Subject: [OTL]: (alt. Betsy/Star Wars) Fanged Butterfly 2: Knightcross 35/? (PG15) From: Phil Hartman Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:35:06 +0000 will1@earthling.net Fanged Butterfly Vol. 2: Knightcross Chapter 35 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Marvel's are Marvel's. LFL's are LFL's. Any original characters are mine. The rest belong to their owners/creators. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. WARNING: Themes, imagery, some violence. NOTE: More from the rest of the cast ... ----------------------------------------------------- 40 ABY: Bast Castle, Vjun, Outer Rim Territories, Galactic East: 24 Days after the Battle of Corellia: ----------------------------------------------------- Jacen Solo was in the middle of some serious self-examination. Not of his body; he was good health, for a Shaped One, and he felt ... lighter, than he had in some time. Denying the dark side and facing the fact that one had been insanely Sith tended to do that for a man. No, Jacen was facing the ghastly cost of his deeds as Caedus ... who had existed, he now admitted sadly, for far longer than DARTH Caedus had been. He sat on the hau polyps of his meditation chamber throne, crosslegged, and waited; a confrontation he had been expecting since his emergence from that cocoon was about to take place ... Anakin Solo walked into the room, in Jedi robes, brown hair a mess, a counterpoint to Jacen's naked hairlessness and groin pouch. Anakin had well trimmed fingernails; Jacen, claws capable of rending bone; Anakin, well fitted boots; Jacen, bare feet with talons and footspurs. The sheer irony of the former action addict being human, and the former reluctant Jedi being half Vong, made Jacen laugh despite the gravity of the moment, and he let Anakin sense what he was feeling. The long absent openness almost brought a smile to Anakin's face, as he pulled up a chair ... but he didn't quite smile. Jacen understood why, and patiently waited for the explosion of Anakin's temper which he deserved. Instead, Anakin deeply sighed and asked, "If you're so aware NOW that shaping these people was wrong -" "The shapings aren't a crime, Anakin. It was the mental domination I exerted on them through their yammosk cell implants that was part of my sins," Jacen corrected, not really expecting his younger brother to accept that. Anakin did look doubtful, but just said, "Shuuras and iegines, then. *I* think turning Vong poisoning victims into these ... Shaped Ones was wrong. You don't. Who's right?" The fact that Anakin even asked that question opened Jacen's eyes; the brothers' roles HAD reversed since the Vong War. "You've grown up quite well. I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to that before ... but to answer your question: I shaped these people, after I shaped myself, to try and embrace the fact that the Vong were part of us now," Jacen tried to explain. Anakin bit back a retort, radiating a desire to let Jacen finish his explanation, and Jacen smiled with sincere gratitude. It was very kind of his younger brother ... his TRUE younger brother ... to let him speak. "You don't know how many came to me through underground channels; bent, broken, minds and bodies shattered by yorik coral, biotoxins, Force knows how many other ways the Vong tortured us. Especially the surge coral victims, whose minds had been exposed to the Vong mentality and the yammosk," Jacen tried to explain. Anakin seemed ... more sympathetic, and let Jacen continue. "Yes, the Shaped One bioform is ... extreme. It blends the strengths of the Slayers with the basic human body, eliminates the need for clothes, pushes our two species a step farther down the evolutionary path. But ... I never shaped anyone against their will. Not at first," Jacen admitted, looking away as he wiped his eyes. "You're claiming Ben was the ONLY human you shaped against their will. What about the children you altered? They were too young to understand what was being done to them," Anakin said, frowning. "Their parents understood. Their parents, more often than not, abandoned them here WITHOUT bothering to understand. Ysanna Fel, Senna, was rescued from Vong clutches after she was found starving near a sacrifice pit. We took away their pain and gave them a chance to live, WITHOUT cybernetics, haphazard medicines or other Alliance stopgaps," Jacen replied a little haughtily. He checked himself then, and admitted with honest regret, "But the line between mercy and arrogance is thin. Like the line between light and darkness, when one acts from selfish motives, instead of selflessness." Anakin's mood improved a little, and Jacen admitted, "I started to fall a long time ago. I know that now." "And you, WITH others, paid a terrible price for it. Too high a price," Anakin breathed, an image of Tace flashing in his mind; Anakin DID understand that Tace was an innocent ... but the unasked question hung in the air until Jacen replied, "No. I never did wonder if I could turn Tace fully human. I was way beyond arrogance at that point. I didn't start being Ben's Master with an intent to shape him ... but it was the quick and easy path. I thought I could bring him here, let him join us, as a way to make up for what I did." He tried not to sob as he said, "I hurt Ben needlessly. He was right, that day back on the landing pad after the Phoenix reversed his Shaping; I COULD have shaped him painlessly." "Maybe the point is that shaping Ben wasn't necessary? Couldn't you have just asked for some stem cells of his and shot them through with Vong DNA, then transfused those into Tace and left Ben human?" Anakin asked. Jacen shrugged. "I didn't think to ask that by the time it was too late. I won't be so insensitive again," he admitted. Anakin's mood lightened yet again, and Jacen managed to meet his brother's eyes. For the first time in a VERY long time, Anakin smiled warmly at Jacen, and Jacen felt deserving of it. "That's the Jasa we've missed," Ani said, and Jacen laughed sadly as they clasped wrists. "Thank you for listening. Force knows I deserve rebukes," Jacen admitted, looking down at the hau polyps before meeting Anakin's eyes again. "A long lost wise man once told me something about not meeting attempts at redemption with bitterness," Anakin tried to quip, and Jacen managed to laugh. "So. How do I convince a justifiably angry ex student and estranged cousin that I'm not a monster anymore?" Jacen asked, laying back on the throne, which was large and long enough to serve as a bed. "Some things take their own time, Jacen. Ben is a really kind kid; he just needs space to heal," Anakin advised. Jacen looked over at his brother, smirking, and said, "When DID we reverse roles?" "When I decided that hacking up obnoxious Council members for teasing me about training an Ewok to be a Jedi was a bad idea," Anakin chuckled. Jacen arched an eyebrow and teased, "An Ewok as a surrogate for ...?" "Hey, I never stole our cousin as a substitute son," Anakin shot back, wincing a little at how sour that sounded ... but Jacen let it slide. Ani WAS right. Ben was like a younger brother, but in the same way Jacen had pushed Anakin away, it would take time to win back Ben's trust. If that was even possible. It was past time Jacen was a real father to his real children, without dark side manipulations or self-delusional rants. "C'mon, bro. Let me show you the finer points of yanskac hunting, and you can get to know Tace AND Allana better," Jacen laughed, motioning Ani after him. ----------------------------------------------------- The war chants were Vong, the accents ... human. Tahiri was finding the amphistaff training classes she was leading to be ... surprisingly familiar. After she finished leading the group of about 10 Shaped teens in a series of katas, she had them pair off in sparring groups and sat beside Tenel Ka, who was watching them from her seat on a low stone fence. "To think, almost half a lifetime ago, this was the stuff of nightmares," Tenel Ka said, sharing Tahiri's smile. "You're shaped in body; me, in mind and forehead. The Solo sisters in law, half Vong and dealing with it," Tahiri giggled, and Tenel Ka also laughed. The former Hapan queen smiled warmly as Tace and Allana ran past, leading Jacen and a nervous-looking Anakin by the hands out to the yanskac fields. "This is not the life I expected. But it is a life I may find to be more ... satisfying, helping to heal others," she said, and Tahiri nodded. "I'm sorry about Hapes. I never said that until we had a chance to take a breath ... losing your entire world ..." Tahiri said, the enormity of the devastation and the memory of the shockwaves in the Force hitting her again. Tenel Ka blinked back tears, and nodded, sorrow filling her Force aura for a moment. "Thank you. I think now, to a degree, I understand more of what Leia faces every day. I also regret having to flee the Consortium, but ... is it an excuse, to claim that I have no hope of stopping the fighting without a military?" she asked. Tahiri wasn't used to such ... openness from Tenel Ka. They had gotten along all right before, in that way that friends and former schoolmates did, but the Hapan queen's necessary silence about Allana had caused a distance. But Tahiri understood the struggle between different parts of one's life, too. And she had always wanted a sister ... well, sisterS, since Jaina was always kind. "You're a mother, with young children who need protecting. After Riina ... after seeing the kids on Zonama Sekot ... I'm not gonna judge you, Tenel. Sorry about being Miss No Advice," Tahiri said, shrugging, but Tenel Ka smiled. "Just listening is a great help, Tahiri. Thank you," Tenel Ka said, applauding as one of the pairs of amphistaff trainees completed a demanding series of parrys and blocks. And the kernel of an idea started in Tahiri's mind ... #No military, huh ...?# ----------------------------------------------------- Jedi Praxeum, Ossus, Outer Rim, Galactic East: ----------------------------------------------------- Luke checked the sensor datapad, then glanced at Mara as she inventoried the blasters; she'd taken over the duty of making sure the weapons had been shipped from Endor, since ... well, weapons were one of Mara's specialties. She caught his curiosity (and gratitude), and said, faintly smiling, "I shut off the tracker frequency from Ben's vibroblade, yes. No I told you sos allowed, Farmboy." "I didn't say a thing," Luke promised, but Mara kissed his cheek and sat beside him on a crate full of ion rifles. "You never have to. One of your very annoying traits. But yes ... if we're going to trust him, we need to TRUST him. He was really understanding about the frequency, at least ... but trust cuts both ways," Mara admitted. "He was smart enough to discover it by himself, and mature enough not to blow up at us over it. Or ... at ..." Luke began, KNOWING he shouldn't dig at this wound, but - Mara's Force presence and facial expression became icy. "Ben is a caring young man who should be free to forgive who he wants, when he's ready to forgive them. *I* am a mother who trusted a nephew not to harm her only child. If I want to snarl at Jacen, I *WILL,*" she said. Luke radiated apology; he knew Mara knew all about the risk of festering emotional wounds leading to the dark side. He was just worried ... and, he confessed, he wasn't innocent himself. Mara caught his general mood and kissed his cheek. "If I get a free ride at lingering snarkiness at Jacen, you get a free ride for Korriban. Luuke got just what he had coming," she insisted. "Did he? I VAPORIZED him, Mara, without a second thought. That kind of dark side power ... Palpatine had NOTHING like that. My clone was insane, not evil. He deserved a chance," Luke sighed. Mara quirked an eyebrow and insisted, "So the great Grand Master should be less fallible than any other Jedi?" Luke managed a smile at that, and said, "That did sound arrogant. I just ... I was so insistent on ACTING, that I let myself be blinded. And then when Hapes died ..." "You feared Ben was dead. So did I, for an instant. It's called being a parent. It's a natural part of life, and if you say Yoda would disagree, you can bite a harsh part of my anatomy. Sometimes we make mistakes; that rigged vibroblade was one on my part, I admit," Mara allowed. Luke laughed a little, and put an arm around Mara's shoulders. "Overcompensation after trusting Jacen?" he asked. "Over the line, more like it. Ben did come back to us, and I ... I tried to leash him. It was ... wrong. Thank the Force he understood. I ... maybe it was a symptom of something deeper," Mara admitted, and Luke looked at her. She sighed, a rueful expression on her face, and said, "You know I hate playing poor me. But I have to wonder ... after Betsy uncovered where I probably came from, how did my parents ... LOSE me, to Thrawn?" Mara asked. "If they were Force blind, on a planet unused to aliens ..." Luke tried to hypothesize. "I know. They didn't look all that warrior type, did they? Academics, she said they were ... are," Mara tried to laugh. She didn't quite cry, and composed herself again as she said, "My ... fears over being ... given up ... are no excuse to lie to our kid about that vibroblade. I SWORE I never would, and I tried to track him behind his back ..." "But you told Ben the truth. He gave you the benefit of the doubt, like you're doing for him now," Luke reminded her. Mara wiped her eyes, and leaned on her husband in a rare unguarded moment. "Overcompensating mother. Kriff, I hate having issues. Once this pile of shavit is all over, I want the three of us to go to Csilla, shake Formbi within an inch of his glowing red eyes and dig those coordinates for Earth out of him," Mara insisted. "THAT'S the Mara Jade I remember," Luke laughed, kissing her forehead. ----------------------------------------------------- Sky Attic Cafe, Coronet, Corellia: Core Worlds: ----------------------------------------------------- "Did I ever tell you how much I love you for ditching a certain loudmouth?" Han said, sincerity pouring from him as he and Leia finished their lunch. "Yes, dear. Stop being so pleased with yourself. It's not that admirable," Leia insisted, checking her chrono. As expected, Denjax Teppler wandered into the seedy little tapcaf, nodding politely at the disguised Solos and grabbing a seat next to Han in the booth. "Sorry for the early hour; meetings and all," the Corellian P.M. said, also disguised in a bad wig and tanning lotion. "Time flies. Any news on our friends at large? As in, what's next out of far flung ports?" Han asked, not too subtly. "Large, unpleasant leadership out of swamps," Teppler said, sounding both regretful and put out, and Leia bit back a sigh. If the Hutts were going to start running the war ... it was going to get ugly. QUICK. "Pirates, riffraff, lack of cohesion ... my kind of party," Han almost chuckled, but he also recognized the chaotic nature of what the capture of Turr Phenirr meant for the Confederacy. Hutts were gangsters, not admirals. Gang warfare with fleets could be broken by focused military might, but the opposition's tactics were going to violate all sorts of military conventions. This could be the blow the Galactic Alliance needed to break the Confederacy, or it could lead to a widespread series of skirmishes that could bleed the GA Navy dry ... and Leia wondered if a certain Sith Lord hadn't planned this. "Any chance you might be able to shut this down?" she asked, but Teppler shook his head. "The central leadership moved their HQ to the Outer Rim. Familiar territory, but entrenched ... and you have a problem related to this," Teppler said, slipping Han a datachip under the table. With that, the PM slipped out, back to his waiting security, and Han plugged the chip into a holoplayer ... and scowled. He gave the player to Leia, who watched the viewscreen, and said, "That high a price on her head endangers more than her. Not that she deserves it, of course." Leia's blood ran cold as she listened to Gardulla the Hutt pronounce a 10 MILLION CREDIT bounty on Betsy Braddock ... alive. That was little comfort. And Ben, Artoo and Threepio were with Betsy ... "Come on, flyboy. There's a time for talking and a time to get out the chain," Leia said, bringing a grin to Han's face. "You mean ... ?" he asked as she paid the bill, and a decidedly non Jedi smile crossed Leia's lips. "We decapitate the Confederacy AND get rid of a Hutt gangster. And you get to relive some old dreams," Leia offered, as Han chuckled. Now Leia just had to practice her Hutt lassoing technique ... ----------------------------------------------------- Imperial Security Bureau Holding Cells, Ravelin, Bastion, Imperial Remnant, Galactic North: ----------------------------------------------------- "CURSE YOU, BRADDOCK! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I'LL -" ZRAPP Ben winced - as did Aunt Betsy - at the stun cuffs shocking Turr Phenirr unconscious, as the former head of the Confederacy hung spreadeagled behind laser bars in his cell. Nobody said Imperials were subtle behind closed doors, Ben thought Aunt Leia had said once ... The boy tried not to feel TOO sympathetic for Phenirr, but Ben knew how ... scary it could be, to be hung spreadeagled by shackles ... organic, in his case, but still ... He turned his attention to where Darth Orgone - a Zeltron Sith was REALLY weird, even if Ben had to admit she HAD distracted him - was sitting on her bunk behind laser bars, frowning in what Ben thought was annoyance ... The Imperial interrogators hadn't gotten very far with Orgone, so Aunt Betsy was going to try; Admiral Pellaeon had said it SHOULD be up to Aunt Betsy, since she and Ben had been the real targets. ~You'd better wait out here. This could get ugly,~ Aunt Betsy sent, noting the ysalamiri set just outside the cell, and Ben nodded ... and winced, a flashback hitting him, and Aunt Betsy looked horrified - ----------------------------------------------------- HOW could she have been so bloody THOUGHTLESS? "Ben, I'm SO sorry. I was so focused on preparing to question this schutta, I didn't remember ... Vel," Betsy whispered, feeling awful. Ben managed a smile, and said, "But you won't kill her. I trust you." Betsy was grateful, but still offered, "If you want to wait outside ..." Ben shook his head, summoning courage, and said, "Thanks. But I need to face this stuff sooner or later. And you're not gonna make me face something I can't handle." #I hope that's true, dearheart,# Betsy thought, ruffling Ben's returning hair; he was keeping it a little longer on top, but still fairly buzzed overall, and it took the edge off his weary Force aura. He was growing up, nevertheless, and harshly. If she could flowwalk, as Jacen had during the Dark Nest crisis, Betsy might have warned her younger self to take Ben LONG before that fateful night almost two months ago ... but tampering with time was too dangerous. An X-Man knew better; a Jedi Master, even moreso; a child of Otherworld, most of all. And even as cruelly as Ben had been forced to grow up, he was who he was now. At least he had SOME youth left. Betsy still made a note: Two weeks on Mon Cal. As soon as she dug out what Darth Orgone knew, they were gone. The war could wait; Ben needed a vacation. #Additional note: Skin KRAYT for stupid Darth naming conventions,# Betsy thought, deactivating the laser bars and walking into Orgone's cell, Ben watching Betsy's back. "You bring your pet Skywalker? Daring, Braddock. But youth has always been your ... delicacy, has it not?" Darth Orgone mocked, and Betsy's eyes narrowed, along with her Force awareness as the ysalamir damping fields closed in. Unfortunately for the Sith, ysalamiri did NOTHING to stop mutant telepathy, and Orgone twitched as Betsy slipped past the Zeltron's mental defenses and the PAIN, of Orgone's twisting, of her embracing the dark as a shield against agony, hit Betsy ... but it was nothing new. She went deeper, fighting off tendrils of willpower, and shuddered at a scene of a teenaged Orgone, dragged from a burning home on Zeltros by some ... GAMORREAN Sith?! Betsy surfaced, looking more for how Orgone had gotten past the Remnant's security ... and she left the now drooling Orgone's mind, spinning around to warn Ben - stun blast, as Ben cried out - darkness. ----------------------------------------------------- Ben had tried to block the shot, but without the Force ... he doubled over as a furry fist planted itself in his stomach, and a black and white blur shot Aunt Betsy with a large blaster. Ben wheezed, as Tarfang cackled, "Yub-casha!" "N-no ...!" Ben coughed - he couldn't let the Ewok take Aunt Betsy - but Artoo and Threepio were back at the Angel's Wing, and he didn't trust using his lightsaber without the Force ... But he was still Ben Skywalker, and he charged the surprised Ewok, struggling with Tarfang before the sneaky spy could handcuff Aunt Betsy. "YOU WON'T TAKE HER! She trusted me! She saved me! She BELIEVES in me, and I'm NOT gonna fail her!" Ben yelled, wrestling with Tarfang - KRIFF, the little rugger was STRONG - and where were the stormtroopers? Tarfang grinned, and Ben realized the whole THING must be a trap - the little furball paid off the guards, maybe - but IMPERIALS taking a bribe? Ben couldn't wait any longer ... and if he couldn't use the Force, or call on the Phoenix ... he was still a student of Mara Jade, Han Solo and Lon Shevu, all of whom taught good old-fashioned brawling. Tarfang took the roundhouse blow on the chin, spinning around and making yub noises, before falling on top of Darth Orgone, unconscious. Ben shook his stinging hand - the Ewok had a HARD jaw - before grabbing Aunt Betsy under the armpits and dragging her carefully out of the cell; the Force returned, and THEN the stormtroopers ran up, with a shocked looking Vitor Reige. "Ben! Are you all right!? Captain, I DEMAND an answer as to WHERE the guards were!" Reige snapped at the stormtrooper commander. "Dead, sir. You know Ewoks and stormtroopers; the poor souls never had a chance," the commander said, and Ben winced, checking Aunt Betsy's pulse. She stirred, groaning, then looked at Tarfang, then Ben, and slowly smiled, standing. "I couldn't let him take you; he said something about cash, maybe somebody put a bounty on you? Are you -" Ben stammered, relief and ebbing adrenaline making him tear up - ~Golden, thanks to you. You did EXTREMELY well, Ben. I'm very proud,~ Aunt Betsy sent, and Ben hugged her, not caring who saw. He didn't feel that brave. But maybe that was what bravery was ... just not giving in to fear. ----------------------------------------------------- She couldn't possibly be prouder ... at least of Ben. #Bloody TARFANG SHOT me. I'll never live this down. But now that trip to Mon Cal is out,# Betsy lamented, waiting for Pellaeon to finish arranging her clearance to leave. Ben was asleep on the acceleration couch, watched by Artoo, while Threepio translated a call to Nar Shaddaa; Betsy had connections, after her spy trip to the Smugglers' Moon during the Vong War. SOMEONE had hired Tarfang to capture her. That meant money; the Ewok didn't work cheap, after his Dathomir misadventure left him out of the Alliance's good graces. Ravelin ATC cleared the Wing for launch, and Betsy took her out, clearing Bastion airspace in minutes. She looked back at Ben, who was asleep as he deserved, and smiled at how ... youthful he looked again. #Kriff the Hutts. Kriff the Sith. THIS is what we need to fight for; the right of the next generation to have some peace,# Betsy thought, and she looked at Threepio, who was in the copilot's seat. The protocol droid finished translating the call, and said, softly, "Mistress Elizabeth, it appears that Gardulla the Hutt seeks revenge for your embarrassing her on Tatooine. Your bounty is 10 million!" "SO nice to not be undervalued, at least. Now I know how Han felt all those years ago. But where to go ...?" Betsy pondered, looking back at Ben again. She was entrusted with an innocent who'd suffered enough ... who needed to heal. Ben stirred, and Betsy unbuckled herself, kneeling beside her Padawan and Artoo. "Gardulla," Betsy explained, knowing Ben would understand the rest. The boy sighed and asked, "What'll we do?" His loyalty touched Betsy's heart, and she stroked his buzzed hair as she said, "You've been passed around from mentor to mentor too often already. You need rest ... but I can't ask you to stand beside me in this. Neither will I abandon you, either, I SWEAR." Ben sat up, clasping Betsy's hands in his, and smiled. "I know. And I know you're trying to protect me, but I won't leave you, either," he promised. It wasn't bravado; it was simple, familial love, a nephew trying to help an aunt, and Betsy blinked back tears as she hugged Ben. He returned it, and she whispered, "You are a good person, Ben Skywalker. Let NO ONE tell you different." Ben smiled kindly as Betsy released him, and said, "Thanks. Now, we gotta -" Then his eyes widened, and the main holoprojector sprang to life as Threepio called, "Mistress Elizabeth, we are receiving a call from Csilla, from -" "Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrani, of the Chiss Ascendancy. We've met, thank you, Threepio," Betsy said, turning an eye to the holoimage of the Chiss ambasssador to the GA. The glowing eyed, blue skinned man smiled thinly and said, "Master Braddock. I believe you know why I'm calling ..." "Ben Skywalker is under MY protection," Betsy warned, but Formbi held up a hand and gave Ben a kind look. "We mean neither young Skywalker nor yourself ANY harm, Elizabeth. In fact, we want to offer you a place to rest ... and confirmation of your theory," Formbi said. "Yes, we know EXACTLY where Earth is, and have for some time. And we wish to reward you for stopping Solo ... "With your homeworld's hyperspace coordinates." -------------------------------------------------- DEFINITELY tbc ... ;)