I do not own Star Wars. If I did, different people would be doing the scripts for the films.
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Beta read by the wonderful lincoln time, Jeda31, and BlantonM. Could not have done it without you guys!
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Guest Review answers :-D
Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time)
Glad you liked the whole bit with Luke tossing Kylo around. Alas, only an Omake.
Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D
Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D
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Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time)
Yes, Kylo Ren is supposed to be a major villain, but the lack of development into his motivations mean we are left to make our own guesses, and honestly his actions just leave me thinking this is all a massively overdone case of teenage rebellion . . . Yes, some great lines about letting the past die, but why does he care so much about the First Order? What does he want to do with his life?
Snoke did not mention here that Kylo Ren needed to complete his training still, because in this universe those gang members never sold their information to the First Order, so Kylo never knew that Han Solo and his personal stake was involved here. So not necessary for Snoke to bring it up.
Thank you for your review and support! :-D
Here is the newest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :-D
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Joys
Nice to hear these scenes are going so well. And yeah, I have plans related around the Dyad, and the impact it will have, while Legends!Luke and Mara further stir things up.
Thank you for your review and support! :-D
Here is the newest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :-D
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Guest2.0
LOL yes, doing that to Kylo was loads of fun! Alas it was only an Omake . . .
Thank you for your review and support! :-D
Here is the newest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :-D
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Jack905
I have definite plans for Rey here. I really want to make her into a proper character.
Thank you for your review and support! :-D
Here is the newest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :-D
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Nikolai
Great to hear my work is doing so much better than canon!
The Mandalorian is indeed doing a much better job at Star Wars. I still have some issues, but FAR less than the sequel trilogy. Got plans from it too ;-)
I have a lot going on in real life, and a bunch of other stories, so updates of this will be haphazard. That said, here is the newest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :-D
Thank you for your review and support! :-D
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Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time)
I can assure you that things with Movie!Luke are not going to go like most readers seem to assume so. I am honestly throwing out 90% of the plot of The Last Jedi for assorted reasons, including how realistically having Legends!Luke and Mara would change a lot of stuff very quickly. The most glaring example being that there is no need for Rey to go ask Movie!Luke for training, when she already has a teacher.
Thank you for your review and support! :-D
Here is the newest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :-D
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Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time)
Honestly, I stopped reading any new content that was non-Zahn after the first book or so into the Second Corellian Crisis. But yes, whatever his faults, whenever Legends!Luke hit a new level of personal trauma, he took a step back to settle himself, and then did what was necessary to handle this latest crisis. Even if his methods were questionable at times to those around him, and sometimes stumbled and lost his way briefly, in the end he never stopped fighting for what he knew to be right.
The version of Legends!Luke we see here is a lot younger, and has not yet endured the horrors of the Vong War and afterwards, but I admit I am now wondering a little of what it would have been like if I had used an older version of himself. I daresay he would have had a lot less patience for what Movie!Luke has been up to.
Thank you for your review and support! :-D
Here is the newest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :-D
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Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time)
Not to mention how hyperspace travel was used to travel from star system to star system in a blink with perfect accuracy in The Rise of Skywalker -_-
Thank you for your review and support! :-D
Here is the newest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :-D
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Star Wars: Legends Never Die
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Chapter 5: The Battle of Takodana
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Previously:
Luke, Mara, Rey, Finn, Han, Chewbacca, and the Droids arrived on Takodana, with the Jedi, Rey, Han, and BB-8 going to see a contact of Han's named Maz Kanata. She figured out Luke is not the version of him they are used to, and Rey ended up drawn to the old lightsaber of this universe's Luke Skywalker, which had belonged in turn to Anakin Skywalker before him. Initially overwhelmed by visions, Luke and Mara managed to calm her down. Unfortunately at that point, the First Order fired a superweapon to destroy the Republic's capital, and the bulk of their fleet, while the neo-Empire launched a campaign to conquer the rest. The mental backlash of so many deaths overwhelmed Luke and made him collapse, just before the First Order arrived to attack.
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There was an Omake of Luke and Mara casually beating Kylo and his Stormtroopers, but that was only an Omake.
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The smuggler fortress shook under the bombardment of laser cannons as Mara Jade and her companions raced up the stairs to get outside.
"We can't stay here!" she yelled back. Digging out her comlink, she quickly signaled, "Artoo, do what you can to get the ship ready!"
Without missing a beat, the Droid beeped his acknowledgment.
Briefly she considered running for the woods, before dismissing it. Unlike, say, the planet Myrkr, on their approach here, it had been clear there was nothing in the trees to interfere with ship scanners. The ships would be able to pursue overhead and direct the troopers.
Reaching out with the Force, she tried to get a sense for what they were dealing with, only to be slammed into a wall as the whole building quaked, and debris rained from the ceiling.
Shaking her red hair out of her face, Mara paused to try again.
"Finn," she shortly said, "does about fifty to a hundred sound about right?"
"Standard First Order protocol would be three troop transports and one command shuttle, so seventy Stormtroopers, sir!" he barked off on reflex, and she could feel his growing panic in the Force.
Plus . . .
A part of her shivered at cold focus up top. A roiling concentration of dark power she had not felt since the likes of Vader.
Hopefully that was Kylo Ren, and not his apprentice or something.
Altogether, horrible odds even for a Jedi, especially one as newly Knighted as herself. Plus they had to not only survive, but also protect the Droid everyone was after.
Worst of all, their Jedi Master was currently passed out, and being carried over Chewbacca's shoulder.
Luke would know what to say to keep people's hope up, while Mara had no clue.
Fortunately, they had one walking, talking bag of bravado with them.
"Keep it together, kids," said Solo, voice full of Corellian confidence. "I'm not dying today after getting the Falcon back. We've got a plan, and none of us are dying today!"
"But—!" started Finn.
"No buts! Maz, we can't use the front entrance, so what way?"
The diminutive, millennia old alien led them through to a side tunnel.
Glancing over her shoulder, Mara noted Rey's distress. "What's wrong?"
"I-I feel," the teenager grimaced. "I think it's the people being killed."
The girl must mean locally, with the smugglers who were fighting and dying against the First Order outside. While she had not felt the deaths from that superweapon a few minutes earlier, these ones were much closer. More importantly though, how was Rey suddenly so sensitive in the Force? She had enormous potential, yes, yet that was the sort of talent which had taken Mara years to achieve under Palpatine's tutelage.
Any further questions would have to wait though, as they reached the end of the passage, and Chewbacca carefully set Luke down so he could heave a piece of debris aside.
Senses alert, she led the way out first, the iconic scream of TIE fighter engines overhead broken only by the sound of their laser cannons firing. Before her were patches of fire and corpses, and the white figures of Stormtroopers all around her.
In the same instant it took to process this, her small hold-out blaster was already moving and firing. Three Stormtroopers fell before they even knew she was there, and with a tug of the Force, their rifles came flying towards her.
Ah, good, clearly rip-offs of the old classic E-11 blaster rifle so favoured by the Empire's Stormtroopers. Perfect. A lightweight, versatile design.
Just before they arrived, she slipped the diminutive weapon back into its concealed holster on her left arm, caught one of the rifle's one-handed, and let the other two sail over her shoulder
With a yelp she heard Solo catch them, only put away his own antique blaster, and pass the last rifle to Finn. "Come on, Chewie!" he yelled, moving forward, forgetting the Wookie was on Unconscious Jedi Duty.
Whatever Mara thought of his common sense though, it was clear that old age may have only made the man more dangerous with a blaster. He wielded the rifle with a casual ease, killing Stormtroopers without even looking sometimes.
"You need to get out of here!" Maz told them. "Now! Go!"
In the next minute of fighting, Mara's opinion of the First Order dropped a few more notches. Despite all their obvious training, in the field the Stormtroopers were all mixed around at seeming random, fighting the smugglers scattered about. No proper unity or coordination, making picking them off far easier while she and the others tried to get some proper cover.
Truthfully, Mara had no real plan aside from making their way to the Falcon. She trusted Artoo to at least let them know if he was starting to come under fire. With the old freighter riding in the bay of a larger one, they might be able to lift off before the TIE's realized the true threat.
They just had to survive long enough.
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* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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FN-2187 had always been a failure of a Stormtrooper. The one regularly assigned to carry out sanitation duties, or whatever other distasteful chores needed doing. Always the most humiliating of punishments to serve as both an example to others, and to try and motivate him into being a proper soldier of the First Order. To do his part in bringing peace and stability to a chaotic, violent galaxy.
All of this had been because of his 'unprofessional' attitude as a Stormtrooper.
An attempt to make him prove the worth of his potential, as in combat training, FN-2187's scores had always been in the top percentile.
With the threat of death all around, panic fell away before cool resolve.
Finn's finger tightened around the trigger, and a streak of red burned through the armour of the Stormtrooper coming towards him.
A man he was once supposed to call 'brother.'
Heart steady, and at peace for the first time he could remember, Finn made a minute adjustment of his aim, and squeezed again.
Two.
Moving now for better cover, a third Stormtrooper fell to him, and he was already looking for more targets. Doing all he could to keep his new . . . friends safe. Rey. The Droid. The Jedi who were supposed to be his worst enemies. Even Solo and the Wookie.
A fourth.
Seeing how the troop transports were moving around to redistribute troops, he got an idea.
"What if we steal one of their ships?" he asked. "They can track it, but we can use it for a diversion."
"Good idea," Mara said as she flashed him a grin. "We'll call that Plan B."
Something clenched within him from the praise, only for it all to collapse. From his peripherals, Finn registered five Stormtroopers coming around the corner to flank them, blasters raised. He turned, but too slow—
Mara Jade's lightsaber lit in a bolt of blue-tinged-white, blocked their shots, and the blazing blue blade cut them down.
He gaped, jaw dropped as he stared while blasters continued to fire around him.
"Jedi!"
Stunned, he saw another Stormtrooper approach, casting aside their blaster and shield. What's a riot trooper doing here?
His shock only grew as the man drew his Z6 riot control baton, clearly intending to duel her. The weapon had a short side handle at a right angle to the longer, primary part of it, with two additional contact conductor vanes added onto that central shaft. At first glance the vanes looked like blades, yet were really charged and sparkling with electrical currents to stun their prey, or knock them flying.
The challenger spun his weapon around skillfully and dramatically, before thrusting at Jade with it.
With a flick of her wrist she parried and then sidestepped the Stormtrooper's swing to hit the baton below the conductor vanes, except again her lightsaber glanced off without damage again.
Setting his footing, the Stormtrooper barreled forward to get close, using his greater strength and weight against the far lighter weapon.
Mara danced like air around and under his attack to cut his throat in a flash of plasma.
Still moving, she plucked the riot baton out of limp fingers, and swung it to deflect a stray blaster bolt precisely into another Stormtrooper.
The cold smile on her face terrified Finn to his core.
Expertly, she adjusted the baton so she was holding it parallel to her forearm, and held it before her. Her lightsaber went back to wherever she had been hiding it before, while she pulled her stolen blaster rifle out of her belt.
"Does that shield block blasters too?" she asked.
Yet another ingrained habit saved Finn, as he answered her like he would any other officer. "Yes, sir!"
"Great." A flick of her hand, and it flew to Rey who fumbled with it for a moment, but then caught it. She had been right behind Finn, firing with surprising skill for her first time. "Use that to help keep yourself safe. Finn, keep an eye on her."
Then Mara Jade went on the offensive.
With her arm raised so the riot baton in her left arm covered her torso, Mara advanced, blocking blaster shots with contemptuous ease as if it were a lightsaber itself. Meanwhile fire spat from her blaster, mowing down Stormtroopers, with Finn right behind.
Unfortunately they were far from out of the woods. Even as Mara engaged a dozen before them, another two squads appeared to encircle them.
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* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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"But above all, never forget that a Jedi is not to be a warrior. Our purpose is to strive for knowledge and understanding between sentients. We are never to be the aggressor, resorting to violence only in defense of themselves and those who cannot protect themselves. All while serving the Force and letting us guide our actions. And that? That I know you can do."
Master Skywalker's words rang in Rey's head as she saw the First Order move to surround them.
They had come here to take BeeBee-Ate, and she knew it would not end with those they had already killed here today. She knew from what the others had said that the Republic's capital had been destroyed.
Evil was on the brink of winning . . . and she had a chance to make a difference, even as Stormtroopers moved to pin down her and her newfound friends.
With a wordless cry Rey leapt forward, even as she reached within and without to the Force.
Her shield and blaster —her first gift!— fell to the dirt, while to her hands came her trusty staff she had brought along on impulse—
—and a little something she had tied to it while running through the tunnels.
The lightsaber of Luke Skywalker lit up in blue plasma as she swung, cleaving through three Stormtroopers at once with her improvised polearm.
Moving fluidly from years of experience, practice, and raw natural talent, her lightsaber pike was a pure extension of herself, as every Jedi weapon should. Even against hardened killers such as these.
Pure shock let her take the next two, only for a blaster bolt to fly right by her face, making her stumble back in surprise, dodging another.
Trust in the Force.
Following her instincts, she swung and managed to block two more blaster shots. While attacking was easy, defending herself like this was as awkward as Master Skywalker had warned her it would be with such a long weapon, and she strove to keep her balance.
But she was not alone.
Han and Finn gunned down the rest, with Chewbacca taking up the rear, bowcaster on his back as he fired another blaster one-handed, while the other had Master Skywalker dangling from it.
Where was Maz?
Any further questions were cut off as Mara landed amongst them, finishing off the rest of the Stormtroopers. An experimental thrust with her new weapon sent the last one flying into a wall to break his neck.
"Good work," praised the older woman, eyes like green ice, yet fierce like her flaming hair. Beautiful as a goddess, despite the dirt and sweat on everyone else.
Right in that moment, Rey wanted nothing more than to be like Mara Jade.
"It's not over yet," the Jedi continued. "We're still badly outnumbered, and now they know about us. And by the feel of it, that includes our local dark sider."
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* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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Throughout all this death, a ghoulish figure stalked among the crumbling, burning ruins.
"Sir," an officer called to him. "The Droid was spotted to the east, along with a Jedi, and the deserter."
Kylo Ren swiveled around, immediately honing in on the presence of the light sider.
For all that he was expressionless beneath his sleek, black face mask, with four silver bands above a dark eye slit, the sheer menace around him made his lesser give him space.
The rough, homespun, frayed, and ragged, black cloak fluttered a little from the breeze set off by the TIE's in the air above.
Without a word he stalked forward.
A smuggler came into view, only to light up in desperate hope as she saw him. It was surprising, until he realized this must be their contact, the one who had informed them the Droid was here.
"My lord, I—GAGH!"
He left her hanging in the air, clawing at her neck as the life was choked out of her by his grip on the Force.
The criminal did not matter. Especially if she thought the First Order owed her anything.
Of greater importance was the Droid, the traitor, and the Jedi.
A snarl escaped him at that last report, at the sheer impossibility of it all.
More likely it was someone who had found an old lightsaber, and gotten lucky with it. The Jedi were all dead; he had seen to that. If whichever trooper who had passed on that lie was still alive, he would kill them himself.
He would end this personally, and crushing the hope out of the pretender would be enjoyable.
With the Force as his guide, he came closer and closer to the sickening light, and the way it reminded him of the Jedi Temple of his childhood, only stoked his anger to greater levels.
Drawing upon his emotions and the power they gave him, he turned a corner to confront his prey. To kill them and take the Droid.
The Droid was not in sight.
"So you must be Kylo Ren then."
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* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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If not for the remaining smugglers, they would be dead.
Some of the survivors had come to join Mara and the rest, with Maz rallying them about, as they tried for a slow advance towards their ships. With those reinforcements, they were kept from being swarmed over.
Unfortunately, they were now surrounded on all sides by Stormtroopers, while the TIE's strafed them from above.
Chewbacca dumped Luke to the ground, and drew his bowcaster, the explosive shot sending one fighter spiraling out of control to crash somewhere, but they all knew it was not enough. At this rate they were going to be overwhelmed.
They were not going to die quietly though.
Finn was quite possibly a literal gift from the Force, mowing down members of what was supposed to be elite crack squads, while yelling orders at the smugglers which tightened up their defenses. Using all the rubble and collapsed walls for cover with trained professionalism, and showing his example to the rest.
Excellent initiative, and something unusual in Stormtroopers. Back with their New Republic, Page's Commandos would snap that man up in a heartbeat.
Rey was also a blessing, sneaking around to pop up and skewer or bisect Stormtroopers before disappearing again amidst the debris and smoke. It was impressive what she could accomplish with such a massive reach advantage.
As for Mara, she was on full defensive, drawing as much blaster fire onto herself as possible, now wielding both her lightsaber and new baton together.
She loved her new weapon, having never encountered such a thing in her and Luke's own galaxy. In fact, she bet many other Jedi would be intrigued by a weapon which could block lightsabers, blaster bolts, and take people down non-lethally. They would have to properly train to use it though, while Mara had been taught how to use a baton (a weapon most species everywhere had developed a variant of) as part of her training as the Emperor's Hand.
Luke would have to get his own.
With a Force assisted jump, she covered several meters from where the crossfire was getting too intense, and managed to snap back blaster bolts to kill two more Stormtroopers. Even as she landed, a TIE flew right by where she had been standing before, destroying that space.
The explosion from another TIE's shots sent her flying against her will this time. Old training came to the fore as she turned, deactivated her weapons mid-air, rolled with it on the ground, and came back up bruised and ready to fight still.
Mara's confident smirk despite what she had just suffered visibly startled the Stormtroopers even under their armour, and made up for the hidden pain in her side and right leg. That would make it harder to move . . .
Something was off though. Something she had noticed and not fully registered. What?
Lightsaber and baton spinning around her in a dance of death, she dodged and weaved and protected those with her, while trying to look around for them.
After her second spin, she almost froze as she realized what was missing.
Who was missing.
"Where's Luke?"
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* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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"So you're Kylo Ren then."
On instinct the man back-stepped and raised his lit lightsaber on guard, even as his mind froze at the cold, hard tone which raised the hairs on the back of his neck, and sent chills down his spine.
Worse, he knew that voice. Knew it from his nightmares.
Except when he had been the naïve, weak child who had been Ben Solo, he had only ever heard it spoken with warmth, or sad disappointment. All a lie from his precious uncle.
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
Here.
Impossible to deny with his burning presence in the Force. Like a sun appearing right in his face, blinding in its intensity and sheer immensity.
Clean shaven, with a black jumpsuit which made him look like his days with the Rebel Alliance. Nothing like the Jedi Master he had been when everything he built collapsed into fire and death.
"I see you crawled out from whatever rock you were hiding under," Kylo spat out from his vocoder. "I won't need that map after all."
The man in question just stared calmly back, lightsaber held loosely in hand, and inactive. Calm, composed, like a proper Jedi, while his eyes measured Kylo. Pretending he was a man of peace.
Incensed, "Look at you, trying to relive your glory days," he sneered. "Pathetic! All you've ever been—" Kylo stopped to stare some more, but now with a touch of confusion and a growing coldness he refused to acknowledge. Even discounting removing that ridiculous beard . . . "You look the same. Like you haven't aged a day," he muttered in surprise. Maybe even younger.
"Why thank you," Skywalker said. "So, mind explaining what you've been up to?"
"You know what!"
Sighing, Skywalker shook his head in resignation. "Surrender."
". . . What?"
"Surrender," Skywalker firmly repeated. "I don't want to kill you, nephew, but people are dying around us, and I need to save them."
"I thought you'd be more interested in saving my precious soul," sneered Kylo. Raising his lightsaber, so the hilt was level with his face, with the tip of the blade pointed straight at his mortal foe.
His greatest nemesis.
Here. Now.
Was he ready?
Cocking an eyebrow, Skywalker turned his assessment to Kylo's weapon. "Interesting design. The crossguard would be particularly useful against other lightsabers. Help you protect your hand," he wiggled his own prosthetic for emphasis. The hand he had lost to Vader when he had betrayed Kylo's grandfather. "I can also understand leaving the inner workings partially exposed to make it easier for repairs and maintenance. A lot like with Han and the Falcon." Something within Kylo hitched at the comparison. "However—"
Kylo's blade shut down.
His eyes snapped to the red wire which ran along the outside length of the hilt, with the end closest to the hilt dangling loose.
"—I can't say it's for me."
Skywalker's green blade burned into existence.
"Care to reconsider surrendering?"
Consumed by fear, Kylo turned and ran for his life, even as he heard the Stormtroopers he abandoned shooting, with the familiar hum of a lightsaber, and the crackle from deflecting blasters haunted his steps.
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* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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As the last Stormtrooper fell, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker's hand snapped up—
—to grab the side of a broken wall to hold himself up. The illusion around himself faded, and he knew how pale and clammy he was.
Experiencing so much death, and then pushing his body into action despite the need to rest, had truly taken it out of him. Feeling all the people dying around him was only making it worse.
It was only thanks to the Force, and 'Kylo Ren's' unpreparedness which had saved him here. The dark sider had apparently gotten sloppy without any properly trained Force Users to face him, requiring only a little deft manipulation to take his weapon out of play. In fact, Luke was going to have to turn this into a lesson for his students when he —Force willing—returned home.
Honestly, for all that this man was clearly trying to emulate Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker, the man would never have tolerated such sloppiness. Although that armour also served to try and hide any vulnerabilities, physical and emotional, and in this case it was apparent from that reaction there was some deeply buried and profound fear of one Jedi Master Skywalker.
Why?
Was that the reason he turned to the dark side? Because fear had definitely ruled the man.
Because otherwise . . . well . . . Kylo would have killed Luke, given his current state.
Shows you Han, I can bluff for sabbac!
With a grimace, Luke shook off his lingering nausea, and made himself walk forward. The others needed his help, even if it was only to chase off the enemy leader.
Only for his Force enhanced senses to catch his 'nephew' screaming orders into his comm.
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* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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"Can you use one of their helmets?" Mara called to Finn.
"Why?"
"To see if you can access their comms!" she snapped.
"Oh! Right!" He grimaced as be mentally berated him for failing to think of that from the start. He was the one most familiar with Stormtrooper protocols, tactics, and equipment after all.
Kneeling down beside one corpse, without hesitation he hefted the helmet off, and put it on.
"Well!?" snapped Han, as Finn said nothing for long seconds, blaster bolts firing around him.
"Uhm, it's Kylo, and while I don't know what half the words he's saying mean, I think he's calling for an airstrike?"
Indeed, on his word, all the TIE's broke off their strafing runs to head in one direction.
"He's sending them after Luke," Mara tersely concluded, even as she continued to swing her weapons to keep herself alive.
With a touch of concentration, she accepted those feelings, and then released her fear and concerns into the Force, and then sent her fiancé a mental warning.
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* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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Twenty-three TIE fighters —Mara and the others must've gotten one— screamed down at Luke, green death already spewing down around one weakened Jedi Master as he ran and dodged for his life.
Even for a man like himself, those would be dangerous odds if he had his own snubfighter. On his own?
Once more the Force screamed and he leapt away from a piece of debris before it exploded into rocky shrapnel.
As Luke moved, for some reason his mind drifted back to what happened back in the Iphigin system only a few weeks ago, where he had found himself up against bad odds with starships.
Luke looked out at incoming pirates, a sudden tightening sensation in his stomach. There were many options, of course. He could reach out with the Force and damage the ships' control surfaces, crippling them. He might even be able to wrench off whole hull plates or deform the weapons emplacements, tearing them apart with the Force alone. Or he could simply reach inside to the crews' minds, turning them into helpless observers or even forcing them to surrender. For a Jedi Master with the Force as his ally, there were no limits. No limits at all.
And then, abruptly, he stiffened, his breath seeming to freeze in his throat. There in front of him, starkly visible against the blackness of space, he could see the faint images of Emperor Palpatine and Exar Kun, two of the greatest focal points of the dark side he'd ever had to face. They were standing there before him, gazing back at him.
And laughing.
No, Luke had learnt his lesson. Thanks to Mara. Moreover, to draw too much upon the Force when he was in this state would only make everything all the worse.
So he put his trust in his greatest ally, and followed its quiet nudges to keep him alive.
A leap took him up a more-intact wall, and back-flipped off while he swung his lightsaber overhead at a TIE which had come too low, cutting a burning line through the bottom which sent it spiraling off to crash into the ocean.
Twenty-two.
For all they fly smoothly though, the pilots are inexperienced. They keep coming down on him all at the same time, and at angles which are probably meant to hem him in from two sides, but honestly interfere with each other more. More professional ones would come in smaller, more numerous waves, and not get into each other's way.
They are coming around again.
Something catches the corner of his eye as more and more of the terrain is mercilessly torn up all around him. Grabbing it with the Force, he pulls to himself a little something which belonged to a smuggler either selling them, overly-ambitious, over too insecure: a torn bandolier with several grenades on them.
Quickly clipping his lightsaber to his belt, Luke activated all three in sequence to throw with his hands and the Force at the leading TIE's.
Detonation.
Two TIE's immediately exploded, while the third was flung into the path of a fourth.
Panic wrenched the others into evasive maneuvers, but they were so closely bunched together trying to kill one man that another four TIEs collided to die in fire. Two more were clipped and sent spinning into the sky, even if Luke did not know how long they would stay out of the fight.
Effectively twelve left.
Moreover, now he could feel their growing panic. How they had all be drawn away to kill one man, and how they had kept failing to kill one man, and now one man had killed nearly half of them, and—
He shook off the emotions they were all radiating, his personal shields still too tattered to properly block them off, and grabbed a piece of rock the size of his fist.
Someone had taken charge of the remaining TIE's, and they were more spread out now. Except he could sense which of them was the calmest, and knew he was the leader.
So.
There were no more convenient remains of Maz's castle left tall enough, yet he still picked one piece about half his height, and raced to it even as he threw the rock at the enemy commander.
What happened next was almost too fast to register at the high-speeds the TIE's flew and reacted to.
The pilot registered through his viewport something coming right at him, and pulled up to port in case it was another grenade.
Precisely as Luke reached the lump of stone to jump off of at one of the TIE's emanating the most fear. He fell short, yet the sight of him coming at the fighter, green lightsaber lit, made the poor person yank their craft up in terror, right into the commander's path, killing them both.
In the growing fear and confusion, Luke landed unhindered by even a single snap-shot.
Ten.
/ * * \
* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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Fighting back the bile of shame clenching at him, knowing how unworthy he was of his grandfather's legacy, Darth Vader's legacy, Kylo Ren continued to flee for all he was worth.
I had no choice! a part of himself tried to argue, that it was suicide to fight Skywalker without a lightsaber of his own, while all useless against the sickness he felt. The sense of failure.
I'll kill him for this! Make him suffer! See how everything he fought for was for nothing and always was!
Squeeze him for everything he's worth, like how the weaker light somehow kept him that young!
As he ran though, his new and stronger instincts rose to the fore, and he twisted that fear and hatred into power. His stride became surer and stronger, and he vowed to avenge himself for this day. The Jedi might live to gloat today, yet the future was the First Order's!
Even if by the increasingly pathetic reports he overheard on the com from his pilots, they were unlikely to succeed in killing him today.
No matter, there was always tomorrow.
Of course, a part of him still hoped to send his Stormtroopers off after Skywalker in support of the fighters, only for a glimpse of the battlefield to show they were already heavily engaged.
There's two lightsabers, and they are trained! So easily we were replaced it seems!
Renewing his vow of vengeance, Kylo reached the ramp of the closest transport. Before boarding, he threw one last look back at the ongoing battle, and across the open ground with dozens of meters and everyone in the way, and saw one of the Jedi.
Young. Around his age.
Their eyes met, and time and space met nothing to the Force as something jolted between them.
A connection.
Aboard his flagship, Finalizer, Kylo Ren pulled back his anger after venting it from hearing the miserable failure of events down on Jakku to retrieve the droid. "Anything else?" he somehow asked with a measure of calmness to lackwit delivering the news.
The coward managed to get out, "The two were accompanied by a girl."
Something snapped within him, and his will grabbed the officer by the throat to drag him closer. "What girl?" he demanded of the man gasping for breath.
Even then, by the Force he had known that 'girl' was somehow important.
It's her, he realized. Even in that instant he could see how she was young, untrained, yet strong. Maybe as strong as him.
She, she was the true prize to be found here.
Unfortunately, for now she was claimed by Skywalker. She would survive though, and their paths would meet again, and then he would come to know her better.
It took surprising effort for him to tear his gaze away from her and board the transport, yelling for them to take off.
/ * * \
* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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Safely behind cover, Han caught a glimpse of the man he knew to be his son run aboard a transport.
Heart racing as it had not throughout the entire firefight, the shaken man's jaw shifted as he felt and fought against the urge to call out something to the dark figure, even as he moved out of sight.
Except what could he do? What should he do?
/ * * \
* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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The pilot wisely did not question abandoning the troops Kylo had brought with him, knowing better than to question his betters.
The remains of the First Order he left behind could redeem themselves for their failures by taking down as many of those scum as they could before dying.
It was a struggle for Kylo Ren to not let his rage impede him as he sought to use the sensor panel to learn all he could from the ongoing battle below. To resist the urge to drive his fist through electronics and the hull itself, to tear it all down so he could vent his feelings. Denying himself the sweet release of killing the pilot when he still needed him so he did not have to multitask more.
With an effort he found the balance between his passions and ambition, and looked for answers as to what had happened here.
No surprise, the battle below was turning into a complete and utter rout. There were other details to learn though. There had been another familiar sensation here he had dismissed, only for the mystery to be revealed and answered in one breath as a ship's profile lit up on the screen. A more intense scan revealed a familiar ship within its hold.
Painfully familiar.
The Millennium Falcon.
Which meant Han Solo was here.
Of course. After Skywalker, why should he be surprised? Who else was here?
The pilot's neck snapped, and Kylo turned his focus onto preparing for hyperspace.
Warning alerts lit up the monitors as enemy fighters appeared.
/ * * \
* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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In an act of what was either brilliance or pure surprise, Finn blurted out, "Kylo Ren's retreating! He's running away!" All his companions and the smugglers heard it, as did the Stormtroopers over the coms as he was still wearing one of their helmets.
Feeling the panic pushing against the professionalism the Stormtroopers fought to maintain, Mara decided she would credit him with 'brilliance.'
The First Order pulled back to concentrate together, and figure out what to do, only for a familiar bulky sight to lift off the ground to charge towards them.
The Eravana.
Solo and Chewbacca's big and ugly freighter surged forward, only to crash down to the ground just beside the Stormtroopers, without even hitting one.
"Who's piloting it?" gasped Rey.
"Must be the Droid," growled Solo. "And he'd—"
A side of the hull opened up, and spat out what appeared to be three fanged mouths with tentacles.
Roaring, the predators threw themselves at the screaming Stormtoopers. Pulling them into their maws which could break even that flimsy armour, or send them flailing through the air.
"What are—" Mara began, only for Han to cut her off with, "Rathars."
"And you had those aboard your ship!?"
"Well, yeah. What did you think I was doing when we met? I was transporting them to a client."
She resisted the urge to throttle the flippant man, well aware that her frustration was inflamed by her embarrassment for not sensing such dangerous creatures had been on the same ship as her!
Her only saving grace was Luke had been too rattled to do the same.
Unless he had, and not told her.
. . . He would have told her.
However, given how Artoo must have piloted the freighter, he was not off the hook.
On a related note, he better get here quick, because blasters seemed to do null against those thick hides. Theoretically she could use the Force to redirect their minds to make them go elsewhere after they were done with the First Order, and if they were still hungry and violent enough to come after anyone else, yet she had never really done anything like that before.
A new, different, familiar sound hit her ears, and she turned just in time to see a squadron of X-wings fly overhead.
By the flare of their guns, it appeared that whatever was left of those TIE's after Luke was done with them, were all gone now.
"It's the Resistance," said Solo.
The friendly fighters were looping back around now, and it was, to quote a certain farm boy, like shooting womp rats for them as they finished off the surviving Stormtroopers, and their heavier weapons were enough to kill even the rathars.
She ignored Solo's obligatory complaining.
"Finn," she said. "Do a general broadcast, and tell them about the transport that just took off. Shoot it down!"
"Too late."
Everyone but her was startled at the sudden reappearance of one Jedi Master. With a pained expression she suspected was more physical than emotional, he said, "It got away.
"Although," and now he gave a boyish grin, "it's good to see the X-wing's are still in service even here."
With the battle over, the smugglers began to sullenly drift away back to their ships or the tree line. Chewbacca and Finn (sans the helmet) kept a close eye on them, while Maz seemed to have disappeared.
"Master Skywalker," said Rey earnestly as she hurried over. "Are you alright?"
With a sigh, Luke said, "I will be."
"What happened!?" demanded Solo. Briefly Mara considered intervening, yet the look on Luke's face reassured her.
The man put on his classic aura of a Jedi being non-confrontational while not backing down, "I couldn't stop him. I was still too busy recovering to stop someone as powerful as he's become. Next time will be different."
Before the older man could get another word in, Luke turned to Rey. "Are you alright?"
"Oh! Yes, yes I am!" she beamed, the Force and her face lighting up in joy at the realization that someone cared for how she was doing.
Mentally Mara winced at the emotional mess there they were going to have to untangle. The girl's talent was staggering, but she had a lot of issues.
Fortunately Luke was used to hero worship. "Is it alright if I check your health with the Force? I admit I should have done this sooner."
"Yes!"
"Okay, I'm going to put my hand on your shoulder. Hmm . . . we'll have to get more food into you, but overall you're fine for now. We'll talk more about the battle after we get away from here."
"Alright—" snapped Solo, breaking back in, only for further conversation to be cut off as a large shuttle or small transport arrived, and came to settle down in a clear space.
Without a word, both seemingly instinctively knowing who it was in a way beyond the Force, Luke and Solo went towards it.
/ * * \
* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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Rey was bubbling with excitement as she followed after the two living legends.
Master Skywalker had been concerned for her! Checked how she was doing! And now—
She jerked to a halt, instinctively coming to attention at the person who came off of the ship.
Old, shorter than Rey, slightly hunched over, and a bit weathered. Hair braided close to her head, with some strands visibly sticking out even from here, and unimpressive if practical clothes. She should be unremarkable compared to all the other women Rey had met on Jakku.
Innocent. Unnoticeable.
A lie.
To her dying day Rey could not tell if it was something from her burgeoning connection to the Force, or something more primal warning her, but it was there. The knowledge there was something vast and dangerous curled up within that woman. An implacable leviathan, relentless in its Cause.
The obvious Resistance soldiers who came off the ship with her, were all careful to give space. Acting as extensions of their leader, and the subtle aura of command and authority she gave off. Rey's eyes remained riveted on her.
For better or worse though, her attention was not on Rey. The mystery lady looked around briefly before fixating on Master Skywalker and Han.
A smile lit up her face, and she seemed to be looking for something to say.
Out of nowhere popped a golden, humanoid Droid right in front of the woman. "Goodness!" it cried in a prissy voice, pointing at the duo. "Master Luke! Han Solo! It is I, C-3P0. You probably don't recognize me because of the red arm. Oh, Master Luke, it's so good to know you aren't lost! We were so very worried about you! This is such happy news indeed!" It turned around. "Look who it is, did you see who—"
While the lady appeared amused, at her raised eyebrows, the Droid cut off with a stammer, looked back at the men to see their expressions (Rey doubted they were friendly) and went, "Uh . . . Hmm. Excuse me, Prin—General. Sorry. Come along, BB-8," it said to the round Droid which had just shown up, "quickly."
BeeBeeAte made some inquisitive chirps, to which C-3P0 said, "Yes, I must get my proper arm reinstalled."
With the Droids out of the way, there was an awkward silence, before Master Luke sighed. "I should tell you from the start, I'm not the Luke Skywalker you think I am."
Kindly eyes sharpened. "Oh?" she asked politely. She looked at Han. "Care to explain?"
The smuggler scratched his head. "Force nonsense of some sort, near as I can figure. Still seems like our Luke, just baby-faced, and a few other things different."
With a hum, the Resistance commander considered this, before looking to Chewbacca, who had come up beside Rey at some point. He growled his own assent.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Leia," said Master Skywalker, which even from behind seemed perfectly harmless and even adorable despite his age. "It's like out of a bad holo-novel. Different history and people, but some things are the same. Honestly, I do wish it was your actual brother here to help you."
A gasp nearly escaped Rey at that revelation, as she realized just who this old woman was, as well as the galaxy-shattering truth he was casually mentioning.
Leia nodded, and said, "I can feel in the Force you're telling the truth. And I felt you earlier. Like Luke, yet not." She cocked her head. "I'm a little surprised you said that so soon."
Another shrug. "There's no one close enough to overhear I don't trust—"
With a jolt Rey looked around, and yes it was only her, Mara, and Chewbacca nearby. Even Leia's remaining guards were still inside their ship, and Master Skywalker was being so quiet they probably could not hear. Finn was a little further out, looking at them as if he wanted to get closer, only too uncomfortable to do so. She shot him a smile, which he returned, if smaller.
Belatedly she realized Master Skywalker was still talking.
"—and I didn't want to risk upsetting such a scary, scary lady."
"Flatterer," said Leia with a small grin. "Well . . . it seems we've got a lot to talk about."
"I saw him," said Han. "Baby Luke fought him, and drove him off."
'Him?' wondered Rey.
"Leia, I saw our son. He was here."
Now Rey was glad she could not see the man's face, because she knew it would be painful. Meanwhile the man's wife struggled to find what to say.
"WHAT IN THE MAKER!?"
Fighting reflexes and adrenaline had everyone snapping around and drawing their weapons at the cry of horror.
Rey could not understand what had the golden (except for a red arm) Droid in such hysterics. It was only Artoo wheeling down the ramp of the Eravana, smugly beeping for all to hear.
Arms flailing, "Oh no! Now there's two of you!?"
/ * * \
* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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Having composed himself, Kylo began making plans.
First, he would recall the Knights of Ren. They had been casually defeated last time by Skywalker, yet they had been trained and honed into something greater since then. At minimum they would serve as distractions.
Seconds . . . he would have to inform Snoke. He needed his mentor's guidance and power to rid themselves of this threat.
Briefly, he considered ordering Starkiller Base to fire upon Takodana before dismissing it. The accursed Jedi would be long gone before the weapon was ready to fire.
And there would be other planets in the future Skywalker would visit to destroy.
/ * * \
* * * Legends Never Die * * *
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Author Notes:
One of the problems with Finn's character is that he was supposed to be assigned to the sort of duties expected of the worst sort of soldier, and yet exhibited exceptional skills in firefights against the First Order. This disconnect was never explained in the films, only some additional information, and honestly could be quite confusing when first watching The Force Awakens. Even worse because it would have been pretty straightforward for Phasma to admit to Hux how 'FN-2187' had shown excellent potential, if not for his personality.
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In the films, Rey was supposed to be a female role model for the audience. Given the very fact there is a lot of controversy about her character, I feel it is safe to say that did not work. However, here and now she has her own!
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For the record, yes, Kylo's lightsaber is that shoddily constructed. It works for easy maintenance apparently, and the lack of lightsaber-trained opponents would help, plus you cannot expect him to have learned everything about constructing them before his education was cut short, but still!
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The flashback Luke has about using the Force, was drawn directly from Specter of the Past, by Timothy Zahn. Part of my exploration into the differences between how the Force is used in both universes.
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Next Chapter: "Skywalker-Solo Family Drama"
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Please Review, and I will get back to you!