Disclaimer: Joss, WB, UPN et al. own Buffy. George Lucas, LucasArts,
LucasFilm etc. own Star Wars and everything else. Raven made Jedi
Knight II.
Title: Keeping True To Ones Self
Author: Paradigm Shifter
Rating: PG-13.
Feedback: Since this is going on Tenhawk's XanderZone, why not borrow a line? It's the Coin of the Realm... kind of like salt at one point...
Notes: Xander's stayed in the SW universe, and has made a home. After the fall of the Jedi, and a nasty encounter with the Dark Side himself, Xander has sworn off the use of the Force, and now lives as a mercenary and occasional fighter jock. This isn't replacing Sunnydale Jedi, but is several decades on from it. The spaces in between I will go back and fill in later... (or someone else can if they really want to [ask first]) its just this was kind of interesting, and got me interested again in a project which had begun to irritate.
Oh yeah: Vader's flagship is the Virulence for now, given that the Super Star Destroyers have not yet been built, the first is currently under production.
Continuity: Xander the Jedi, Sunnydale Jedi, any others that get bunged in the middle, 'To Learn of the Past' and any other side-pieces. And the 'Dark Forces' computer game.
Does anyone want me to post the XJ and SJ stories here? If you shout, I will. It makes sense to, if the further ones are arriving, I suppose.
Rating: PG right now. May go up. I'll see.
The gun swivelled to face the mercenary, and he pointed his DL-44 heavy blaster pistol at the attackers head.
"Whoa!" cried Xander, "hold it there, cowboy!"
The man dressed as a Stormtrooper eased his finger off the trigger slightly. "Who are you?" asked the man in a suspicious tone that filtered through the helmets tinny speakers.
"Well, seeing as how you've asked that rather than shot me, I can assume that you..." Xander looked the Stormtrooper up and down, "are my contact."
The Stormtrooper reached up to his helmet with one hand, but kept the gun trained on Xander. "So... you're the legendary Xander Harris..." the man's voice changed as the helmet was eased off, "congratulations. If I was a Stormtrooper, you'd be dead right now, or a guest of the Emperor's torture druids."
"Yeah, but you weren't, and I'm not, so forget it. I'm sick of this hole already..." Xander's voice was weary, and his eyes had dark rings under them from lack of sleep. "So you're Kyle Katarn..." Xander mused, "I had expected... I don't know. Not the beard, for a start."
Kyle growled at Xander. "You mention the beard, and I'll stun you and leave you for the Empire!"
Xander held up his hands, the blaster pistol still in a loose grip. "Easy!" He turned and walked down a corridor. "My apartment is this way... we need to find some way to get off this planet once we've breached the Imperial Research Facility. 'Cause security will tighten like you've never seen it..."
Kyle followed, but kept a wary eye out for any watching their meeting. "Fine."
Xander turned as Kyle's footsteps failed to echo behind him. "I think we got off on the wrong foot... I apologise," he grinned, "I do actually like the beard."
"Don't talk rubbish," said Kyle with a hint of laughter. He scratched his jaw. "I'm not too sure I love it myself. But I need a disguise..."
Xander nodded sympathetically. "I know the feeling."
Jan Ors looked at the screen in front of her. Her partner, Kyle, had contacted her through a narrowband transmission to bitch about the job. Not too unusual a situation, but when you were a merc working for Rebels then it didn't thrill the paying client too much if you moaned.
"I'm telling you, Jan, this guy is not going to help us get in! He's more mercenary than I am!" Kyle shook his head, lamenting the series of events that brought him to the back-end of a planet he currently found himself on.
Jan laughed quietly at Kyle's distinct displeasure. "Oh, and that would be too bad, wouldn't it Kyle? What's the matter? He getting paid more than you?"
The video feed blurred momentarily as the camera was moved, and the grinning face of Kyle's contact appeared. "Is he moaning about me again?" he asked, "Honestly, you'd think he was born with a complaint in his mouth..."
Jan laughed at this, but sobered up as Kyle's face reappeared next to the contacts. "That isn't funny Jan..."
Xander turned to Kyle on the video feed. "Oh, but it is!"
Jan laughed, but tried not to. "OK, you two. Stop it! We need this to go right. Xander, can you help, or do we have to do this ourselves? We need those plans, and the Empire is becoming increasingly aggressive to those planets that attempt to withdraw from the Imperial Doctrine..."
Xander nodded. "No worries, Jan. I can help, and I will. Because I must."
Jan had heard talk like that before. People who talked like that were usually the ones who had lost almost everything to the Empire. "Just don't jeopardise the mission for some mindless revenge." The tone was warning, and Xander was taken aback at it being aimed at him. But then again, neither Jan not Kyle knew him. If they did, he wouldn't be there.
Xander blinked, and humour was gone instantly. "I'm better than that. Besides, for the vengeance I want... I need the head honcho..."
Jan shivered at the inflection in the words. "Fine. Just don't endanger the mission. This is more than any one person, or any group of people."
Xander snorted. "Tell that to the Bothans. They think they invented espionage..."
Jan inclined her head, attempting to hide her grin. "Yes, well." She paused. "We had best end this communication before the Imperial Probe droids pick up the narrowband..."
"Right." Nodded Xander. "See you when this is done."
The communication ended abruptly as Xander hit the 'off' button.
Kyle looked at the man that was going to get him inside the Imperial Research Facility. "Now what?" he asked rhetorically.
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Now... we wait."
Kyle sat in the easy chair that Xander had in place in front of the holographic entertainment centre set at the side of his room. "Nice place you have here." He said conversationally.
"Nah..." Xander's voice came from the small kitchenette area, "this is a shit-hole, and you know it. You're just trying to make small talk. Well, small talk doesn't work on me. Besides, you can get all the history you need to know about me from Dodonna. If you ever meet him..." he walked back inside the room, and handed Kyle a beaker with some greenish fluid in it.
"I've met him." Kyle said flatly as he took the proffer drink. "And I've read your file. What I could of it, anyway. There are large sections missing. Curious, but not necessarily unique... there are plenty of ex-Imps who don't want their roots traced."
"I'm not an Imp." Xander's tone was dangerous.
"I said ex-Imp." Kyle shrugged.
"I have never been a supporter of Palpatine's Doctrines... his methods, or his madness."
Kyle felt the need to smooth over some of the rough ground he had just ridden over. "Still, even with that, you're quite a hero..."
Xander snorted as he sipped his own drink, the previous discomfort forgotten. "Me? A hero? Who are you trying to kid?"
Kyle sat forward. "No, I mean it. You've been involved in more covert ops for the rebellion than the next three top agents combined... and sliced more than the best Bothans from the Empire's systems."
"Right. What are you to have access to that data?"
"Me? I'm a friend of Jan." On Xander's look, he clarified, "Not Dodonna. Ors. The woman that we were just speaking to."
"So she's a hack... slicer?" Xander's face showed his surprise. His relief at Kyle missing his slip into what he had begun to term 'Old World' terminology was hidden behind his mask. "Who'd a thought it?"
"She's damn good too. I like to know who I'm working with when I get dumped into a job like this..."
"Well, what do you think about me now that you know what I've done?"
Kyle sat back, and drained his drink before replying. "I think your bloody crazy."
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's refreshingly honest..."
Darth Vader knelt at the foot of the holocomm on his flagship, the Virulence; an Imperial-Class Star Destroyed, and the current pride of the fleet. His gravelled voice asked in its semi-synthesised tone, "Your wish, my master?"
The hologram of the Emperor smiled inside its cowl. "I have felt... a disturbance, my friend. In the Force. It is time for the Jedi-hunters to concentrate fully on the one known as Xander Harris. He has been a thorn in out side since he first came to the galaxy."
Vader looked up in shock. "But... what of Obi-Wan Kenobi, master?"
The Emperor shook his head. "He is of little consequence, now, my friend. He is too old to train another, and his strength in the Force has been waning of late... he has tried so hard to hide from those that hunt him, that he is loosing that which he is sought for."
"Still... he should not be underestimated... master."
"I know your wish to kill your old master, my friend. All in due time. You shall have your chance... I have seen it." The Emperor smiled grimly. "But Xander shall be instrumental in our defeat of the rebellion that seems so popular of late..."
"How?" Vader asked, before adding belatedly, "my master."
"He is even now in position to aid us... and give us the final piece in the domination of the galaxy. Jan Dodonna and his aides will not be able to run from a weapon able to destroy planets!"
"What shall be done, master?" Darth Vader knew of this new battle station, the well named, 'Death Star'. Able to carry hundreds of thousands of troops, and hundreds of ships, it was a sight to be reckoned with when it hung in space. Add in a laser capable of destroying planets, and it was the final weapon of terror the Empire would need to crush any and all that stood in their way.
The Emperor laughed evilly. "You shall find out in time, my friend. You shall find out in time..."
Title: Keeping True To Ones Self
Author: Paradigm Shifter
Rating: PG-13.
Feedback: Since this is going on Tenhawk's XanderZone, why not borrow a line? It's the Coin of the Realm... kind of like salt at one point...
Notes: Xander's stayed in the SW universe, and has made a home. After the fall of the Jedi, and a nasty encounter with the Dark Side himself, Xander has sworn off the use of the Force, and now lives as a mercenary and occasional fighter jock. This isn't replacing Sunnydale Jedi, but is several decades on from it. The spaces in between I will go back and fill in later... (or someone else can if they really want to [ask first]) its just this was kind of interesting, and got me interested again in a project which had begun to irritate.
Oh yeah: Vader's flagship is the Virulence for now, given that the Super Star Destroyers have not yet been built, the first is currently under production.
Continuity: Xander the Jedi, Sunnydale Jedi, any others that get bunged in the middle, 'To Learn of the Past' and any other side-pieces. And the 'Dark Forces' computer game.
Does anyone want me to post the XJ and SJ stories here? If you shout, I will. It makes sense to, if the further ones are arriving, I suppose.
Rating: PG right now. May go up. I'll see.
The gun swivelled to face the mercenary, and he pointed his DL-44 heavy blaster pistol at the attackers head.
"Whoa!" cried Xander, "hold it there, cowboy!"
The man dressed as a Stormtrooper eased his finger off the trigger slightly. "Who are you?" asked the man in a suspicious tone that filtered through the helmets tinny speakers.
"Well, seeing as how you've asked that rather than shot me, I can assume that you..." Xander looked the Stormtrooper up and down, "are my contact."
The Stormtrooper reached up to his helmet with one hand, but kept the gun trained on Xander. "So... you're the legendary Xander Harris..." the man's voice changed as the helmet was eased off, "congratulations. If I was a Stormtrooper, you'd be dead right now, or a guest of the Emperor's torture druids."
"Yeah, but you weren't, and I'm not, so forget it. I'm sick of this hole already..." Xander's voice was weary, and his eyes had dark rings under them from lack of sleep. "So you're Kyle Katarn..." Xander mused, "I had expected... I don't know. Not the beard, for a start."
Kyle growled at Xander. "You mention the beard, and I'll stun you and leave you for the Empire!"
Xander held up his hands, the blaster pistol still in a loose grip. "Easy!" He turned and walked down a corridor. "My apartment is this way... we need to find some way to get off this planet once we've breached the Imperial Research Facility. 'Cause security will tighten like you've never seen it..."
Kyle followed, but kept a wary eye out for any watching their meeting. "Fine."
Xander turned as Kyle's footsteps failed to echo behind him. "I think we got off on the wrong foot... I apologise," he grinned, "I do actually like the beard."
"Don't talk rubbish," said Kyle with a hint of laughter. He scratched his jaw. "I'm not too sure I love it myself. But I need a disguise..."
Xander nodded sympathetically. "I know the feeling."
Jan Ors looked at the screen in front of her. Her partner, Kyle, had contacted her through a narrowband transmission to bitch about the job. Not too unusual a situation, but when you were a merc working for Rebels then it didn't thrill the paying client too much if you moaned.
"I'm telling you, Jan, this guy is not going to help us get in! He's more mercenary than I am!" Kyle shook his head, lamenting the series of events that brought him to the back-end of a planet he currently found himself on.
Jan laughed quietly at Kyle's distinct displeasure. "Oh, and that would be too bad, wouldn't it Kyle? What's the matter? He getting paid more than you?"
The video feed blurred momentarily as the camera was moved, and the grinning face of Kyle's contact appeared. "Is he moaning about me again?" he asked, "Honestly, you'd think he was born with a complaint in his mouth..."
Jan laughed at this, but sobered up as Kyle's face reappeared next to the contacts. "That isn't funny Jan..."
Xander turned to Kyle on the video feed. "Oh, but it is!"
Jan laughed, but tried not to. "OK, you two. Stop it! We need this to go right. Xander, can you help, or do we have to do this ourselves? We need those plans, and the Empire is becoming increasingly aggressive to those planets that attempt to withdraw from the Imperial Doctrine..."
Xander nodded. "No worries, Jan. I can help, and I will. Because I must."
Jan had heard talk like that before. People who talked like that were usually the ones who had lost almost everything to the Empire. "Just don't jeopardise the mission for some mindless revenge." The tone was warning, and Xander was taken aback at it being aimed at him. But then again, neither Jan not Kyle knew him. If they did, he wouldn't be there.
Xander blinked, and humour was gone instantly. "I'm better than that. Besides, for the vengeance I want... I need the head honcho..."
Jan shivered at the inflection in the words. "Fine. Just don't endanger the mission. This is more than any one person, or any group of people."
Xander snorted. "Tell that to the Bothans. They think they invented espionage..."
Jan inclined her head, attempting to hide her grin. "Yes, well." She paused. "We had best end this communication before the Imperial Probe droids pick up the narrowband..."
"Right." Nodded Xander. "See you when this is done."
The communication ended abruptly as Xander hit the 'off' button.
Kyle looked at the man that was going to get him inside the Imperial Research Facility. "Now what?" he asked rhetorically.
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Now... we wait."
Kyle sat in the easy chair that Xander had in place in front of the holographic entertainment centre set at the side of his room. "Nice place you have here." He said conversationally.
"Nah..." Xander's voice came from the small kitchenette area, "this is a shit-hole, and you know it. You're just trying to make small talk. Well, small talk doesn't work on me. Besides, you can get all the history you need to know about me from Dodonna. If you ever meet him..." he walked back inside the room, and handed Kyle a beaker with some greenish fluid in it.
"I've met him." Kyle said flatly as he took the proffer drink. "And I've read your file. What I could of it, anyway. There are large sections missing. Curious, but not necessarily unique... there are plenty of ex-Imps who don't want their roots traced."
"I'm not an Imp." Xander's tone was dangerous.
"I said ex-Imp." Kyle shrugged.
"I have never been a supporter of Palpatine's Doctrines... his methods, or his madness."
Kyle felt the need to smooth over some of the rough ground he had just ridden over. "Still, even with that, you're quite a hero..."
Xander snorted as he sipped his own drink, the previous discomfort forgotten. "Me? A hero? Who are you trying to kid?"
Kyle sat forward. "No, I mean it. You've been involved in more covert ops for the rebellion than the next three top agents combined... and sliced more than the best Bothans from the Empire's systems."
"Right. What are you to have access to that data?"
"Me? I'm a friend of Jan." On Xander's look, he clarified, "Not Dodonna. Ors. The woman that we were just speaking to."
"So she's a hack... slicer?" Xander's face showed his surprise. His relief at Kyle missing his slip into what he had begun to term 'Old World' terminology was hidden behind his mask. "Who'd a thought it?"
"She's damn good too. I like to know who I'm working with when I get dumped into a job like this..."
"Well, what do you think about me now that you know what I've done?"
Kyle sat back, and drained his drink before replying. "I think your bloody crazy."
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's refreshingly honest..."
Darth Vader knelt at the foot of the holocomm on his flagship, the Virulence; an Imperial-Class Star Destroyed, and the current pride of the fleet. His gravelled voice asked in its semi-synthesised tone, "Your wish, my master?"
The hologram of the Emperor smiled inside its cowl. "I have felt... a disturbance, my friend. In the Force. It is time for the Jedi-hunters to concentrate fully on the one known as Xander Harris. He has been a thorn in out side since he first came to the galaxy."
Vader looked up in shock. "But... what of Obi-Wan Kenobi, master?"
The Emperor shook his head. "He is of little consequence, now, my friend. He is too old to train another, and his strength in the Force has been waning of late... he has tried so hard to hide from those that hunt him, that he is loosing that which he is sought for."
"Still... he should not be underestimated... master."
"I know your wish to kill your old master, my friend. All in due time. You shall have your chance... I have seen it." The Emperor smiled grimly. "But Xander shall be instrumental in our defeat of the rebellion that seems so popular of late..."
"How?" Vader asked, before adding belatedly, "my master."
"He is even now in position to aid us... and give us the final piece in the domination of the galaxy. Jan Dodonna and his aides will not be able to run from a weapon able to destroy planets!"
"What shall be done, master?" Darth Vader knew of this new battle station, the well named, 'Death Star'. Able to carry hundreds of thousands of troops, and hundreds of ships, it was a sight to be reckoned with when it hung in space. Add in a laser capable of destroying planets, and it was the final weapon of terror the Empire would need to crush any and all that stood in their way.
The Emperor laughed evilly. "You shall find out in time, my friend. You shall find out in time..."