#battle of mimban

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Star Wars: Solo - A Star Wars Story - Battle of Mimban Concept Art

[lonewolflupe]

Age of Republic - 501st Plus One

Read the short comic 501st Plus One online here (pages 23 - 32).

Writer: Marc Guggenheim | Penciller: Caspar Wijngaard | Letterer: Travis Lanham | Colorist: Cris Peter | Editors: Mark Paniccia & Tom Groneman | Publisher: Marvel Comics (January 16, 2019)

[klcthebookworm]

Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Mission on Mimban

Ao3

Luke Skywalker pushed the hyperdrive lever of his X-wing, returning the snub-fighter to subspace. A murky green-white sphere sat ahead with its star, Circarpous Major, angled behind him so they approached the planet’s dayside.

He frowned at the transponder in his cockpit. Mara’s presence in his mind approached. The transponder pinged as her X-wing rippled into existence on his port side.

“Rogue Three reporting in,” Mara Jade said crisply over the comms.

Summary: Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade’s exploration of Mimban is derailed by the unexpected Imperial presence on the planet and their way off-planet depends on finding the Kaiburr crystal before the Imperials do.

2019: the end of the first story of Rescue the Farmboy AU (Liberation) is in sight, so what to start next is bubbling up. Unexpected Consequences is outlined and I don't foresee needing a lot of research to get started on it. Then of course there's the next novel in Rescue the Farmboy's series covering ESB events. But I'm not ready to start another novel.

I've already written a short story for Rescue the Farmboy set after the Battle of Yavin and before Hoth. Another short idea I had was Luke and Mara getting the snot kicked out of them while on a separate mission and that finally gets rid of any lingering doubts over Mara's loyalties and also makes Obi-Wan move healing techniques up in the lesson plans. Nothing else gelled until I was fixing my Darth Vader issues in the outline and realized the background crazy from Splinter of the Mind's Eye can be that mission with a lot of tweaking.

And now in 2024, Mission on Mimban is available to read. I hope you enjoy this latest novel in the Rescue the Farmboy series.

[cortosis-ct]

Nightmares - 501st edition

"The—the mission, the one in our dreams… that never ends. The one in our dreams... Oh, brother." -Tup

(Coming from the interpretation of this quote that every clone has a recurring nightmare of his worst mission or battle.)

Rex: It changes often for Rex. There always seems to be something worse waiting around the corner. He already has the nightmare as a cadet. The longnecks putting him through endless check-ups and tests to see if he's worth the investment. Later he dreams about his merciless training. Then there's the first battle of Geonosis. More missions, one worse than the other. Zygerria gives him nightmares about being tortured and abused. After Umbara his nightmare stays the same gruesome battle aftermath of brothers he shot himself, until order 66 comes around. The mission in his dreams doesn't change after that, ever. Always the same ship, always the same words echoing through his head. Good soldiers follow orders. He can still hear them over the screams.

Jesse: He dreams about the Battle of Mimban. He lost two of his batchmates in just one day, both dying in his arm only few hours apart. The mission of his dreams changes after Umbara. It's usually him, often next to Fives but sometimes with another vod, standing at the execution site and staring at a row of blasters while Dogma screams "fire".

Dogma: His nightmare is a training mission, one of the special advanced missions that last for weeks that only the better troopers are assigned to. He's good. His friend is there, too. More reckless than clever. Dogma learns the hard way why rules and regulations are important to follow. He wishes he'd been more keen about it sooner to prevent a needless death. He's reminded of what carelessness can do every day in his sleep.

Echo: He's on Rishi Moon. He sees Droidbait and droids shooting, he hears Cutup's screams as the eel carries him away, he feels the ground vibrate as the base explodes with Hevy still inside. It's Fives' nightmare, too. This changes for them after Lola Sayu.

Hardcase: His first mission. It was a bloodbath, a complete fail with heavy casualties. He was fighting in the first row from beginning to end and saw everything.

Kix: He doesn't dream about a specific mission. The setting is always the same anyway. An improvised field infirmary in a stormy night. There's at least twice as many men as beds, everyone except him is severely wounded and he's alone to save their lives. The faces change. Unknown clones, people he's lost or saved, batchmates, friends, comrades, sometimes even his own general.

Tup: His first mission is his worst. Umbara. It's like jumpscares coming from everywhere. He's shooting, fighting, people around him die. Sometimes he sees his brothers' faces behind the Umbaran masks after shooting them. It's absolute chaos and everything's too dark or misty to see properly until it's too late.

Fives: The citadel. Each night he's back on Lola Sayu and fighting against battle droids with Echo by his side. His twin always dies, sooner or later. Fives doesn't know if he should love his nightmares because he can see Echo again or hate them for ripping him away time and again in the most brutal manner. He always has wakes up when the bomb goes off, soaked in sweat, without Echo.

[babyjujubee]

Alden Ehrenreich and Woody Harrelson. The Battle of Mimban extended scene. Solo: A Star Wars Story. #MakeSolo2Happen

[walkawaytall]

Fic anon here! No worries about publishing (or not, ofc). I was in another fandom that involved a lot of very meta+crack minifics shared on anon purely for silly purposes and while we don't do that so much in this corner of the SW fandom, the inspiration just like hit re: your name

While I'm jabbering in your inbox, for your fanfic write asks: 5! 7!

Oh, good, I'm glad I didn't commit a faux pas :). Thank you!

Onward to answers:

5. Is there a tiny detail in one of your fics that you feel goes tragically unnoticed?

This is really just an inside joke with myself (I mean, I did make a Tumblr post about it, but I haven't drawn attention to it on the sites where I post, and no one has mentioned that they noticed), but there's this half-heard argument about something Luke dubs "The Snakebite Incident" in Speak Louder and...okay the thing is, at the time that I wrote Speak Louder, I had written The Short Stick, posted it, and then taken it down a couple of hours later because I was self-conscious about it for some reason, and I had plans to totally overhaul The Short Stick or whatever. I needed something mind-numbingly stupid for Han and Leia to argue about, and The Snakebite Incident argument was in The Short Stick. So, I stole the short bit of dialogue from my own story, dumped it in Speak Louder as this argument that Luke is tired of hearing because they're both unreliable narrators, so he never gets the full story, and every time the situation gets brought up, they fight about it, and everyone is over hearing the same argument.

And then, months later, I reread The Short Stick after letting it chill for awhile and I don't hate it. I'm not self-conscious about it any more. But, crap, I gutted that one argument for a different story, now I have to come up with something equally stupid for them to argue about, right?

Or. Instead...they can have the same argument, almost word-for-word with a few variations. Because the entire point of this argument is that everyone around them only gets some of the details, no one has 100% of the story except Han and Leia themselves, and they keep having it to the annoyance of anyone within hearing distance. (Though, Han does learn a grammatical lesson between Speak Louder and The Short Stick and corrects himself before Leia can get to it the second time around.) So, yeah, I'm probably going to keep including it in things if it fits and doesn't become excessive because I find it funny.

7. Share a line or paragraph you’ve written that you don’t think will ever actually be posted in anything! (Or, if you don’t hoard cut sentences and passages like I do, share anything you want that has yet to see the light of day!)

Here, I'll share the start of a story that I'm pretty sure started with, "Let's do a bottle-episode-style story!" (I think I've started three different stories with this concept and a proper bottle episode has never emerged from these attempts) and not much in way of plot or purpose. I'm not going to resurrect this. It's never going anywhere because it had nowhere to go in the first place, but it's a moment, I guess:

Leia was going to lose her mind or murder Han Solo — though she supposed the two actions weren’t mutually exclusive. They were supposed to meet with the leaders of a small cell of rebels who’d been fighting their own battles against the Empire unaided on Mimban. Leia’s goal was to offer aid in exchange for the group officially joining the Alliance. The entire trip was supposed to be short — land, meet, negotiate whatever terms needed negotiating, leave — but when they arrived in the small, dingy, building where they were supposed to meet their contacts, they were told they needed to wait.

It had been half an hour. Half an hour spent sitting in a small, poorly lit room where the temperature seemed to vary wildly by the minute with only Han for company, and Han was beginning to get antsy. Leia fully understood the struggles of sitting still, of waiting. She’d never been particularly good at it, and had developed several subtle ways over the years to move and fidget without others catching on. She knew the feeling of a spring in her torso coiling ever tighter until she finally had to move. She also knew that Han’s restlessness was excessive in a way that almost seemed calculated.

First had been the leg switching. He’d initially sat with the ankle of one leg crossed over the knee of the other. A few minutes in, he’d switched legs. Leia herself had shifted her weight at least once in that time and, had she not been looking directly at Han at the time, she likely wouldn’t have noticed. Except he kept doing it every minute or so, with the frequency eventually increasing to every twenty seconds.

Every twenty seconds. On the dot. Leia counted.

She sighed, all but shivering as the temperature in the corridor they waited in dropped for the third time. “Shouldn’t have to wait much longer,” she said, a hint of apology in her tone.

Han shrugged. “I got nowhere to be.” He shifted his legs again.

Leia studied him for a moment. “You can go outside for a bit if you want. See the sights.”

He looked at her incredulously. “I’ve seen these sights, Princess. Trust me, I’m good.”

She pursed her lips. “Okay, well, I’m going to need you to stop moving your legs every five seconds because I’m about to lose my mind.”

Thanks!

fanfic writer asks

[cc-tens]

so for whistle, when in the timeline did he transfer to the coruscant guard? and when did caddy get deployed to the guard? i know the guard was already in bad shape before whistle got there, but how far along were they? i use this timeline but any dating system you use is fine.

https://www.tumblr.com/bones4918/765038904375148544/canonlegends-clone-wars-timeline

So the 501st being sent to Mimban and aiding the 224th happened about a little more than 8 - nearly 9 months after the First Battle of Geonosis. I'd say he was likely with his new Jedi General for at least a handful of months if possible so I'm going to tentatively say post Second Battle of Geonosis for now - subject to change.

Also, thank you for the link to the timeline, it's very appreciated and I'm really excited to look into it more in depth to help figure out The Holler boy's deployment history.

[renposter]

i'm crying i'm watching star wars lore videos and this one is called Was The Battle of Mimban Used To Get Rid of Undesirables? and half way thru the video the guy who made the video breaks out into a rant about the unjust nature of the prison industrial complex + private prisons. So goated

[professorscrooge]

This AU has stuffed my brain with enough Thoughts™ to finally make a Tumblr account.

So, thoughts, specifically, re: Mando archaeologists coming in to look at the statues, particularly thinking about the timescale this idea exists on and its implications:

I agree on all your points about a New Mando archaeologist being able to identify things just fine, but think I’d go a step further of anyone contemporary would identify the symbols better than any of their predecessors across the centuries, as they would be the closest to the actual timeframe they were painted in. Ancient symbols they wouldn't be able to identify would most likely be the ones that have fallen out of favour by the time of the Clone Wars and the Clones themselves painting them (before being Terracotta’d). The ones the Clones saw/replicated are most likely the most popular ones of the current era amongst the True Mandos, regardless of age, which likely makes them the most recognisable to a current New Mandalorian (which can be both a good and a bad thing depending upon their feeling about what might earn or reflect upon those symbols).

This leads me into my second thought, that being the incongruity of the statues' age vs the symbols they have on them. Star Wars has ridiculously long timeframes for the relative stagnancy its tech/culture has across the different eras, but we can still extrapolate reasonably that there would be cultural shifts over thousands of years – languages have changed or shifted, been created and lost over much shorter timeframes in the real world, nevermind cultural symbols and dress codes etc. especially on the military front, where uniforms can change multiple times throughout a singular conflict as the participants adapt. The Mandalorians are one of the few cultures where we see some of this change in their many appearances due to popularity and distinctiveness; Crusader armour to Neo Crusader, for example (which I bet annoys historians due to the emphasis on depersonalisation likely resulting in a loss in understanding of the armour designs that came before, but I digress). All this means, they might have symbols that are ‘only’ a few centuries or decades old, which then calls into question wtf are they doing on a statue that is seemingly far, far older.

e.g. "Those are Jaig Eyes, a memorial tradition stemming from Jaig's Last Stand at the 3rd Battle of Mimban."

 "Oh, interesting, interesting" excited/bored junior Jedi on archivist duty writes down "When was that?"

"730 years ago, which makes this statue utterly impossible."

 Logically, this then stems into two options for the archaeologist: either a) the statues are a far younger fraud, or b) the statues are the origin of the symbol as they predate the believed origin (as in potentially a very, very big historical/cultural discovery that probably throws a whole load of academic discourse into a tizzy).

 (Point b) could actually be evolved into a Bootstrap Paradox where that actually did legit happen on one of them from a previous expedition – can you imagine a shocked post-revival Ahsoka seeing her facial markings not just on many of the 501st around her like the Siege of Mandalore, but also on some random Mandalorian because, oops, accidentally inspired history, and maybe a conspiracy theory or two).

 This then also leads into; what do they actually make of them? (Yes, I have way too many thoughts about this, I’m so sorry). We generally have the vibe of the Clones have inherited lots of bits and pieces of Mando-ness, but that they also don’t necessarily understand all of what they do know. So, you have frustrations of “That’s a recognisable symbol of [Insert here] but it’s supposed to be painted on a vambrace, not on the helmet!” (he just thought it looked cool), “These three are apparently married, but they didn’t adapt the symbol into a triad??” (they just thought it was a symbol of closeness as batchmates, and had no idea it had further connotations or polyamorous adaptations), “That one’s just got Sandwich written on his head!!!” (it’s his name, yes he picked it). This seeming randomness that makes it even harder to glean the purpose of the symbols that are used correctly as they make assumptions, e.g. Jaig Eyes are something we know are a relatively big deal, and Rex is the only person there with them in all likelihood, and is obviously a commander of some sort – so, did he take ownership of those, give them to himself, and ban others from using them because they wanted to be important and unique? Or maybe he did earn them rightfully, and that’s why he’s a commander? And the Archaeologist just doesn’t know and has to second-guess things more than they should need to, because they’re not following the rules everywhere, they don't know what to make of it where they are.

 They also despair over the armour itself, because it’s clearly mass-manufactured and militaristic in bent, which should narrow it down to a historical period (as more uniform styles seems to be less common across Mandalorian history than more individualistic ones, though we’re missing big periods and I’m gonna assume on some being for animation budget vs comic artist reasons), but it’s completely unknown. The advantage of mass-manufacturing is more examples are likely to survive to a modern era intact, but this is completely new, and not just the result of an artist reusing a base mould or something because every statue is unique. They can probably put together a ranking system based on some of the extra pieces Clones added to their armour (and things like Kama and Pauldrons will presumably be recognisable) but it doesn’t match any known organisation, and implies either very small delineations, or perhaps this being a small part of a very large group.

Basically, by the end of their examination, the archaeologist is absolutely tearing their hair/lekku/horns out and very much needs an offered cup of tea and someone to yell at because none of this makes any sense.

Finally, at the end of all this when they make their reports, is when Politics might get involved. Because there are various angles you can take for these statues to be Historically Significant to Mandalore. But they’re not on Mandalore, they’re in the Jedi Temple, and suddenly we’re at a British Museum situation of ownership (sorta). Neither the Jedi nor the Archaeologist want to move the statues due to the Vibes they give off, but would be very easy to write a politician/just a Mando with an axe to grind against the Republic (pick a reason, there’s loads – this is where you could insert Jaster or Jango, with added weirdness if this is post-Galidraan and this might bring the question of reparations on the table, idk, exact things I have no idea on) who finds out about them to launch a campaign of having them ‘returned’ (as we’ve seen what lengths they went to when retrieving the Darksaber, this would likely be a Thing). And the Jedi probably don’t have much control over something as big of a Political deal like that, it’s presumably up to the Senate; who I bet would first off send a dozen art valuators and insurers down there to try and value them, and then procrastinate and bureaucratise for half a century and be reluctant to give things up because it’s Mandalore, and the Republic is still kinda scared of them after the many centuries of warfare. (The valuers also get lost constantly on the way to the army because this is a Jedi Temple, and if it doesn’t want you to find your way, you won’t).

 Apologies, long post, and I have no idea if I’m butting in or necroposting or what etiquette here is really, just too many thoughts in a small brain. I have a half-written fic based on the previous posts of this AU and discovering this addition today got me thinking again.

Thought- in the terracotta warriors thing, you mentioned that the Jedi archeologists brought in a specialist in mando iconography to try and work out what’s going on with the 501sts symbols- what if that outside specialist is jaster mereel? Could be pre becoming the mand’alor, could be just his side job, but either way he spends a few years studying it all and getting used to being the only mando in a base camp full of Jedi, makes friends, has academic discussions and disagreements, steals someone’s holopad to try and use the link to the Jedi archives to read all the things on tarre visla, gets into an actual argument, reconciles with agreeing to help with a historical reenactment of a Jedi mandolorian war, gets Madame nu’s comm number, introduces his new son to his comm bff who argues historical nitpicks with him, brings jango to the next summer at the site, clones react to jango somehow and/or there’s a few tubies in there who look distractingly like jango and/or someone has their helmet off and jango has a breakdown over it looking like a family member? And so on and so on

Context: Sleeping Soldiers AU

See, I don't really subscribe to the "halfway to archaeologist!Jaster" fanon. I'm especially reticent to engage with the Jocasta ship, honestly.

But... okay, here's the thing. It does feel pretty incongruous with how I've written Jaster thus far. I can believe him having like. A 'classical' education. Not actually tutored like a noble, but that he sought out the same subjects as an adult to make sure he understood how to rule once he started having a proper political angle. He's a history nerd in the way that a particularly political/philosophical aristocrat of the 18th century would have been.

Military history, philosophical history, political and even some arts... but not actually in an archaeological sense.

(Also, it raises my hackles because it's one of those things that feels like it's heavily associated with the whole "True Mandos Were Best Mandos" crowd.)

It also really depends on the era! Tarre makes more sense than Jaster, just because of the timescale! The soldiers are millennia buried by the time Jaster is born! That said, even Tarre is a few millennia late but... makes more sense than Jaster.

Most likely, there are historians and archaeologists coming by every few centuries, as new generations encounter the issue, and older analyses are lost in the depths of the archives. Frequency tapers off after a few millennia, but... by the time Jaster is around?

It's 100% a New Mandalorian with an art history doctorate. (With a military symbolism specialty, in this case.)

It's probably not a New Mando if it's an Early On moment, but it probably is a New Mando if the Jedi start getting Weird Vibes and investigating the soldiers in the decades leading up to the Prequels.

Would the New Mandalorians know more than the traditionalists? Not necessarily. Would they know less? Actually, no.

I firmly believe that the New Mandalorians are taught about their histories in a "German kids learn about WWII atrocities, going on field trips to historic sites of said horrors, so their teachers can stress that they don't repeat the mistakes of the past" kind of way. I imagine the New Mandos would have plenty of research and records in regards to actual history, with plenty of museums and such. Part of maintaining pacifism is ensuring that the coming generations understand what led them to pacifism in the first place.

Is this thousands of years in the past, and thus difficult to research? Yes, but the traditionalists would have that same problem.

More of them, even. If the New Mandos have been around for seven hundred years, like Legends claims, then the traditionalists have probably have lost a lot of history through various battles and bombings, while the New Mandalorians, while not entirely escaping large scale destruction and such attacks, are much more likely to have protected and maintained their sites, simply by not courting war as a matter of culture. The traditionalists, meanwhile, would have had a much stronger emotional and cultural attachment to legends and themes, though I'll admit those are probably prone to revisionism, much like real-world folklore and mythology.

As @atagotiak put it:

Ehhhh. The traditionalists do care about legends and history and stuff. Often in an idealized way, sure. But you could argue that they’d have more reason than new mandos to be into these stories. Which, to be clear, isn’t like, saying that Jaster is definitely a part-time historian or anything like that. It’s just I don’t think one side would have an advantage over another. (edited)

So the New Mandos and Trad Mandos are probably on an even playing ground, insofar as skill and resources and knowledge go.

But by Jaster's time, the Jedi would have more reason to think the New Mandos would cooperate. No real downside to asking them when it comes to knowledge/skill, and an upside in terms of 'not getting shot when asking.'

As Tia said:

And even if we assume Jaster is a big history nerd and would be receptive to the Jedi (and tbh there’s even less indication of the latter) there’s no reason to think the Jedi would know that.

So yeah, when the soldiers start having Vibes And The Force Becomes Suspiciously Active on that level... New Mando archaeologist, definitely.

[mousedroid-hoojib]

Beilert Valance

After being gravely injured during during an infantry deployment to battle on Mimban, Beilert Valance was restored to health using Imperial cybernetics, ultimately becoming a bounty hunter.

Recipe:

3D print of a character designed in MakeHuman and articulated to 18 POA in Tinkercad

Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. male blank’s head

material

Citadel "Eldar Flesh", "Leadbelcher", "Mephiston Red", "Longbeard Grey", "Chaos Black", "Skull White" paints

[starskipperrpg]

Session 1 - Notes / Quick Summary (Part 1)

The following are my own notes from Session 1, this is part 1 of the notes and part 2 will come soon after.

Our players were introduced to Mimban, a war-torn muddy and wet world, plagued by war for over 20 years now. The players - a motley bunch assembled from across the galaxy were brought in with a few hundred other Imperial Army conscripts, making up the next wave in a war that has no end in sight. They first met Captain Anderson, an older man who's been in the Imperial Army too long to count. He was grim with the new prospects, telling them about the horrors of Mimban.

After a very quick briefing, he introduced Kairris, a diplomat with the Imperial Diplomatic Corps (IDC). She was joined by her aide Vlaari, a Lorridan Human, and their security droid K2K9, a KX-Series Droid. After introducing herself, she informs the arrayed soldiers that she is here on a mission and needs some extra soldiers. After looking over a few soldiers she picks out a few grunts, a Mandalorian named Paul, another Mandalorian - this one a medic - named Tarre, an older veteran sniper that had volunteered for duty on Mimban named Haro. Before departing for the Imperial bunker complex to be briefed on the mission the Captain also informed them he had orders for a Private Abel Hardy to join them. Abel was a young man, mid to late 20s, and nervous as all can be.

The party departed for the bunker, finding that while the base was staffed solely by the Imperial Army, the bunker was held down by the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps. The party moved off to an empty room to begin their briefing. Kairris has been sent by the Imperial Diplomatic Corps to meet with representatives of the Mimbanese Liberation Army to broker secret peace talks. The assembled group will be escorting Kairris, and her aide Vlaari, to the location for the peace talks. With no questions, the party sets off for the frontline. Their initial way to travel is MagLev, but Imperial Reports come in that the Lev was attacked and is delayed, forced to go by speeder the group takes a rickety old piece of kit that should have been decommissioned a decade ago.

K2K9, their KX-Series Droid and bodyguard to Kairris, attempted to work up the speeder, but was unsuccessful, the speeder that slowly came to life wasn’t improved or any different. With K2K9 driving, the party left the safety of the Imperial Compound and very quickly entered the true Mimban, a planet covered by long trench lines, fox holes, and mud. Out of the safety of the Imperial base, the sounds of a constant stream of battle could be heard. Even a hundred or two miles out, they could hear the shelling of artillery that filled the distant air.

[neon-cold-war]

Look

All I’m saying is that the Battle of Mimban sequence from Solo was not only the best sequence in that film, but one of the best scifi battle sequences on film.

Right down in the mud and blood of a battle, a total 180 from what you expect in a Star Wars film; lots of scifi franchises can learn from it... as well as this it kind of gave me Battle of Serenity Valley vibes which can’t be a bad thing

[arc-77]

He glances at her upon the outburst, but resumes his actions just as quickly as he stopped. This was an incredibly dangerous game he was playing here. Her grasp on reality seemed tenuous as best, no matter how she tried to fight against the delusions. She might kill him over some unknown provocation, one completely within her mind. Or maybe just because it would be the smart thing to do.

What was he even doing here? Did he have a plan going into this? What happens after? He had chased and cornered her like a cat, throwing scraps of food at her, hoping it'll make her like him. She was no cat. She was a violent and unpredictable ex-jedi, traumatized to a degree few have ever experienced, sick in the head, seeing things that weren't there. Did he think he was helping her? If he hadn't confronted her in the first place, she would not have run herself so ragged to escape him. And if she didn't kill him for this, someone else in the Empire would for failing to put her down when he had the chance.

One step at a time.

Syndra. He searches his memories for any level of familiarity but comes up empty. There were ten-thousand Jedi then; he couldn't have known every one. Should he try and probe for a legion? No. It doesn't matter anyways. He would speak, and she would listen.

"I was an ARC Trooper — a Captain. Battles on Muunilinst, Hypori. Jabiim, Mimban. Coruscant. Fought just about everywhere, at one point or another."

Out of the pack comes a reflective aluminized emergency blanket, which he partially unfolds and nudges towards her, followed by a basic medpack and other small survival accoutrements. When it is finally empty, he places it on the blanket. The fabric bag would be a poor excuse for a pillow, but it was better than nothing.

"Worked with a lot of different Jedi. Obi-wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Bultar Swan, Shaak Ti — Master Yoda, a few times. Considered a few of them to be good friends, people I'd have laid down my life for. If I'd been there with any of them when it happened, I like to think I would have."

Fordo rambles for over ten minutes while the rations warm, wisps of steam rising from the flameless heater. As promised, he goes over what he remembers of the purge — how his unit was not attached to any Jedi when Order 66 came down from the Supreme Chancellor, now Emperor. How he did not learn the full extent of the damage until almost a day had passed. The immense uncertainty of that transitional period. He fills her in on the information he's pieced together since. The existence of the control chips, thanks to his Clone contacts in the Rebellion, and how his batch never had them. Emperor Palpatine's nature as a Sith Lord, and the likelihood that this had been planned since the GAR's very creation.

He neglected to shield his mind from the force's influence, allowing her, were she able, to glean his intentions and whether or not he believed what he said. His presence in the force had lost its intensity, now merely warm, crackling coals, glowing like a campfire in the dim crevice.

The aroma of fragrant spices fills the air as he cuts open the fully heated retort pouch. It's a meaty, goulash-like stew that must smell utterly intoxicating on a nearly-empty stomach. In a smaller pouch is a warm, fruit-filled pastry. He sticks a plastic spoon in the stew and pushes the food over to her, before tending to some trail mix himself.

"Picked these out of my stash, a few of my favorite menu items. Tastes better than the living force, I hope."

The first thought to hit her mind is she doesn't recall ever seeing any of them reaching the golden years to gray like that. Weathered and wrinkled, it's a far cry from the fresher faces she saw during the Clone Wars. But by now? That was so long ago wasn't it? Despite the wandering mind, her gaze is no less transfixed. The hatred does not quell itself from her mind as those burning eyes remain aware, never leaving his presence even as he begins to drag out all manner of objects to prepare.

What was he doing? What was his game?

She tries still to probe his mind, to find a way in to lurk and gain answers that plague her terrorized mind. At first she does not speak, she does not reach for the nourishment that her body practically begs for. Huddled where she was, she remains completely still. Too long without food, too long without sleep. Her bond with the Force could only keep her sustained for so long.

Matted damaged hair hangs stiffly in front of her face. Gloved fingers gripping at the curve of her own knees. The hunter is vulnerable, weakness exposed, and that aching part of her mind that feels the ever present pull of the Dark Side calls to her. To indulge in that hatred, to take advantage of this lapse of judgement and remove his head from his shoulders.

But her body is worn. Weary. Cautiously, eyes still not faltering, she reaches for the energy bar left at her side. Wasting no time ripping into it like the animal she had become. Scarfing through it, and her body properly reacting to being so neglected in the chase.

He's going to kill you. The voice says. He's going to do what all of the others did and you won't be able to stop him. Her jaw tightens, her features visibly bristle. Struggling with this, she clashes at odds with the things her mind wants her to do.

'Are you going to let him just sit there? Are you going to give him the chance he's looking for?'

"Shut up!" She looks off to her side, away from the both of them, spitting venom at a presence that's not there. Before a moment passes and she pounds at the top of her head with the balled up fist not holding onto that energy bar. Trying to find her barings. Trying to figure out if he was even really here... Silent for another beat.

"Syndra."

[klcthebookworm]

WIP Wednesday: Rescue the Farmboy: Mission on Mimban

I have finished the first draft of Mission on Mimban, the next novel in the Rescue the Farmboy series. I still have editing to do so crossing fingers I get to post it this year.

Luke Skywalker pushed the hyperdrive lever of his X-wing, returning the snub-fighter to subspace. A murky green-white sphere sat ahead with its star, Circarpous Major, angled behind him so they approached the planet’s dayside.

He frowned at the transponder in his cockpit. Mara’s presence in his mind approached. The transponder pinged as her X-wing rippled into existence on his port side.

“Rogue Three reporting in,” Mara Jade said crisply over the comms.

“Rogue Leader acknowledges,” Luke answered. “Ready to explore?”

The Force bond between them reverberated with her unease. “Is enthusiasm required for this mission?”

“Not required, but you can have fun. I don’t want to order you to have fun, so don’t make me.” He had gotten used to broadcasting his goodwill along with those teases, so he did. In the two months since the Battle of Yavin, Mara had decided it was more dignified to not answer in kind. While it was better than deciding the teasing was a verbal attack and responding brutally, he wasn’t sure how the stoicism was going to hold up against other members of the Rogue Squadron.

Mara opted to ignore his teasing. “All readings are coming up terrestrial within the parameters as optimal for the Alliance’s needs.”

“That’s good.” No sense setting up a base on a planet where the oxygen-breathers couldn’t breathe. “You don’t have a datapad out while you’re flying, do you?”

“Of course not,” Mara retorted with a tinge of smugness. “The astromech is flying.”

Luke shook his head and led the way into Circarpous 5’s gravity well. They would have the report filled out in no time with Mara’s focus. Maybe he would have to order her to have fun; if he could ever get out of her what she found enjoyable.

Her smugness descended into a different unease from her earlier fear of blundering. “Rogue Leader, didn’t the mission purview say this planet was undeveloped?”

“Not even a repair station. Why?”

“Shift your comm monitor to frequency oh-four-six-one.”

He did, and a steady whine filled his cockpit. “That’s a directional landing beacon. Maybe smugglers or pirates have set up a base here. We have to know for sure before rejecting the planet for our needs.”

“Copy that,” Mara said.

They descended into the atmosphere. The Force tingled against the back of Luke’s neck. Was that his danger sense? General Willard had stressed they actually had to explore the planet and not avoid it because “the Force said so.”

They had to continue down, but they should take Force observations into account too. He hit the comm. “Rogue Three, how do you feel?”

“Landing here is the worst idea, Rogue Leader.” It sounded like she was speaking through clenched teeth. “Mission parameters don’t allow for the Force to abort.”

“I’m aware,” Luke answered. “We should put it in the report that we both feel it. Continue descent.”

“Aye, Boss.”

He smiled despite how he felt. That was the first time she had used the Alliance slang.

[babyjujubee]

Woody Harrelson and Alden Ehrenreich. The Battle of Mimban extended scene. Solo: A Star Wars Story. #MakeSolo2Happen