Disclaimer: I am not George Lucas, I am not making any money from this,
and I do not own Star Wars, or any of these characters, although if he
lets me use them I will return them in good condition, I promise! Or,
well, as good a condition as his writers left them in, anyway! Many
lines and scenes in this chapter are taken from the book Star by Star,
but no copyright infringement is intended.
MistiWhitesun- Well, the answer to your question is two-fold. First, I don't really think Luke has any real trouble about still thinking of them as kids. If you look at Star by Star and read the whole scene where Anakin suggests the mission to Myrkr, you get the sense that while Luke is still somewhat protective of his nephew and Tahiri, he is willing to let them make their own decisions. And the second part of the answer is, that Luke doesn't really think they've actually done what they did. I'm sure the possibility crossed his mind, but I don't think he'd seriously believe it.
I've revised the end of chapter 2 slightly, so go back and read it again before you read this.
NOTE: I'm assuming that everyone who reads this will have read Star by Star by now, seeing as it came out 3 years ago, but if you haven't, do yourself a really big favor and don't read any farther until you do!
Star Wars – Anakin Solo's Legacy
Chapter 3 - Myrkr
Leaving behind a mob of slaves, the Jedi strike force stopped at the mouth of a narrow alley deep in the underbelly of the Yuuzhan Vong worldship orbiting the planet Myrkr. The mission to destroy the voxyn queen was not going well. Through an ill-fated attempt to rescue what turned out to be a pair of dark Jedi, the vong had learned of their presence long before the strike force had gotten anywhere near the cloning center and the voxyn queen. Faced with the entire warrior complement of a Yuuzhan Vong frigate, they had been forced to flee, in an attempt to lose their pursuers, through various parts of the worldship, the voxyn training course, and most recently the slave city. They were now attempting to circle back around to the lab complex.
Anakin stopped a few steps into the alley. "Stay sharp, everyone. We need to make this work." He turned to Jacen. "If you can do something to keep the voxyn quiet, now is the time."
Tahiri could hear a doubtful note in Jacen's voice as he replied. "I'll do my best, Anakin. But these aren't normal animals. I can't just reach-" He broke off as Anakin whirled around to face the crowd of slaves in the street. Looking over her shoulder, Tahiri could see five large, strong looking men pushing their way through the slaves towards the Jedi. They all looked completely alike, and none existed in the Force. Before anyone could react, one tossed a small capsule at Jacen's feet. The capsule dissolved, and a thin coat of green slime spread toward Jacen. Anakin yelled, "Blorash jelly! Watch the crowd!" and shot the thrower with his blaster.
Tahiri jerked her lightsaber from her belt and ignited it as around her, a dozen other Jedi did the same. The strike force had been caught in a bad position, with some of their members at the alley mouth and others still leaving the edge of the crowd of slaves. A ripple of darkness swept through the battle meld as someone took a heavy blow and struggled to stay conscious. Someone yelled something, but Tahiri had no attention to spare as the impostors threw more jelly and she blocked three thud bugs headed in her direction. Tenel Ka yelled for help, and Tahiri turned to see two warriors pressing her back towards the alley wall while some blorash jelly tried to trap her feet. Tahiri dug a small container out of her belt with her free hand before springing to Tenel's side. She intercepted an amphistaff swing while popping open the container and sprinkling some of the contents on the slime wrapping itself around Tenel Ka's feet. On contact with the arsensalts, the jelly detached itself and began to shrivel up. With her feet free, Tenel Ka began a furious attack that had both warriors backing up, scrambling to defend themselves. Tahiri took advantage of their distraction to slip her lightsaber past one of their defenses and slice his chest open. The other turned on her, but she ducked his slash and watched Tenel Ka decapitate him.
A sudden wave of shock and pain swept over her from the battle meld, and she knew someone had fallen. She whirled, eyes frantically searching for Anakin, and panicked when she couldn't see him. She dashed towards the alley mouth where he had been, and felt an overwhelming flash of relief as she spotted him just outside the alley, dueling with a Yuuzhan Vong warrior. She rolled under his blade as he dispatched his foe, and drove her lightsaber through the chest of another warrior who had not yet revealed himself. A masquer peeled from his face as he fell.
Anakin jerked her behind him. "Careful!" he said.
Annoyed by his protectiveness, she snapped, "You're one to talk!" She shook more salt on another jelly sliding towards them. The stuff stopped and began to dissolve. She took another look around, and finally spotted their casualty. Eryl lay limp on the ground at the alley mouth, her face sliced cleanly in half. Raynar kneeled next to her, tears falling down his cheeks, unaware of anything around him. Tahiri reached for the girl in the Force, and was just in time to feel her spirit leave her body. "No..." she breathed.
She felt Anakin move next to her, and looked up in time to see six or seven more warriors burst out of the stampeding crowd of slaves, headed for the alley. Anakin shoved her over towards Ganner and the barabels, at the alley mouth, and flipped over the heads of the warriors, killing one with a head slice as he passed. Tahiri shook her head to clear it of the persistent darkness swirling in the meld as someone continued to fight unconsciousness, and finally realized who it was. Jania was trapped outside the alley, and was clearly in trouble. Anakin took off through the crowd, obviously heading for his sister, while Tahiri set herself to receive the warriors' charge.
Of the six, one came after her, his false human face distorted into a mask of fury. He swung his staff at her, and she blocked it with her lightsaber. She tried to slide her saber up his weapon and take off his hand, but he anticipated her and jumped back. He swung his amphistaff in an overhead strike, and she was about to parry when an icy spike of agony punched her right in the stomach. Her vision blurred strangely. She was here, in a combat stance, watching a Yuuzhan vong warrior, about to block his swing, but she was also there, her eyes closed, crouched on one hand and her knees, with the handle of an amphistaff protruding from her stomach. Her involuntary scream echoed down the street, in exact time with Anakin's, and she staggered from his pain.
Barely able to see, she raised her lightsaber, but realized she had missed the block. She turned to the side, and the amphistaff whistled down centimeters from her nose. She brought her saber down, pinning his weapon to the floor, and Ganner took the opportunity to cut her foe's arm off. Tahiri whirled in two lightning fast motions, first separating the warrior's legs from his body, then taking off his head. Even as she turned and ran out of the alley, a new wave of agony rolled through her, as she saw through Anakin's eyes and senses as he rose and pulled the staff from his abdomen. She dizzily stumbled to a halt as she tried to overcome the pain. Slowly she became aware of people running past her, shouting. She looked up. All of the Jedi were pouring out of the alley and running towards Anakin, striking down the last of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors as they went. Their attack was brutal, and within seconds all the vong were down, cut into pieces.
Tahiri pushed her way past the others and ran to anakin's side. He had his hand over his stomach, and it was ominously stained with red. She tried to pull his hand away to see the wound, but he resisted her. He nodded towards Alema, who was crouched behind a hovercar, using a blaster rifle to hold off some vong reinforcements. "Call her off. Let's go before someone else gets killed."
Tahiri ignored him and pulled harder on his arm. "Anakin, how bad is it? Let me-"
"Tahiri, stop. It's just a little cut."
MistiWhitesun- Well, the answer to your question is two-fold. First, I don't really think Luke has any real trouble about still thinking of them as kids. If you look at Star by Star and read the whole scene where Anakin suggests the mission to Myrkr, you get the sense that while Luke is still somewhat protective of his nephew and Tahiri, he is willing to let them make their own decisions. And the second part of the answer is, that Luke doesn't really think they've actually done what they did. I'm sure the possibility crossed his mind, but I don't think he'd seriously believe it.
I've revised the end of chapter 2 slightly, so go back and read it again before you read this.
NOTE: I'm assuming that everyone who reads this will have read Star by Star by now, seeing as it came out 3 years ago, but if you haven't, do yourself a really big favor and don't read any farther until you do!
Star Wars – Anakin Solo's Legacy
Chapter 3 - Myrkr
Leaving behind a mob of slaves, the Jedi strike force stopped at the mouth of a narrow alley deep in the underbelly of the Yuuzhan Vong worldship orbiting the planet Myrkr. The mission to destroy the voxyn queen was not going well. Through an ill-fated attempt to rescue what turned out to be a pair of dark Jedi, the vong had learned of their presence long before the strike force had gotten anywhere near the cloning center and the voxyn queen. Faced with the entire warrior complement of a Yuuzhan Vong frigate, they had been forced to flee, in an attempt to lose their pursuers, through various parts of the worldship, the voxyn training course, and most recently the slave city. They were now attempting to circle back around to the lab complex.
Anakin stopped a few steps into the alley. "Stay sharp, everyone. We need to make this work." He turned to Jacen. "If you can do something to keep the voxyn quiet, now is the time."
Tahiri could hear a doubtful note in Jacen's voice as he replied. "I'll do my best, Anakin. But these aren't normal animals. I can't just reach-" He broke off as Anakin whirled around to face the crowd of slaves in the street. Looking over her shoulder, Tahiri could see five large, strong looking men pushing their way through the slaves towards the Jedi. They all looked completely alike, and none existed in the Force. Before anyone could react, one tossed a small capsule at Jacen's feet. The capsule dissolved, and a thin coat of green slime spread toward Jacen. Anakin yelled, "Blorash jelly! Watch the crowd!" and shot the thrower with his blaster.
Tahiri jerked her lightsaber from her belt and ignited it as around her, a dozen other Jedi did the same. The strike force had been caught in a bad position, with some of their members at the alley mouth and others still leaving the edge of the crowd of slaves. A ripple of darkness swept through the battle meld as someone took a heavy blow and struggled to stay conscious. Someone yelled something, but Tahiri had no attention to spare as the impostors threw more jelly and she blocked three thud bugs headed in her direction. Tenel Ka yelled for help, and Tahiri turned to see two warriors pressing her back towards the alley wall while some blorash jelly tried to trap her feet. Tahiri dug a small container out of her belt with her free hand before springing to Tenel's side. She intercepted an amphistaff swing while popping open the container and sprinkling some of the contents on the slime wrapping itself around Tenel Ka's feet. On contact with the arsensalts, the jelly detached itself and began to shrivel up. With her feet free, Tenel Ka began a furious attack that had both warriors backing up, scrambling to defend themselves. Tahiri took advantage of their distraction to slip her lightsaber past one of their defenses and slice his chest open. The other turned on her, but she ducked his slash and watched Tenel Ka decapitate him.
A sudden wave of shock and pain swept over her from the battle meld, and she knew someone had fallen. She whirled, eyes frantically searching for Anakin, and panicked when she couldn't see him. She dashed towards the alley mouth where he had been, and felt an overwhelming flash of relief as she spotted him just outside the alley, dueling with a Yuuzhan Vong warrior. She rolled under his blade as he dispatched his foe, and drove her lightsaber through the chest of another warrior who had not yet revealed himself. A masquer peeled from his face as he fell.
Anakin jerked her behind him. "Careful!" he said.
Annoyed by his protectiveness, she snapped, "You're one to talk!" She shook more salt on another jelly sliding towards them. The stuff stopped and began to dissolve. She took another look around, and finally spotted their casualty. Eryl lay limp on the ground at the alley mouth, her face sliced cleanly in half. Raynar kneeled next to her, tears falling down his cheeks, unaware of anything around him. Tahiri reached for the girl in the Force, and was just in time to feel her spirit leave her body. "No..." she breathed.
She felt Anakin move next to her, and looked up in time to see six or seven more warriors burst out of the stampeding crowd of slaves, headed for the alley. Anakin shoved her over towards Ganner and the barabels, at the alley mouth, and flipped over the heads of the warriors, killing one with a head slice as he passed. Tahiri shook her head to clear it of the persistent darkness swirling in the meld as someone continued to fight unconsciousness, and finally realized who it was. Jania was trapped outside the alley, and was clearly in trouble. Anakin took off through the crowd, obviously heading for his sister, while Tahiri set herself to receive the warriors' charge.
Of the six, one came after her, his false human face distorted into a mask of fury. He swung his staff at her, and she blocked it with her lightsaber. She tried to slide her saber up his weapon and take off his hand, but he anticipated her and jumped back. He swung his amphistaff in an overhead strike, and she was about to parry when an icy spike of agony punched her right in the stomach. Her vision blurred strangely. She was here, in a combat stance, watching a Yuuzhan vong warrior, about to block his swing, but she was also there, her eyes closed, crouched on one hand and her knees, with the handle of an amphistaff protruding from her stomach. Her involuntary scream echoed down the street, in exact time with Anakin's, and she staggered from his pain.
Barely able to see, she raised her lightsaber, but realized she had missed the block. She turned to the side, and the amphistaff whistled down centimeters from her nose. She brought her saber down, pinning his weapon to the floor, and Ganner took the opportunity to cut her foe's arm off. Tahiri whirled in two lightning fast motions, first separating the warrior's legs from his body, then taking off his head. Even as she turned and ran out of the alley, a new wave of agony rolled through her, as she saw through Anakin's eyes and senses as he rose and pulled the staff from his abdomen. She dizzily stumbled to a halt as she tried to overcome the pain. Slowly she became aware of people running past her, shouting. She looked up. All of the Jedi were pouring out of the alley and running towards Anakin, striking down the last of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors as they went. Their attack was brutal, and within seconds all the vong were down, cut into pieces.
Tahiri pushed her way past the others and ran to anakin's side. He had his hand over his stomach, and it was ominously stained with red. She tried to pull his hand away to see the wound, but he resisted her. He nodded towards Alema, who was crouched behind a hovercar, using a blaster rifle to hold off some vong reinforcements. "Call her off. Let's go before someone else gets killed."
Tahiri ignored him and pulled harder on his arm. "Anakin, how bad is it? Let me-"
"Tahiri, stop. It's just a little cut."