly forgive you is project star dust. It was abysmal. So much death and destruction. Yet, I love you.”

In the distance she heard the very familiar clatter of battle armour.

The First Order could have gone for a totally different concept for their soldiers at least.

“They are coming. Please stop hugging me!” she begged. “Over and out!”

The mist dissolved into complacence. There was even chuckling on her father's behalf.

If Cassandra had known before it would be that easy, she would have stayed away from dangerous spells like the Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut. But as a scion of House Palpatine it was necessary for her to know the pain before the wound.

The task of her ancestors on Naboo had been overly clear: When restless souls caused corpses to raise from their grave sites or to linger between the planes of existence, the qabr khodanevaala had helped those unfortunate to find comfort and finally rest. No matter how!

If talking reasonable with the Emperor achieved nothing, she would use other arguments than a trusty shovel though.

Cassandra placed her Sun-dew flower bouquet on her grand-father's grave stone. “Good-bye, Daddy! Become one with the Force if it allows you to.”

Briefly, she closed her eyes, overcome by a sea of emotions.

When Cassandra was finally composed enough to look at the enemy, white and black were the dominant colours.

“You have entered a forbidden zone, civilian,” the First Order trooper let her know.

There were several scenarios to let this end. She chose the short cut. “You are out of line, trooper!” she stated regally and made a little hand gesture she had learned once upon a time.

“I am out of line,” the man repeated after a while.

“You might as well sit down and reflect your life,” Cassandra encouraged him.

“I might as well sit down and reflect my life,” he repeated.

“And take your helmet off!”

“My helmet off!” the First Order trooper echoed and did exactly as she requested.

Cassandra stared into the beardless face of a youth barely in his twenties. He looked so vulnerable. Before she knew what she did, she scooped down, took him into her arms and kissed him deeply. When she let go, he gazed at her with his eyes as wide as a radar dish.

“I was never here!” she ensured him.

“Never here!”

“An elderly neighbour brought the flowers along. You forgot her name, but she was smelly.”

With that Cassandra turned away and slowly walked off into the sun set.

Not only Benny Bunny aka Solo junior was able to play mind games. Hers were much more sophisticated.


Sources:
The song “Dark night of the soul” by Loreena McKennitt (1994), based on the poem by Saint John of the Cross written between 1577 and 1579
Wookieepedia – The Star Wars Wiki
Hidden quotes from SW movies and the SW universe

 

A new identity. Now she can live and get Kylo Ren

 

Ch 1:
Fantastic to have a new story from you again, and to see how Cassie is faring in the ST era! Looks like much like with our OT trio, she's been through a lonely ordeal and lost many of her allies. Unlike them, she's had zero time to adapt to the last decade's events -- it must be very jarring, especially given the revelations to come.

Great encapsulation of the way these three interact in that scene; Kylo's passive-aggressive narration about Hux is fun. As is the "I'm Snoke's favorite, nyah nyah" aura of his thoughts.

Before learning anything else, I have to admit my first reaction was: okay, what did Cassie say to a Sith Lord this time to get locked away? Though it sounds like in this case the sass happened after the kidnapping.

OI! KYLO! Stop kissing your cousin two-Siths-removed and think about the consequences of your actions for once! Gah...

Yeah... that's what you get for kissing total strangers, that are unconscious. I mean, come on! (The utter lack of self-awareness of "What a temper!" when he's the poster child for it, as well. ) Also like that he's just planning to pretend that she was never there, instead of explaining the escape. (And once Rey happens, that'll be two for two Force-sensitive prodigies that he's responsible for losing track of this week. )

Very evocative description of the various beliefs held on Naboo and other planets that connect to Cassie's situation.

I remember Gita fondly from the Nagina series; sad to see that she has passed on. The mourning rituals are beautiful tributes from her family and the many lives she touched. Crix and Mon seem to have a lot of issues, including the entire back catalog. Glad he survived, however, especially since he's one of the least hostile of the former Nagina-siblings.

Just imagining how that would sound, even in a place as wild and improbable as the SW galaxy. It's at least as weird as somehow Palpatine returning.

Simos has very good and familiar quotes! And I hope she'll find somewhere safe to go since it seems she's the only one left. If she's right about Cassie's path forward, then she's more central than she realizes.

I love "reproachful" as a descriptor for the porgs; that is just what they look like!

Yes, I seem to remember Nagina was pretty firm on that point too! It's a really fascinating take on the lore of the Palpatine family, being (at least at the start) the polar opposite of what you'd expect!

What a pickle! Cassie really needs a hug and all she's got are people ready to punch her lights out for one reason and another. Though I can certainly get why there would be questions when she just up and disappeared for a decade. And yes, I was starting to get a bad feeling, as it were, about her managing to get back to Lor. It seemed a bit late in the timeline for that...

And the reward for patching things up is More Bad News, though I'm glad that she was at least told by someone she knows well. But poor Cassie, to miss reuniting with her husband by a matter of days most likely.

 

@Kahara: I wonder what you think about the following chapter! I did everything to distract me from my pain.

Story 3: “Nor iron bars a cage”

Author: AzureAngel2

Co-editor and muse: @DarthUncle

Length: at least 2.486 words, using the words: red & white yarn, love, hay fever, sacrifice, worker

Summary: It's a long way to Exegol and there are obstacles for our heroine and those who are on her side. It seems as if the shadows close in on everybody. As if the dark side swallows all.

Time frame: The story takes place in 34 ABY.

Planets of choice: Coruscant, Mustafar and Lothal

Disclaimer: SW is owned by George Lucas, Lucas Ltd. and now The Walt Disney Company


One, two, three, four
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh

Every time you come around, you know I can't say no
Every time the sun goes down, I let you take control
I can feel the paradise before my world implodes
And tonight had something wonderful

My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone
Conversations with a stranger I barely know
Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't
I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do

My bad habits lead to wide eyes stare into space
And I know I'll lose control of the things that I say
Yeah, I was lookin' for a way out, now I can't escape
Nothin' happens after two, it's true
It's true, my bad habits lead to you

Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
My bad habits lead to you
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
My bad habits lead to you

Every pure intention ends when the good times start

Fallin' over everything to reach the first time's spark
It started under neon lights, and then it all got dark
I only know how to go too far

My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone
Conversations with a stranger I barely know
Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't
I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do

My bad habits lead to wide eyes stare into space
And I know I'll lose control of the things that I say
Yeah, I was lookin' for a way out, now I can't escape
Nothin' happens after two, it's true
It's true, my bad habits lead to you

Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
My bad habits lead to you
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh

We took the long way 'round
And burned 'til the fun ran out, now

My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone
Conversations with a stranger I barely know
Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't
I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do

My bad habits lead to wide eyes stare into space
And I know I'll lose control of the things that I say
Yeah, I was lookin' for a way out, now I can't escape
Nothin' happens after two, it's true
It's true, my bad habits lead to you

Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
My bad habits lead to you
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
My bad habits lead to you


Coruscant:
Serving the Barma Battle Group as a gunner for many years had been an honour to Zevulon Veers. This way he felt like undoing all the dark deeds of his late father, a famous Imperial military hero. But right after the Battle at Core Nine the doubts had kept creeping in. Too much fighting, too many losses of dear comrades throughout the Galactic Civil War.

With the blessing of no other than General Hera Syndulla herself he had retired from his military duties. He had settled down here on Coruscant and had turned his head towards a childhood hobby of his.

To study Xenobiology so late in life had been challenging, but Zevulon had managed to make a decent living. Along the way he had fallen in love with a fellow student, Kiki, and had married her. Soon after, he had become the father of two daughters. A twin.

“I do not have a son!” he repeated flabbergasted, his face face feeling unaccountably warm.

“That's what Mother wanted you to believe. And, boy, she could keep a secret or two! But at some point every pregnancy comes out. In one way or another. Surprise!”

The stranger was in his early thirties. A lean and haggard individual with a sun tan and a silly goatee. He was a giant of about six feet. Masses of dark blond hair had been twisted into a chaotic top knot. The clothing was rustic, Outer Rim style really. It was his coat that was rather remarkable. Red and white yarn had been used to make lively flower patterns. Nothing a fashionable Coruscanti ever would wear. Not even at gun point.

“Are you sure that you do not wish to sell me death sticks?” Zevulon joked.

“Really?” His visitor seemed deeply offended. “You spot a man with long hair, unshaven and automatically believe him to be a drug dealer? What sort of Imperial fascist… argh!”

Before the stranger could move on, Zevulon grabbed him by his collar and dragged him inside the apartment. “The neighbours!” he hissed.

“As if they would not know that you once with COMPNOR, with the Empire!” the man snapped, while the door mechanism closed behind them. “I bet everybody on this planet knows, with your family name.”

The conversation had reached a dangerous point. Zevulon felt like taking his unwanted visitor down with a stun shoot. But when he reached for his holster invisible fingers tore the laser blaster away from him. It flew straight through the air.

“Really?” the visitor remarked. “You would gun down your own blood?”

With a loud clank the weapon collided with the opposite wall, broken.

There was nothing more dangerous than an emotional Force user. Therefore Zevulon started walking backwards as slowly and inconspicuously as he could.

“Listen, I am not very happy to make your acquaintance either, laser brain, but the First Order...” Tears of frustration and anger formed in the stranger's eyes. “They… killed them all. Not just the men, but the women and children, too.”

Fishing for words, Zevulon kept just staring at his visitor who was obviously losing it.

“Just don't bother!” The stranger cleaned his tears away with the back of his right hand. “It was a mistake to come, but we have no clue where Uncle Alex is.”

That rang a bell with Zevulon. “Alex? As in Agent Kallus?”

The man huffed. “Why mom fell for a sorry loser like you is a Force miracle. Luckily she left you and married when I was about three. She can be reasonable. Even though Darth begged to differ.”

Zevulon's heart skipped a beat or two.

Darth as in Darth Vader, the Emperor's enforcer and right-hand man. Only his Cas ever had the nerves to call the Commander-In-Chief thus. Even right into his masked face. Others had died for much less.

“Are you… could it be?” he managed to say to his son.

“All those summers in the West country. Swimming for hours and hours at Lake Sah'ot and you do not even remember her name, right? Why don' t you say it? It is so easy.”

Stricken, Zevulon reached for a wall to support his body. “You…” he started, but not even his voice was with him anymore.

“A man like you cannot fight the First Order. Leave alone Kylo freckin' Ren. What was I thinking! My siblings warned me to come here.” Bitter disappointment, caustic like acid, lay in the speech of his visitor. “It was a clearly a mistake reaching out for you. Namasté!”

While Zevulon was still trying to cope with the truth, his son had left the flat, but the door would not close as usual. As if the Force itself pried it wide open.

“Sorry, madam!” he heard his son say in the corridor. “If I had known that your husband was such a hypocrite, I never would have asked him to support for the Starlight Children's Foundation.”

There was mumbling.

“Keep your credits, madame! They will not stop the First Order taking children like the famous Kadara Calrissian. More action is asked for!”

Through the noises of his fast pumping heart he recognized Kiki's voice, but he still could not make out what his wife said. His son was much louder though. Like a Dai Bendu monk preaching to a congregation.

“I am not with Force for Change! Even though their claims are reasonable. To to empower and improve the lives of children around this galaxy is always the right course.”

Now Kiki asked something in a very sharp tone.

“The 501st Legion charity? Madame, I am a humble citizen of the New Republic as much as you are. Why would I side with shabby Clone War veterans, leave alone… oh, you do not believe me? Very well then. The truth might shock you. Be prepared!”

An awful silence befell the corridor.

“His Lordship personally changed my nappies. Not once, but countless times. Even though the MV nanny droid could have done it. And why? Just because I was precious to Darth Vader. As much as my mother.”

Zevulon heard his wife gasp. Fearing for her throat to get crushed by Force powers, he stormed outside the apartment.

His son looked straight at Kiki, his face a mask of contempt. He pursed his lips like Director Krennic always had, when being unpleasant with the people around him.

“Where was my father in all this, you may ask?” The other man suddenly focused on Zevulon while saying this. “Being part of the rebel alliance and a traitor. Not to the Empire. Oh no, much worse! A traitor towards my poor mother. The unfortunate girl who had the decency to let him follow his dreams.”

With those statements his son walked off with the stiffness of an Imperial officer.

********************************************************************

The semi-arid savannas and prairies of Lothal:

“I sense frustration, unfulfilled longing. If there ever was a Jedi temple here, then it is long gone. But the entrance is still wide open. The Force just does not answer back.”

The eyes of his sister Pratidhi were closed, her lovely features peaceful. The Force was with the twenty-four year old. As usual she was certainly committed to it.

And why would she not? She was such a strong, capable empath.

Without her, they would have arrived in the midst of the Tuanul slaughter. With a force of eighty First Order troopers Kylo Ren had descended on their home village. They only knew about the attack because the channels within the Church of the Force worked since the attack of the holy city on Jedha.

Muditā San Tekka, just three standard years younger than his sibling, kicked a pebble straight into Lothal's clean air. “This sucks!”

His Midi-chlorian account was bordering the ridiculous. He only knew sacred texts by heart like any dedicated member of the Church of the Force, could sing hymns and was instinctively able to read any map or star chart that represented to him.

Pratidhi lifted her head, her brown hair glittering in the afternoon sun. “We will find another way in. I am sure of it!”

A wry note crept into his voice. “In all his wisdom Father never had an emergency plan for us. Not like Grand-sire Orson. He would have come up with something clever, something drastic!” He let his eyes wander over the lush greenery around him. “A genius like him would have thought this through. Come on, he build the DS-1! Perhaps even DS-2!”

His sister got up, cleaned grass of her woollen skirts and joined him. “Grand-sire Orson ended up as stardust. I think he never even had a marriage of Mother and Father in mind. Leave alone the idea of her pregnancy from the Veers boy.”

Muditā made a face, thinking of his unfortunate half-brother. “Bay should never have gone to him. What good is a lone gunner in protecting us from the First Order? Or the New Republic?” He shook a fist in dismay. “Even the Imperial Remnant will be after us when the truth comes out.”

Of course, Pratidhi begged to differ. “There is always a new hope.”

“For us? Carrying Palpatine genes in our bodies and who knows what else in our souls? Think again, little sand hopper!”

She blew a light kiss on his furrowed brow. “We are luminous creatures, not this crude matter. All is transitory, in constant flow.”

There was so much love in Pratidhi, so much understanding. Right now, Muditā wished he could be more like her. But he felt helpless, angry and trapped in a bad place forever more.

“Perhaps we could find Master Skywalker before his nephew pays him a visit,” his younger sister mused.

“That is an affair we should stay totally out of. Do you copy?” Muditā was at the brink of panic.

When the dark side and the light side of the Force clashed against one another mere mortals better stayed out of it. The scales would balance themselves out sooner or later. Without their help.

“Let us return to Capital City!” Pratidhi suggested. “The congregation will be worried.”

He rolled his eyes at her, before a sudden attack of hay fever came over him. Sneezing, he stated, “The Church is always worried for us!”

“And the have good reason to do so! About twenty-three years ago Mother disappeared without a trace.”

Muditā gave a hollow laugh. “She might as well be dead for all we know.”

She shook her head. “We would have felt her passing!”

“And what do you believe happened instead? That some crazy sith cultist glued her into his Darth Vader fan album?”

“Mother is somewhere out there. I know she is.”

********************************************************************

Mustafar:

Skylights into lava tubes on pahoehoe flows were quite hot. Therefore they had to be approached from upwind. But the star ship's pilot knew that as much as his only passenger did. It was not their first time on this hostile planet.

They landed at the foot of the ruins of the once proud and impressive Vader stronghold.

Jori Lekauf nodded at his childhood friend. “I'll give you a moment by yourself. Just put on a respiratory mask, would you? Even when you attempt the Ujjayi Pranayama.”

Despite all Cassandra had been through recently, she smiled at the mentioning of the Victorious Breath or Ocean Breath. “Then I better go out and be... invincible.”

He gave her a thumbs up. “That's the spirit!”

She slit outside like a shadow.

When Cassandra had appeared in front of his office desk in the Galactic Alliance Guard headquarters, he had recognized her by her eyes only. And even that had been difficult.

Due to the recent head trauma that Cassandra had received by Boba Fett she had developed anisocoria. At first glance, it appeared her eyes were two different colours, but upon closer inspection, her pupils actually came in two different sizes now. A quite mysterious trait! Bur somehow it suited her.

From his pilot seat Jori watched her opening her arms wide, like a shaman woman lost in trance. But the tranquillity did not last long. Three minutes sharp she returned to his side.

“He came to me as Anakin Skywalker?!?” Her annoyance was palpable, even through her respiratory mask. “Can you imagine that?”

Jori actually could.

Cassandra was not finished with her misgivings. “He told me that we better take off before the Alazmec of Winsit caught wind of us! Really!?!”

When Jori had learned something from his grand-father, Erv Lekauf, it was always to follow orders without questioning. Especially when Darth Vader had given them. He started the ship's engines.

“We are to be afraid of some natives who worship him like a god? Who want us as a human sacrifice for His everlasting glory? C'mon! This is the worst bantha p…!”

The words died on Cassandra's lips all of a sudden.

About fifty cloaked Alazmec came running towards them, swinging their weapons.

Jori activated the deflector shields just in time. The first laser salves detonated around them. “Phew, close call!”

“CX-55 scatterblasters?” she shrieked. “They can't be serious!”

Fortunately, the ship had reached a reasonable altitude, when the first native tried to get attached to the hull. The creature glided away unceremoniously.

“Oh, Cas, they look rather serious about this.”

“They are supposed to be workers on the lava fields! Not a cult of sith huggers!” Her nostrils widened. “Of course, Vaneé! Only he could have told them to attack us!”

“Negative. The old man was reported dead by Jaxxon some years ago,” Jori replied gently and glanced sideways at her. “If is safe to say that his own madness killed him.”

“The fumes! We always warned him about the damned fumes.” Cassandra took off her mask in slow motion. “But like any addict he would not listen.”

With that she turned away from him, crying openly.

Jori switched on the auto pilot. Tentatively, he reached out for Cassandra and she accepted his hug.

When Vaneé had been still alive, the elderly steward had been a imposition, a mortal danger even. His absolute loyalty had been to Lord Vader. And since Cassandra had been the protégée of his master, he had taken care of her, too. Sometimes a bit too intense.

“You will get through this, Cas,” he assured her. And I will help you to reconnect with your children.”

That alarmed her. “No! That would put them right in Ben's path. And this monster stops at nothing.”

“The Eye of Webbish Bog is a monster!” he reminded Cassandra. “Solo got involved with the wrong crowd!”

“Turn the ship around!” she clipped and struggled out of his arms. “At least that spider creature will be able to answer some of my burning questions.”

With determination Jori framed her face with both hands. “His Lordship asked you to leave and we know he does not like to repeat his requests.”


Sources:
The song “Bad habits” by Ed Sheeran (2021)
Starlight Children's Foundation and Force for Change are RL SW charity organizations
The 501st Legion also exists in RL, sometimes I bump into members during SW dinners
Wookieepedia – The Star Wars Wiki
Hidden quotes from SW movies and the SW universe

 

Kylo hunting Cassandra? She should face him but not yet.

 

@earlybird-obi-wan, you are so right about this that I wrote that particular part out again. I also realized that Kylo shows up at Corvax Fen about one year later. Right now he is more busy killing his father.

Anyway, I did realize just this morning that I, for some daft reason, named @Kahara for my main editor in text 1 and text 2. Instead of writing down the rightful name of the editor, who got at work immediately when I sent it to her: @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha. So sorry about that Ny!

The last days passed in a haze, since I cannot take pain killers due to my stomach condition. The hand tendonitis around my left wrist heals nicely. But after that idiot on the bus sat down on my right shoulder on Monday evening with his full weight, there is so much pain in that area. The casualty doctor was happy that is just a contusion of the shoulder bone and that the tendons are okay. But I am rather handicapped. Especially with my right arm most movements hurt. So I sit and read most of the time, longing to be back at work with my kindergarten colleagues and the toddlers.

Out there it is murderous though. The general strike of the German train drivers started yesterday (Wednesday) and will continue until Monday evening. There are no suburban trains through the capital. The subway trains and buses are more cramped than ever.

Then there are the gale-forced winds, which adds an even greater number of passengers to the local public transport.

I have no idea if I could possibly survive that. Due to the orthesis around my left wrist I can hold on to something again, but the movements of my arm are restricted. Which makes it difficult in an overcrowded public transport with ruthless, egoistic me people.

When I went to my physiotherapist on Tuesday evening, because my right shoulder is in treatment since November anyway, I took a seat on the bus close to the window and the next station a very, very huge guy got in and squeezed me (especially my right shoulder) against the window glass. I shrieked: "Ouch!" and that stupid blockhead showed no reaction. I got up and stormed away, having trouble to grab a stanchion. I got out the next stop and walked home all the way. Ever since my shoulder hurts even more. I am so feed up with this city!

At least all this pain resulted in my brain coming up with more fanfic.

I hope you can forgive me, Ny, for having mixed up you and Kahara. And I also hope that you are still with me, dear bird.


Story 4: “Down to a sunless sea”

Author: AzureAngel2

Co-editor and muse: @DarthUncle

Length: at least 4.208 words, using the words: breeze, swallows, bees, buds, leavening

Summary: The First Order has destroyed the capital of the New Republic. Not only the planet Hosnian Prime itself, but the entire star system and a significant portion of the enemy fleet. But there is much more going on under the surface. New leagues are forming, old friendships get a fresh start.

Time frame: The story takes place in 34 ABY.

Planets of choice: Malancor, Bespin and Chandrila

Disclaimer: SW is owned by George Lucas, Lucas Ltd. and now The Walt Disney Company


When the days are cold
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see
Are all made of gold

When your dreams all fail
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
And the blood's run stale

I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide

No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

At the curtain's call
It's the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl

So they dug your grave
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you've made

Don't wanna let you down
But I am hellbound
Though this is all for you
Don't wanna hide the truth

No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go

Your eyes, they shine so bright
I wanna save that light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide


The ruins of an ancient Sith temple, Malachor, Outer Rim:

Despite the scorching heat on the planet's surface the temperature down here in the great cave chamber remained a constant 20 degrees Celsius. Their comfort was very poor though because the air was decidedly foul. Hydrogen sulphide had formed in the bottom of the stratied lake. This is why Princess Savan of House Sizhran had wrapped a colourful scarf around her head to cover most of her face. Including her delicate nose.

“I was told that Kylo Ren smells of patchouli,” the tall Falleen woman offered into the open. There was deep amusement in her voice.

From underneath her wide-brim hat Cassandra shot her companion a dark look. Actually, Lor San Tekka's widow was better dressed for the occasion: protective leather gloves, safety goggles, long pants with pockets galore and hiking boots. She was used to wear clothing appropriate to the climate and even the cultures an actual dig site was located at.

Playfully, Princess Savan stirred a hand over the a nearby rock. She had beautiful fingers, long and tapering. Her nails were done by one the Galaxy's most expensive nail studios on Coruscant. “The same spy informed me that he is shredded and has an eight pack.”

“You mean he looks like eight bottles of Lager cramped into one crate only?” Cassandra's voice was as cool as a mountain stream. “Or even like a tin loaf since he wears this stupid helmet of his most of the time?”

“Oh, sweetie pie, you know exactly what I am talking about here. You are a mother of four.”

Feeling most uneasy at the mentioning of her children, Cassandra stared at the igneous rocks before her. Her experienced eyes told her that these rocks included basalt and scornia.

“What was kissing Solo junior like?” Princess Savan wondered, winding a strand of hair around her index finger.

There were also sedimentary rocks such as conglomerate and sandstone. Lor had taught Cassandra so much and she missed him dearly. She clenched her fists and set her chin. “Honestly? You are way better than him, girl-friend. Can we all get back to work now?”

“Certainly,” Princess Savan hummed, looking pleased with herself.

Half an hour later, the little team held a briefing.

“The collapse of the Sith structure and the flooding happened during the time of the Empire,” Cassandra shared with her four companions. “The rock samples that Try took were very clear about that.”

With great acknowledgement, she nodded at the JN-66 analysis droid, who was a gift from Maz Kanata. This serial by Cybot Galactica was a rather expensive commodity, because each of them came with an advanced verbobrain and a highly sensitive sensor apparatus. His full name was Tryambaka Deva, named after a three eyed deity of the Naboo religion. But everybody used to call the robot by his nickname.

Ram Kelas, a former Imperial officer, nodded to that. “Thirty-one years ago, his Lordship was indeed here.”

Everyone in the group was aware whom he was referring to. He still had too much respect to speak out Vader's name in the open. Especially here, at a planet holy to the Sith. As a ngagpa, an ordained practitioner of the Dai Bendu belief system, he was aware of the power of words and even syllables.

“Old flight records of his TIE Advanced confirm as much,” Jori Lekauf, also a former Imperial officer, added. “The Mission to Malachor was the last decisive event undertaken during the Great Jedi purge. Three Sith inquisitors were in his company.”

“Inquisitors,” Princess Savan spit out, her contempt visual.

“They were just Jedi that survived Order 66 as younglings or padawans,” Ram intervened. “Poor souls really, tortured into giving in to the dark side.”

Cassandra agreed to that. “I was able to meet some of them and I can tell you, they didn't have the same beliefs, motives, or techniques as their Sith masters. To the Emperor there were but means to an end; to assist Darth in exterminating the remnants of the Jedi order.”

“Will that be all for now?” Try asked all of a sudden. “I could shut down for maintenance mode if my services are not required any longer.”

“Yeah, sure,” Cassandra agreed absent-mindedly to this request. Her focus was elsewhere for a constant breeze came out of the depths of the cave, tugging at her sleeves. “Who were they fighting against, by the way?”

“The Spectres,” Jori offered carefully.

In an instant, Cassandra was mortified. On one hand it was kind of her cousin, that he had tried to spare her feelings. But on the other hand she was more than vexed that Darth had been after Sabine Wren without telling her.

“The spectres were not on their own.” Carefully, Ram studied her face. “A certain Zabrak from Dathomir was here.”

A shiver went through Cassandra. “Maul,” she whispered, her face ashen. To mention the name of a deceased person never had been a taboo for her. “And he never told me either.”

She walked towards the edge of the platform they all were gathered on. There she stood for a while, pondering.

Darth indeed used to have some unfinished business with the first Sith apprentice of the Emperor. Without Qui-Gon Jinn she would have never known why. And without the wise Jedi master she would never had useful meditation techniques at her disposal.

“What else did your special sense tell you?” she addressed Ram and turned around to face him and the others again.

Since her fourteenth birthday, Cassandra knew that her old childhood friend was able to perform psychometry. That meant he acquired information about people or events associated by sheer touch. And sometimes, like today, it was enough for him to simply enter a place.

“It is all a bit jumbled like a letter exercise for Aurebesh learners,” the native from Ando Prime replied. “Nothing makes sense.”

“Please try again!” she begged him. “I have the feeling that this information is very important to our quest.”

As bidden, Ram closed his eyes. “I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.”

“Really?” Princess Savan spat.

“Zip it!” Cassandra ordered her like some drill inspector. “I will have no insubordination at this site. Too much is at stake! Too many lives have been lost to the First Order already.”

The Falleen woman pouted at her. “I still don't see how any of this is relevant to the recent events in our galaxy. True, the entire Hosnian Prime system has turned into a pocket nova, but this heap of rubbish has nothing to offer us.”

“Then you better listen, girl-friend! I will explain it just one more time. And don't you dare to tell me that I look cute when I am angry!”

The two females exchanged some grim glances.

“By the year 3966 BBY the ancient Sith constructed a superweapon,” Cassandra finally moved on. “Darth Tanis required a giant Kyber crystal, and it was housed here, in this very temple.”

“I see no temple, just a complete mess. Apart from those abstract art pieces!” Princess Savan pointed towards some humanoid shapes nearby. “Crude like Carbonite art, but still interesting enough for my Coruscant flat. Might we take one with us? I mean, I paid for this trip.”

“Those are incinerated Jedi and Sith. Because the superweapon misfired in a battle between them and petrified everyone on the planet.”

Princess Savan raised a delicate eye brow. “Are you sure about that?”

There was a single huff from Cassandra, nothing more.

“Correct me, if I am wrong, but if Vader was here and has destroyed everything in his way, as usual, then there is no way of putting the shards of that giant crystal together. There are better ways to defy the First Order, sweetie pie.”

Frustration was written all over Cassandra's features. “This is not why we are here. I am not an armourer like my father. I asked you to trail along, because I need allies. The path that I am on is dangerous.”

“You are kidding,” Princess Savan taunted her ever so tender and cupped her face with one hand.

“You were right,” Ram voiced with his eyes still shut. His eyelid movements were that of a dreamer. “Three Jedi were here as well. But the strange part is, one of them fell out of time and space for a while. She returned though. With a spirit animal.”

“Let me guess, it was a convor! Like Bathseba, the Daughter of the Oath,” Cassandra beamed. “There is a gateway to the World between Worlds here. It is very likely that we will find the entrance somewhere under all this rubble.”

Princess Savan shook her head. “I am not a Force-sensitive like you, but even I can tell you that this,” she made a wide gesture with her hand, “Is a dead end. There must be other places of power.”

“Or there is another way to infiltrate the First Order,” Jori gave for consideration. “Something less mystical, more substantial. Your uncle Alex taught you how to go undercover, didn't he?”

********************************************************************

Bespin, an enormous gas planet in the Anoath sector:

Zevulon Veers shook his head in dismay, looking at the fresh bird poo all over the window glass of his hotel room.

He spotted a flock of avians with distinctive steel-blue upper parts and white patches in their plumage.

Swallows were not native to the planet. Some jerk had brought a set with him when he signed up with the Tibanna gas company about thirty-four years ago. Ever since the clever, little avian creatures had found their ecological niche: Cloud City itself.

By building their mud nests on man-made structures, the song birds from Naboo had become a large pest. Their droppings not only required expensive and time-consuming clean-ups and repair, there were also sanitation problems and health concerns.

But an invasive species was not why the well-known Xenobiologist had come here. He had a lead concerning his son. A retired Imperial navy doctor had chosen to settle down in the Anoath sector: Doctor Wren Pershing. Not only was he the uncle of Amnesty Scientist L52. Once upon a time, he had been the personal physician of Lord Vader.

“Are you sure that he is keen on seeing us?” Zevulon voiced his doubts.

A pair of amber coloured eyes glanced back at him sharply. They belonged to a human in his late seventies. He had rather impressive muttonchops and silvery hair.

“When I recall correctly, I was not keen on meeting you either. Especially on Lira San,” Alexsandr prompted, speaking about the planet that had been his retreat after the Destruction of DS-2. “But then a certain Sabacc card was brought to my attention. Basically shoved into my face by my Lasat partner.”

“The Queen of Air and Darkness,” Zevulon laughed instead of making some hurtful remark he later regretted.

Since the First Order tried to gain galaxy wide power inter-species relationships had been frowned upon as abnormal lifestyle again. He could not care less with whom Alexsandr was with, as long as he was happy and content. And, most important, loved in return.

“Yes, the Queen,” the former ISB-agent nodded and got up from his armchair. “I knew immediately that this was about Cassie.”

Both men sighed simultaneously.

“When the Battle of Jakku took place so many decades ago, I was worried about her and her husband Lor,” Alexsandr managed to speak, clinging on to his walking stick.

“Wha… wha!”

Suddenly, Zevulon seemed to have immense trouble speaking or understanding speech. He also felt numbness spreading all over his body, especially his face.

“Are you having a stroke?” Alexsandr inquired and, despite the walking stick, raced towards him with an agility that betrayed his true age.

“No!” Zevulon retorted. His face had an unhealthy colour. Violently, he shoved the other man away. “How… how could you… keep such… such a secret for yourself?”

With a gasp the elderly war hero tumbled into the seating area next to the window. But he did not remain there for long. Swinging his walking stick, he limped towards Zevulon. “You'll end up pear-shaped when I am finished with you, boy!”

“C'mon, old man! I hope you have a jolly good dental insurance!”

At the same moment the entrance door opened and Doctor Pershing, in his nineties, marched in as if he would own the place. “Gentlemen!” he frowned. “Who needs a sedative shot first?”

Two flower vases began to rise and emptied themselves on top of the two squabblers.

Aghast, they stared at Doctor Pershing. “What? The Force is still with me,” he claimed matter-of-fact. “How do you think I survived serving Lord Vader for ten years?”

Zevulon wiped the water out of his face, deciding there was no time for pleasantries. “Have you delivered my son? Around the Battle of Hoth?”

“I was an Imperial army doctor, specialised in neurology, dermatology, cybernetics and organ transplantation,” came the aloof answer. “Birth control was a very important issue on-board the Executor. For both sexes.”

“Yet one person forgot,” Alexsandr insisted. “Because she was silly by nature and not a mathematical genius despite her using the mini-pill.”

Doctor Pershing stared at him without any visible emotion. Bushy eye brows furrowed. “Are you suggesting that His Lordship harboured incompetent crew members? He was not a very forgiving man, you know. To accept apologies was not in his nature.”

“Yet, Cassandra was the only exception he dared to make in a life of hardship, violence and lies.”

“My dear man, I do not know a woman by that name.”

“Perhaps you know her under one of her many aliases.” Alexsandr was not ready to give up so easily. “Margo. Jinny. Niyati.”

“Are you proposing a double agent of the rebellion was able to infiltrate the ship's crew? Leave alone His Lordship's fortress on Mustafar?”

“Ha!” Alexsandr poked his walking stick softly against the other man's chest. “I never said she was anywhere near the castle.”

“Agent Kallus.” The physician said his name like a curse. “You are wasting my time! I am not at liberty to discuss the private affairs of His Lordship.”

“Perhaps Leia Organa would like to disagree,” Zevulon grumbled.

The mentioning of the former Alderaanian princess sent a little tremble through Doctor Pershing. “The damage that Lady Sindian did to the reputation of the Skywalker family a couple of years ago is bad enough as it. I do not wish them to get dragged into another scandal.”

Alexsandr was not finished with acting triumphantly. “Ha, ha! You admit that you know about the connection between the House Organa and Skywalker.”

Doctor Pershing smirked at him. “Everybody knows. On what backwater planet did you end up since the Emperor's death?”

“Strange that you would mention him.” Amber eyes flared in the afternoon light. “The very Sith lord that did rather unorthodox experiments on a slave named Shmi.”

“You try to justify the attempted murder on Palpatine by esteemed members of the Jedi Order?” Doctor Pershing shook his head and pursed his lips. “Just by claiming him to be a member of a long forgotten religion.”

“Stop right here, Doc! You said esteemed members of the Jedi Order. Esteemed. Assassins cannot be esteemed. That proves you had an affliction with them. And why? Because you were one of their padawans when Order 66 was acted out.”

The elderly man laughed heartily. “You try very hard to stick to your old ISB-training. But your interrogation tactics don't impress me much! I have seen better.”

Before Doctor Pershing was able to leave the hotel room, Zevulon stepped in his way. “Please, he has her eyes and did not even tell me his name when he came to see me a couple of weeks ago! Do you know how that feels?” Tears leaked out of his eyes. “Do you know how much that hurts? The woman I loved had a child with me and never bothered to tell me? And Alex just informed me she married someone way older than her? To have more babies with him?”

“Get a grip on you, man!” Something had shifted in the physician's stiff composure. “Or I will give you a tranquillizer after all.”

The both watched Doctor Pershing heaving himself into the seating area.

“But who am I threatening. Tranquillisers never worked on Cassandra either. She led such a risky life, always on the edge, seldom a quiet moment.” He chuckled as memories of the old days clearly passed behind his inner eyes. “Only when she had her curious nose stuck in an ancient Sith text or did some Jedi meditation she was perfectly still.”

He looked ahead of him.

“Yes, Agent Kallus, I happen to have some affliction with the Jedi Order, but I never gained padawan status. My Midi-chlorians count was considered to be too low, so I ended up with the Medical Corps.”

“Ha!” Alexsandr frolicked and gave Zevulon a punch with his elbow. “Told you!”

“My son's name,” the other man insisted in a meek, pleading voice.

“Bay! A healthy boy he was. Seven pounds. Lungs like a rancor. Her Ladyship and I knew immediately that the Force was with him. But in measured patterns. She was so fearful of her Palpatine heritage.”

“Well, well, well!” Alexsandr spoke gleefully. “You are informed of the Sith infiltration into all our lives!”

“Do not take that out on the girl!” Doctor Pershing looked like an avenging angel. “What Palpatine did to her in this life and in the one before that is appalling. You just do not force resurrection!”

Zevulon blinked.

“I will explain later,” Alexsandr assured him. “We know now that his name is Bay and that he is from Jakku. That means the Church of the Force. We should try to find him and his siblings in their midst.”

“You will do nothing of that kind.” Doctor Pershing looked stern and implacable. “There are still Sith cultists out there searching for His Lordship's heritage. Kylo Ren might be one of them. There are rumours about him worshipping the mask of his maternal grand-father.”

“Cas is family to both Vader and the Emperor?” Zevulon looked as if he was to have a complete breakdown. “How is this possible?”

While Doctor Pershing glanced at him with empathy, Alexsandr said, “And you always thought that the Director just had Daddy issues when he caught you and Cassie making out that one night at the farm.”

There was shock. “Wait, Krennic knew about this?”

“Orry was the one who got the Nagina clone out of her tank in the first place.”

“Nagina?” Zevulon was close to loosing it completely. “Who the freck is Nagina?”

“The only one whose legacy is a problem to all the dark siders out there.” He never had seen Alexsandr that grim. “The only Palpatine who is not on their team and never will be. If she is still alive and well, Kylo Ren will regret his very existence.”

********************************************************************

The former Krennic estate, Chandrila:

The apple trees in the Krennic orchard showed aborted buds here and there, but the majority of those buds had preformed extraordinarily well this spring. From silver tip to green tip onwards to half-inch green. Then tight cluster, pink and full bloom had followed as always.

It was tragic that Crix Madine had not managed to arrive before petal fall. The rituals after the incineration of his beloved foster-mother, Gita Anil, had demanded a lot from him. When all his foster-siblings had returned to their home words, he had stayed behind on Naboo. Occasionally drowning in a flood of heart-felt condolences, either expressed by firm hand shakes, kisses or hugs, when he had walked the streets of Theed.

Lying on his belly and hidden by the grass sea, he stared through his binoculars.

Twelve First Order troopers marched up and down the former Krennic estate.

Since the farm was neither an official Darth Vader memorial nor an established army base, he had the vague feeling that something or better to say a certain someone had caused the commotion.

The wind carried apple petals with it, white, tender and seemingly innocent. Like Cassandra.

Crix Madine remembered their first meeting not very far away from here. She had been but a little girl back than. Four or five years of age, he really never found out about the true age of the clone. Her originally brown hair had been dyed red as if that would be a helpful camouflage. She had been so frail and unnaturally pale. Almost like her uncle Sheeve right after the attack on his life.

His hands, covered with age marks, started to tremble and he had to put down the binoculars. His back was also hurting, but he remained on his watch post. If Orson would still be alive, he would lie next to him. Or the Director, always trigger-happy, would have eliminated the First Order troopers one by one.

“You were always so very protective about her!” Crix Madine said to no one but himself. “I bet this never would have happened on your watch.”

This gave the former ISB-special agent and known rebel hero a new idea that frightened him as much as it pleased him.

“Cassandra is alive! She has to be. And Kylo Ren knows about her unusual existence.”

The mentally disturbed son of Leia Organa and Han Solo was a fanatic Darth Vader fanboy. It was common knowledge in various military circles. The New Republic, the Resistance, the First Order – they all had the most incredible stories to tell about the man-child that was not team-minded and threw dangerous tantrums all the time.

“I hope he does not know about your Palpatine genes, Cassandra. About the Sith necromancy that brought you to us after you died as Nagina, my favourite foster-sister.”

Even after forty-eight years it was hard to wrap his mind around the entire affair.

For a brief moment Crix Madine considered to get the princess involved, but she had enough on her plate already. As for Solo, as a father the notorious smuggler had failed completely and the entire galaxy suffered from his shortcomings.

Instead of leaving him with his uncle, Luke Skywalker, the overtaxed parents should have given their boy into foster care.

Suddenly, he was very annoyed with his secret lover, Mon Mothma. Instead of asking to bring Cassandra in after the explosion of DS-2, time and secret service resources should have been focused on Vader's off-spring. And not the librarian of the dark lord.

“A true pity that being with Perrin clouds your judgement more and more these days!” he clipped out.

Perhaps he was not fair on a woman who had been loyal to him more than fifty years and despite the arranged marriage that she was trapped in. But it was true nonetheless.

Mon kept getting lost in her own daily routines more and more. Her mind set was not open like it used to be thirty years ago. She did not have the instincts of war heroes like General Hera Syndulla. All she had left was life in an ivory tower, clinging on to the status quo.

Briefly, Crix Madine closed his eyes.

Perhaps he was getting old and bitter.

But Gita had died on him, leaving a gap in the life of so many.

And then all this sneaking up on an overpowering enemy like the First Order was tiresome as well. Its troopers were everywhere, causing more sorrow and oppression than the Galactic empire ever did. The Hosnian Prime sector, and with it the majority of the political elite of their state, was gone. Just because supreme leader Snoke had a super weapon at his disposal. One that would turn Orson, the architect of doom, green with envy.

Suddenly, Crix Madine wished his old childhood comrade, troublesome or not, by his side. Like in the old days. Before the Empire even. When the Grand Republic had protected them all like a majestic tree, ever so strong.

He crawled backwards on his belly, feeling every rib in his torso though. To be honest with himself, he had been too old for activities like this since years. This is why he had not signed up with General Leia Organa and her Resistance.

Perhaps, he had turned into a fugitive like Captain Han Solo. Also running away from his responsibilities and mistakes. They both were Corellians and had rocket fuel in their veins instead of ordinary blood.

He laughed to himself.

In the back of his mind he hoped that Ahetnigac, his Twi'lek foster-sister, had that promised apple tart ready at home. Especially since he had bought her some leavening for the dough in Hanna City. He would have a big slice of tart, before pulling himself some Corellian whiskey. There was still a bottle left over from Nagina's secret wedding to Lor San Tekka.

Thinking about the seasoned adventurer and historian, he made a mental note to visit his brother-in-law on Jakku. There had been rumours about a second marriage to a much younger wife. Perhaps it was time for a long due family visit.

Sources:
The song “Demons” by Imagine Dragons (2012)
Wookieepedia – The Star Wars Wiki
Hidden quotes from SW movies and the SW universe

 

@AzureAngel2 -- yikes, dealing with health issues and injuries that are limiting is hard enough and then adding people who are totally insensitive and oblivious on top of it.

I am glad to have this interesting mystery to tackle though. Cassandra has quite the intriguing crew along and I have a feeling that all of these will end up in the same place leading to a fascinating reunion.

 

It's really fun to see that Cassie is pulling together this Ocean's 11 of old Imperials, Rebels, and assorted riffraff -- both directly through her own intrigues and indirectly, via other people's actions. I'm planning to go back and comment on Ch 2 sometime this weekend, but I did want to leave a YIPPEE! And a very Happy Birthday, since you'll probably be about ready to sleep by the time that I'm out of work tomorrow.

 

Berlin and those awful citizens making your life miserable when you are suffering like this. Get better soon and happy birthday.
Great to see Cassie on Malachor getting help. Where will all meet?

 

Ch 2:

The cost of so many years that were stolen from Cassie's life is really felt in this chapter, and it's not even just her own life -- she's still bearing the brunt of emotional fallout from Nagina's friends and family finding out about her clone origins. Their grief (and often-as-not, misdirected resentment) about losing her predecessor continues to shape her life, though she is determinedly setting her own course where possible.

I can only imagine what Cassie feels at escaping from her imprisonment only to find that time has passed by and that she has just barely been too late to do anything to prevent Lor's death. So close and so far... it would have to be a crushing burden to accept, especially after all that she and Lor have been through.

Can't say that I blame her for thinking so! That side of her heritage hasn't brought her a whole lot of sunshine and daisies so far, even though it ironically led to her current alive-ness.

Well, that's ominous! Very much in keeping with what I know of her temperament and capacity for grudges when she was younger; that's Orson's baby girl alright. But with the added cunning and Force abilities that she's picked up over the years, it's a potentially explosive combination. Though it couldn't be aimed at a more deserving target.

Hmm, I see her meeting with Luke left an impression. Cassie having no patience for the time-honored art of Jedi wilderness sulking is very on-brand.

"It's fine; I just need to open up a teensy little hole in reality." - Cassie

It's interesting to see that she's reacquired some of that between-worlds nature that she exhibited when she was young, and has no fear of busting into that place either.

Now this I didn't expect though I should have based on the planet. Very cool to get a glimpse of (Book of) Boba Fett, though the circumstances pretty quickly go from not-great to terrible.

Oh, boy. I can guess why she felt the need to poke that sleeping ursine, but the results were not so great.

Not a fun time for Cassie, and it's a good thing she's got a tough skull since surviving that kind of blow isn't a given!

I was so confused along with Cassie; the reveal that it was an inherited member of Nagina's collection of obsessive and dangerous types was unexpected but yeah, just about fitting for how her days seem to be going lately.

That's certainly one way of putting it! The discombobulation inherent in waking up with someone else's face as well as head injuries is just one more heaping of Stuff on her plate.

That would almost be sweet in a way, except that it's two generations of CREEPTASTIC.

Creep creep creep.

So that's how she acquired this one; no good deed goes unpunished in one life or the next I guess.

Wow, okay. There is a lot going on here. Glad she's... on Cassie's side? Kinda... though in later chapters I'm rather enjoying Savan's contributions and at least she's helping out in her own way. Just real skeezy.

The disbelief and irritation came across really well here.

Wow. Rude. Though so is using pheromones on people.

She may not, but I do -- I love that choice of name, and think it's hilarious. Especially in combo with the unexpected sentimentality of the first name she was given.

Aww, this was unexpectedly touching. Too bad it came with a concussion.

It's sad that she can't even return to her home (any of them) without worrying and looking over her shoulder.

The homesickness and nostalgia for earlier days at the old farm is really moving and well-written here. This place has always been so central for Cassie, and it makes sense that she feels the need to return and process this huge series of changes in her life. And in spite of everything (even in spite of Orson's best arson efforts once upon a time), the orchard is still there to greet her and offer solace.

THE KITTEH! I remember this fellow, and I'm glad that Cassie is finally able to meet him.

That moment of recognition is so emotional and heartfelt. The fact that her father shows up as this ghostly farm cat is so interesting; seems that there's something of this little slice of Chandrila in him no matter how much he always tried to take himself out of it. And the chance to speak to Orson again turns out to maybe be just what she needs.

That's a low gaderfii, I mean, bar. But I can see what she means by it, when so little of her past ever comes back to her in a positive way.

So many complicated feelings, and I can absolutely see why she needed to get all of these things out into the open between them. Both the temporary teenage troubles that she never had the chance to resolve while he was alive, and the horrific war crimes he was responsible for that became his legacy to the Galaxy after his death. And Orson may not be wise, or comfortable showing compassion, or a particularly nice being even as a ghost -- but he does love his daughter and listens to her.

Yes, cuddling with a ghost cat might be hard to explain. There's a sense of relief here, in spite of all the loss.

That is definitely a poetic way of putting it! Though that seems to be a people thing as well as a House Palpatine thing.

No doubt she will if possible, and that would be quite the conversation! Also really liked the background on how House Palpatine came to have that particular bit of legend associated with it that Nagina sometimes referenced.

It's a difficult and strange goodbye, but I'm glad that she has it here.

Very funny callback to a certain someone's use (overuse?) of the mind trick.

I guess that is one way to get out of there. Though I question the ethics of kissing someone who's being mind-controlled!

Benny Bunny? And I have to wonder what exactly she intends with all this mind-whammying. Anyway, looks like she's making a dramatic exit as usual.

 

After getting a 2nd contusion at the beginning of this week at almost the same place (right shoulder again...!) , a huge Fisher Price toy bus involved, I am so looking forward to Monday, because I am desperate to get back to work.

My left hand is okay again!

Actually, my subconscious mind has the ending, @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha . I myself have no clue at present. Only a vague direction.

 

It was not the birthday that I did imagine, but this weekend a dear friend is coming over with her dog to celebrate the event still. But thank´s, @Kahara.

 

@earlybird-obi-wan: As soon I have found the answers, I will sit down and write on. But apart from taking an acrylic pen and adding strange symbols to an owl painting of mine, I did nothing artistic. My only occupation with letters was reading in my e-reader. I finished "Mansfield Park", went on with "Heidi" and now I feel like reading the newest work from a German thriller writer named Sebastian Fitzek. Actually, I got a lot of vouchers from colleagues & friends for my birthday.

 

@Kahara: Thanks for all the mind-boggeling comments. That made me extremely happy, you know! I hope to be able to write on any time soon.

As for my nickname "Benny Bunny", well when I grew up there was this weird cartoon series about "Alice in Wonderland". And Benny Bunny, a little white rabbit in red trousers, was the nephew of the White Rabbit. And Ben Solo is the nephew of a certain famous Jedi master called Luke Skywalker... tataaa!

As for the part about the Palpatine ancestors being grave diggers... well first it was me just messing around with the word "gate keeper" (always having the "gate keeper" from Ghosterbusters in my mind!... ).

But since my brother-in-law got stuck in continuing our main "D&D" campaign, he came up with a so-called meat-grinder and one of my characters there is a female grave digger. And since I also love digging in cultures, history and religions that gave me a new drive for my Cassie.

And then there is Walt Disney and their new direction for SW bringing the dead back in many ways that some might consider unnatural.

...

Hopefully, I come up with something useful any time soon!