#obviously i immediately thought of revan

[thatwitchrevan]

I just remembered a minor detail and it's time to fixate on it.

So when the Jedi confront Qimir in the apothecary he immediately starts acting like a dumbass and falling over himself and being squirrely, talking himself out of it.

But one thing he says is 'please don't do that Jedi mind wipe thing' which is. Fascinating. Like where did he get that from. We've seen Yord threaten to do a Jedi mind trick once, which scared everybody enough that he didn't even have to actually do it. People are scared of the Jedi.

But as far as I remember, there's no other indications of mind fuckery except maybe when Mae says "they've brainwashed you." I thought she was talking about the manipulation from Sol, but maybe she was being more literal? Maybe Osha's memories were tampered with, and maybe Qimir even knows it somehow.

Or maybe it happened to Qimir. Or maybe he knows that the Jedi have done it before.

[stargazer-liz]

Serendipity (Poe Dameron x Original Female Character) Chapter IV: A Reminder of the Past

Masterlist

The planet D'Qar, Outer Rim, 34 ABY

"You're alive. I can't believe it, you're alive."

Yeah, she was. Obviously. Why wouldn't she be?

"Finn buddy, I think you need to sit down. Did you hit your head or something?" Poe pointed to an empty seat at their table, feeling genuine concern for his friend. The pilot had no idea what was going on but neither did Finn, he thought. At least that's what it looked like. 

That seemed to shake him out of his shock and the former stormtrooper hurried towards them, not caring about his abandoned tray. Once he had sat down, the cafeteria went back to minding their own business, sensing that this was personal. 

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Sora asked, not meaning to sound rude. Pure confusion was all she felt as she tried to remember where she had seen him before. Despite her efforts, nothing came to mind.

Finn looked her up and down, searching for something only he knew. As if sensing it made her uncomfortable, he cleared his throat and locked eyes with her. There was a warmth in his brown eyes she had never seen before and she briefly wondered how this person could have ever been a stormtrooper to begin with. "I'm sorry," he quickly said. "You probably won't remember me. You know, with the white helmet and armor."

"You have to be a bit more specific. I've seen many stormtroopers in my life." 

"Right, of course." Clearing his throat once again, he leaned forwards, lowering his voice. "It's just that the last time I saw you, I used every last bacta patch we had on you. Still, I had no idea whether it was going to be enough. You were basically dead already."

Suddenly, something clicked in her head. The pieces fit together perfectly. Her mouth fell open slightly and she blinked at Finn, taking time to process this revelation. "It was you. You saved me. But...how?"

None of her friends dared to speak. They were all much too engrossed in the conversation between the smuggler and the newest member of the Resistance. "It wasn't easy. Had to hide you with our cargo to get you onto the ship. I knew the escape pods were the only place no one would bother checking, so I healed you there as best as I could. When we were over Jakku, I tricked the systems, so that your escape pod could leave undetected," Finn explained, sparing Poe a quick glance. The pilot had been listening intently, gazing at him with a proud smile. "I wasn't sure you had made it safely. Not until now."

Sora didn't know how to answer. She was rendered speechless. The smuggler knew she had to thank him but couldn't find the right words. 

It was Revan's turn to speak. He crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing Finn with an unknown emotion. "So you were there. On Atrisia. Why did you choose to go back for her?"

"I suppose the same reason why you deserted. Because I was sick of the blood on my hands."

Revan nodded, easily believing the answer. "You did the right thing."

Poe smacked Finn's shoulder, grinning widely. "Completing my mission and saving Sora's life? You're awesome, buddy."

Finn appreciated the compliment, albeit a bit unsurely. Sora could see that he wasn't convinced. The way he was bouncing his knee and his fingers fumbled with his jacket told her that he didn't feel comfortable at all. Like he was only waiting for an opportunity to jump to his feet and sprint out of here. 

Clearly, something was bothering him.

"Thank you Finn. Without you I wouldn't be here. I won't forget that." And she meant it. She would forever be in his debt. 

The group was interrupted by See-Threepio. The golden protocol droid came rushing straight for their table, a great urgency in his every step. "Master Dameron, Team Phoenix and Master Finn, the General wishes to see you immediately. You will have to follow me, please."

The group shared a worried look with each other but instantly complied, hurrying after the droid who was surprisingly quiet on the whole way. He led them into the conference room where the members of the Resistance' inner circle were already waiting. Guess that meant her team was important now as well.

They huddled around an unfamiliar hologram which caused dread to rise in Sora. Out of the corner of her eyes, she barely recognized Han Solo, the most famous smuggler in the galaxy. Right, BeeBee-Ate had shortly mentioned him as well this morning. She'd seen him before, in Mos Eisley, but the encounter had been so brief she doubted he remembered her.

"Starkiller base," Poe explained, his arm brushing against hers. "The scan data from Snap's reconnaissance flight confirms Finn's report."

Sora tried to soak in all of the new information, biting her bottom lip in concentration.

A middle aged man wearing the familiar orange pilot suit spoke up. The brown curls on his head bounced as he nodded at Poe. According to the tag on his vest, his name was Temmin Wexley, or 'Snap' Poe had called him, and he was a member of the Blue Squadron. "They've somehow created a hyper lightspeed weapon built within the planet itself."

"A laser cannon?" A male officer called Brance asked.

Sora thought it looked much more frightening than a laser cannon. No, this was surely something bigger.

Snap shared her thoughts. "We're not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale."

"Another Death Star?" Someone mumbled, causing the atmosphere to darken instantly. This was not good. Not good at all. When Sora meant she was looking for an adventure, this was certainly not what she had imagined. Not that it mattered anymore. She was in for good now anyways. 

Next to her, Poe let out a sigh, angling his body closer to hers, purely out of instinct. "I wish that were the case, Major Ematt." He hit a control button and a wireframe of the Death Star appeared before them. "This was the Death Star." The pilot hit another button and the gargantuan space station shrunk and shrunk, growing smaller until it was nothing but a tiny satellite of a huge planet. "This is Starkiller Base."

The news left everyone stunned. Sora exhaled deeply, the somber atmosphere beginning to affect her. How much had been sacrificed before they were able to destroy the Death Star, many years ago? She vaguely remembered her mother telling her tales of the Rebellion, of Rogue One. Tales of the brave Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor who, along with their small crew, had willingly sacrificed their lives for a slice of hope. 

This thing, however, was so much bigger. And right now, it was slowly draining any hope they had left.

The deep voice of Han Solo broke the silence, the famous smuggler appearing very nonchalant. "So it's big." 

"How is it possible to power a weapon of this size?" Admiral Ackbar dared to ask what so many of them were thinking.

On her other side, Revan's posture tensed. She supposed that given his past, he likely knew more than they did and could only assume it was nothing pleasant. But it was Finn who opened his mouth first. "It uses the power of the sun. As the weapon is charged, the sun is drained until it disappears."

A weapon using the whole power of one sun? Yeah, they were screwed. 

She felt Revan's hot breath tickle her ear as he leaned down to whisper. "I'd heard the rumors but never knew they were actually building it. They could destroy entire systems with this."

Sora hummed but said nothing. There was nothing to be said that made this any better.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and an officer made a beeline for Leia who had been a silent observer so far. He handed her a data card and her face consorted in worry as she read it. "The First Order. They're charging the weapon again, now." A pause, then everyone's heart sank to the floor. "Our system is the next target." 

"Oh my, without the Republic Fleet, we're doomed," See-Threepio stated the obvious.

It was foolish to think they could stand a chance against a weapon this size. Sora knew the Resistance didn't have enough members, enough firepower to go against the First Order. Not in this case. But there had to be something they could do. Anything. 

It occurred to her then, that it was very much possible Kylo Ren had brought Rey to Starkiller Base. Very likely, actually. Which meant that one way or another, it would be her next destination as well. Why not blow the whole thing up during the process as well? Surely, if they could sneak on base, they could find a way to destroy it from the inside. Every weapon had a weakness, just like the Death Star had one, thanks to Galen Erso.

Poe glanced towards her, his eyes momentarily stuck on the lip between her teeth. He could practically see the gears working in her head. There was no doubt she was planning something. Much like him, she didn't seem like to type to give up. "You alright, princess?" He whispered, leaning down to her ear. 

But Sora was deep in thoughts and only nodded, not quite registering his words. 

Did she have to bite her lip like that? It was incredibly tempting to raise his thumb and gently...no, this wasn't the time for this. Instead, he told himself he just didn't want her hurting herself. Yeah, that was it. One hundred percent.

A tiny spark against his calf shook him out of his thoughts and Poe hissed softly. One look down and BeeBee-Ate stared back at him, tilting his dome head as if scolding him.

"Okay, how do we blow it up? There's always a way to do that." Typical Han Solo thoughts. Poe liked it. Sora agreed as well.

She hoped Revan might have an idea but he stayed silent and shared an unsure look with Finn instead. The smuggler realized that Finn's knowledge vastly surpassed her crewmate's. After all, Revan had left the First Order a couple of years ago. Years in which they had improved their military devices by a lot.

Surprisingly, it was Leia who openly agreed with her husband, catching even him off guard. "Han's right."

"In order for that amount of power to be contained, that base would need some kind of thermal oscillator," Revan voiced his thoughts, his gaze darting back to Finn in question.

Said man nodded in agreement, fingers already working on the hologram. He zoomed in on something and a giant hexagonal structure appeared. "There is one. Precinct 47. Here. If we can destroy that oscillator, it might de-stabilize the core and cripple the weapon." 

"Maybe even the planet...," Nyra mumbled lowly but everyone heard her nonetheless.

Poe liked where this was going. They had hope again, even if it was small. "So we'll go in there and we'll hit that oscillator with everything we got." He snuck a look at Sora, silently hoping to get her on board. 

The woman in question felt his stare and turned her head in his direction, their brown eyes locking. Shivers crawled across his skin, her warm breath fanning against his face. He found the answer he wanted instantly. Sora wasn't a fan of many words, that much he had gathered already. Lips pulling into an excited smile, she quickly sent him a nod. Sora liked his idea. He couldn't deny that it boosted his ego. Even though it was the only idea they had anyways.

"They have defensive shields that our ships cannot penetrate," Admiral Ackbar objected.

Han was quick to defend the plan. "We disable the shields." He turned to Finn. "Kid, you worked there. What do you got?"

He missed a single beat. Then: "I can do it."

But Sora still noticed him squirming. He wanted to go to Starkiller Base, she was sure. But she knew when someone was hiding something. After all, it was part of her job.

Han grinned, happy with his reply. "I like this guy."

But Finn wasn't done talking yet. "I can disable the shields. But I have to be there, on the planet."

Sora had to seize the opportunity. It was her only chance to save Rey.

"We'll get you there." Han and her said simultaneously and their gazes instantly snapped towards each other. Calculations were done in their heads before they silently came to an agreement. He wouldn't undermine her. They were both smugglers and they would need more people on the ground anyways.

Nyra and Revan stepped closer towards her, their own way of showing everyone they would follow Sora's command. 

Leia was sceptical, doubts clouding her mind. "Han, how?"

Sora had an idea but so far, she only knew that it worked in theory. As the more experienced smuggler, she hoped Han had practical experience. And it seemed like she was right. "If I told you, you wouldn't like it."

Poe clapped his hands, already moving the plan into motion inside his head. "Great. So we disable the shields, take out the oscillator and blow up their big gun. All right. Let's go!"

*****

The Millennium Falcon was old and had obviously seen its best days. Yet, Sora admired the freighter, almost feeling the stories it told. It truly was a legendary ship and she had only ever dreamed of being on board. Any young smuggler had. Now, her dreams were about to become true.

"Chewie, check that donal capitator. C'mon, let's go." Han watched the wookie disappear inside the ship. They were preparing for take-off, making sure they had everything they would need for their daring mission. "Finn, be careful with those. They're explosives."

Finn who had been busy filling their storage with the tiny but, unbeknownst to him, deadly devices, flinched, almost loosing hold of them. "Now you tell me?" He asked incredulously.

"Here, let me help you," Sora offered, carefully picking up some of the explosives as well. Finn thanked her, staring at her a bit longer than necessary. Now was her time to ask what had been nagging at her. Nyra and Revan were busy doing some last minute repairs whilst Han had walked off to talk to Leia. They were alone, out of earshot. "You're not doing this for the Resistance, aren't you?" It wasn't a question but a statement.

Finn knew lying was useless. "No. I'm doing this for Rey."

Now, that did surprise her. Or did it really? It was no secret Finn had accompanied Rey for a few days. Had they grown closer during that time? Whatever they had gone through, it had clearly left a lasting impression on him. 

"Then we have at least one common goal," she pointed out, safely putting the explosives into some crates on board, making sure they were tightly secured. 

"You and Rey are friends?" Finn was confused, raising his eyebrows. 

"She was the one who found me on Jakku. I owe her a lot."

"I understand. So can I count on you?" 

Sora tilted her head, giving him the 'are you serious' look. "Of course. But I'm doing this for the Resistance too. We need to destroy that weapon. Can I count on you as well?"

Finn hesitated a beat too long. "Yes."

If it came down to it, he would choose Rey over anything, she was sure of it. To some extent, she could even understand it. Rey had likely been the first person who had shown some kindness to him. Finn had a lot to learn about himself, a normal process for someone who, until recently, knew nothing but what the First Order had wanted him to. Sora thought that over time, he would become an independent person and would know exactly what he truly wanted do achieve in life. Who he would want to become.

"Hey!" The new voice greeted them as soon as they stepped outside. Poe came to a halt in front of them, wearing his bright orange pilot suit, BeeBee-Ate by his side. The droid needed to stay with him today, despite their bet. His X-Wing needed him. 

The pilot smiled at them, although it looked a bit strained. He clasped Finn's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "Take care of yourself, buddy. I don't want anything to happen to my jacket." He winked at him and then let his hand fall against his side again. His smiled softened, growing more tender as he locked eyes with Sora. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Sora nodded, walking around the Falcon with Poe to isolate them as best they could. BeeBee-Ate stepped back, opting to confuse Finn with his chirping and beeping. 

They stopped just outside the jungle, the thicket of trees, bushes and other plants hiding them from curious eyes. Facing each other, they stood close enough so that Sora had to tilt her head backwards a little to look into his eyes.

"Be careful out there, okay?" There was a certain strictness in his expression she hadn't seen before. It was an order, she realized. 

She had the urge to soothe his apparant concern. "Don't worry. I'm a smuggler. Sneaking safely in and out of something is kinda what I do best." 

She knew there was very much a possibility of her not making it out alive. They were talking about entering a huge First Order base after all. A place not only guarded by hundreds of stormtroopers but also by Kylo Ren. The chances they wouldn't make it out alive were significantly higher than those for surviving.

Poe was all too aware of that as well. He too could fly his X-Wing one last time tonight. 

But they had to believe in themselves. In their abilities. The First Order couldn't take that away from them too. Both of them were too stubborn to let that happen.

The pilot watched her silently, contemplating what he wanted to say to her. He wasn't thinking about any famous last words because he was sure this wouldn't be their last conversation. At least, that's what he told himself. 

In the end, he simply allowed his mouth to say whatever it wanted. "You and me, princess. Tomorrow evening. Meet me here just after sunset."

Sora wasn't quite sure she had heard him correctly. Still, she went along, noticing the tiny jump her heart had made. "Are you asking me on a date, Poe Dameron?"

"Yes," he admitted shamelessly without hesitation. The pilot wanted to get to know her better. Wanted to know what she liked doing when she was not working. He wanted to know where she had grown up, how she had become a smuggler. 

Did she want this? Poe had been nothing but good to her since they had met. He had trusted her from the beginning, had shown that he cared about her. She had already admitted she liked talking and spending time with him. So, why not try and see where else this could lead to? Find out if they shared more than their love for flying and being free? Sora liked taking risks, so why not take this one?

"Okay." Confidence filled her voice and the smile on her lips was real and honest. "See you tomorrow then."

Poe grinned widely, clearly happy that she had agreed. Not that he had expected a different outcome, to be honest. "See you tomorrow."

*****

The planet Ilum, Unknown Regions, 34 ABY

"So, how are we getting in?"

The crew of the Falcon stared at Ilum, an ice planet in the Unknown Regions. Many years ago, this planet was mined for kyber crystals by the Empire. Now, it was the host of Starkiller Base. 

From up in space, the planet was a grey and white mass, cut in two halves by a giant trench the First Order had dug. Overall, it wasn't a very inviting place. 

Sora peeked over Chewie's shoulder, taking a look at the data shown on a little screen in the cockpit. She raised her brows, concluding what they were about to do in order to get past the planet's shields. "Their shields have a fractional refresh rate. Keeps anything traveling slower than lightspeed from getting through. Which leaves us with only one way to get this done."

From his pilot seat, Han sent her a dry smile. "Park here's right. You better strap in tight."

"We're gonna make our landing approach at lightspeed?!" Finn yelled, looking at them as if they were crazy. 

Indeed, it was a crazy maneuver. The ship could crash into anything before they would even see it coming. But they had no other choice.

"That's exactly what we'll do. Alright Chewie, get ready." Han pushed multiple buttons on the console, waiting for Chewie to prepare the Falcon for lightspeed. 

The cockpit was crammed with Nyra and Revan sharing a seat by the door and Sora and Finn sitting closely huddled together behind Chewie. Strapping the seatbelt proved to be an almost impossible task, with Finn's butt basically sitting on where she needed to secure it. But with a little help from each other, they managed to make do, their thighs tightly pressed together.

"And now!" 

Instantly, the light blue around them switched to planet atmosphere. Snowy, rocky ground appeared in front of them and a thick forest made out of tall pinewood trees threatened to swallow them whole. 

Adrenaline surged through her veins as Han yanked the steering back as far as it could go. "I'm pulling up!" He screams. She loved flying but she was glad she wasn't in his seat.

It was too late. The Falcon plowed through the trees, thick wooden branches smacking against the exterior. Alarms began to blare and multiple red lights blinked all over the consoles. Finn grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly as they were thrown around in their seats. Sora felt the strain the constant movement brought upon her still healing ribs and she groaned softly. Behind her, Revan whooped in ecstasy and Nyra slapped a hand over his mouth to stop him.

"I get any higher, they'll see us," Han explains and Chewie groans, clearly not liking this either.

Suddenly, the Falcon hurtled out of the forest and dove right onto a clearing. Before Han could steer it upwards, it slammed straight into the snow, digging through hundreds of yards of white. They were thrown against their seatbelts and multiple pained groans filled the cockpit. When the ship finally came to a stop, it was nearly completely buried in snow. 

Everyone needed a moment to clear their minds and slow down their heart rate. Finn sheepishly loosened his hold on her hand. "Sorry," he mumbled, clearing his throat. 

Sora only flexed her hand in response and wiped the sweat onto her pants. "S'okay."

Revan was the first back on his feet, stretching his arms into the air. "Well, that was fun. Think you can do that too, Sora? Could be a fun way to have a good time with the Phoenix."

The smuggler rolled her eyes and looked at him as if he was crazy. "Don't even think about doing that with my ship."

"Alright, party pooper, alright." He raised his hands in defeat, springing to the side to avoid Nyra's elbow which had been on direct route to his stomach. 

Han shared an annoyed look with Sora. "Is he always like that?"

"Unfortunately."

Chemie let out a series of groans she couldn't understand. But there was no need to, for he was already shoving a fur-lined jacket into her arms. A sign that they had wasted enough time and needed to leave.

Only minutes later, they stomped through the snow, jackets zipped up straight to their chins. It was freezing and Sora wished she had put on a sweater underneath her jacket. Even the fur couldn't fully prevent the cold from reaching her skin.

"This is the first time I'm seeing snow," Nyra said, rubbing her hands together. "I hate it."

Revan snorted, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll warm you up when we're back." An indignant groan from Chewie was the answer. 

"Walkers ahead! Take cover," Han ordered, leading the group towards some sort of structure belonging to the base. 

"The flooding tunnels are over that ridge. We'll get in that way," Finn explained, letting his gaze wander across the various structures half buried in snow.

"What was your job when you were based here?" Han didn't seem convinced at all. Sora couldn't fault him. She knew Finn's sole goal was to get Rey and she highly doubted he had any plan about their actual mission at all. He had just needed a way to get on planet. 

"Sanitation." 

Oh, she actually felt bad for him for a second.

Han was in disbelief. "Sanitation. Then how do you know how to disable the shields?"

"He doesn't," Sora said, leaning against the structure behind her. "He just wants to save Rey. Which I want as well, by the way. So we need to find a way to do both."

Finn nodded. "What she said."

The legendary smuggler didn't know whom he wanted to smack first, looking from Sora to Finn and back. "People are counting on us. The entire galaxy is counting on us-"

"Hey, we'll figure it out. We'll find a way to disable those shields first. But I'm not leaving my friend here. We're enough people , we'll make do."

"Shields first, then your friend," Revan agreed, voice hard and leaving no room for argument, as if stating the obvious. 

"Captain's orders." Nyra shrugged her shoulders, grinning at Sora.

I can definitely get used to this, she thought. This new team of hers.

Chewie's groans and moans interrupted their conversation. In disbelief, Han addressed him, being the only one in their group to understand Wookie language. "Oh really, you're cold?"

Well, if the Wookie with all of his hair was cold, then Sora was slowly turning into an ice block herself. The longer they didn't move, the slower their warm blood was pumped through their bodies. Moreover, her boots weren't exactly made for Ilum's environment, causing her to loose feelings her toes. 

Apparently, Finn felt the same. "C'mon, follow me. We need to go. Fast."

Wordlessly, the group of smugglers followed him, trudging through the snow. Behind them on the horizon, the laser siphon was shooting into the sky, slowly sucking the sun dry. Not much longer and the Starkiller would have gained all of its power.

It didn't take them long to enter the base. Before they knew it, they were sneaking through empty corridors with raised blasters, hoping to not encounter any enemies. Ahead of them, a door swooshed open, revealing a shocked stormtrooper. Chewie shot him before the shock could even fully register, dragging his dead body out of sight immediately. Sora doubted he was the last one they would cross paths with. How likely was it that they had cameras everywhere? Maybe more patrols were already on their way to them. She tried not to dwell on that.

Han shared her thoughts."The longer we're here, the less luck we're going to have. The shields?"

Suddenly, Finn perked up, a new plan through his mind. "I have an idea about that."

"Not sure I like that look on your face, man," Revan declared. "But whatever, I guess."

"Why, don't tell me you're never wanted to have Captain Phasma as your puppet?"

That name did elicit a reaction. Lips stretching into a smirk, Revan changed his opinion instantly. "Shiny chromehead? Oh, you should have started with that. Let's go, what are you waiting for."

Sora briefly remembered having heard that name on Atrisia two years ago. However, the Captain hadn't been actually present back then, so she had no idea whom they were about to walk into. 

But Finn and Revan were already setting their plan into motion, giving orders to the rest of the group. Han wasn't quite happy with it but for the sake of the mission, he went along without complaining.

Quietly, they headed down a narrow corridor. It ended in a cross section and they pressed themselves against the wall in a row, listening and waiting. Footsteps echoed through the corridor to their right. A single pair. Easy to overtake. 

Chewie got in position and mere moments later, he had his arms around a woman whose body was covered from head to toe in shiny chrome armor. 

"Remember me?" Finn asked with confidence and something akin to pride. 

"FN-2187," Captain Phasma answered, voice devoid of any emotion.

Shivers danced across Sora's skin. This time not because of the cold but entirely due to the woman in front of her. There was something off-putting about her. Like her presence alone could suck the life out of you. This one was worse than Hux, she decided then and there.

Speaking of him... she hadn't even thought about the fact that the General was most likely here somewhere as well. Maybe she would get another opportunity to sink her knives into him after all. 

"My name's Finn. And I'm in charge now, Phasma. I'm in charge." 

Sora had never seen Finn so self-assured, so sure of his abilities. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he had the upper hand. 

And he wasn't finished. "Remember Revan here? Yep, he's here too. And you're gonna follow our orders this time. Follow us."

Phasma reluctantly complied, having no choice but to lead the group straight to the control access point. Multiple pair of blasters were aimed at her head as her fingers worked on the controls. The young smuggler stayed back, guarding the door in case anyone decided to wander by. She tapped one boot against the floor in a steady rhythm. There wasn't much time left. They had to hurry and find Rey. Maker knew what Kylo Ren was doing to her at the very moment.

Behind her, Phasma was taking her sweet time. "You're making a big mistake."

"Do it. Now. Or I'll blast that bucket off your head," Finn threatened, stepping even closer, blaster pressing into the helmet.

A robotic voice sounded from the workstation. "Shields disabled."

Sora didn't dare to turn around. Instead, she gripped her blaster tighter. Surely, the message must have popped up in the main base control room as well. It was only a matter of time until someone would notice and send for them. "We can't waste anymore time if we want to find Rey," she reminded her teammates. Poe and his squadrons were likely already on their way to destroy the super weapon with all of their firepower.

It was Phasma who answered. "You can't be so stupid as to think this will be easy. My troops will storm this block and kill you all."

"We'll simply kill them first," the young woman replied, sparing her a quick glance over her shoulder. "What do we do with her?"

Han was reminded of the past. They needed something worse than immediate death. Something much more sinister. "Is there a garbage chute? Trash compactor?"

*****

"You guys do know she's probably gonna survive this." Nyra pointed out as they were approaching another corridor. Phasma had called them all sorts of names when they dumped her down a garbage chute. 

"Maybe. But her surrounded by all of that trash...," Finn began, motioning for them to wait by a door. It was locked from the other side. "It was worth it, no matter what happens."

"So we're gonna blast that door open?" Sora asked, glancing at the duffel bag filled with explosives Chewie was carrying. "Cause that's gonna draw attention. We could be overrun in a minute."

Finn nodded. "I'll go in and draw fire. But I'm gonna need you to cover me." 

The young smuggler saw it again. He was restless, eyes everywhere but on any of them. He definitely wasn't ready for his own plan. "Finn, let me do this," she offered, taking a step forwards, blaster raised.

"No. I'll go in and find Rey. The troopers'll be on our tail. We have to be ready for that. There's an access tunnel that'll lead-"

Recognition flashed through Han's eyes, catching Sora's attention. Curiously, she followed his gaze and was not disappointed by what she saw.

There, through the window behind Finn's back, a young woman was climbing up the wall. Her white and beige attire was all too familiar for the smuggler. The corners of her lips lifted into a smile, relief flooding her body. 

Rey was alive. And smart enough to have found her own escape. One less problem to worry about for the group. 

"Why are you doing that? Where are you looking at? I'm trying to come up with a plan here. Hey, Sora, I thought you wanted to find Rey too, what-"

Finally, Finn turned around, sick of Han constantly nodding his head. He could hardly believe what he saw, his mouth opening and closing quickly. Chewie groaned happily, all but punching the unfortunate Revan next to him against his back in the process. The latter coughed uncontrollably in response, wincing in pain. "Really, dude? Thanks a lot," he managed to squeeze out but accepted the moaned apology by the Wookie nevertheless.

Sora sighed, feeling one weight less on her shoulders. Sure, Rey wasn't quite safe yet but she was halfway there already. Suddenly, the ground shook almost unnoticeably. No doubt, the Resistance X-Wing pilots, including Poe, were doing their job. "Let's meet up with her."

Finn didn't have to be told twice. With him and Sora at the front, the group made their way up, reaching the corridor the scavenger had climbed up to. The base was surprisingly empty. Apparently, the First Order really thought no one was crazy enough to try to bypass their shields. 

Sora barely had time to stop herself from pulling the trigger when out of the blue, a blaster was pointing at her face. But when she locked eyes with Rey, both blasters were lowered immediately. 

"Sora?!" It was more of a question than an observation. The scavenger couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Anchoring her blaster in the holster around her hips, the smuggler pulled her into a quick hug which was happily returned. When they had let go of each other again, Sora checked her for injuries but thankfully couldn't find any. "Are you okay?"

Still speechless, Rey simply nodded, gaze traveling to her companions. It stopped on a certain former stormtrooper who was staring at her wide-eyed. "Finn. What are you guys doing here?"

"We came back for you," Finn answered and wanted nothing more than to hug her. However, he deemed it neither the right place nor time. 

"Long story short," Sora opted to elaborate. "We're with the Resistance and we're about to blow up this whole place. But how did you manage to escape Kylo Ren?"

There were tears in Rey's eyes, happy tears. Sora had never seen the scavenger express so many emotions at once. Suddenly, she was like an open book. Her longing for love was visible on her every pore. In this moment, right here, right now, Rey had realized that she didn't need her parents. That she had friends who were taking care of her. 

"I can't explain it. And you wouldn't believe it either." She smiled wholeheartedly. "Thank you."

The ground shook once again, this time much more noticeable. "No time for sentiments. Let's get out of here," Revan interrupted their reunion, cutting it short. 

"We'll talk later." Sora promised, squeezing Rey's hand before they retraced their steps, leaving the building and its endless grey behind. 

Yet, something felt wrong. Once they had stepped back outside, snow crunching underneath their boots, they saw just how terrible their mission was going. 

X-Wings were roaring across the sky, desperately dodging the brutal TIE-Fighter attacks. Missiles were fired, some hitting its mark others failing miserably. With dread and sadness, Sora noticed some starfighters were nowhere to be found. They were loosing, that much was obvious. The Starkiller Base had barely been damaged but their squadrons had already suffered too many losses. How much more could they take? She found herself exhaling softly when she spotted the familiar black X-Wing soaring up high on the horizon. 

The young woman felt a pair of eyes on her and turned towards the culprit. "They're in trouble. We can't leave," Han stated, waiting for her reaction. He knew they were thinking the same. 

Sora nodded, taking a peek at the duffel bag Chewie was carrying. "We're gonna make use of those explosives. We need to weaken the whole structure of the oscillator." Pointing at Nyra and Revan, she explained the plan. "You two, make sure the Falcon is ready to leave. Finn, Rey, you need to find a way to open the doors of the oscillator structure. Han, Chewie and I will place the explosives."

"Sure, Captain. Take care." Revan agreed, dragging Nyra along. The older woman gave her an encouraging smile. 

"Kick their asses, alright?" Rey said, winking at Sora before she too took off with Finn. 

"That's a promise," she managed to reply. It was good to have her back. 

Han and his Wookie companion took her straight to a maintenance hatch leading into the structure containing the oscillator. Three stormtroopers were approaching it as well but the three smugglers made quick work with them, each easily taking down one white-armored soldier. 

The hatch opened with a hissing sound, telling them Rey and Finn had done their job. No time was wasted and they barreled straight inside just as an alarm started blaring. "Not good," Sora grumbled. "We need to hurry. I'm going up, you take the lower levels. We meet back up here."

Dividing the explosives, the smugglers took off in different directions. The oscillator room was a huge cylindrical structure consisting of multiple levels from each of which you could look down onto a long catwalk in the middle, floating over a deep chasm. Darkness was everywhere, making seeing particularly hard. 

Sora carefully placed the explosives on every second column on her level. Every now and then, she heard Chewie groaning whenever he had successfully placed one as well. Nothing was suspicious, until a shout echoed through the room. "Ben!" It was Han. 

The young smuggler didn't have time to peek over the railing and see what was going on. Who Ben was. For there was another voice and it was much too close for her liking. The small hairs on the back of her neck stood up and a wave of anger surged through her. 

"I should have known you aren't dead."

Even before she turned around, she knew who was behind her by the voice alone. Hux hadn't changed since she had last seen him. The red haired General was still sporting his black robes and his ever present sneer on his face. 

Sora smirked, shrugging her shoulders. Whilst she had been kind of looking forwards to this moment, now really wasn't a good time. "I guess this means you need to train your troopers to approve their aim."

Hux scoffed, blaster aimed at her. "Well I can promise you I won't miss." 

He fired. 

But Sora was faster, having anticipated it. Villains never understood that less talking is the way to victory. Moving her body out of the line of fire, she too used her blaster, effectively shooting the weapon out of his hands. It flew straight over the railing, vanishing into the darkness below. 

"Oh would you look at that. You missed. And I really don't have time for you right now." 

Pure rage flared in Hux's eyes. Within the blink of an eye, the blaster in her hands was kicked away by his leg, the shot she had fired last minute hitting one of the columns instead. "You missed," he mocked her. 

A few levels below them, someone screams. Then, a roar full of devastation. 

Sora huffed, dodging another kick. His foot hitting the air instead, he fell forwards just a little bit. Enough to kick her knee straight into his abdomen. "It must hurt to know one of your own men saved me. How can you even be a General when you can't control your troops?"

She knew she had hit a soft spot. Maybe it was wrong to want to rile him up but he simply made it so easy for her. She could literally feel his blood boiling as his fist made contact with her side. The smuggler had managed to angle her body, preventing the hit from reaching her stomach. Unfortunately, that meant it hit her ribs which instantly flared in pain. 

Blaster fire erupted multiple levels down but the fighting duo ignored it. 

It was a petty feud going on between them and they both knew it. After all, they could have killed each other already if they had truly wanted to. The opportunities had been there and blatantly so. 

Sora caught his fist before it punched against her nose. Using her free hand, she formed a fist of her own and let it barrel against his cheek. The General's head snapped to the side and he stumbled back a step. Blood slowly ran down a small cut on the pale skin. He wiped it away with his hand. "I know you can do better than that."

"Oh I could," she said, grinning as she tilted her head to the side. "But where would be the fun in that?" Another leg kick was dodged and she quickly grabbed a knife out of her holster. 

Hux moved back before she could use the weapon. They were dancing around each other, waiting and accessing but never quite ready to make the first move. "You call this fun? You're nothing but an annoyance. Resistance scum now, apparently. Maybe I should congratulate you. After all this time, you're finally no longer a nobody. Tell me, how is Elijah? Is he with you too?"

The ground underneath their feet rumbled, vibrating through their bodies. The first explosion caused the whole structure to shake and she used it as a distraction to throw the knife, watching it lodge into his thigh, just like two years ago. She hadn't aimed to kill, only to slow down. And to piss him off. Actually, mainly for that reason. His comment had hit home, much more than she liked to admit.

"Till next time, Armitage," she yelled over the noise, walking backwards to watch him struggle to stand until she finally turned around and ran for the door. Hux was close, she could hear him limping behind her back. Not chasing her but simply trying to escape as well. 

More explosions sounded and just as she felt the freezing air hit her skin again, she heard Hux scream at her one last time. "Till next time, Sora!"

She hadn't heard him say that name in many years. 

Sprinting through the snow as fast as she could, Sora felt herself growing out of breath quickly, her ribs aching as if Hux's punch had erased the bacta effects. She had no idea whether the others had made it to the Falcon by now. The ground continued to shake and she had to avoid getting hit by falling trees and snow avalanches. Stumbling a couple of times, she managed to somehow catch herself, never forgetting that her timer was running out. 

Poe and his squadron had been successful. The Resistance had won this battle. Now, all that's left to do was escape from Ilum before it would combust. Easier said than done. 

Suddenly, the ground directly in front of her split into two and she threw herself back to not fall to her death. Rocks and trees broke free, falling into the deep unknown. Kriff, this was not good at all. Sora calculated she had a maximum of sixty seconds until the planet would burst into flames completely, turning into a hot, blazing sun.

The snow stuck to her clothes as she shuffled to her feet. Jumping across the gap would be impossible but she knew that the Falcon was on the other side. Her only way off this planet. She needed to come up with a plan. Fast. Comms wouldn't work down here, thanks to the signal blockers the First Order had installed. Surely, the crew was looking for her. If they had even made it this far. 

Engine noises disrupted the deafening sounds of the planet splitting into pieces. Hopeful, Sora looked to the sky and saw a familiar freighter soaring across the ground, barreling through the thick forest. 

And it was heading straight at her.

"C'mon Sora, you need to jump! We don't have time to land!" Revan screamed as he stood on the lowered ramp, one hand holding on tight, the other waiting to catch her.

The Falcon hovered above the trench, getting as close to her as possible. Sora risked a peek into the deep, hot chasm below, swallowing harshly as debris broke underneath the tip of her toes. She knew she could make the jump. Not like she had any other choice if she wanted to live. Carefully taking a couple steps back, she took a deep breath, getting ready to make a run for it. 

"Now, Sora!"

She jumped, feeling nothing but cold air around her. Her breath hitched, the ramp suddenly seeming so much further away than it had just seconds ago. Gravity hit her hard but Revan was there to catch her, just like he had promised. His hand gripped hers, pulling her safely onto the Falcon's ramp. "I've got you." 

Sora stumbled into his chest and the two of them fell backwards, landing on the hard ground of the ship. Revan took most of the fall, still holding onto her tightly, and he groaned in pain. From where her head laid on his chest, Sora watched the ground slowly growing distant as the Falcon rose higher and higher, the destruction from the explosions continuing. The ramp closed just before a wave of fire hit the Falcon and then the ship jumped into hyperspace.

"Let's not do this again," Revan grumbled.

Sora freed herself, laying back on the cold ground to catch her breath. The last traces of adrenaline were beginning to leave her system and the full details about what had just occurred were kicking in. "Agreed."

"But to be honest...it was kinda fun."

Sitting up slowly, the young smuggler glanced at him, unable to stop her lips from pulling into a smile. "Just a tiny bit."

Revan helped her to her feet, pulling her up by her hand, and dusted off some snowflakes which had clung to her jacket. "We were beginning to worry though. When Chewie came back to the Falcon alone, we thought the worst. But then we'd found Rey and Finn and then luckily, you as well."

Sora furrowed her brows, dread seeping into her bones. "What about Han?"

The ex-trooper shook his head, a somber expression on his face. "Killed by Kylo Ren."

Remembering screams and devastated Wookie groans, she put the pieces together. She could only imagine the grief Chewie was experiencing after the loss of his best friend. The mourning him and Leia were about to go through. A true legend was dead, killed by the First Order. And it was just the beginning. "What about Finn and Rey, how are they?"

Revan seemed hesitant to answer. A sign that more bad news were about to follow. "Rey is the Falcon's new pilot. Finn, however...He got a nasty cut from Kylo Ren's lightsaber. The two of them had a little quarrel with him in the forest." 

He motioned for her to follow him and together they entered the Falcon's sleeping quarters. An anxious looking Nyra kneeled in front of the bed, pressing a bloodied rag against Finn's spine. The injured man was laying on his stomach on top of the blankets, his eyes closed with deep dark circles shadowing them and sweat running down his forehead.

"How bad is it?" Sora asked, leaning against the doorframe. 

Nyra shook her head, worry etching across her face. "Very. He needs a bacta suit soon. The wound is pretty deep and I'm not sure if it damaged his spine. He won't wake up either."

The young smuggler bit her cheek in concern. "We'll better comm the base and have them prepare the medical equipment. I'll go do it."

When she entered the cockpit, her first instinct was to lay a hand atop of Chewie's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry for your loss. If you ever need someone to vent your feelings to, I'll be there." 

The Wookie groaned painfully, mourning his loss but showing appreciation at her comment. 

"Sora, what happened? We thought you'd already left but the we couldn't find you. I'm sorry that we didn't make sure you-"

"Hey Rey, it's fine. I'm okay, no need to worry about the past," she tried to calm her down. Whenever the scavenger was anxious, she tended to talk waterfalls. It had been her job to stop Rey from spiraling down that hole ever since they got to know each other. 

Rey smiled apologetically and went back to concentrate on piloting the Falcon. 

"How long until we'll land on D'Qar?"

"Approximately two hours."

Sora bit her lip. Too long. She wasn't sure Finn would survive the journey. "Chewie, can you get me on line with D'Qar's communications tower?"

The Wookie groaned in agreement and got to work instantly. The Resistance used a secret communication channel and thankfully, the Falcon had access to it. Only seconds passed until the channel crackled to life. "Falcon to Base, we have an important matter."

The female voice she had heard on the Phoenix as well answered. "It's nice to hear from you, Falcon. What do you need?"

"We need to have a bacta suit prepared and medics waiting for us on the landing bay. It's a serious lightsaber wound. We'll approach the planet in two hours."

"I'll report it to the General. Have a safe journey." The line went dead again. Everything else had to be discussed on ground. 

Sora sighed, plopping down on the seat behind Chewie. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. A quick nap couldn't hurt. Perhaps it would even stop the stabbing pain of her ribs again. She doubted they were fully broken again, but the fresh hit had definitely slowed down the bacta healing process. 

"Sora, what happened to you at the oscillator?"

"Had a little chat with a certain General." A faked nonchalance.

Fast as lightening, Rey turned in her seat, staring at her with wide eyes. "You're not talking about him, are you?"

"Yes, him. And I let him get away again," she whispered, still loud enough for both the co-pilot and the pilot to hear.

Whilst Chewie groaned in confusion, not understanding a single thing, Rey clicked her tongue. "I did tell you that would happen. You're not a murderer. Not like that at least. Besides, he let you go too."

"He did."

"It's a pretty strange game you two have going on for....for how long now?"

Sora replied without hesitation. "Nine years."

"That's a long time." Knowing this conversation had already lasted longer than her friend liked, Rey put her focus on navigating the ship again. "You know, don't feel guilty for not killing him, despite of what he's part of. Think about who he is to you. Who he was to you. That's all that matters here."

Sora appreciated her advice a lot. Kriff, she had truly missed Rey. Neither the scavenger nor her were fond of 'girl talk', yet it was nice to have someone to vent your feelings to. Someone who knew all about you, maybe even better than you know yourself. 

"Care to tell me how you managed your grand escape?" The smuggler probed carefully, diverting the conversation to another important topic. In front of her, Chewie sat up straighter, seemingly wanting to know the answer as well.

Rey hesitated, trying to find the right words. "It's...I don't even understand it either. Kylo Ren, he was in my head. I was strapped into this chair but when he left me alone with that stormtrooper, I...I was able to manipulate him. I made him free my restraints with my mind. With...the Force."

To say Sora was shocked was an understatement. Rey was force-sensitive. Had been all of her life and never noticed it. "Whoa, that's...impressive actually. I bet with the proper training, you could accomplish great things. Maybe even become a Jedi." Being force-sensitive didn't mean you'd automatically have to be a Jedi. But Sora could definitely see her friend as one. Rey was strong, full of light and determined. 

"But who could train me? There's no Jedi left alive."

"You know there is," Sora looked at her pointedly. "And we have one half of the map to find him already. Luke Skywalker."

At the mention of that name, Chewie visibly perked up. So did Rey. But the conversation was over. There was a lot the scavenger had to come to terms with and she had to do it on her own. So the cockpit was engulfed in silence once again, with Chewie mourning in peace and the two women deep in their thoughts. One was lost somewhere in the past, the other in the future.

Sora must have fallen asleep. As the ship jumped out of hyperspace, her eyes blinked open again. Ahead of them, the now familiar green planet of D'Qar rotated slowly. 

"Hey sleepyhead, we're about to land," Rey said, sending her a quick smile before she started the landing process. 

The young smuggler nodded, watching the Resistance base grow closer through the window. Rey was a great pilot, all thanks to her flight simulator back on Jakku. Therefore, the Falcon landed without any disturbances and the trio was up and about in a matter of seconds. They met up with Nyra and Revan and waited patiently as the ship's ramp was lowered to the ground. 

Warm sunlight welcomed the group, a much appreciated change compared to the ice planet Ilum. As promised, a team of medics with a stretcher rushed towards them and Nyra and Revan made it their job to help them transporting Finn to the makeshift hospital. His heart hadn't stopped beating which was a good sign.

A teary eyed Rey jogged straight towards Leia who had been standing by the Falcon, smiling sadly at them. She tried hard to hide her grief but anyone who knew how much Han truly meant to her could see right through her facade. 

However, it did confuse her when she sought comfort in Rey instead of in Chewie. He clearly needed a hug, specifically from Leia, his now closest friend. And wasn't this the first time her scavenger friend and the General were meeting each other? Was this sudden connection a force thing? Anyways, Sora felt sad for the gentle Wookie who, at the sight of the two women hugging, disappeared back into the Falcon. The thought of following flashed through her mind briefly, but she knew he wasn't seeking her comfort. After all, they barely knew each other. Maybe some alone time was exactly what he needed now.

Happy beeps caught her attention and her eyes moved past Leia and Rey to follow the sound. A small astromech was moving straight at her, going on maximum speed. "Whoa, slow down buddy." The droid came crashing into her shins as soon as she had finished her sentence, mindful enough to slow down so it wouldn't hurt her. 

Sora crouched down, affectionally stroking his dome head. "I'm happy to see you too, BeeBee-Ate. Did everything go down well?"

More exciting chirps followed and then the droid got lost in his tale, explaining every little detail about what had occurred up in the air. Sora took in as much as she could, listening intently and making sure to make a comment every now and then. 

"Hey BeeBee-Ate, don't hog her. I want Sora-time too."

At the sound of his voice, Sora looked up instantly. Poe was grinning from ear to ear, his arms stretched to both sides. He was waiting for her to move with a raised eyebrow. She scoffed, chuckling at his antics but accepted his invite nevertheless. The pilot pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her, swaying their bodies from side to side. Kriff, she hadn't even known she needed this hug until now.

Sora pressed her ear against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was definitely faster than it should be, she noticed. Poe felt incredibly warm and the memories of snow and ice melted away. She didn't care that he was sweaty and in need of a shower. His hand tingled inside her waves, loosening the knots in slow, gentle strokes. 

"I'm glad you're okay, princess," he whispered. This little moment was meant just for them. Anyone else around them was busy celebrating their win against the First Order. 

"Yeah, me too." Her reply was just as quiet. Eyes closing in relaxation, she put more of her weight against him and Poe wordlessly accepted it, tightening his hold around her. They basked in each others embrace for a while, enjoying the silence. 

But it wasn't long before the pilot initiated conversation again, seeking answers. "What happened down there?"

Sora hummed softly. "The usual. Lots of sneaking, lots of fighting. Trash chutes. Which are very useful by the way, for all kinds of trash. Explosions. And lots of snow."

Poe chuckled, the vibrations of it tickling her ear. "Sounds fun. Any injuries I should know about?"

"Just some sore ribs. And my toes are all tingly, so I might have frostbite, who knows."

"Well, we can't have that now, can we?" Poe mumbled, loosening the hug to look into her eyes instead. He smiled at her and delicately lifted his finger, letting it glide over the smooth skin of her cheek to push a strand of hair out of her face. "Let's get you inside then. A hot shower solves everything, right."

She smiled and found herself liking the proximity. "You know, BeeBee-Ate told me everything. You did well. Guess you really are the best pilot in the Resistance."

"Of course I am. But I'm happy you finally accepted the truth. Now, c'mon." Poe put his arm over her shoulders, leading her down into the base. They didn't linger to talk to people, making a beeline for the sleeping quarters. 

The unspoken rule of not mentioning their losses and near-losses today wasn't broken. Neither of them wanted to dwell on the sadness, so they buried it for now.

The duo stopped in front of the door to Sora's room and she was quick to type in the four digits to open it. Poe followed her inside but kept standing close to the door, watching her taking off the heavy jacket. "There's a meeting in about an hour. Think you'll be all warmed up by then? You know, I happen to know a method that could be very helpful...," he joked and grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Sora rolled her eyes playfully, stepping out of her wet boots. "Then we'd definitely miss the meeting. Now, out you go."

"You're right. We'd miss the whole day," Poe stated, the grin never leaving his face. He lifted his finger, pointing it at her accusingly. "Don't forget we have a date tonight, princess." The pilot was gone before she could reply. 

As if she would ever forget that. 

A hot shower, a pair of fresh black leggings and a white cropped long sleeved sweatshirt later, Sora entered the conference room. The most important Resistance members had gathered around the round hologram table in the middle and were already deep in discussion. Wordlessly, Sora tip toed towards Revan and Nyra who had opted to keep to the shadows. 

Nyra threw an arm over her shoulder, pulling her body into her side. "I'm bored. Why do we have to be here?" She whispered, making sure no one else would hear them.

"I'm not a fan either. But let's get this done with."

An R2-series astromech droid she hadn't noticed until now projected a hologram for them to see. It was a navigational map with a specific piece missing. Could this be the second half of the map leading to Luke Skywalker? So the droid was Artoo-Detoo then, she concluded. 

BeeBee-Ate's reaction confirmed it. He chirped excitedly, motioning for Poe to assist him. "Yeah alright, buddy, hold one." Sora watched as he removed an ancient data device from one of the computers and inserted it back inside of his little droid. A second later, another hologram map appeared and the two astromechs moved slightly to unite them.

"Oh! The map! It's complete," See-Threepio announced gleefully.

"Luke...," Leia mumbled, putting her hand on her chest, directly above her heart.

The reaction was immediate. The room erupted in cheers and hugs were shared all around them. Revan pulled the two women next to him into his chest, squeezing them harder than necessary. "Great news. Really, awesome. But do you think they celebrate with booze here? Preferably strong one?"

Nyra slapped his chest lightly. "No booze for you this time! Remember what happened last time?"

Revan grimaced, shaking his head as if that would help him get rid of the memories. "Maybe you're right. No booze. I'm still forbidden from entering the kitchen," he nodded.

Sora wasn't sure she wanted to know any details about what had happened. Better to keep those imagines far away from her.

Thankfully, Rey was there to save her. With a big smile on her face, the scavenger gave her a quick hug before she motioned for Sora to follow her into the empty corridor outside the room. 

They walked a small distance until they stopped in a random corner. "Do you think I should do it?"

The smuggler instantly knew what she was talking about. Although it pained her to see Rey go once again, she knew it was necessary. Besides, they would see each other again soon. "I think there is no-one more suited for this than you, Rey. You need to learn how to handle your new abilities. Luke Skywalker is the only one who can help you. And you're the only one capable of bringing him back." 

Rey seemed to ponder over her response, shifting on her feet as if nervous. Then, she took a deep breath. "You're right. I have to do this," she said, sounding much more confident than before. "Thanks, Sora. You know I love you, right?"

"Aw, I love you too, Rey," the smuggler laughed, giving her one last quick hug. "Just be careful."

"You too, alright? Oh, and Doctor Kalonia wants to talk to you. Said it's urgent."

"Well, I'll better go then." They shared a last meaningful look before each took off into a different direction.

Confusion laced her features as she pushed open the doors to the infirmary. The kind doctor was already waiting for her, smiling kindly. "Miss Park, I have good news."

"Go ahead," she said, leaning against a table. 

"I've talked to General Organa about our dwindling medical supplies. She agrees that it would be wise to send your Team to aquire more," Doctor Kalonia explained and handed her a data pad. On it was a detailed list of supplies they desperately needed. "However, seeing as our budget is very low, we need to do this your way."

Lips pulling into a smile, Sora already felt excitement running through her veins. "So, permission to steal from a First Order base?"

The female doctor chuckled. "Yes, Miss Park. But don't take this mission lightly. It's dangerous and requires lots of planning ahead of it. The General trusts you with this."

"Oh, sounds like an everyday job to me. There's nothing to worry about." Holding up the data pad, she nodded towards the door. "I'll better get to work then."

She was already halfway through the door when a thought occurred to her, causing her to stop in her tracks and look back. "How is Finn? Will he be okay?"

"He is in a coma. We don't know when he will wake up," Doctor Kalonia explained lowly, a look of concern flashing over her face. "If he will wake up at all. I'm sorry."

A wave of sadness hit her hard. The brave stormtrooper who had defied everything he had known to save her and Poe. Who had given up his life in order to find a new one. No, she was sure he would survive this. Finn was a lot stronger than that.

The doors closed behind her. Now, it was time to prepare their next mission. Oh, and her date, of course.

[whoneedsapublisher]

Tune Up

I've had this unfinished HK-47 centric story sitting around for ages and I finally went back to clean it up and work a conclusion into it.

Words: ~700

Summary: The Exile is starting to get a little frustrated with just how esoteric HK-47's construction is. Prideful as he is, HK-47 obviously has a justification.

Also on Ao3

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“Hey, HK?”

“Query: What is it, master?” HK-47 glanced down at the exile with what she perhaps too charitably interpreted as mild interest. That was the problem with droids whose heads were too face-like. She always tried to read expressions into them, even if she knew that there was no actual actuators there to react to what the droid was thinking.

“Why did Revan design you so... “ she made a vague gesture, and then settled on the diplomatic option. “..strangely?”

She wiped her brow with the back of her hand. She’d probably gotten oil on it from doing that, but she’d deal with it later. She was going to need a shower after this anyway. What did a little more oil matter?

“Resigned statement: Come now, master. Surely you must be able to figure that out.

Alright, now she was sure he was making a face at her. Although maybe that was just his extremely expressive tone doing all the work.

“No, I’m serious,” the exile said, frowning. “Look, even aside from the all the memory core issues, a lot these systems are- sorry if you take offence, but like, you have to know that this stuff is really inefficient for combat, right?”

“Patient reminder: Master, I am not a combat droid. I am an assassin droid.”

“So?” the exile said. “That still means shooting people.”

“Disappointed correction: Master, an assassin droid’s combat capacity is only half of its functionality. An vital part of assassination is target access.” HK-47 raised a finger as if delivering a lecture. “Suspiciously specific hypothetical: Imagine I needed to infiltrate a civilian cruiser, owned by a paranoid crime boss, who demanded that all droids who entered his vessel be examined by his personal mechanic. If my design was overtly designed for combat efficiency, my target would be immediately suspicious. However, as my chassis and many of my features are designed to mimic a sophisticated protocol droid, any cursory examination of my functions by a mechanic, either for inspection or maintenance reasons, would not immediately reveal my true purpose. Amusing anecdote: In fact, when Revan lost his memory, he reacquired me due to needing my translation functionality, not the raw might of my assassination protocols.”

“I guess that makes sense,” the exile said, peering back into the labyrinth mess that comprised the inside of HK-47’s chest chassis. “It would be pretty hard to tell that you’re an assassination droid if you didn’t find the protocols for it. Almost none of your assassation stuff is in the hardware, after all. No onboard weapons, no obvious interfaces with weaponry… just sophisticated enough motor control of your hands to operate a weapon the way a human would.”

“Pleased agreement: Exactly, master. And such precise motor control is quite typical of high-end civilian droids without any combat programming.” HK-47 flexed his fingers. “Speculation: I believe that the problems with my memory core come from it being designed to easily obfuscate information until certain conditions were met so that memory scans would not reveal my missions, while also being resistant to core wipes. That way, if my core was wiped while in service to a target, I would not forget my original purpose. Extrapolation: This may lead to unintentional cases of certain portions of my memory being encrypted when my core is tampered with in any way, such as when Revan deleted any knowledge of his destination and his recent locations.”

The exile nodded, rubbing her chin in thought. It did make a certain kind of sense. If you were designing a droid that was going to be fully at the mercy of maintenance techs mid-mission, you’d have to put a lot of effort towards dealing with core wipes.

“Prideful assertation: Master, I believe that while my design is unusual, it is the single best implementation of the core concept available in this galaxy. Supporting evidence: Look at how successful those distasteful knock-offs of my model were, despite their obvious inferiority.”

“Well, I guess you’re right,” the exile said, closing HK-47’s front panel. “Still, sometimes I wish you were little easier to tune up.”

“Mollifying reassurance: Do not worry, master. I am sure that your skills are up to the task.”

The exile frowned.

Next time, she was going to open up his faceplate. Just to make doubly sure that it was impossible that he was smirking at her.

[fymagnificentwomcn]

t’s truly something how all princes/sultans in tmck are so pressed…I get their life isn’t easy, but all that blaming & truly how it can affect everyone’s perception. Murad even accused his mother of faking an assassination attempt on her life, incredible *sarcasm of course*. And Atike was just his cheerleader most of the time, ugh. All that blaming by people who even weren’t there. Thanks for writing that piece!

Aww thank you so much! This piece is my magnum opus I guess lol (Link here:https://fymagnificentwomcn.tumblr.com/post/610970504341405696/no-she-isnt-the-whole-evil-k%C3%B6sem-thing-isnt )

Murad’s angry 24/7 & gets so ridiculous with blame-shifting – he would need a good anger management therapy LBR.

And there’s one scene that portrays his character in nutshell:

Doctor: you cannot drink anymore wine, Your Majesty.

Murad, literally 5 minutes later: Yusuf, bring me wine!

Murad in 1 minute, another example:

Kösem: Don’t marry Silahtar to Atike, you also have another sister and if you do it, it will end in tragedy!

Murad: No worriez, I’ve thought about Gevherhan, I will marry her to Kemankeş ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I mentioned a lot of blame-shifting in my previous posts, but he even at moment began questioning his mum about Gülbahar and whether she truly committed treason (and Gülbahar herself admitted to it).

Even when Atike asked him for permission to take children with her & Kösem to vaqf, he was totally okay with the idea, but later after kidnapping snapped at his mother that it was HER fault for gaving taken his sons there & began threatening her with exile far away. Charming as always.

Honestly, he’s like a broken record. In all his arguments, while Kösem has her logical arguments, his only argument is usually “I’m the only/rightful owner of Ottoman Empire, “I’m the shadow of God on Earth. Like dude do you realise how boring you are???

Don’t forget how mad he got when Kösem wrote to Kemankeş to have a backup plan if Murad died and Bayezid wanted to take the throne, which could have meant danger for other Kösem’s sons. After all, she didn’t take it from nothing, Gülbahar told her about assassination attempt to come & it actually already had happened by the time Murad received the letter. Yes, dude you are not immortal, you could have been killed, and life goes on you know? It doesn’t mean your mother doesn’t love you or is not going to mourn you, but she also needs to take care of your brothers and state ffs. He’s truly obsessed with this idea that after his death life will  (unfortunately in his view) go on – which is also meaningful since Kösem reminded him like two episodes earlier that state was going to remain even with both of them dead. And well we all know the “masterful” idea he conceived just before his death.

And it’s clear how even some of his siblings fear him – Gevherhan was scared immediately following the announcement of Kösem no longer being a regent (especially since he did in a way to put  blame on his mother for recent events to prop himself up, and he was also engaged in state matters at that point). Kasim also immediately fears being locked up in kafes or even executed. Judging by their conversations, despite problems going on, last 10 years were a peaceful time for their family.

As I said, out of all Kösem’s opponents only Handan and Derviş weren’t worse than her, and she was the only main player that never engaged in mass slaughter – Safiye, Halime&Co., Gülbahar&Sinan, Murad, Turhan - all did.

Same with Atike – she was a baby when when her father died, didn’t even spend her early years locked up as Ibrahim…. she’s honestly so blind it’s painful. The scene where she jumps at Kemankeş for trying to talk sense to Ibrahim not to appoint Genie Master as chief judge… please your brother is now acting contrary to Imperial law and it’s asking for further disaster if Cinci increases his influence among ulema by bringing people who pay him into it & it’s good Ibo is controlled in this way… nah, it’s actually necessary. And how you jump from this to your mother I have no idea either. A true performative “activist”, who talks about protecting her brother, but all is limited to talking  & exposing her moral superiority, while it’s not supported by any real actions helping him.

Well, you got your revenge on your mother for killing the husband who despised you, acted against your youngest brothers at that point, and likely was only praying you wouldn’t follow him also into afterlife.

I also forgot to mention one more example of Mu/rat manipulating the narrative – when he tells Atike following the failed dethronement attempt & Kasim’s death that their mother had lied to her and tried to kill him – he was after all put in kafes, he should be aware nobody planned an assassination attempt, bah he KNEW the whole plan from Sinan… and yes, Kösem being so adamant that nothing can happen to Mura/t cost her Kasim in the end.

Atike herself was aware that Mu/rat would have killed her brothers even if the dethronement attempt had not happened as she told him to his face after Kasim’s death and she stated that he had made the decision long ago. Later however she got the letter from Murad informing her who killed Silahtar and she even released Traitor No. 1 Sinan to spite her mum 😂.

I suppose princes at this point led the hardest existence because they were closed in kafes, unable to get decent education&experience or have families (maybe they were allowed to have sex with cariyes, but contraception had to be used or even abortion if the concubine of a sehzade has got pregnant) but at the same time they weren’t certain whether they wouldn’t be killed because the switch to anti-fratricide was pretty new&the times were turbulent. Osman clearly broke Imperial law by getting fetva from military judge to kill Mehmed, and Murad killed the biggest number of Ahmed’s sons obviously (yeah more than in the show because not all princes appeared in MYK, though we don’t know the exact number of Ahmed’s sons, Murad definitely also executed Suleiman, most likely his full brother). I laugh when people go about “rule-breaker” Murad. Wow by getting back to law that has already began to run its course, clap clap.

Murad was king of hypocrisy and it’s also a historical fact. As Halil İnalcık states in his book Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age: “ The tyrannical Murad IV was a habitual drinker and at the same time the most ruthless supporter of the prohibition againt alcohol”. Mu/rat tried to make use of religion in his attempts to drill absolute obedience, but he wasn’t a religious person himself & definitely tried to take from religion what it most suited him, while ignoring other things, e.g. he kept decreasing zakat, aka income tax that goes to charity. A small bit of trivia: apparently he was a big fan of Machiavelli’s The Prince, there were even some rumours that he translated the book himself (we can only imagine he also took from this book what he wanted 🤪 ).

Similarly Turhan manipulated the narrative, also in a hypocritical way – remember her going like: “how many padişahs you killed?” and she was the main force behind Ibo’s death… the moment Ibo told her that she “was a coward who hid behind his mother’s skirts”… it was clear he was doomed. There was explicit anger on Turhan’s side here. Not only because she felt insulted by him, but also because she felt a need to prove both to him and the world that she was capable to be on top without Kösem’s support.  Not to mention all her actions leading to Ibo’s situation, also her ordering Mehmed to sign his dad’s death order was so chilling “I don’t want dad to die”. Well, now let’s play morally pure, especially while murdering elderly (very elderly lbr :p) Haci in again a brutal way, including twisting his neck. It’s not even that she removed a padisah – she actively worked to make him crazier and for his rule to be total failure, it wasn’t even about her, Ibo or Kösem – whole nation suffered because she was impatient to take power into her hands./BTW pity we skipped the time period when they were both Valides and we know both tried to get rid of each other, without harming Mehmed/ And frankly even with Kösem it was a terrible & undeserved backstabbing because also Ibi criticised Turhan for this saying his mother always “loved and protected her, did so much for her” and I doubt Ibo was biased here considering that he was also on bad terms with his mum at that moment.

Later the situation truly calmed down & later princes could live much more peacefully because the practice of killing truly went out of style and also later there were less and less restrictions on princes and they could for example travel abroad with the reigning padişah. For example, Sultan Abdülaziz took princes for a European trip and they even had a chance to meet Queen Victoria.

And I laugh when people blame Kösem for “failing to protect the princes” instead of you know, blame the actual killer. Ahmed truly replenished dynasty, while Murad axed a number of his brothers, at the same time of course used his own propaganda. It is true that Murad executed the favourite of princes, Bayezid, during celebrations following the successful Revan campaign. Similarly, when Kasim was executed someone spread rumours about the prince impregnating a number of concubines & it was before the Baghdad campaign when even setting out on it Murad had to display his “splendour and glory”.

Show-wise I legit one read that Kösem killed Ahmed because she spared Bulbül following Safiye’s attempted coup lmao. It’s not like Ahmed wasn’t there when she made the decision & it’s not like it wasn’t Hümaşah who after all got Yasemin in, and I doubt anyone could oppose an Imperial princess anyway – she would have found another servant. And Bülbül later saved Kösem’s kids, so… scapegoating truly is in some people’s blood lmao.

I love how MYK played with the idea of historical representation & creation of narrative, how people “see” and how different factors might influence their perception & creation of narrative. And also how S2 put into different perspective some stuff from S1. I admit there were some things that back during first watch of MYKS1 made me go WTF? that I later understood when compared/contrasted with MYK S2. It’s clear that they truly planned a lot of the whole show back in S1.

It’s sometimes interesting how narratives may be created and repeated even without evidence supporting it - there is no historical evidence that Kösem took part in Osman’s dethronement, yet it is something that often pops up even in “historical articles” for example. People deduce since Kösem later became Valide quite soon because Mustafa’s (or rather Halime’s) reign didn’t last long, know Şehzade Mustafa’s (Suleiman’s son) story, and some rumours about what Ottoman women did to secure throne for their children, so they see getting rid of one’s stepson to claim throne for one’s child as logical and usual in Ottoman system,  even when there is no proper evidence backing it up. Because it seems natural and logical, so why not make it more spicy? We know next to nothing about Mahfiruz, but there is this “Betty vs Veronica” trope, so suddenly we learn that Mahfiruz was Kösem’s opposite, not politically involved or ambitious, but gentle & sweet, and even details like light hair pop up as opposed to Kösem’s dark hair (sometimes of course it is also extended to good vs. evil). Taken from where, other than fitting a known trope? Or when she’s presented as some sort of Mahidevran vol.2 as having as close relationship with Osman like Mahi did with Mustafa, perfect prince and jealous stepmother Kösem. I know some of the stuff is also derived from Western, orientalist plays, but those are obviously not sources and should not be treated as truth. And sometimes it it even repeated by historians. For example Uluçay, who  was very against Sultanate of Women & pretty much propagated a lot of rumours (and new approach to the period truly changed a lot of how academia writes about these women now). Let us look at this quote:

Taken from: Necdet Sakaoğlu, Famous Ottoman Women.

It’s clear what narrative Uluçay chose for his research.

It’s common practice to sometimes fill in the blanks (and sometimes even change stuff) with known cliches, tropes, and narratives.

It is truly a topic for an extended discussion, so I will stop for now, but when it comes to Ottoman history I do recommend Daniel Piterberg’s Ottoman Tragedy. History and Historography at Play, which shows how the same event may be even differently presented in historical works depending on chosen narrative that is often rooted in current context.

[thehollowprince]

I will maintain til my dying breath that Rey was supposed to be Luke's daughter, and the sequel trilogy would have been about two cousins fighting over the Skywalker legacy (she wouldn't have been able to be his sister a la Jacen and Jaina. Ben and Han and Leia would have known her immediately, but her being his cousin would have made them not really knowing her but knowing her make sense) Hell the script sets it up with Luke, knowing who she is (so say her mother/ Luke's SO took her away - 1/?

her way from the Jedi Temple because she feared Ben, and then something happened, and she was killed on Jakku, and like her death hit something Luke in a force wave and that’s why he can’t sense Rey is his daughter or whatever - look I reject the Sequel trilogy and replace it with my head canon okay?- all the callbacks: including the way Rey resembles Padme, Leia and Shmi- would have made sense. Her being a Palpatine doesn’t. But when Rian made her a “nobody” and stared pushing Reylo and 2/? all the mainstream commentators started talking about their connection ( isn’t it interesting they ignore that Finn was set up as Rey’s love interest? I wonder why),it does feel like J.J was forced into a corner, and this was the mess he came up with, cause I don’t know how he could have fixed the mess that TLJ was

Sorry I didn’t answer this right away.  I got these at the end of my night shift and I wanted to be rested and awake before I answered it.  With that, let’s get to it.

The problem with Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm back in 2012 was first and foremost the fact that they completely disregarded and dismissed the thirty plus years of extra material they had in the form of books, comics, television shows and video games.  We had so much material to draw from for this sequel trilogy - George Lucas was even still alive so they could have consulted him on any kind of plan he had for his supposed nine film arc.

Even if we were to just focus on the material we got post-RoTJ, we still have so much to draw from.  As you mentioned, Jacen and Jaina Solo, or Luke’s relationship with with Mara Jade, Jacen’s fall to the dark side, the Yuuzhan Vong war or even venturing further into the future to look at the rise of the One Sith, and dealing with Cade Skywalker’s flirtation with the dark side.

The fact that Disney discarded all of this and then cherry-picked from it to Frankenstein together some of these characters for the sequel trilogy.

For example, and as you and many others have pointed out since The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is just a cheap version of Jacen Solo from the Expanded Universe/Legends continuity, with some added elements of Darth Revan from the Knights of the Old Republic and a hint of Cade Skywalker from the Legacy Era, particularly this last little bit involving Force Healing at the eleventh hour.  And in a similar vein, Rey is based off of Jaina… to an extent.

I don’t think their intention was ever quite so simple as a copy-and-paste by taking those two characters and making them the center of this new trilogy.  If anything, watching this new trilogy, it’s very clear that they never had any plan for all three films.  Disney went into this knowing they were going to be producing a trilogy, but approached it more like the original, on a movie-to-movie basis, pretending that they weren’t going to move forward unless the first one (TFA) was a success, which as we all know is bullshit.  They ended that movie on a cliffhanger with the company announcing the Episode VIII before Episode VII even aired.  So, while I believe that maybe someone on the production team, maybe J.J. or Kennedy or someone else high up came up with these characters that were mosaics of their Legends characters, that was only for that first movie.  Then Rian did what he wanted with them, until we got to this last film where they were their own “fleshed-out” characters, while still relying heavily upon the original source material.

Personally, I would have loved for Rey to have been Luke’s daughter, though I don’t think Disney ever would have gone the route of your theory.  If there’s one thing we’ve learned from them since they took over all of these big franchises, its that they don’t care to put much thought or effort into it.  Everything is the cheapest and laziest writing possible, taking the quickest and easiest path to the end without putting any actual thought into it, just imagining all the zeros on the check they’re trying to get.

Having her and Kylo/Ben be cousins would have nicely mirrored the original franchise where the father and son (Vader and Luke) were both trying to turn the other to their side.  That would have been a nice parallel for these films, given how much they went out of their way to make these new characters being just copies of the originals.  Kylo was obviously supposed to be Vadar, with Rey being Luke, Poe being Leia, Finn being Han, BB8 being R2, Hux as Tarkin, etc.  It was fairly evident that not a lot of effort was put into this series aside from an effort to grab money.

Even the big reveal that Rey was a Palpatine was cheap and lazy, an attempt to walk back The Last Jedi, but still give those loud and annoyingly persistent Reylos what they wanted, even if only the briefest of moments.  Although J.J. coming out later and saying the kiss was like that between siblings was weird and I’m begging him to shut up.

At the end of the day, all we can do is either accept this steaming pile of garbage as canon, or rely entirely on our own headcanons.  Despite how lazy Disney and Lucasfilm was when it came to the creation of these new characters, I, like many others, latched onto them.  I connected with them and I’ve decided to completely ignore what I don’t like about canon, something I do quite a lot anymore in this era of “subverting expectations”, and just use them how I want.  In my headcanon, Luke didn’t give up and become a Space Hobo like Rian made him.  Finn was the protagonist along with Rey, as well as being in a relationship with Poe.  Rose had a prominent role in the story and Kylo died unredeemed.  I’m planning on doing what I started to do with the MCU’s Civil War and I’m going to try and fix it to match what I feel like it should have been originally.

[nemossubmarine]

Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #42

Gimlet asks Vivek if he would like his brother told about all this, and Vivek says it’s probably not a wise move, considering he made him servitor in the first place. Vivek would like to talk with his brother at some point, provided there’s someone else standing between the two. Gimlet says two Space Wolves should do the trick. Gorm says he still needs stuff from the tech-priest, and Vivek agrees now’s probably not the time. Vivek mentions that his brother has all his stuff and he may want them back at some point, but also can wait. Vivek loans Uffe’s phone, so our heroes can contact him if needed.

With that said, our heroes begin their long journey downwards back to where they started, and in fact, down one floor more, where rest of the clean-up crew is, or should be. There’s lots more burnmarks around as well as some rot growing in the corners of the ceiling. Gimlet burns some, but it pretty quickly grows back, and indeed it looks like the rot is only growing. Our heroes hear some AdMech-y footsteps and find a Skitarius with a servitor. The Skitarius informs our heroes that the Sable Swords and the tech-priest have already gone downstairs, as they’re closing in on the seat of the infection and can’t contain it anymore. Noticeably the servitors no longer work downstairs either. Our heroes thank for the information (and Gorm tells the Skitarius may Omnissiah bless her, and she makes a happy beeping sound) and head downstairs.

The floor below is full of tight corridors, maintenance tunnels mostly. Our heroes walk forward, in the maze-like corridors. They spot some marks that someone has passed there not long before. They find several corpses, killed with an axe. Gimlet burns them. They find a small shrine for Omnissiah, which appears to be the only place untouched by the the rot. Going down a tight corridor, a creature suddenly hops onto Gimlet’s flamer, and begins to pull it apart. Gimlet attempts to shake it off, and Gorm attempts to grab it, but it only turns Gorm’s power sword off and disappears with a laugh. There is more bodies ahead, and one of them grabs Gorm by the ankle. Gorm slices the hand off, and a giant fly crawls out of its mouth.

They begin to hear static sound and come upon Z47r, the tech-priest, in prayer. He motions them to stop, and after finishing with the prayer gets up and informs them that the ship’s geller field generator is the start of the rot. He needs our heroes help in getting his hands on it, the Sable Swords are going to act as distraction. Having located both the room with the geller-field generator and the Sable Swords, they hatch a battle plan. Gorm makes a speech, which is very inspiring and stuff and hands out protective runes to the Sable Swords (and Z47r) as well. Then it’s off to get the tech-priest to a machine.

The Sable Swords get into the room first, attacking few big Nurgle boys. Saef, Gimlet and Uffe make their way to the room via a walkway above the room to distract more of the creatures, while Gorm (with the tech-priest dangling from him) jump-packs into the room and to the front of the machine. The tech-priest begins a communion with the machine, while the rest of the people battle. The Sable Swords and Gorm manage to bring one of the huge creatures down, only to have it stand up a moment later. Same happens with others, and people realize it’s because of the goop all around them. Gimlet’s flamer is really useful for clearing that stuff out, and Uffe helps as well with his plasma. It’s hard to bring Nurgle’s army down for good, but for the most part, our heroes have them locked in place. There’s a problem of one Sable Sword (Aaron) being brought down and the Nurgle’s people being toxic as all Hell. 

One of the strange little creatures suddenly jumps the tech-priest and begins to pull his breather off his face. Gorm manages to kill it but the breather is gone. The tech-priest doesn’t notice as he is too busy communing. Also the machine is turning on and there are definitely flames starting in the grating beneath. The Sable Swords clear off the grating, but not before trapping one of the big boys into them. Gorm takes off his helmet and slams it onto the tech-priest and shouts at Uffe to shoot at a water pipe which he does, just as the flames start. The pipe douses both Gorm and Z47r, but the big Nurgle fellow is most crisped.

Thus mostly concludes this battle. Uffe rushes to check in on Gorm, who hacks up something fierce (toxic air). Uffe calls for Gimlet to loan Gorm his flask, which he does, and surprisingly there’s alcohol there and not water. Gorm asks if the tech-priest is okay and he speaks some weird gibberish and then straightens up, saying he’s fine. He lets Gorm know that he can leave in three hours and start on Gorm’s thing. Gorm asks if he should help, before coughing up something green and weird, and Z47r says he got this. Gorm asks if he and Uffe could talk with him as soon as possible and Z47r tells them to come by his ship when he’s done. And that is the end of this Nurgle infestation!

And now for something completely different...

While waiting for the AdMechs to finish on New Dawn, Gorm has time to chat with Carl. The Sable Swords are returning to Obsidia, and since it’s in the way of Santa Maria’s route, they’re hitching a ride. Gorm and Carl make their way to the bar, both having changed out of their armor. Carl wears monk robes which Gorm comments makes him stand out, and Carl shrugs saying he’s been away from home a while, and haven’t had time to do laundry. Carl asks to take a drink of Gorm’s mead (though not enough for him to get completely shitfaced). They talk about the medical properties of alcohol for a while.

Gorm asks where Carl is heading next, and Carl says that they’re going home first, and then pretty much immediately are going to be deployed to fight orks. Carl’s happy for the change, as fighting people turned monsters (such as genestealers and chaos cultists) gets a bit tiring. Gorm agrees, orks are always itching for a fight, so it feels fair to bring them down. 

Gorm tells Carl about his visit on Terra and about meeting the Primarch, and getting his hands on Codex Astartes, telling him that Terra was quite of a change in him. Gorm talks about remembering his past on Fenris, and of the harsh conditions the people. (Carl says he doesn’t remember his own past, but supposes it’s pretty much the same story as everyone else’s on Obsidia) The Space Wolves very much keep out of the way of the people, but Gorm wonders if there is more they could do. Carl says that for the most part Astartes homeworlds are among the safest in the galaxy (though not lately, Gorm points out about the attack of the Thousand Sons on Fenris), but it is the duty of the Astartes to look beyond their own worlds’ and protect the people of the galaxy. 

Gorm also mentions his recent medical endeavors, how he has tried to heal in addition to all the killing. He mentions the couple of successes he has and how good they have felt. Carl thinks it’s a fine endeavor, though there is a certain roughness in that as well, very low lows when one fails to save a life. 

Carl asks what the new Gorm would like to do with his life, once all this is over, especially with all these changes coming around and Gorm says he hasn’t much thought about it. One thing’s for sure, he isn’t made for working alone, but he is unsure what the Space Wolves have in store for him and Uffe if they come back, whether they get a new pack or what. Carl asks if he had thought life as an apothecary, and Gorm tells him that it’s a bit different with the Wolves having rolled a chaplain and an apothecary into one, but yeah he got this necklace from a Rune Priest and is still quite unsure what it means. Carl comments on his speech back at New Dawn, saying it was quite inspiring. Gorm says he got it from Codex Astartes and there’s some more angry speeches in there as well, Carl says sometimes anger is necessary as well.

Gorm asks Carl where he came from, referring to his earlier comment about being the same as everyone else. Carl tells him that Obsidia is a harsh planet, not quite as harsh as Fenris, but harsh nonetheless. A mining planet, mostly. The Sable Swords’ headquarters resides within the mountain on Obsidia, and sometimes little kids wander far from the known tunnels, and if they’re brave and clever enough, they might reach the headquarters in the center and become Sable Swords. Obviously there’s nobles and such on Obsidia, but the Sable Swords think it best to stay close to the people of the earth, as their weapons are made from Obsidian minerals. (At some point Gorm talks derisively of noble humans and their desperation to not die by any means necessary, Carl seems to agree)

Gorm asks Carl about the swords of the Sable Swords, whether they make them themselves or what, seeing that he got a new Power Sword himself, which had a lot of trouble during the combat back on New Dawn. Carl mentions that not everyone does, but a lot of people do. Revan made swords for all his squad-members, apparently a common occurrence. Carl says that since he has received Revan’s sword on promotion, he has an extra sword, and he’d be quite happy to give it to Gorm. Gorm is obviously quite touched by this display of affection. (he gives Carl a “I <3 Terra” shirt in turn, which Carl puts on immediately over his monk robes) He tells Carl that he’d be more than happy to join his squad whenever, and Carl replies that he’d be more than happy to have him.

Gorm says that as he has now seen how the Sable Swords greet each other (back on New Dawn) (bumping chest with handle of their blade), and he would like to show Carl how Space Wolves greet. Carl is more than happy to learn, so Gorm tells that Wolves bump heads, and sometimes when people are really close, they touch noses. Gorm bumps his head against Carl’s and touches his nose against Carl’s. Carl returns the gesture with fondness.

Next time, our heroes start to head to Triplex Phall! And seeing that it takes few days and they’ve last been on the ship in session (checks notes) 27, there’s going to be a lot of conversations with NPCs next few sessions. A lot. So many.

[smokeybrandreviews]

The Sacred Texts

Look, I really, really, love Star Wars. I know it seems like i don’t considering all of the hate pieces I’ve written about the current state of the mythos, but I actually really enjoy a great deal about the canon. I’ve been a fan since I was a wee lil’ Smokey, watching A New Hope on the tele all those years ago. I was watching a few clips of Rebels, which ain’t that good, and found myself almost in tears over the Vader/Ahsoka battle and it got me thinking: What are my favorite things in Star Wars? So i wanted to kind of captured those aspects here, for posterity. I wanted to have a place where I could just, you know, remind myself of what exactly made me fall in love with this franchise.

Darth Vader - Vader is what sparked my love for this entire franchise. That stark contrast between his jet black armor and the stark white of the rebel ship stayed with me for years. And that booming, authoritative voice of James Earl Jones? My goodness! Over the years, certain writers have nerfed him, others have embellished him, but Vader has endured. Even now, as Disney tries to completely erase his legacy, Vader is still one of the mst popular characters in the entire franchise. Even if the Mouse House usurps his pwn goddamn tale and gives it to their Mary Sue, Vader still endures. He is my absolute favorite aspect of this entire franchise and a ton of my other favorites are Vader adjacent.

Ahsoka Tano - Ahsoka is my second favorite character in the entire goddamn franchise and i never expected that to happen because I was one of those cats screaming about Anakin getting a Padawan. Color me surprised when she was just like her master but better. Ahsoka is basically the POV character to the absolutely brilliant Clone Wars, another one of my favorite things about the Star War, and she earns that distinction with the most growth, characterization, and pathos. I loved witnessing her journey over those six, now seven, seasons. She’s an amazing character and Disney is bullsh*t for neglecting her in favor of their own OC sh*tstorms.

Chelli Aphra - Doctor Aphra is one of the few Disney Star Wars characters that I actually really enjoy. She was introduced in that first Darth Vader comic run and immediately proved her worth. Obviously, the Vader comics are also on this list but it was Doc Aphra that really sold me on that first run. Her own solo adventure was pretty legit, too. It’s weird that we haven’t seen her in anything outside of the funnies though. I mean, she’s mad compelling, brilliant, resourceful, and funny as sh*t. That said, I heard rumors that Disney might be looking to cash in on certain characters after that L they took with Rise, Aphra being one of those cashgrabs so we’ll see...

Knights of the Old Republic - So, full disclaimer, I’m not super on board with Shadows of the Empire. I didn’t care for the independent tales outside of the Skywalker saga when i was a youth. That said, KOTOR killed for me. That was the first time i realized there were entire stories in this world that had nothing to do with Luke, Annie, Leia, or Han and they could be straight up excellent. That first KOTOR was damn near perfect and the second, while not as good as the first, was still one of the better RPG narratives I’ve experience. Hell, even the spin-off MMO, The Old Republic, is pretty dope and all of it started with that very first tale about Revan and his conflicted ass second life. Malak is whack, tho.

Mara Jade - Before Ahsoka, i was wildly infatuated with Mara Jade. I kind of still am and hate the fact that she was one of Disney’s biggest casualties because, holy sh*t! Ma Jade was stupid boss! The development of her character throughout her various Legends appearances was outstanding. Some of the best character writing in the lore. I was irate when they just erased her from the history. Like, how could you? Mara Jade was one of the most marketable aspect about the entire goddamn franchise and you just dump her? In favor of what? Erasing everything about the Skywalkers? Are you f*cking serious??

The Mandalorian - I actually wrote and entire thing about Mando. Suffice it to say, this is the best thing Disney has created under the Star Wars banner by the widest of margins.

Kylo Ren - Look, Vader wank, man. I really liked Kylo Ren. I thought his passion and petulance was a legit contrast to Vader’s cold pragmatism. I thought his design was dope and the potential he shows in Awakens had me looking forward to what came next. Now, what came next was the assassination of the entire Skywalker saga, but Kylo was dope in it. I cannot say the same about Rise. Still, two out of three ain’t bad. It’s the best numbers anyone in the series has gotten. Seriously, Kylo is the bet thing about the Disney trilogy, outside of the score.

Asajj Ventress - Bro, Ventrus probably has the most complete arc after Ahsoka in the entirety of Clone wars. Even her growth, post show in Legends material, is some of the best in the expanded universe. I adore this character, man! Watching her develop from devout Sith follower, to a disillusioned shell of herself mirroring Ahsoka’s own story, to a redeemed Jedi with substantial power, to her final heroic sacrifice was an absolutely wonderful journey. Her arc reminds me a lot of what the MCU did with Black Widow only, in reverse; We got to see all the sordid sh*t was into and had to read about what came after instead of the other way around. Even so, Asajj became a legit powerhouse in the franchise and i have to than Clone Wars for that.

Maul - I didn’t like Darth Maul at first. His appearance in Menace left me wanting. Cats were hung up on his double lightsaber and fancy fighting style or whatever but, to me, he was one dimensional and expendable. Apparently to Lucas, too, because the motherf*cker got cut in half. That said, fans loved him an, somehow, he found life after bisection becoming one of the dopest characters in the entire lore. Clone Wars, literally the best thing in the entire Star Wars lore, gave this cat a character and developed him into a real force. Rebels turned him into a goddamn legend. I sit here, today, confessing how wrong I was about Darth Maul and we have Dave Filoni’s excellence in storytelling for that. F*ck was Clone Wars good, man! Also, he has some dope ass concept art.

Clone Wars - F*ck it, it’s going on the goddamn list! Clone Wars is everything a long form Star Wars story should be. It’s rich with world building, fantastic characters, dope as story lines, excellent set pieces, massive stakes, legitimate pathos, palpable emotion; Bro, this thing made me fall in love with the franchise all over again and I was already in a committed, long term relationship with my Galaxy far, far, away.

Look, i still love Star Wars,  just don’t care for what Disney is doing with my franchise. There is a lot of great stuff in the preceding forty years and it’s a shame to just ignore all of that because it’s not “canon” anymore. Admittedly, there are a few things that Disney knocked out of the park but most of what they’ve done is the worst. Still, Star Wars will endure. There’s too much love for the franchise to be killed off but corporate nonsense, especially considering the sheer girth of accessible material.

[smokeybrand]

The Sacred Texts

Look, I really, really, love Star Wars. I know it seems like I don’t considering all of the hate pieces I’ve written about the current state of the mythos, but I actually really enjoy a great deal about the canon. I’ve been a fan since I was a wee lil’ Smokey, watching A New Hope on the tele all those years ago. I was watching a few clips of Rebels, which ain’t that good, and found myself almost in tears over the Vader/Ahsoka battle and it got me thinking: What are my favorite things in Star Wars? So i wanted to kind of captured those aspects here, for posterity. I wanted to have a place where I could just, you know, remind myself of what exactly made me fall in love with this franchise.

Darth Vader - Vader is what sparked my love for this entire franchise. That stark contrast between his jet black armor and the stark white of the rebel ship stayed with me for years. And that booming, authoritative voice of James Earl Jones? My goodness! Over the years, certain writers have nerfed him, others have embellished him, but Vader has endured. Even now, as Disney tries to completely erase his legacy, Vader is still one of the mst popular characters in the entire franchise. Even if the Mouse House usurps his pwn goddamn tale and gives it to their Mary Sue, Vader still endures. He is my absolute favorite aspect of this entire franchise and a ton of my other favorites are Vader adjacent.

Ahsoka Tano - Ahsoka is my second favorite character in the entire goddamn franchise and I never expected that to happen because I was one of those cats screaming about Anakin getting a Padawan. Color me surprised when she was just like her master but better. Ahsoka is basically the POV character to the absolutely brilliant Clone Wars, another one of my favorite things about the Star War, and she earns that distinction with the most growth, characterization, and pathos. I loved witnessing her journey over those six, now seven, seasons. She’s an amazing character and Disney is bullsh*t for neglecting her in favor of their own OC sh*tstorms.

Chelli Aphra - Doctor Aphra is one of the few Disney Star Wars characters that I actually really enjoy. She was introduced in that first Darth Vader comic run and immediately proved her worth. Obviously, the Vader comics are also on this list but it was Doc Aphra that really sold me on that first run. Her own solo adventure was pretty legit, too. It’s weird that we haven’t seen her in anything outside of the funnies though. I mean, she’s mad compelling, brilliant, resourceful, and funny as sh*t. That said, I heard rumors that Disney might be looking to cash in on certain characters after that L they took with Rise, Aphra being one of those cashgrabs so we’ll see...

Knights of the Old Republic - So, full disclaimer, I’m not super on board with Shadows of the Empire. I didn’t care for the independent tales outside of the Skywalker saga when i was a youth. That said, KOTOR killed for me. That was the first time i realized there were entire stories in this world that had nothing to do with Luke, Annie, Leia, or Han and they could be straight up excellent. That first KOTOR was damn near perfect and the second, while not as good as the first, was still one of the better RPG narratives I’ve experience. Hell, even the spin-off MMO, The Old Republic, is pretty dope and all of it started with that very first tale about Revan and his conflicted ass second life. Malak is whack, tho.

Mara Jade - Before Ahsoka, I was wildly infatuated with Mara Jade. I kind of still am and hate the fact that she was one of Disney’s biggest casualties because, holy sh*t! Ma Jade was stupid boss! The development of her character throughout her various Legends appearances was outstanding. Some of the best character writing in the lore. I was irate when they just erased her from the history. Like, how could you? Mara Jade was one of the most marketable aspect about the entire goddamn franchise and you just dump her? In favor of what? Erasing everything about the Skywalkers? Are you f*cking serious??

The Mandalorian - I actually wrote and entire thing about Mando. Suffice it to say, this is the best thing Disney has created under the Star Wars banner by the widest of margins.

Kylo Ren - Look, Vader wank, man. I really liked Kylo Ren. I thought his passion and petulance was a legit contrast to Vader’s cold pragmatism. I thought his design was dope and the potential he shows in Awakens had me looking forward to what came next. Now, what came next was the assassination of the entire Skywalker saga, but Kylo was dope in it. I cannot say the same about Rise. Still, two out of three ain’t bad. It’s the best numbers anyone in the series has gotten. Seriously, Kylo is the bet thing about the Disney trilogy, outside of the score.

Asajj Ventress - Bro, Ventrus probably has the most complete arc after Ahsoka in the entirety of Clone wars. Even her growth, post show in Legends material, is some of the best in the expanded universe. I adore this character, man! Watching her develop from devout Sith follower, to a disillusioned shell of herself mirroring Ahsoka’s own story, to a redeemed Jedi with substantial power, to her final heroic sacrifice was an absolutely wonderful journey. Her arc reminds me a lot of what the MCU did with Black Widow only, in reverse; We got to see all the sordid sh*t was into and had to read about what came after instead of the other way around. Even so, Asajj became a legit powerhouse in the franchise and i have to than Clone Wars for that.

Maul - I didn’t like Darth Maul at first. His appearance in Menace left me wanting. Cats were hung up on his double lightsaber and fancy fighting style or whatever but, to me, he was one dimensional and expendable. Apparently to Lucas, too, because the motherf*cker got cut in half. That said, fans loved him an, somehow, he found life after bisection becoming one of the dopest characters in the entire lore. Clone Wars, literally the best thing in the entire Star Wars lore, gave this cat a character and developed him into a real force. Rebels turned him into a goddamn legend. I sit here, today, confessing how wrong I was about Darth Maul and we have Dave Filoni’s excellence in storytelling for that. F*ck was Clone Wars good, man! Also, he has some dope ass concept art.

Clone Wars - F*ck it, it’s going on the goddamn list! Clone Wars is everything a long form Star Wars story should be. It’s rich with world building, fantastic characters, dope as story lines, excellent set pieces, massive stakes, legitimate pathos, palpable emotion; Bro, this thing made me fall in love with the franchise all over again and I was already in a committed, long term relationship with my Galaxy far, far, away.

Look, I still love Star Wars,  just don’t care for what Disney is doing with my franchise. There is a lot of great stuff in the preceding forty years and it’s a shame to just ignore all of that because it’s not “canon” anymore. Admittedly, there are a few things that Disney knocked out of the park but most of what they’ve done is the worst. Still, Star Wars will endure. There’s too much love for the franchise to be killed off but corporate nonsense, especially considering the sheer girth of accessible material.

[startravellers-a]

[ ik they dont know what autism is in star wars but bastila is most definitely autistic. this is the evidence i am submitting:

revan: Well, you keep staring at me. See anything you like? bastila: You are easily the vainest, most arrogant man I have ever met! Besides, I know you can't be serious since I was purposefully *not* staring in your direction. bastila: I am a Jedi, remember? I have far too much mental discipline to reveal what goes on inside my mind with such obvious physical clues. My thoughts remain hidden, including whatever my feelings are for you. Uh… I mean whatever I feel *about* you… uh… I mean whatever I *think* about you.

we’re going to ignore how much of a disaster that exchange is and instead focus on the content of what she’s saying

if you’re allistic you may not know this, but autistic ppl tend to spend a lot of time thinking about our eye contact & body language. this is because those are things that don’t come naturally to us - basically, we have to learn all of the cues consciously for ourselves, and we have to consciously think about it whenever we act out body language. for example, every time i smile is a result of me thinking ‘im happy, so i need to smile to make sure people know that im happy’, not an automatic result of me being happy

now, this is relevant because allistics, for the most part, do not have to do this. they just naturally act out the ‘correct’ body language & carry out ‘appropriate’ eye contact. but here bastila was most definitely thinking about where she was supposed to be looking.

then she immediately continues to explain that she doesn’t give physical clues, aka masks her body language, aka what i was just talking about.

also there’s the fact that she felt the need to point out that she noticed they weren’t being serious & then just. starts info-dumping about how she noticed and then shoves her foot directly into her mouth.

there are obviously other autistic traits that bastila displays - her biggest one by far being her black/white thinking ( bc holy fuckign shit there’s a lot to unpack there ) but in all honesty i think this exchange alone is pretty telling ]

[ravel-puzzlewell]

What does your Elixe think about Revan?

congrats, anon, you’ve unlocked the Loredump. Disclamer: ofc I’m only talking my own Exile and Revan there, everyone has their own interpretations

My exile, Asa, was friends with Revan since childhood, they were brought into the jedi academy in the same batch of kids and got along like house on fire. Revan was the first Asa formed a force bond with. Revan, Malak and Asa were sort of an equivalent of Harry Potter’s golden trio: Revan, a brash, stubborn leader with black-and white worldview and obviously marked for greatness, initiator of all pranks and activities; Malak, a loyal best friend who always supported Revan in everything; and Asa, a bookworm, the cautious one who thought about the consequences. 

Asa always had a talent for leadership, but she never really enjoyed it, she much preferred mentoring and forming personal 1-on-1 connections to leading groups, while Revan was a force of nature that drew in everyone near. So Asa was calmer, silver moonlight to Revan’s white-red burning sunglare. 

Revan and Asa always had a fundamental difference in understand the role of the Jedi: Asa saw her purpose in serving people, and using the Force to do it better. Revan followed the Jedi’s teaching of trusting the Force above all, and believed that only in following the Force lies the path to helping people. So Asa aspired to be a scholar, consular and diplomat, oriented on communicating and helping people. And Revan was taught by Kreia, who I believe even in her Jedi years was all about “go big or go home” and hegelian dialectics, and she grew into a priestess of the Force, the one who could hear it’s will more clear than anyone and through that she became power, “Staring into her eyes was like staring into the heart of the Force.” 

Revan went to the war because she wanted to save people, but even above that because she thought that the war is the way the Force wants her to do so. Asa followed her, because she also wanted to help people, and because she was used to being there to smooth out the consequences of Revan’s stunts, because she believed that in the worst scenarios she will manage to prevent the worst from happening, that she can keep everything together through sheer endurance.

From a thingy I wrote like 3 years ago:

“Balance!” Revan throws up both her hands and head. “What these old cowards know about it? Caution is grey and the Force does not know this color! Only white and black, only clear and bright.  Balance in the Force is not some murky grey sludge settling on the bottom of a glass because no one shook it for long. Balance in the Force is Light and Dark constantly crashing against each other. It’s a never-ending battle of opposites!”

Asa tightens her jaw and reminds herself to be calm.

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes. There’s Light and Dark in everything in the universe, nothing is clear-cut.”

“But we are *meant* to become absolutes!” this is it, this is the burning, the brightness sweeping over, so no one would call Revan now just “pretty”. “Luminos” would be more appropriate. “The Force shapes us, both Light and Dark, and it shapes us so there’s no other option but conflict. When there’s too much of one side in the galaxy, the other side rises against it. This is the balance in the Force! There’s too much Dark in Mandalorian conquest, so we have to counter it with our Light. The masses of many with scattered Dark against the few with the concentrated Light. These who cling to inertia only resist the call of Force, afraid to follow it. The Force itself knows no doubts.”

“You repeat the words of… that woman,” Asa stumbles, unsure what to call Revan’s first teacher, who abandoned her name and her title, but “Sith” would still sound too harsh. “And she’s not even Jedi anymore.”

“If you have nothing to argue against them except their origin, I count myself in the right.” Revan shakes her head, abrupt, almost aggressive gesture. “But fine, I’ll give you words of the Jedi Masters. Do you remember how Master Lestin used to say that the Dark Side is like fire? It gives you power, but consumes you like a fuel, which is why you can see how Sith are charred even in their appearances?”

Asa nodded warily, keeping her silence like a cover under blaster fire or the urgent words.

“I think Light is like water. It’s not volatile and hungry like fire, but it’ll sips through all your cracks and wounds, it fills you up inside. Fire clings to the torch while there’s still fuel to consume, so it’s users can be reckless, but water is easily spilled, so it requires care. And they train us to let go of emotions, of chaos, of passion, of *ourselves* to free space to be filled with Force.”

Asa stares at her, lost in both terror and admiration.

“So you think you are a what?” She asks, hearing the disbelief in her own voice.”A bucket of light? And you intend to go splash it over the fires of war?”

Revan laughed, rough, but sincere, raspy sound.

“Exactly. We are the buckets of light and the sky is full of fire.”

During the war, Revan and Asa became separated and grew apart, each collecting their own traumas and lessons. Then Malachor happened and it broke Asa, because it was the worst case scenario she couldn’t prevent, it was the consequences she couldn't temper, and she took the full responsibility of that decision. 

But it was not immediately that she lost connection to the Force. It was when Revan came and asked to follow her to the Civil war. Asa refused, and Revan told her to listen to the Force, that *this* is where it leads them. That she was wrong about Mandalorians being the Dark before, but she was right about the Force wanting a conflict. Mandalorian war was not a war of Light and Dark, it was the forge where the Dark was being made, and now it was the time for a true battle.

And Asa realized that it was true, that for the Force Malachor V was not a horrible tragedy, but a part of a journey, and that fighting in a civil war, no matter the side, was where she was meant to go. “You have to choose. Apathy is death!” That’s when she severed her connection to the Force, scraped it of herself like someone who killed against their own will scrapes the blood of their skin, ripped it out of herself completely because she could not stand the slightest touch of it. It was not even hate or anger, it was almost dysphoria, despair, disgust for herself for being connected to it.

Asa fled, and didn’t look back. When Asa learned that Revan was “redeemed” and defeated Malak, she wasn’t surprised at all. She realized that the war shifted balance too much to the Dark, and now the Light needed to raise again, so the Force led it’s favorite figurehead to do it. Kreia said that maybe the Council couldn’t brainwash Revan, but only strip her to her barest core, and Asa agreed, because embodying the will of the Force was Revan’s deepest drive and power.  

So now her feelings for Revan are very complicated. She feels betrayed and used by her friend, turned into a pawn, she’s angry that Revan followed the Force so loyally even realizing what it wanted from them, but at the same time Asa feels guilty for not being able to stop the worst from happening, that maybe if she sacrificed her soul and followed Revan to Civil war she could’ve tempered her. She knows it’s not true, but she still grieves for that.

[miss-spooky-eyes]

Three OTP questions

(tagged by @vespertine-legacy​, thank you)

Obviously I’m going to talk about my Jedi Consular Ellezhi and the love of my her life, Lana Beniko.

And yes, I’ve overthought this to an absurd extent and will be discoursing at ridiculous length.

1. How did they first meet?

After the attacks on Korriban and Tython, it became clear to both the Barsen’thor Ellezhi and Theron Shan that something suspicious was going on and that Republic Colonel Rian Darok and Darth Arkous were at the heart of it. Lana had come to similar conclusions and reached out to Theron on Manaan. Ellezhi was sent to track down Darok and Arkous in an underwater lab but they got away and Ellezhi and her companions were rescued by Lana and Theron in the nick of time.

Despite coming from different sides, Lana and Theron/Ellezhi teamed up to track down Darok and Arkous and, later, the Order of Revan.

2. What did they think of each other at first?

It’s safe to say that both of them had preconceived ideas about what the other would be like, as a Jedi and Sith respectively; and then both of them swiftly found the other to be something stranger and more complicated and much more likeable.

Lana entered the temporary alliance fully expecting to find Ellezhi naive, condescending and self-righteous, as so many Jedi can be. And at first, she did think Ellezhi was cold and arrogant and inflexible. Lana was motivated, though, to try to find out as much about Ellezhi as she could - not only as a smart, loyal Sith, but sensing in the Force that the two of them would be highly significant in each other’s futures, and imagining that that would be as enemies - and once she engaged with the Jedi, she quickly discovered things that complicated her original perception of Ellezhi. Things like the fact that Ellezhi's mind moved almost as swiftly as her own, and that Ellezhi had a dry and wicked sense of humour lurking not far below her serene surface, and that while the Jedi was frighteningly powerful and effective in battle, she was utterly (endearingly) helpless when it came to things like ordering a drink in a cantina. Things like that - not very important things, really. And yet they made it much harder not to like her.

Ellezhi thought she knew what Sith were like, and was confounded - and intrigued - to find that Lana was not like that. She couldn’t believe she’d met a Sith who not only had as much control over her emotions as Ellezhi did over her own, but seemed more in touch with those emotions and to understand them better. One of the first things she did after she met Lana was to ask Theron to track down a copy of Lana’s treatise on the Jedi and the Sith - not published in the Republic - and read it. Then read it again, making extensive notes in the margins. She disagreed with all of Lana’s conclusions, but thought she was an infuriatingly brilliant writer and wanted to argue history with her. Mainly she just wanted to know about Lana - know everything about her - because Ellezhi’s universe-view had never quite bargained for a person like Lana.

3. Were they immediately interested / attracted or did that come later?

Until Ellezhi met Lana, she had never really experienced romantic or sexual attraction apart from in a mild, superficial way, and had in fact decided that she was probably incapable of those feelings that seemed so important to everybody else. So while she was immediately attracted - certainly from the first time she read Lana’s book, or had Lana dryly defuse one of Ellezhi’s clumsy attempts at converting the Sith to the Light - she didn’t recognize that it was attraction that she felt (and didn’t have any friends close enough to point that out to her). 

Ellezhi just knew that she felt oddly connected to the Sith, like they had known each other a long time but at the same time the Sith was a fascinating stranger, someone she wanted to talk to all the time and find out everything about and know. It wasn’t until Lana kissed her that Ellezhi realised what this weird feeling, this compulsion to seek Lana out and this strange discomfort whenever she wasn’t around, was actually about. And although she hadn’t really known about that part of herself before, it felt surprisingly natural to explore it further.

Lana, being a much more worldly woman, was aware from early on that she was attracted to Ellezhi - why else would she feel this uncharacteristic degree of irritation with her, this need to poke and tease and disturb and provoke the other woman and puncture that infuriating Jedi serenity? But she thought that it was just attraction, and probably born of being Sith enough to be both irked and attracted by the proximity of so much power and strength in the Force. It wasn’t until Ellezhi defended Lana’s decision to have Theron abducted that Lana thought there was something deeper happening; she had been so prepared for the Jedi, with her conventional morality, to dismiss her as the wicked Sith and instead Ellezhi saw not only why she had done what she had done but how hard it had been for her, and reacted with generosity instead of judgement.

All of this took place, however, within a shared recognition - one that didn’t even have to be spoken to be understood - that there was no long-term future for them. Lana would never desert the Empire, Ellezhi would never abandon the Republic, and they both knew it. In a way, that made it easier to allow themselves to explore their attraction; it couldn’t really threaten Ellezhi’s adherence to the Jedi Code or Lana’s commitment to the Empire, because they both knew it would end soon. It could be a thrill, because it was safe; once Revan was defeated, they’d walk away from each other forever. And they did, without looking back ... much.

(And then came Zakuul, and nothing was safe any more ... But that is a much later story.)

*

I don’t know who I can tag who hasn’t already done this but would want to. Anyone - literally anyone - I would love to hear about your OCs and OTPs ...

[etoilebinaire]

you mentioned you could write an essay about the meaning in that piece with the flowers... i love symbolism... hi.. you don't have to answer this and you certainly don't have to write an essay if you don't want to BUT if you have anything you would like to share about the meaning and symbolism for that piece i would LOVE to hear!!! and about jess's emotions in each moment maybe?

!!! Thank you!! :’) I’m so glad you like it cause I honestly spend a while on it! You are so kind 💕

When I saw your prompt I immediately just googled flower meanings cause I knew I had to come up w something interesting for Jess, and I knew that I wanted it to be kinda sad cause Revan has always been a Tragic character imo.

I always feel so pretentious when talking about symbolism sajfsdkd and Im afraid its kinda obvious but I really thought about this so.. here we go.The first one is shortly after a battle at Cathar during the Mandalorian wars. Like Juhani, I can imagine that a lot of kids were absolutely star-struck when they saw jedi protecting them. So yeah, “Protection against evil”, cause Rev was one of the few to actively want to protect the Cathar. The Blue means peace and tranquility, which is obviously true for the Cathar, but also for Revan. My Revan really believes in destiny and that some things are just supposed to be. And she was supposed to protect these people, and when she ‘fulfilled that destiny’ (however you want to interpret that) she was finally at peace with herself. Also finally stepping away from the inaction of the jedi council brought a certain tranquility to her.

I have honestly not decided when the second one is, whether before her fall or after. But it signifies her ability to “sense” what is supposed to happen (like rainfall). Jess knows that bad things will happen(her inevitable fall, the emperor, the wars that never seem to stop), and her way of dealing with that is to protect herself and isolate as much as she can. The white colour signifies purity and innocence, but those are all things she needs to leave behind if she wants to survive the storm. She knows that there is no place for such things in her life now, but will still curl around any little moment of purity and innocence she can get. 

The last one, “Forsaken or forgotten love and affection” is the one that made me choose an anemone flower for Jess. It’s canon that Revan and Malak were really close before everything went downhill, so that’s also true for Jess. I felt like the game brushes over their past and just uses Malak as the Big Bad Villain who Has To Be Killed(at least. thats how i remember it), but it must have been more than just that. Revan might not remember anything, but Malak has always been by her side so I think we should collectively be sadder about it all. I sketched the lines before finishing Ivy and Twine, but it’s kind of like the scene where Revan finds pictures in Malak’s old apartment. So this is some stray photograph of them together when they were padawans (Rev is a rebel and wears her braid in her ponytail). And I didn’t want to make it too sad cause I was already emotional about them but anemone flowers are commonly used in funerals too……. The red signifies passion(eeyyy cause they were siths, but also cause they were just very passionate people), true love(either platonic or romantic tbh cause honestly rev and alek belonged together before it all went to shit) and courage(defying the jedi council to save people, not caring about their relationship technically being forbidden,etc). 

I’m sorry if this is kinda rambly :’) I promise my actual essays are more coherent than this. And thank you so much for your interest in Jess it means a lot!!!!! You actually got the ideas behind the symbolism right in your tags :D  I hope you have a nice day~ 

[dgcatanisiri]

So... Let’s see how this works. We’ll adjust the format as needed if this doesn’t work, but hey, here we go.

Welcome to DG’s Listing of Wish These DLC Existed, where I theorize, speculate, and just kinda generally throw ideas at the wall about DLCs for games I love that never happened and never will happen, but damn, I’d like to see them anyway. 

Because I have ideas, I can’t get them made as mods, I don’t have time to make them into fic, and they’re never going to happen anyway, so why not put them up in a public place? After all, they’re tie ins to games I have no control over anyway, so it’s not like I’ll ever make money off of them anyway.

Our first installment takes a look at Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic. Obviously, as this game predates the modern DLC model (there was the Yavin market, but that was maybe a grand total of ten minutes tops of content, if we’re generous), so there are some awkwardnesses involved in making DLC for this - if nothing else, when the game ends, it ends, to keep playing, you have to start a new character. On another, there’s the level cap, stopping our leveling up after hitting Level 20. As the game presently exists, that should happen after being locked into the endgame combo of the Unknown World/Star Forge, but adding more content means that cap gets hit sooner. 

So understand that we’re assuming that there is the ability to play post-game and a higher level cap, as well as other quality of life style additions (in this case, probably among them are various additions from KOTOR 2, but that’s a subject for another day). I’m also willing to assume that there is content for characters (even if the respective voice actors have passed, retired, or just wouldn’t return), in the same style as modern games. The assumption here is that these DLC ideas would have been written, produced, and published during the active production cycle of the respective games.

As this is the inaugural edition, let me explain the format. There will be a name for the DLC, a brief synopsis, a reference to when this hypothetical DLC would become available/if and when it becomes unavailable (unless it’s part of a hardwired point, like the above mentioned point of no return of travelling to the Unknown World, as an example), and then an expansion/write up of the ideas going in to them. Some ideas will have more expansion than others, because I’ve just plainly put more thought into them - in a lot of cases, I wrote them down just on the basis of ‘this idea seems pretty cool,’ and then gave them more context later on.

And a further note - I reserve the right to come up with more ideas for any given game that I have already written up, naturally. I haven’t decided how I’ll handle that yet, but it’s entirely possible there will later be more ideas.

Okay, housekeeping matters out of the way, let’s get down to business!

The Yavin Excursion

Yavin 4 was the site of Sith Lord Exar Kun’s power base. In understanding more about him and his fall, the Jedi Council believe it may be able to shed light on the fall of Revan and Malak. But the secrets of the Massassi temples hold more than just the ghosts of the past, but a threat for the present...

(Available after Dantooine)

Tack this on to the existing content of the market in orbit of Yavin, I suppose. But the connection to the Tales of the Jedi comic seems like a good starting point here – investigate one Sith Lord to examine the motivations of another, find out why the first guy fell to the dark side, which will hopefully explain why the other guys did.

I see this as both a lore exercise – to offer the players more exploration of this era, considering that the Tales of the Jedi comics have been harder to come by as time as gone on, so allowing some more in depth portrayals of the time – and a chance to kind of approach the question of what drives someone to the dark side. Exar Kun fell by an overwhelming curiosity, Ulic Qel-Droma, his apprentice, fell by a desire for revenge, and later lost his connection to the Force (put a pin in that fact – we’ll be back to that come the DLC for KOTOR 2). Millennia later, Anakin Skywalker falls because of his fear of the loss of those he loves. Two of these people were redeemed, one refused to give up his power.

If anything, this would be a good chance for some foreshadowing of Bastila’s eventual fall (so perhaps this would be locked to before the Leviathan catches the Ebon Hawk), on top of asking the question that later drives KOTOR 2 – what were Revan’s motivations in turning to the dark side? Obviously, this is up in the air from a character perspective (and, honestly, so far as I care, from the player’s too, because I despise the whole “the Sith Emperor warped their minds” BS, and I’m ready and willing to disregard it, even in acknowledging The Old Republic). The first KOTOR never really focuses on the why of Revan’s fall, since Malak is the game’s big bad, and the Revan reveal is a plot twist – since this is DLC, the player would probably be expected to know it going in, so why not explore that, right?

As for what this threat is... I’m a little shakier on this. I’m thinking a Massassi warrior/beast of some kind, the same kind of Sith alchemical abomination we see in the terantatek or hssiss, only a much more powerful end boss kind of thing, a living relic of Exar Kun’s evil (given that, canonically, Exar Kun’s spirit survived to the Jedi Academy novel trilogy, he certainly can’t be the final boss), perhaps fed and kept alive by the powers of the remaining Massassi who worshipped Exar Kun as a god – in this case, looking to take advantage of the Ebon Hawk’s arrival to spread their master’s will across the galaxy and speed his return. Sith alchemy played a part in a lot of the Sith portrayals from this timeframe, and it’s kind of disappointing that KOTOR never really utilized these mutants, just had them as mindless high level bosses.

Vector

The rakghoul plague infested the lower levels of the planet of Taris. When the planet was bombed by the Sith, it managed to escape among the many refugees as well. With their experiences on Taris, facing the rakghouls, the Jedi Council sends the crew of the Ebon Hawk to investigate its spread to the planet Ralltiir – and stop the Sith from obtaining it as a weapon!

(Available after Dantooine)

The rakghouls were just kind of dropped into KOTOR with no explanation – they were a threat as a creature and as a plague in the Undercity of Taris, but no one ever spoke about what the plague’s origins were or where the rakghouls came from. And then along came the Vector mini-series of comics (hence the name for this) that put the creation of the rakghouls down to a Sith Lord, Karness Murr. Sith alchemy, the gift that keeps on giving.

But either way, considering that the rakghoul plague is something that even the Upper City of Taris was concerned about, that clearly says that it could easily have gotten off planet, especially in the panic of the evacuation. And really, with the added knowledge that this was originally Sith alchemy, it’s almost certain that some aspiring Sith would discover this and try to twist it to their advantage.

I pretty much pulled Ralltiir’s name out of a hat, primarily because it’s a fairly common named planet, but with little actually associated with it. It also makes a great place where the Republic would demand an immediate concern, because it’s a Core World and an economic hub. It’s a great place to have a plague that Republic heads would say would draw in the Ebon Hawk, whose crew had familiarity with the rakghoul plague, despite the threat of Malak and the search for the Star Maps.

I also see this as a way to give Mission and Juhani more content – Mission is a hard character for me to really justify remaining with the crew after Taris, given that she’s a teenager, I feel VERY uncomfortable taking her around on what is effectively a commando mission, while Juhani was very nearly hacked out of the game. Both of them grew up on Taris, in the lower levels of the planetary city, where the rakghouls aren’t just a distant threat. So give them this additional portrayal and focus because they’re familiar with the plague, maybe even knew some people who were infected and transformed by it.

The villain would be a Jedi-turned-Sith, someone who had turned to the Sith at some point after being a Jedi historian. A part of me wants to draw on one of the Jedi who would later show up in the Exile’s vision on Korriban, mostly because those were the Jedi we see recruited by Malak, and so less aware of Revan’s face, though that seems a touch much. Regardless, they’d previously acted as a historian, and is driven by the potential power of the rakghoul plague – Muur’s talisman is lost by this point (again, see the comics), but the rakghouls themselves remain, and, while I’m ignoring the whole “the Sith Emperor did it” thing with Revan, I also like the concept of the rakghouls evolving into the nekghouls, gaining sentience.

This is also a way to add a little bit more of a question to the results – do these evolved rakghouls deserve the consideration of being considered more than mindless beasts? Are they at all a continuation of the person they once were? Or are they just violent creatures that need to be put down? Is the guy trying to control them being corrupted by the dark side, or was he always evil?

So the central question here would be asking “what makes a monster?” Is it the mindless savagery of beasts, or the knowing cruelty of intelligent beings, and where is that line?

Sleheyron

The volcanic world of Sleheyron holds a Star Map. The Ebon Hawk and her crew set out to discover the secrets hidden there, but must be cautious, for the planet also holds a group of Darth Malak’s most powerful apprentices, who have, in their isolation from their leader, created their own plan for the fall of the Republic...

(Available after Dantooine)

Sleheyron was planned to be part of the hunt for the Star Maps – six environments are described in the Rakatan ruin on Dantooine, the life-giving worlds (oceanic – Manaan, grassland – Dantooine, arboreal – Kashyyyk) and death-giving worlds (desert – Tatooine, volcanic, barren – Korriban). Sleheyron was the volcanic world, but got cut for time, early enough that there really wasn’t a lot of material that made it out, with the planet just becoming part of Yuthura Ban’s back story. So, hey, free reign to develop something here.

Honestly, one of my big questions is, if Malak was with Revan as they travelled the worlds to find the Star Maps, why doesn’t he do something about the fact that these locations led to the big secret weapon that gives the Sith Empire its power and forces? Wouldn’t he have thought that maybe some form of guard or another would be a good idea? Sure, the Korriban one was guarded by virtue of being in the tomb of Naga Sadow, but the others? Here, we get a chance to have a group of Sith having taken control of this planet where there is a Star Map that can add to what our heroes have assembled (but, being DLC, this isn’t required to take on). They’re specifically there to guard the Map.

This becomes a bit of a game of cat and mouse – how to act before the Sith apprentices (probably former Jedi themselves) can find them, capture or kill them, hand them off to Malak. (Probably also means that this should be a later stage planet to visit, but hey, player choice of direction, right?) How do these Jedi move around a planet while the people in charge are out to get them? Draw on the mechanic from KOTOR 2, where the people on Dantooine recognize if the Exile goes there while a lightsaber is equipped, maybe.

Actually, I’d like to see some mechanic that tracks how much the player uses the Force while wandering around – the more they use the Force, or the more powerful the Force effects they use, the more likely they are to summon Sith execution squads or something. Sort of like KOTOR 2 and Nar Shaddaa, where the Exile’s actions drew the attention of the Exchange and Visquis, only in reverse – the player and company need to avoid catching the attention of the Sith until they’ve raised a rebellion against the Sith overlords, or at least gained enough public goodwill that the Sith can’t just openly take them away and execute them, something like that.

I like this idea because it allows an opportunity to play more with non-violent approaches, alternatives that aren’t “murder everyone because combat gives more experience!” Here, the idea is that you WANT to fly under the radar, avoid combat. And, if combat happens, you also have incentive to not use the lightsaber for a stretch – gives players a reason to put points into blasters or non-lightsaber melee combat, because I don’t know about anyone else, but the second I get a lightsaber in these games, I don’t ever use a different weapon. Here, the player is in the position of HAVING to switch up their play style, or, if they don’t, have to be that much more cautious in their actions here. This is a story piece that hinges on what you do with your words.

The ultimate confrontation with the Sith and the Star Map, in my mind, takes place in a cavern of an active volcano (or maybe one that has been dormant, but, because what’s the Sith without random acts of evilly evil, they’re managing to coax back to life). Here’s where there’s a pretty big question in the construction of this DLC – are we working in the confines of the game engine of the time or with newer, more modern systems? Cuz I’d kinda like something that took place within the volcanic areas of the planet, given that’s what the planet is described as. But I don’t think that KOTOR’s original engine would really be able to explore that to its fullest, given the limitations on it. My big idea would be to have the climax of the planet’s arc have the threat of a volcanic eruption, potentially with the base of operations for these Sith being flooded by lava.

If that is an engine limit... I really have no idea what the alternative would be, but, hey, since this is pie in the sky as it is, why not call for the engine advancement that lets it be a thing, where we have to outrun a lava flow or something.

Echoes of the Past

The strike team that fought Revan is being targeted by Malak’s assassins. The crew of the Ebon Hawk take a journey to the graveyard of the attack on Revan’s ship, the battle that led to the defeat of the dark lord. But the dead don’t rest easy, especially amongst the ruins of the Sith Lord’s vessel...

(Available after the Leviathan)

The strike team that captured Revan is kinda the forgotten element of the game as is. This is a team, and yet we only hear about Bastila’s involvement. Which, sure, she is the member on our squad, she does have the Force Bond with Revan, but... Who were the others? Where have they been during the war?

And it seems like Malak would think of them as a threat period – they were the Jedi who were there to face off against Revan, the Jedi thought they’d have a chance against this great Sith Lord, the leader of the Sith forces of the time. But Bastila is the only one the game ever concerns itself with, and doesn’t even mention if the others lived, who they were, why they were chosen... None of that.

So here we get to explore them. The added bonus is that I see this as a post-Leviathan mission, one that we play with full awareness of our player character’s identity. How much of that awareness we pass on is one thing, and it really allows us to explore the idea “who was Revan before, who is Revan now?” Because that’s going to come into play when dealing with the people who were at one point sent in to kill Revan – sent to kill us, the player character.

I also like the set piece idea of a graveyard of ships, where the characters are walking through the husks of dead vessels – the Harbinger sequence in KOTOR 2 is still a favorite of mine. Granted, this would probably be a bit of a conceptual retread of that part of that game, but hey, why not get some variation of the same old gameplay, right? Plus, it’s different here for the fact that this will have some personal connection to Revan – this was their ship. Did they consider it a home? Just a place?

That leads to the bigger plot element, though. These Jedi know Revan as a threat. They’re going to be suspicious of Revan the whole way through – “are you the Jedi the Council thought you to have become, or are you the Sith we were once sent to kill?” Like I’m sorta thinking this is a case where we’d get these teammates as companions proper now that I’m considering this in detail, and this all builds to the main confrontation. Like we wouldn’t take our Ebon Hawk buddies on this one, but two of these guys.

That confrontation would involve the assassins being revealed to be loyalists to Darth Revan, with their mission having begun with attempting to avenge their fallen Lord, but now, with Revan returned to them, having tested their skill over the course of their luring Revan back to them, they are willing to take up their banner once more, leading to the choice – be Revan, the Sith Lord, or Revan, the Prodigal Knight.

And yes, I know, this is the same thing we see with Bastila later. In some ways, that’s the point. Choosing the light or the dark is not one you make once and are one that path forever. It is a constant, repeated choice, one that must be made, again and again. It’s something that has to been affirmed and reaffirmed, because it will always come up again. Here, it’s just “we offer you power and loyal servants,” while Bastila has the offer of their Force bond – hell, if this were real DLC, I’d say patch in some element to the endgame of Bastila trying to use their bond to lure Revan over to her side on top of things.

What Remains

Darth Malak’s assault on Dantooine was meant to destroy the Jedi. The Ebon Hawk is the one ship that might be able to break the Sith blockade and rescue the people trapped behind their lines, as well as recover irreplaceable Jedi artifacts hidden away at the enclave. And Revan has a need to confront the Jedi Council...

(Available after Leviathan)

This one has always been in my mind as something that, in many ways, we needed to see happen. I look at this as being the necessary confrontation with the Jedi Masters that we need, because they’re using Revan. Revan was reprogrammed to be their weapon against the Sith, and what exactly were they going to do if and when the war was over and they’d no longer had need of Revan?

A mission to Dantooine, done by the ship that could escape the blockade of Taris, to attempt to rescue and recover the Jedi, break the people there out of the iron grip of the Sith, at first does seem somewhat at odds with the portrayal of Dantooine in KOTOR 2, but it still makes sense if you think of the first priority being to evacuate the Jedi and the relics they were saving – the Jedi become the reason that any rescue comes, not the people stuck there. The Jedi and their artifacts are prioritized over the people now under the thumb of the Sith.

Especially if the only real encounter we have is with the Jedi themselves, seeing them in the midst of their exodus, dealing with the Sith occupiers and executioners, all of whom would have once had friends here – I see this also including a Republic military outpost to Dantooine prior to the attack there, because there honestly should have been one anyway (this I chalk up as much to the more limited engine of the game as anything else), and that providing some extra characters to events, which makes it all the more devastating having their former comrades in arms now there to kill them.

As much as this is about confronting the Jedi for the way that they intended to use Revan, this is also an exploration of the divide of Republic and Sith, that those now calling themselves Sith were once the best and brightest of the Republic. Yes, the Jedi failed to come to the aid of the Republic in the midst of the war, but that doesn’t explain the violence these former soldiers engage in against their own people. What made the rank and file Sith soldier agree to this?

That examination of motivation would, I feel, be a part of why the resulting confrontation with the Jedi would matter so much – what drove Revan? What drove the Sith? What drove the Jedi? Because they mindwiped Revan and implanted them with a personality to use them as a weapon. They didn’t “turn an enemy to their cause.” They violated Revan in an effort to use them. When the war was over, what did they really think would happen?

Specifically, we need to confront Zhar, who, given Kreia’s utter disdain for him in KOTOR 2, I get the impression that he was the major proponent of this idea. His actions may have been justified as “for the greater good,” but it always seems like the greatest of morally questionable actions are justified with those words. Do we confront him with rage, forgiveness, or... something else? Because this is a case where I can see both condemning him to death and condemning him to live as a punishment. I could even see this being a case of him bowing to Revan’s judgment, and no option having a light side/dark side shift, because this isn’t about the Force. This is about justice.

Whether or not the Jedi admit it, a life was taken the day they implanted a personality into Revan’s body. The Jedi need to be called out and recognize that they do not have clean hands after what they’ve done.

Revan’s Shadow

Although Revan’s legacy, the Star Forge and the Sith army, have been defeated, there are still questions of Revan’s journey. There was more to it than Star Maps. The crew of the Ebon Hawk reunite on the planet Belkadan to find out more of the Rakatan Empire, and its ties to the dark side of the Force. And along the way, Revan will find more of their lost past...

(Post-Game)

The fact is, we get very little of Revan in the game proper, little about who they were as a person before the fall. This is conceptually to hide the fact that the player IS Revan, of course, but... It creates a lot of little issues for me – I mean, like half of these prospective DLCs are about expanding something of Revan’s motives and past. Obviously, this is a blank slate for the player, because they wanted to leave this open for us to decide, but they DID make a few definitions of who Revan was with the existing content, with the case of the Star Map on Kashyyyk.

And for me, personal identity is a big lingering question for this character – again, I’m choosing to ignore the handling of Revan as a character in The Old Republic, and I’m gonna include the tie-in novel in that, so no one is allowed to say “the novel said [x]!”

This is someone whose entire concept of who they are is in question once they learn that they are a constructed self, created by the Jedi Council as a weapon. Who ARE they? Who have they chosen to be, and, if they could reclaim the parts of themselves that they lost with the Jedi’s mind wipe, would they? Obviously, there’s no time in the main plot to focus on these questions, but I feel like this would eat at them afterwards, leading them to having to find answers. And what kind of friends would the others be if they let Revan do this alone?

I picked Belkadan pretty much because it’s an out of the way planet that has been identified as part of the Rakata’s Infinite Empire, so it made as much sense as any planet to be the site of this. I mean, the involvement of the Infinite Empire is certainly a good option for a place that questions who Revan is.

This would be a place where Revan had gone, after the Mandalorian Wars, a place where they were trying to connect to the Force, to understand the questions – why did the Jedi Council believe they shouldn’t be involved in an existential threat? Why is Revan drawn to these Star Maps and the destination they point to? What awaits them if they go, and what will change about them? What answers are to be found in asking an energy field that can offer no direct response?

Obviously, I’m thinking in terms of finding recordings of Revan, so requiring a voice for Revan – Rino Romano did the little soundbites when male Revan interacts with things, while I don’t know who did the voice bites for female Revan, so they’d be options, or new VA’s altogether. While part of me does want to go forward and make Revan a fully voiced protagonist (because I’m just used to that nowadays), I could accept this as being something only for old!Revan, not present!Revan.

The idea is simply to explore the driving motivations of Revan and decide plainly who Revan wants to be now. I kinda see the ending reach a point of ‘hey, you can reclaim your old memories, you can decide what personality is dominant, what do you want?’ and Revan being able to choose who they will be from here on out.

This is also a good place to require at least Bastila and Carth. Obviously I’m kinda leaning more into the light side ending for this, but... Well, the dark side endings tend to be untenable for future content anyway – Revan as the reclaimed Sith Lord, leading the army against the Republic was never really a viable future, because the Republic had to survive. So yeah, we’re gonna take the easy route and assume light side here. So Bastila and Carth, as Revan romances, would also have a contribution to make, building on the questions of “I’m in love with the person who was Darth Revan, can I accept this?” Like I said, a lot of questions that the game sidestepped, and this one matters for the sake of the relationship being able to continue after the ending of the game.

The Rakatan Prize

The Unknown World – Rakata Prime, Lehon – has become a subject of a great many conversations. Now that the Star Forge is gone, the planet is accessible, and many are eager to investigate its mysteries and forgotten technology. Having had firsthand experience, the Republic has asked the crew of the Ebon Hawk to return...

(Post-Game)

And then, there’s the Rakata. Not that Star Wars isn’t full of ancient empires that rose and fell millennia ago, but this was KOTOR’s contribution. And really, they’re almost superfluous – hell, if the Unknown World were rewritten so that the Rakata had gone extinct, the only thing that really would be necessary would be finding a way into the temple. I kinda think that would even tighten things up a little, especially given how often I’ve hit the level cap before meeting the Council of Elders.

The Rakata are a mystery, and the idea here is to investigate that. Build up the whole element of the Rakata having lost their connection to the Force, and the fact that they’re trying to explore this (because we’re assuming light side against here and that the Elders survived, including the scientists investigating this).

Because this is one of those things that stands out in Star Wars lore, when beings are stripped of their Force connections. Ulic Qel-Droma, the Exile, this is something that is traditionally a case of an individual, not a species.

We also have the remains of a galactic empire to examine here. If a species once ruled the galaxy, it’s inevitable that there are those who would see that empire be reborn. The threat of this DLC becomes this group who aspire to reconquer the galaxy using the mind transfer technology that puts the Rakatan prisoner in that white space box that would allow them to trap the minds of Jedi and other Force users to take their bodies and use them to go forth and conquer the galaxy.

Ultimately, the question’s going to be whether or not to restore their connection to the Force – do the Rakata, a race of dominators of the galaxy, whose humbling by the forces of nature has not managed to truly change them, deserve a second chance, or should they have their attempt to restore their own connections to the Force wiped out, leaving them vulnerable to an inevitable extinction?

Because this is one of the big things with Revan, the idea of redemption, change, second chances. Does Revan extend this chance to these people, people who clearly have more than a few members who have no interest in peaceful coexistence? But if not, do they deserve to be condemned to extinction?

And, as a bonus...

Romance Content – Bisexual Carth, Bisexual Bastila, Gay Canderous, extended Juhani romance

Because Carth and Bastila should be bisexual, and Juhani’s romance deserves to be more proper. Meanwhile, Canderous should totally be an option as well, and yeah, I’m gonna be selfish here and say that he should be gay, rather than bi (because, again, I’m ignoring the novel, there is no wife). Because this means that there’s a favoring for same-sex romances, and that never happens. My list, my way. Star Wars is gay culture.

[sky-scribbles]

Some thoughts about how Ziost happens in my canon, since I’m throwing in the complications of a) both Zeth and Neyna being present and b) Neyna and Lana trying to work out their relationship while Vitiate is eating the planet:

- Things between Lana and Neyna have been... complicated since the letting-Theron-get-captured thing. It shook Neyna enough for them to take a step back from the almost-relationship, so once Revan’s dealt with, Lana offers Neyna a place as her right hand in Sith Intelligence. She hopes this’ll let Neyna know how much she trusts them and wants them at her side.

- Soon after, Lana wonders if she made a mistake. Neyna said they needed some space - what if she’s ignoring that by asking them to work with her so closely? So she arranges for Neyna to be given their own ship, and sends them off on several long-term missions, hoping  Neyna will realise she’s trying to give them some privacy. Of course, this just makes Neyna worried. Is Lana trying to get rid of them? Was she offended when they stepped away? (These two are so smart individually but together they’re such utter disasters, help them.)

- Ziost happens. Neyna’s on leave on Dromund Kaas when Lana contacts them, so they arrive before Zeth, who has to travel from Republic space. Since Neyna arrives so quickly, Lana doesn’t throw them into the in-game missions straight away, instead asking them to handle the immediate crisis of helping the evacuation. (This is how I justify doing all the New Adasta sidequests before starting the main story.)

-  As they’re mopping up some of Vitiate’s puppets, Zeth arrives to help. Neither of them has any misgivings about working together, and after half an hour, Lana and Theron give up trying share information with their respective contact while keeping it from the opposite faction. Zeth and Neyna are obviously telling each other everything. (‘Those two aren’t big on keeping secrets from allies, Lana. Unlike, you know, some people.’ ‘Can we please not go into that business on Rishi now?’)

- Neyna, a former spy with minor telepathic abilities, figures out that Kovach has been pretending to work for both Lana and Theron. Still, they don’t execute him when Lana asks them to - partly because Zeth is right there, making pleading eyes at them, and partly because Kovach’s explanation triggered something of an existential crisis for them. The Empire kills and enslaves billions every day, and I couldn’t sit by. 

Neyna only joined the Sith to learn how to control their abilities. They got a whole lot more: a home, people who told them they weren’t a corruption. But after all that time living on fear on Csilla, keeping their Force-sensitivity secret... they hate the thought of making anyone else live like that. Is that what they’re doing by staying with the Empire? They know how to control the Force now - should they have left long ago? Are their feelings for Lana keeping them tethered somewhere they don’t belong?

But how can they leave the life they’ve made? How can they leave Lana? 

- Zeth handles the taunting-the-Emperor business, since he’s the one with a personal rivalry with Vitiate. He’s also the one to fight Master Surro, while Neyna focuses on healing Lana and Theron after they get flung all over the place.

- Neyna says nothing while everyone argues over Surro’s fate (Zeth is absolutely not letting someone who’s had the Emperor shoved into their head be experimented on.) But afterwards, once Zeth and Theron are gone and it’s just them and Lana, they realise why they’re still with the Empire, and why they need to stay.

The people they fought to protect on Ziost are - well, people. People who need defending. Vitiate certainly won’t defend them, but Lana... Lana will, and so will Sith like her. If Lana’s never stopped believing that a better Empire is possible, then Neyna can’t stop believing it either. Because they believe in Sith values, in passion and freedom, and because Lana can’t do this alone. Their emotion and Lana’s pragmatism could balance each other perfectly. 

And Neyna once promised they’d do anything Lana needed. They’ll stand by their word.

[ergomaria]

Miles to Go Before I Sleep - Ch. 06

It didn't take long for one of Nyriss's servants to come sniffing around, a sniveling creature who seemed so beaten down by his master that his shoulders were permanently bent in a submissive hunch. While he had the red skin and odd cheek tendrils of the other Sith, his was shorter and slimmer than most of his kind.

"Are you the Human they call Vann Chis?"

"Maybe." Vann was holed-up in a cantina, waiting for this exact moment. While he had a drink in hand, he'd purposely been nursing its contents. "Who's asking?"

"My name is Sechel, and I am a servant of my master Darth Nyriss."

"Huh. What do you want?" It was a risk for Vann to act this brazen to one of the purebloods, as even the lowliest of them technically outranked all of the Humans on this planet. Still, it was a calculated power play.

Luckily, Sechel seemed appropriately cowed by the Human's apparent lack of fear. "My master wishes to meet with you. She may be interested in acquiring your services."

"Alright, you have my attention. I've heard your master is a powerful leader around here. So, I assume the pay is good."

Chuckling dryly, Sechel nodded. "Oh, you will be adequately compensated for your time. But the true reward of this job is the prestige. If you please my master, many more opportunities on this planet will be open to you."

Vann honestly doubted the claim since the Sith largely viewed Humans as beneath them, only useful for tasks that were too odious for purebloods to touch. Still, he hoped that he only needed this one job to accomplish his goal.

"You Sith are too concerned about prestige and standing. But so long as you're paying good credits, I'm willing to hear your master out."

"You'd be wise to adopt some humility, Human. My master has been a member of the Dark Council for over twenty years, a feat that should not be taken lightly."

"I'll be humble once we're actually in the presence of your master." Sliding out of the booth, Vann purposely shoved the Sith aside with a jab of his shoulder. "You, I'm not too worried about. I know how this planet works. Your master and the other rulers view my kind as slightly below kath hounds, so she probably sent her lowliest servant to come and fetch me."

Sechel was silent at this assessment but for a moment something glittered in his eyes, a shrewdness that implied his submissive nature was merely a facade. It vanished in an instant.

So, maybe Nyriss had actually sent someone genuinely capable. "Go on, lead the way."

The walk through Kaas City was a strange though uneventful one, only notable for the handful of bystanders who paused to stare openly at the duo. It was undoubtedly unusual to see a pureblood shuffling silently along while a Human trailed confidently in his wake, but Vann wasn't afraid to attract a little attention; in fact, he was depending on it. Remaining alert to his surroundings, he noticed that a few of the other purebloods paused specifically to peer at Sechel, fear flitting across their faces. That confirmed the theory that this Sith was definitely more than he seemed.

It turned out that Nyriss's citadel was located at the western edge of the city. Everything about the location and the building's arrangement smacked of paranoia, which could be a good or a bad sign. Either way, Vann was here and turning back wasn't an option. The journey ended in a large courtyard that was bordered to the north and south by high stone walls and to the west by the citadel itself, which looked more like a military fortress than any typical estate of the rich and murderous. While the east side was open to the street, even that was blocked by a gated fence that only opened with Sechel's fingerprints.

"Wait here," the Sith ordered in a tone that sounded more like begging. "My master will be with you shortly."

Vann knew this game and he settled himself on a hard bench to await Nyriss's arrival. Time passed and he continued to wait, slipping into light meditation to prevent himself from growing bored. If he'd been on the Hawk or Rakata he'd probably have taken his lightsabers out to tinker with them, but right now it was more important to uphold the facade of a normal Human mercenary for at least a little while longer. Eventually, footsteps sounded along the pathway leading to the citadel, one set hurried and uneven while the other sounded smoother and surer. Vann looked up just in time to spot Sechel, who was scurrying in front of a taller figure who moved with natural poise and grace.

Ah, so this was Nyriss.

Unsurprisingly, she had the typical features of a pure-blooded Sith, though hers were less refined than others Vann had encountered. The power of the dark side had obviously taken its toll, and she looked aged and rotted with dark black veins marring the pale red hue of her skin. Her body was also withered, though there was still obvious strength to her limbs. She was dressed in the black hooded robes that her species seemed to favor, though hers were more ornate and featured delicate silver embroidery along the hems.

Sechel bowed low as he announced, "My master, Darth Nyriss. Lord of the Sith, conqueror of Drezzi, the destroyer of Melldia, and a member of the Dark Council."

Without prompting, Vann stood from his seat before dropping to one knee, bowing his head and silently thanking his past self for leaving a set of notes on proper Sith etiquette. "My lady."

There was a pause before a strong voice chuckled in amusement. "Finally, a Human who knows how to show proper respect. Tell me, little mercenary, who taught you manners?"

"One does not come to a strange world without knowing their proper place."

"And what makes you believe that you're even worthy of serving me?"

"I'm better than the rest of the scum lurking around, hoping for scraps of favor from a Dark Lord without any real skills to back them up."

"Hmm. You're a confident one. Or at least you hide your fears well." Stepping closer, Nyriss used her remarkable command of the Force to jerk Vann's head up so that their eyes met. Her irises were bright yellow lined with red, the fierce gaze of someone who had given herself completely to the dark side. For a moment, something akin to recognition flickered across her countenance.

Appearing bare-faced on Dromund Kaas had been a calculated risk on Vann's part. He knew that he'd left his signature mask behind when he came here as Revan, but he was also aware that he still had the almost innocent appearance of a fresh-faced Jedi. He'd been mostly clean-shaven at the time, his hair just past his shoulders and held neatly back in the type of low ponytail that he still favored. While he was brash, he wasn't completely foolish and had taken some steps to alter his appearance. Over his weeks of planning, he'd grown out his beard and kept it just long enough to disguise his more distinguishing features. He'd also cut his hair, shaving down the back and sides while keeping the top long enough to tie up in a top knot that hopefully changed the balance of his face.

Whatever emotion Nyriss was experiencing, it quickly faded as she peered closer. "No, I don't sense fear in you. Arrogance perhaps, but not fear. Tell me, what lies deeper in that simple Human mind of yours?"

Now came the dangerous part. Since arriving on Dromund Kaas, Vann had been keeping his Force presence tightly concealed, not daring to allow his awareness to seep out for even an instant except when he slept locked safely on the Hawk. Surrounded by other Force users, his camouflaged signature was easily overlooked as nothing more than stray tendrils of power coming from someone else. But this technique wouldn't withstand Nyriss peering directly into his mind. The trick would be to give her just enough of a glimpse for her to realize that he was different, all without revealing just how special he truly was.

An icy stream of dark energy sunk into Vann's skull and he bit back a hiss of discomfort as Nyriss began to claw her way through his mind without a shred of finesse. Though he kept most of his mental walls in place, the former mercenary purposely let certain things slip out so that it seemed like errant thoughts were accidentally coming loose. It was fortunate that most of his memories were of mercenary work along the Outer Rim, as that made it easy to display job after job to support his supposed identity. But he also allowed a few more personal moments to slip free, like sitting around the fire with the Mandalorians and even the disastrous kiss he'd shared with Tagren. Finally, at the very end, he released just a fraction of the durasteel grip he had on his Force presence, allowing some of his awareness to seep into the Sith's mind.

Nyriss immediately recoiled, throwing the Human across her courtyard with a wave of her hand. It took most of Vann's effort not to use the Force to cushion his landing and he struck the flagstone hard enough to bruise his hip and shoulder. Shouting in pain he rolled to his knees, keeping his head down in supplication.

The crackle of a red lightsaber filled the air as Nyriss ignited her weapon. "Who sent you?" she demanded, purple electricity gathering in her other hand.

"Nobody," Vann coughed, which was technically the truth. "I'm just a mercenary looking for work. Ask your servant if you don't believe me."

Completely unbothered by his master's show of power, Sechel merely arched a brow as his sniveling demeanor instantly vanished. "It's true, my lady. The other mercenaries only know him as one of their own. None of them breathed so much as a whisper about him being particularly special, aside from some notable combat skills."

"Because he wields the Force!" Sending out a strong bolt of lightning, Nyriss watched impassively as Vann screamed in agony, his limbs shaking uncontrollably and his teeth clenching almost hard enough to crack.

The pain didn't subside even when the surge of electricity stopped, leaving the former mercenary prone across the ground. He wheezed. "I do. I'm Force-sensitive, but it's nothing compared to what you're capable of. It makes me stronger, faster, even tougher, but I'm still no match for a Sith pureblood."

For a brief time, Vann had considered completely denying any knowledge of his powers and providing the Sith the pleasure of 'discovering' them for herself. But that seemed too farfetched. Instead, he was hoping to use his talent for manipulation and flattery to his advantage.

Nyriss scowled, pressing her lightsaber less than a centimeter from the side of the Human's head. "Who sent you?!"

"Nobody! I'm just mercenary scum from the Outer Rim!"

There was a long, tense pause as Nyriss considered this information, the heat of her weapon burning the skin of Vann's cheek. Her awareness reached out again, probing for signs of a lie. The irony was that there weren't any to find because, in the Human's mind, everything he said was true. Revan was long gone, a larger-than-life hero who fell in battle, while Vann Chis was nothing more than a violent and volatile mercenary. A nobody. Scum.

Suddenly, Nyriss laughed. "And nobody else sensed you. They don't know what you are or what you can do." Extinguishing her lightsaber, she returned it to her hip. "Thus, you'll be a surprise to them when they attack."

Sighing in relief, mostly because he didn't have to blow his cover, Vann dragged himself into a kneeling position. "Thank you, my lady. Thank you for sparing me."

"Yes, you'll do little mercenary. I think you'll do quite well."

Read the whole chapter on FanFIction or AO3!

[ooops-i-arted]

Consider this; while this was obviously not possible with KotOR's avatar system, what if the Jedi subjected a comatose Revan to plastic surgery to change his/her appearance so (s)he wouldn't figure out his/her identity immediately (sure Revan wore that mask all the time, but the face of the greatest war hero in years was certainly public record)

Yeah that’s an interesting thought.  To me it falls under willing suspension of disbelief, personally, but also I am particular about A Character Having Their Own Face.  (And plastic surgery squicks me out.)  So ymmv.

For my own Revan what happened is her new name, Caelestis Nayar, was taken from her sisters’ names.  I haven’t decided what exactly happened to them but they’re long gone.  So if Caele!Revan searched herself, she’d get her birth family and a passing record of her being who she believes she is now.  I tend to think the Jedi took basic measures to uphold the illusion since the idea of Revan triggering her memories and coming back would probably be fairly alarming.  (And much later in life she and her friends actively wipe out a lot of records of original Revan in an effort to hide her and her family from the Emperor, thus explaining why everyone thinks Revan is a man in SWTOR when she’s really a woman.  I am…still sorting out how to work that particular twist.  But I will have my Revan in my canon!)