Star Wars: Return of the Sith

25: Tenn's Tale: Consequences

By Nanaki

228 A.B.Y.

Tenn sat huddled on her bed, knees drawn up just under her chin, arms wrapped around her legs. She had remained in this position most of the time for the last several days. She was in her room in the temple, which was just barely big enough for the bed and desk that were the only pieces of furniture inside it. She had applied for quarters inside the temple when she turned seventeen, ostensibly because it was about time she got her own place anyway. She was sure her father knew it was actually so she could be closer to Negian, but he hadn't put up a fuss about it. The room didn't have any windows, and just a single lamp on the desk, but still, she was going to miss it.

It was funny, she hadn't been consciously aware that she'd made up her mind to leave until just now, but as she analytically examined that thought, she couldn't find anything wrong with it. Apparently her unconscious mind was making all kinds of decisions for her lately. That was the main problem.

She raised her head a bit as she sensed Master Rondo approaching her door. Both her master and her father had stopped by multiple times already, but she'd refused to open the door to talk to either. They could have gotten the override code for her door lock easily enough, but it seemed both of them wanted her to be in a talkative mood before they tried to make any headway. As Master Rondo stopped by her room, Tenn simply waved her right hand, using the Force to hit the button to open the door.

"Hey there youngling." Rondo said gently, his voice, as usual, sounding a bit tinny as it filtered through his mask. "Feeling ready to talk now?"

"What's there to talk about?" She shrugged. "I killed a man in cold blood."

"Not according to the law." Master Rondo answered calmly. "On virtually every world, killing someone who is actively trying to kill YOU is not a crime."

"That may be technically correct." Tenn admitted. "But just because he was trying to kill me doesn't mean he COULD. I could sense his hostile intent, know what moves he was about to make before he even made them. He didn't stand a chance against me. Yet I cut him down like he was a serious threat, even so. And the worst part!" She added quickly, sensing that Master Rondo was about to cut in. "The worst part is that I didn't even consciously decide to do it! It's like it just... happened." Now she finally looked up at her master. "If I had lost my temper and killed him in a burst of anger, I'd admit it. I mean, there's no doubt that I'm the one who killed him. But there wasn't even that level of thought."

"I think the thought was there." Master Rondo said, still quite calm. "I think your mind just blocked it out almost as soon as it happened."

"That..." Tenn looked like she wanted to argue, but quickly changed her mind. "That's possible." She admitted. "There are two main problems, that I see. First off, you haven't even given me any punishment yet!"

A soft sigh escaped through Master Rondo's mask. "There's no point. There's no punishment I could decree that would be more effective than what you're already doing to yourself." Now he walked over to stand next to the bed. "The way I see it, the fact that you're so torn up over the death of a violent thug, who, again, was actively trying to kill you, only demonstrates your fitness as a Jedi."

"That doesn't mean I should just shrug it off and forget about it!" Tenn responded.

"Indeed not." Rondo agreed. "But instead of simply beating yourself up, put that guilt to more constructive use. Let it become your determination to not let something like this happen again." Now he looked up at the ceiling. "You know, I've heard more than one being in the medical profession remark that you're not really a doctor until you've killed someone. 'Accidentally' being the unspoken qualifier there. I think this is that kind of moment for you."

"Did you ever have that kind of moment?" Tenn wondered, trying not to sound confrontational.

"Oh yes." He nodded quickly. "But it wasn't just a moment, it was DECADES. I accidentally killed billions. When Palpatine began to rule the galaxy with an iron fist, and again when Krayt did the same. I stood idly by and did nothing, because I was afraid. I was ashamed at the time, but I'm even more ashamed now. Because now that I've truly mastered my abilites, I know that I could have done something to stop them, but I was too scared of what would happen to me if I tried."

"That's not the same." Tenn sighed. "I'm not trying to dispute what you're saying, but it's not the same. Right now, it feels like I can't even trust myself. It seems like all I do is hurt people, when that's not what I want at all."

"Is that the second main problem?" Rondo asked. She just nodded. "I have a suspicion that feeling is caused more by Negian than anything else. There was a reason the Old Republic Jedi discouraged attachment, you know."

"I know." Tenn looked down at the floor now. "I should have been more mindful of that. But Negian is another example of how I'm failing as a Jedi. I never really paid enough attention to what HE was feeling. I just knew that I enjoyed being with him, and never gave it much more thought than that."

"Tenn, being a Jedi doesn't mean being infallibe." Rondo pointed out. "It means having the courage to face up to your mistakes. Which it seems like you're doing, as far as I can

tell."

"But there's also the fact that I seem to specialize in the most destructive Force powers..." Tenn observed.

"Even those destructive powers can be used to protect people, if applied in the proper way." Rondo responded.

"I know. I just can't help thinking that some of the worst Sith Lords in history have started out as very talented Jedi." Now Tenn frowned a bit. "Well, not just some. Now that I'm thinking about it, a LOT of the worst Sith Lords started as Jedi. It's not just a recent phenomenon of A'Sharad Hett, Jacen Solo, and Anakin Skywalker. There was also Jard Dooku, Kaan, Master Phanius..." Her eyes lost focus a bit as she realized how many were on this list. "Kreia, Revan, and Malak. Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma! Freedon Nadd and... I could go on for a while, apparently."

"I understand the concern." Master Rondo nodded. "But the dark side won't rise up to claim you if you don't want it to happen. We always have a choice, after all."

"I'd like to think so." Tenn's brow furrowed in thought. "But I'm not so sure. If you could go back and ask Jacen Solo, right after he'd lost his beloved brother, if he could imagine himself inflicting similar pain on others, including his own uncle and cousin, I imagine he'd be aghast at the very thought. Or ask Anakin Skywalker, when he found out his wife was pregnant, if he could imagine himself slaughtering younglings, or helping to build a weapon that would destroy entire worlds. I don't imagine he would have reacted well to that."

Master Rondo remained quiet for several seconds before responding. "I have several more well-reasoned arguments ready to go, but I sense your mind is already made up. But made up to do what, exactly?"

Tenn smiled softly as she looked up. "I think I need to leave for a while. I don't think I have the maturity yet to be a Jedi, or a lover. I've caused nothing but pain trying to be both."

"That's not even close to true." Rondo sounded a bit angry for the first time in the whole conversation. "But, trying to teach someone who doesn't want to be taught is a fool's quest. What will you do, in that case?"

"I think I need to focus on... just trying to be an actual grown-up person." She shrugged. "A few of my friends from back home have gone into business on space stations in the Core. Maybe I'll join them for a while."

"For a while?" He sounded a bit hopeful. "You're planning to return eventually?"

Tenn nodded. "Yes. I don't imagine I'll be able to ignore the will of the Force forever. I'm sure it'll lead me back here when it's time."

"That's good to hear. Because whether you use it in your everyday life or not, the Force will always be with you. There's no escaping that. I mean, Cade literally tried to escape it, and we all know how that turned out." That got Tenn to smile, just a bit. "So, should we tell everyone that you're leaving, or...?"

"No." Tenn slowly shook her head. "This is more of a sneaking out the back door in the middle of the night because I'm ashamed kind of situation. Besides, I don't plan for this to be a permanent parting of the ways."

"All right." Another sigh escaped from Master Rondo's mask. "I won't try to stop you any more than I already have. Just... please be careful out there. It's a crueler galaxy than you realize, my young Padawan."

Tenn didn't have much to say in response, other than, "May the Force be with you, Master."

"And with you, Tenn."

.

"She WHAT?!" Negian again found himself hating the note of desperation in his voice, but he couldn't control it.

"She left, sometime in the middle of the night." Seco responded calmly.

"You're sure she didn't just get called away on a mission?" Negian glared at his friend. He was in no mood for Seco's smug calmness.

"Well, based on the fact that Master Rondo is still here, and the cleaning droids are currently getting her room ready for a new occupant, I'm pretty sure it's not just a mission." Seco shrugged.

"You think this is karking FUNNY?!" Negian roared.

"No, I think it's devastating." Seco replied simply.

Words failed Negian at that point. He had thought there was no way she could hurt him any more than she already had. Apparently, he had been dead wrong about that. How could she just leave, without even saying goodbye? Did he really mean so little to her? Of course he didn't mean anything to her, he saw now. She never would have been able to treat him the way she had if he did. Until now, he hadn't realized how much he'd still been hoping that she would eventually come to her senses, that things would go back to the way they had been...

'It's really over.' He found himself thinking, against his will. He felt a white hot ball of rage more intense than any he'd ever known burst into being inside of him. 'It's really over.' He thought again. In his mind's eye, the storm that had been brewing on the horizon of the ocean of light that was the Force suddenly spread out to darken the whole sky. Fierce currents lurking below the surface suddenly rose, turning the surface of the ocean into a violent roil. Of course, those currents had always been there, he'd just been lulled into a false sense of security by the peaceful surface. A peaceful surface that had been largely the responsibility of the woman who, even now, was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

He felt one last, desperate impulse to reach out to her through the Force, if only to confirm that she was really gone, but he made himself stop. It just didn't matter anymore. In fact, not much of anything seemed to matter, at the moment. The true kick to the gonads was, it never had mattered, Negian realized. The galaxy was a cruel, random place, full of fools who deluded themselves into thinking otherwise. Well, he was done being a fool. "You know Seco," he said aloud slowly, struggling not to choke on his own rage, "if she can get away with sneaking out without telling anyone she's leaving, I think we can too."

"Sounds logical to me." Seco shrugged. "You want to pack anything?"

Negian's mind did a quick inventory of his room, which contained nearly every possession he'd acquired in his life. Yet, none of it seemed to matter now. At all. "No. Let's just get the kark out of here."

230 A.B.Y.

"And that's about all that's relevant at the moment, I think." Tenn finished softly. Jerin still had plenty of questions he would have liked her to answer, but he also reflected that he'd been lucky to get as much information as he had. It seemed that once she actually opened up, it was hard for her to stop. "Until a few months ago, that is." As if to prove his unspoken thought correct, it seemed she wasn't actually done yet. "Two months ago, I got a holo-message from Seco saying he and Negian needed to talk to me about a matter of grave importance to the future of the galaxy. I was more than a little surprised, considering I hadn't been in contact with them since I left the temple. I mean, at all."

Now she stared down at her hands. "I honestly don't know what's happened to those two to turn them into the complete murglaks they are today. I really was shocked when Negian tried to kill you." She turned around in her seat to look Joona in the eyes. Jerin was slightly shocked that Joona was there. He hadn't notice her arrive, in any case. It seemed that she was good at listening in on conversations without being noticed, which was definitely a handy skill to have.

"I can guess what happened to them." Joona replied evenly. "Once they were out there on their own, away from the temple where their every whim had been catered to their whole life-no offense Tenn-they discovered life is a good deal harder than they imagined it would be. In order to keep themselves fed, they probably had to do some unsavory things, like agreeing to work for a Hutt. And when you feel like no one cares what happens to you, it's easy to lose your empathy for others."

"It probably didn't help when the Jedi Order officially declared them to be Sith..." Tenn added quietly. "Anyway, I didn't respond to their holo-message, but they tracked me down not long after, at a station above Alsakan. That's when Negian told me that I was pregnant, and that I'd soon be the mother of a child every bit as powerful as Anakin Skywalker. I thought he'd completely lost it, I admit. I gave him and Seco the slip there, but they kept following me after that, saying I needed to go with them for my safety." Now Tenn softly patted her belly. "As it turns out, Negian was telling the truth. I AM pregnant. Which is completely impossible, since I haven't been intimate with anyone since I broke up with him, but there it is."

"What... um..." Denan tried to ask a follow-up question, but couldn't seem to decide WHAT to ask. "What do you think happened?" He finally got out.

"I think Negian decided to impose on me by force what he couldn't get me to do of my own free will." Tenn replied calmly, not sounding as bitter as Jerin would have expected. "I think he and Seco have managed to replicate the Force techniques of Darth Plagueis, compelling the midi-chlorians themselves to create new life."

"But even Darth Plagueis couldn't choose the exact person who was affected by that technique." Jerin pointed out. "Or at least, so we all assume, since Anakin remained anonymous until he was nine years old. And that's if you even believe what is, to be honest, a pretty unbelievable claim. There are plenty of conspiracy theorists out there who think Qui-Gon Jinn was actually Anakin's father."

"There are also plenty of conspiracy theorists who claim that Palpatine and Grand Admiral Thrawn only destroyed worlds because they needed to whip the galaxy into shape quickly to prepare for the Yuuzhan Vong invsaion." Tenn shot back. "Trust me, Anakin Skywalker was most definitely created that way, and this one is just the same. I can only assume that Seco and Negian have refined the technique a bit." Now she looked down again. "I also think they're going to end up killing each other over it."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Jerin wondered. "If nothing else, their loyalty to each other seems to be genuine."

"It is." Tenn nodded slowly. "But, whoever raises this youngling is going to have the power to change the galaxy at their disposal."

The other three looked back and forth between each other for a few seconds, before Jerin asked the question on all their minds. "Um, aren't YOU going to be the one who raises that youngling?"

Tenn shook her head sadly. "I don't think so. I don't think I'm qualified. I've been a failure at everything important I've tried to do with my life. This probably wouldn't be any different."

Now it was Jerin's turn to let out a sigh. "Tenn, I'll freely admit that I'm not a psychologist, and I don't know nearly as much about the Jedi as you do... But it seems to me you've fallen into the same kind of mental trap as the Jedi of the Old Republic."

"Mental trap?" She wondered.

"Yeah. Master Yoda's brand of Jedi treated the dark side like it was an exotic disease, something to be avoided at all costs. Even though a moment's logical thought reveals that course of action to be doomed to failure." Now he turned back toward Denan and Joona. "Does anyone know how, before medical science discovered how to cure viral diseases, doctors used to stop those diseases from spreading?"

He was met with blank looks for a second, before Denan snapped his fingers. "Oh! You're talking about vaccinations."

"Exactly." Jerin nodded. "Doctors would introduce a small dose of the disease into the body, either dead or severely weakened, to give the immune system practice at fighting it. Then, when the being encountered the disease in force, their immune system would already know how to destroy it. And that's the key to avoid being controlled by the dark side. You can't possibly AVOID it your whole life. Honestly, I'm amazed the final thousand years of the Old Republic didn't produce a hundred Darth Vaders. The key is to UNDERSTAND the dark side, because it's not a disease."

"Then just what is the dark side?" Tenn asked, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"The dark side is a part of us all." Jerin answered earnestly. "It may flow more quickly and easily to some beings, some may be more likely to become consumed by it, but it exists inside all of us, just as naturally as the light. The key to not letting it control you, is to understand WHY that power is flowing to you. You have to face up to what's causing your anger, or making you afraid."

"You make it sound so easy." Tenn sighed again. "But I was afraid that I would do nothing but bring pain and suffering, without even meaning to. How do you face up to that fear?"

Jerin had a harsh reponse ready for that question, but he didn't think it would help, not right now. "I don't know." He lied quickly. "But look at it this way: Has running away from your old life actually helped anyone? Even yourself?"

Tenn really looked like she wanted to argue, but then she dropped her gaze to the co-pilot's controls in front of her again. "No. Not really. Not like I thought it would."

"Then isn't it about time you went back to the Jedi? It's pretty clear that Lucia wants you back, at least." He observed. "And you'd definitely be safe from Seco and Negian."

"Again, you make it sound so easy." Tenn smiled thinly. "Not yet. Maybe that time is coming soon, but... not quite yet. At the very least, I want to help you get the girls to safety first."

"On that note," Denan cut in, "how exactly ARE we going to get the girls to safety?"

.

"Master Arca, Freedon Nadd was a Jedi. How can a Jedi, trained in the ways of the light, fall victim to the dark side?"

"It has happened more than once. Fortunately it does not happen often- Ulic, my son... Pray that it never happens to you." - Ulic Qel-Droma and Arca Jeth, Tales of the Jedi

.

(Nanaki's note: So, let's talk about Ania Solo, and Legacy Volume II in general. First off, though I didn't care for the style of either of the artists who worked on the series, (character appearance was just too inconsistent) I liked Legacy Volume II quite a bit. The characters were very strong and it showed a lot of imagination. Up until the ridiculously rushed final three issues, I liked the story quite a bit too. While I'm sure that what they originally had planned for Darth Wredd was nothing like what they ended up doing, (Why was he always trying to tempt Jao to join the dark side, if he wanted to exterminate the Sith?) they managed to use him to tie things up pretty well. I'm sure the final battle between the One Sith and the Imperial Knights would have been pretty great too, if we'd actually gotten to see it. Oh well.

Ania Solo herself presents a few issues though. The creators were fond of saying that they weren't going to reveal exactly how she was related to Han and Leia, partly because they didn't want to restrict future writers who might work with the character. (That was something they didn't need to be concerned with, it turned out.) However, a bit of logical thought can narrow that down considerably. I know I said in an early chapter of this story that Seco couldn't be a Solo because Jacen died before he had any male children. Yet I read somewhere after that (Exactly where escapes me at the moment.) that Allana continued to use the Solo name even after she discarded her Amelia Solo alias. This was almost certainly not to honor Jacen, but rather to honor Han and Leia as both her grandparents and foster parents.

So that seems pretty straightforward; Ania must be descended from Allana. However, that brings up a whole other issue, in that it's virtually impossible Ania wouldn't be Force-sensitive, given the four generations of her ancestors that we know of:

1. Anakin Skywalker
2. Leia Organa Solo
3. Jacen Solo AND Tenel Ka
4. Allana Ka Solo

Especially given that the Fate of the Jedi series offered several hints that Allana was going to succeed Luke as Jedi Grand Master, I can't help but be a bit dubious when I ask, how did a scion of that family end up as a junk dealer without a trace of Force-sensitivity? My answer is one that the writers of the comic almost certainly didn't intend: Ania isn't a Solo at all.

To provide the right context for this, we need to leave the Star Wars galaxy and visit another great adventure series, Uncharted. In Uncharted 4, we FINALLY got most of Nate's backstory, or at least more of it than had been revealed in the first three games combined. When ten year old Nate Morgan suddenly found himself in need of a new identity, he chose the name Nathan Drake because Sir Francis Drake embodied the kind of person he wanted to be when he grew up. Seems like it would have been smart to change his first name too, but again, he was ten at the time.

Likewise, when Ania found herself in need of a new identity, (And if you've read the comic, you know that probably happened more than once.) she chose the name Solo because Han Solo embodied the kind of person SHE wanted to be. Again, probably not what the creators of the comic intended, but I think it makes more sense than the alternative. Also, there is at least a bit of circumstantial evidence to support this theory. Only once in the comic's whole eighteen issues does Ania mention being related to Empress Marasiah Fel, which you'd think would be kind of a big deal. (Though admittedly, Cade never mentioned it at all.) The one time it does come up, Ania just mentions offhand that her parents had told her they were supposed to be related to the Fels, or something. Clearly it doesn't matter to her at all. In fact, it sounds like a very lazy lie. It's obviously not a part of the Solo legacy she's interested in, likely because it doesn't really pertain to HAN Solo.

Yes, there is also some evidence against this theory, mainly the promise that AG-37 made to an unspecified member of the Solo family, which is allegedly the reason he looks after Ania. But, 1.) AG may simply consider Ania to be a Solo in spirit, if not in blood. 2.) AG may have simply had the presence of mind to use Ania's current alias when talking about Ania's ancestors, even though they weren't Solos. 3.) Even though AG-37 is a droid, he has the personality of a veteran bounty hunter, and that whole story may have been BS. 4.) If there's one character from the Expanded Universe I REALLY want to know more about, AG-37 would be the one. Hmm... I may have gotten a bit off topic at the end there. Let's move on.

Oh, and Seco is most definitely still not a Solo. I've thought of something much more creative for him...)