Subject: [OTL]: (alt. Betsy/Star Wars) Fanged Butterfly 2: Knightcross 61/? (PG-15) From: Phil Hartman Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:50:46 +0000 will1@earthling.net Fanged Butterfly Vol. 2: Knightcross Chapter 61 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: Violence, language, themes. ---------------------------------------------------------- 40 ABY: Outside Chief of State Offices, Galactic City, Coruscant, Core Worlds: ---------------------------------------------------------- If there hadn't been two other invading armies, Betsy would've sworn the Chiss were stabbing at Coruscant. As it was, the swarms of clawcraft, followed by landing craft, were a welcome sight - the Chiss had kept their promise to help fight the Skrulls. Skrull saucer-craft were being blasted out of the skies by the dozens, while their ground troops faced ... "Wait. Aren't those troops awfully short to be stormtroopers?" Tahiri asked - and then an Ewok horn stirred the hearts of the Jedi. But instead of random Ewoks coming out of nooks and crannies, a rhythmic marching cadence shook the metal streets. And a singsong chant filled the distance, rapidly growing in volume, as Betsy heard: "Yubyubyub yub-YUB-yub yub-YUB-yub ..." Then the blasterfire - green - poured from the Chiss craft. ... And the Skrulls were DECIMATED, breaking ranks and SCREAMING, as white plastoid armored figures about a meter high lunged. Their helmets, Betsy somehow noticed, had EARS. The Storm Ewoks had been unleashed. And Skrull limbs or heads started flying. Often both. "Betts? Remind me never t` upset an Ewok..." Remy gulped. "Just realized that?" a jaunty, familiar voice teased from among the Storm Ewoks, a tall human figure in black armor the source ... "Lord Shadowpaw, at your service. But I`m authorized to entrust the Jedi with my true identity. My death was feigned to help with the Storm Ewok development," "Shadowpaw" continued, removing his helmet and grinning. He winked as his furry troops helped rout the Skrulls, and he added, "We diverted here on a hunch. And I love giving Jag grief again." All the shocked Jedi could reply was: "CHAK FEL!?" "Wait a minute. Who's this guy?" Remy asked, while Jag - looking shocked, happpy and focused all at once - landed his clawcraft. "Chak is one of Jag's brothers, believed dead - shavit, you wouldn't know what's been happening, would you, Mr. `I Like Star Trek'? Honestly, Remy ..." Betsy mock-sighed - she telepathically brought Remy up to speed, then arched an eyebrow at his own misadventures since he'd left Earth ... all but a bit he hid with embarrassment. Remy squirmed while Betsy asked, "You got Gateway to send you to Nar Shaddaa two weeks ago. Even the slowest hyperdriven ship doesn't take two weeks to get from Hutt space to the Core Worlds. What took you so long?" "I ... a'right, mon ami, I had t' earn passage t' Coruscant. So ... there was this lady Hutt ..." Remy said, blushing - and for GAMBIT to blush, it MUST be juicy gossip, Betsy thought ... She examined his embarrassing moment, and tried not to laugh. Well, she TRIED. ~Honestly, Mr. Lebeau, the gold bikini suited you. I suppose the Coruscant crowd needed to be spared that eye-popping display,~ Betsy teased between giggles, and the others looked at her and the embarrassed Remy with confusion. "Just sharing a moment, all - Mara! You're controlling the Phoenix quite well," Betsy said, glad of the change of subject as Mara put an arm around Ben's shoulders - mother and son had been exchanging relieved noises that each other was all right. "Well, it got a workout, with this stupid Skrull imitating Katarn," Mara said, kicking absently at the groaning, Kyle-dressed Skrull male in binders at her feet while the Storm Ewoks secured the area. "And it wasn't an easy fight. Worse, this saboteur used Corran to pretty much devastate the Jedi Temple ..." ********************************************* About 10 minutes earlier: Jedi Temple, Temple district: --------------------------------------------------------------- Mara winced when Corran Horn wheezed at the absence of incoming Force lightning - his cells were filled to burst ... "BOOM," the Skrull-Katarn said, grinning evilly - and Corran simply POURED explosive energy out of himself, as his specialty Force technique backfired. Mara managed to grab the rest of the Council present - Cilghal, Kyp, Saba, Tresina Lobi, Octa Ramis, and Kenth Hamner - in a telekinetic firebird, deflecting the blast away from them ... the rest went omnidirectionally, mostly into the Temple. And a building made of transparisteel plating didn't handle explosive shockwaves very well. At ALL. ~GET *OUT!!!!*~ Mara mindyelled - through the Force and telepathically - at the few Knights and Padawans present; thank the Force that the current crisis necessitated diplomatic missions to worlds thinking about joining the Confederacy. And the Jedi Academy was on Ossus. The thought of children being caught in the storm of transparisteel shards flying about from Corran's blastwave made Mara shiver. The Temple was ... flattened. The Temple Plaza had become a killing field - the Force was full of the screams of the few survivors who'd managed to evade or not be too badly pierced by the flying shards. Mara looked at the now-levitating Skrull, who'd caught Corran by the throat, and growled - or maybe that was Saba. "Thisz one thinksz this Skrull needz to be brought to justice," the Barabel Jedi Master said, sharing a smile with Mara - and the Phoenix Host's grin got bigger. "At least until we dig out all his filthy secrets from his head. Then we shoot the motherkriffer," Mara agreed - and she let the Phoenix just smack the Skrull with one telekinetic talon, the other gently taking Corran's limp, unconscious form from the now-screaming Skrull. "ACCURSED - GYHYEYAAAUUUUGHHHHHGYGXLHLXYX -" The Skrull's mental shields crumpled beneath the Phoenix' onslaught, and Mara caught the ruined attacker in a claw, before landing ... this wasn't a victory. She let the others start helping the victims, and went to find Betsy, Jaina - most especially Ben and Luke. ********************************************** "Dad's not -" Valin Horn asked, an edge of panic in his voice until Mara smiled gently, and nodded at a disheveled, worried-looking girl who burst out of the GAG reinforcements approaching. Jysella trembled, but Valin hugged her and whispered something; to Betsy's relief - and Ben's almost-bemusing joy - the Horn siblings hugged, their apparent rift closed for the moment. "Corran's just exhausted. Cilghal's with him - I brought this Skrull for Betsy to interrogate. We need him alive for a while longer, and my usual methods aren't ...always suited to the health of a murdering piece of shavit," Mara said, and Betsy nodded at her; the Hand COULD keep a prisoner going ... but a Skrull would take harsher methods of physical coercion to break than most humanoids, due to their shapeshifting. A telepath would be better-suited to digging out the truth. "Might I suggest we move to a more secure location? The one place on Coruscant I KNOW no Skrull could get into?" Jacen-the-Elder - the distinction was both odd and amusing, to a degree - asked, but almost everyone glared at him; the younger Jacen, the clone, blushed. "Oh? Like the Skrulls NEVER GOT *THROUGH OUR PLANETARY SHIELDS,* MR. `I HAVE THE SKRULL SITUATION IN HAND'!?" Cal Omas barked. "With all due respect, sir, the Skrull-Luuke switched places with my uncle on Nirauan, not a world policed by the Guard. And the Jedi have continually resisted common-sense cooperation to augment their own defensive protocols - otherwise, I would've detected this Skrull," Jacen sniffed haughtily - Force, Betsy wanted to kick him ... "Uhm, Jacen? There were Skrulls on Earth who nobody could detect," Ben pointed out, wincing - until Jacen both smiled genuinely and looked at the boy with overt curiosity. "Earth? Betsy's homeworld? THAT'S where you've been - well, at least you're all right. Speaking of your impromptu leave, I've made sure it didn't go down as an AWOL incident - it wasn't your fault," Jacen said - but he flinched when Ben glared at him, and Betsy silently cheered at the boy's defiant stand. "About my `commission.' I'll stand with the Guard against the Skrulls. I won't abandon my friends, my brothers-in-arms. But you and I have a LOT to talk about, JACEN - not `Colonel,' not `sir,'" Ben said, as the older Jacen's jaw dropped. Anakin, Tahiri, Jaina, Jag and Mara all grinned or otherwise gave Ben affirmations, and Shevu chuckled. #THAT'S my Ben. Now, if only Luke is as human ...# she thought, as the Jedi, GAG, Chiss, Storm Ewoks and Hapans evacuated the area ... --------------------------------------------------------------- Coruscant Low Orbit: Tuk'ata's Morning Breath, Flagship of Darth Krayt: --------------------------------------------------------------- Luke managed to make it to the airlock where he'd sensed the Falcon forcing its way past the Sith cruiser's point defenses, and hadn't had to fight TOO many Sith ... but there was one in the way. The worst. "Fool. As if I could not use the turbolift system to outmaneuver you. Kenobi took my right hand, defending you on Tatooine - know the true face of Krayt, the true face of the man whose blood and people your father SPAT upon!" the Dark Lord rumbled, removing his helmet with his left hand and igniting a lightsaber in his right. And Luke RECOGNIZED that face - the tattoos - from the Great Holocron ... a Jedi of the Old Republic, believed lost - "... A'SHARAD HETT ... !?" Luke blurted. "You have NO idea what is coming, Skywalker. You escaped me as a toddler on the sands of our homeworld. I was cleansing the Dune Sea of non-native settlers, when Kenobi defeated me in a lightsaber duel and deliberately severed my right wrist. He severed me from my Tusken Raider tribe," Krayt snarled. Hett looked off into the distance, remembering something, and said, almost - ALMOST - sympathetically, "I trusted your father, kept the secret of his massacre of the Tusken tribe who killed your grandmother. And he betrayed the old Order - and you have idiotically consolidated power in your `new Jedi Order,' WITHOUT MEANING TO!" "I was wrong. And I never deliberately tampered with the minds of my fellow - yes, FELLOW, not subservient - Jedi. I know I am one of many voices in the Jedi, and all need a chance to be heard before we can truly call ourselves worthy of the trust given to us," Luke said. Hett - Krayt - sneered, and put his helmet back on. "You had them by the collar, and you didn't even MEAN to do it - and you spurn the power. No wonder when I sent Lumiya to tempt that idiot nephew of yours, he was able to delude you into mewling with worry for your brat. You Skywalkers are either pathetic adolescents whining about your fears of the dark ... or seething engines of destruction. Your clone was at least strong enough to have vision - even his Skrull replicant did," the Dark Lord snarled as the airlock opened behind him. And Luke heard Leia warn, /DUCK!/ - and flattened himself. Krayt spun, his eyes widening, and a winged man with a proton bazooka yelled, "GET AWAY FROM THAT JEDI MASTER!" And - with a BHWAKOOM!!!!!! - Krayt went flying backwards OVER Luke. ------------------------------------------------------------------ "I *knew* taking a leave of absence to come with Betsy would be a good idea - and I even got to actually use this silly bazooka!" Warren chuckled as he and Luke boarded the Falcon - Leia was relieved when she was able to seal the hatch. "We're gone!" Han yelled, and Chewie pulled the freighter free of the docking ring. The Wraiths and Rogues were laying down a path of cover fire, while Leia stood by ready to open the planetary shields. "Lady Vader, the multispectral analyzer array is functional. No cloaked craft will be able to follow us back to Coruscant," Meewahl said, and Leia thanked the Noghri - there. They were through, finally able to relax, and Leia left the cockpit to hug Luke in the main hold. /Thanks,/ he sent - obviously communicating with Mara and Ben, relief on his face ... and best of all, he WAS Luke. #Thank the Graveyard we can detect Skrulls through the Force. I can't believe we didn't sense the switch back on Nirauan ...# Leia thought, sitting beside Luke at the gaming table. He gave her an embarrassed look, then said aloud, "I was ... kind of buried in ysalamiri and drugged. I got distracted - sloppy." "Luke, it happens. Force knows we're all dealing with a lot - you've got Mara being a host for a cosmic `avatar of life' and Ben's worries, and Jacen ... well, we both have to deal with Jacen. Maybe JACENS," Leia said, explaining Ben's call about Jacen's clone ... #Another teenager in the family. At least Ben's polite - usually ... and Jacen was the less-chaotic of my twins when he was 14. The Vong War only made his and Jaina's later teenage years worse ... and I have grandchildren! It should be a happy time ... but ...# Leia reflected. Everything that had happened in the past few months - the Corellian secession, the threat of a new Confederacy, Earth, the Skrulls, Jacen's manipulations, the return of the Sith - it was just so MUCH. Luke squeezed her hand and smiled wryly. "We'll get through this. TOGETHER - I promise, I'll listen. You've always been not only the strong one, but the one who had the most common sense," he said. "You remember when we sat here, fleeing the first Death Star? It's been 40 years, Luke - FORTY YEARS. I have no idea where all the time's gone, and Jacen's hardly acting like the grownup he should be ... Jaina and Anakin `went to find themselves,' and THEY'RE the adults. And the little ones, and the clone, and Ben ..." Leia sighed. "It's time we acknowledged the next generation's right to take the reins, Leia - and helped them, not hindered," Luke vowed. --------------------------------------------------------------- GAG HQ, Galactic City: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Finally - after the Falcon had made it safely through the storm of continuing dogfights taking place over Galactic City, and Luke, Mara and Ben had clung to each other in relief until they were all sure they were all all right - a war council was called in the main lecture hall, since it had the largest holotank. "Here's what we know: These Skrulls, extragalactic shapeshifters, are attacking us for - Force only knows what reason. Conquest, religion, pure orneriness, the Guard hasn't been able to figure out yet. We hadn't been able to take a Skrull alive until today," Shevu - the organizational head of the Guard, since Jacen was on suspended duty until Niathal and Omas got answers about his Sith ties - said, standing beside the holotank while a holographic Skrull rotated above it. "This is a highly odd move for the Skrulls. Overt, massive military strikes are rare until they've incited chaos through their shapeshifting infiltration techniques. It's as if, through their clumsy strikes these past few weeks since Centerpoint, they were trying to crystallize resistance to their attacks, instead of divide us," Formbi - who'd come with Jag and the Chiss task force, wearing combat fatigues - said, frowning. "A direct attack on Coruscant is more psychologically devastating than crippling. After the Vong War, any such attack promises to be a horrid reminder of the battle almost 14 years ago ... extragalactic fanatics, able to hide their true natures, seeking to crush us," Niathal interjected. "Well, unlike the Vong, we can sense the Skrulls. And unlike then, I can't possibly imagine anyone stupid or twisted enough to form a Peace Brigade to work with Skrulls. These bloody genocidal maniacs have been known to murder entire towns on Earth, then hypnotize themselves into thinking THEY were the townsfolk as cover identities," Betsy said, shuddering. "They've taken only small, but dangerous, footholds so far here - shield facilities, power grids, medcenters. The fleet they sent is large, thousands of ships ... and they managed to land a huge number of troops, possibly in the millions, before our friends from the Ascendancy came," Kenth Hamner said, nodding respectfully at Formbi and Chak. "We'll stay for the long haul - and leave once the Skrulls are done, of course. While we may be allies, we also remember the psychological impact ANOTHER Chiss had on the old Republic," Formbi said - and the GA officials nodded; Thrawn had been Chiss, and Imperial. "I just don't get it - Coruscant has maybe a trillion citizens, most of whom are armed. Even figuring a third of those are kids or elderly, that's still a few HUNDRED BILLION sentients of fighting age and strength. How can the Skrulls hope to win?" the clone-Jacen asked. Betsy blinked - HAD Jacen been this naive when he'd been Ben's age? Ben sighed - not disdainfully, but in a truly far too old tone for a boy his age, and Mara and Luke looked as sorrowful as Betsy felt for the boy - and said, "Think about it, Jace. Most of the citizens here aren't combat-trained. And shapeshifters don't have to replace your loved ones to scare people. They can grow claws, extra limbs, wings, maybe fangs - they can BECOME monsters." "Excellent tactical analysis, Ben," Jacen-the-Elder said - but he flinched underneath a few dozen glares, and sank back into his seat. Still, Betsy did give Ben a wink, and the boy managed a real smile, before giving Jacen's clone a kind look. "Oh. Thanks, Ben - and can you all call me `Jace,' from now on, please? It'll be easier than saying `Jacen,' and having him and me turn our heads," the clone boy said, nodding at his template. A mild chuckle filled the room, and Jace blushed when Jaina put him in a sisterly headlock. "I like this one a lot better," she said, giving her "original" twin a dirty look. "Can we save the Jacen-bashing for AFTER the tactical chat? We still have a few million shapeshifting lunatics running around, and their little battle fleet pounding away at our friends from the UR and what's left of the Fifth Fleet?" Omas warned. "AND those Sith. Krayt claims to be A'Sharad Hett, a Jedi from the old Order who survived Order 66 and who claimed a right of vengeance against my father's bloodline for killing Tuskens and becoming Vader," Luke said, from where he sat with the rest of the Masters. To Betsy's relief, the Council had - with Mara firmly holding Luke's shoulder - agreed to gloss over his little mind control stunt, as long as he agreed to work WITH them from now on. And, as an embarrassed Kyp Durron had pointed out, "We didn't actually QUESTION all that much - even before the mindkriff ..." #Yes, Mr. `Kyp-and-the-Dozen' who massacred a Vong worldship during the War ... and Carida, but we let that slide,# Betsy thought. She'd "escaped" Luke's mindkriff more through her dual sets of shields, Force and telepathic both, than her perennial absences to search the Unknown Regions. And Betsy suspected Luke HADN'T mindkriffed the Order before the Dark Nest crisis ... #We weren't so fractured before then. We were busy rebuilding from the Vong War, so there was no need to rein in Durron's contempt of Omas, or Corran's fear of rogue Jedi,# Betsy thought. "The Sith fleet seems to be trapped, for the moment, between the inner and outer planetary shields, and are as much of a problem for the Skrulls as they are for us. Our first priority is to get control of the shield grid - we can get the inner shields open, since we have the most updated codes and the encryption keys, but unless we can get the outer layer open, we can't hope to get relief from offworld. Water recycling isn't an issue, but food ..." Kenth sighed - until the adult Jacen coughed, smiling. "Supplies? Not a problem," he said, drawing everyone's attention. "Excuse me? I thought you were on a leash, Mr. `Dances with Dark Lady Schutta,'" Kyp growled. Jacen sneered derisively and said, "You all seem to forget my ally during the end of the War. My `little friend,' the World Brain? "You think it's just in the pool in the old Senate? Its' tentacles have grown into the ROOTS of Coruscant. There are chambers full of Vongshaped technology - biotech, yes, but usable by us, should we need it. Food, water purification, thud bugs, plasma spitter tanks, coralskippers ... taken from the bones of this world." Everyone went very, very quiet, and Jacen stood - not dark or light, but that strange fuzziness Betsy had come to associate with the Vong, after Anakin had taught her to sense them in the Force. And Betsy remembered Franklin's warning ... "Jacen. You've not been ... Vongforming sentients, have you?" she demanded - refusing to flinch under his revolted stare. "I did learn from the warped Skrull who appeared to me the day we liberated Coruscant, Elizabeth. It - he - warned me not to tamper with Vongforming myself or others, and I heeded him. Probably the only good bit of advice a Skrull ever gave me," Jacen snapped. "So, we have supplies. How do we motivate the populace to rise up? We can't trust communication lines over long distances, not if the Skrulls are as competent with our tech," Niathal asked. "I have an idea - spread info through the underground. We'll need contacts with a bit more cred than I have ... you'd be surprised how patriotic underworld types are. When I left for Corellia, a lot of my Coruscant contacts got karked off," Han said, almost embarrassed, as Leia patted his arm. "Well, then we need to send in an expect in the underworld. Someone who can speak their language, someone without any ties to either side in the conflict," Tenel Ka pondered. Then Zayne and Gryph walked in, and everyone smiled - except Gryph, who muttered, "I KNOW what those smiles mean." Zayne gulped, asking, "This doesn't involve seers, does it?" ----------------------------------------------------------- The Winking Hutt, Undercity: ----------------------------------------------------------- Even with the roughly-4,000-year future shock, Zayne would've known Coruscant ... including the rougher parts. He'd traveled with Gryph often enough, first trying to clear their names with the old Jedi Council after being framed by the Covenant for allegedly killing Zayne's fellow Padawans, then later as part of Revan's forces against the Mandalorians. Their missions for Revan had been mostly espionage and supply runs, meaning working with the underworld sources the Snivvian knew so well. #Except that right around Althir, we must've gotten stuffed into stasis pods ... and now ... it's been MILLENNIA. Jarael, Shel, Camper, the Moomos ... all gone. At least Carth got a mention in the histories; he died old and happy, with grandkids. Revan ... I can't believe he fell. And came back. And Alek ... Malak. I'll not dishonor your memory, old pal - I'll remember you at your best, I promise,# Zayne thought, waiting for Gryph to finish negotiating with the resistance cell they'd found. Zayne had been 22 when he'd gone into stasis - years spent away from the front lines, years spent sneaking. He'd never been Knighted, and never really had much chance to hone his abilities ... and, if pressed, he felt like the kid he'd been that horrible day when his friends had been murdered by their Jedi Masters, on Taris. Even as old and as young as he felt, Zayne HAD gained enough experience not to let shapeshifted spies get a drop on him - he managed to dodge the first Skrull-blast when a "waitress" shifted into a female Skrull, with flowing green hair and an evil grin - who shrieked when a blaster bolt caught her in the back, dropping her. And Zayne's jaw dropped when he saw who'd fired it. A youngish Hutt, maybe 60 standard years old ... wearing a funny hat ... surrounded by other sentients wearing similar hats. "Berets," Ben Skywalker had described the hats, a fashion trend. #Hutt ... with a beret?# Zayne marveled, bowing toward the Hutt. "VIVA LA ROTTA! VIVA LA PUNKY-MUFFIN!!" the other sentients - mostly Rodians, a few Gammoreans, Klatoonians and one Togruta - cheered, while Gryph walked forward from the crowd, grinning. "Rotta here's not your usual Hutt - says he likes Jedi, and wants to help us," Gryph said, chuckling - well, any starport in a storm ... --------------------------------------------------------------- GAG HQ Secure Holding Cell Level: --------------------------------------------------------------- Ben squirmed; he'd never liked being here, and he knew Jacen had ... #Had what? Betrayed me? Maybe he WAS spying on Lumiya - no. Why'd he mindkriff me, anyhow?# Ben reminded himself, watching with a sad expression as Jacen lifted a stasis pod from a holding cell, as Dad, Admiral Niathal, and the Jedi Council watched with Ben. Jacen looked at them sadly, especially at Ben, and Ben COULD feel Jacen's regret ... well, toward him, anyhow. "I should never have listened to Lumiya, I know. But there was ... a vision, I had, on the asteroid - Ben, you were knocked out when I had the vision, and I blurred, NOT erased, your memories of `Brisha Syo' - where, if Lumiya died ... I ended up killing Uncle Luke," Jacen said, shaking his head. "Nelani Dinn paid the price for my lack of vision ... or so Lumiya thought." Ben's gut clenched, but Dad's grip on his shoulder tightened a little - not meanly, Dad was just trying to support him ... and Ben thanked him, frowning when Jacen caught the gesture and looked hurt. /DAD is my dad, Jacen. NOT YOU,/ Ben reminded his - former Master, and that didn't hurt to say like it had before. /I know, Ben. I just hope I can start to heal the wound I caused,/ Jacen sent ... he wanted to be open, Ben sensed. But Ben wasn't that naive kid who'd wanted a place with the Guard anymore, the one who looked up to Jacen as a hero. Ben knew the cost of blind trust ... and how his REAL parents cared for him. Jacen sighed, then turned the pod upright and said, "Here is, I hope, the evidence that I never turned dark. A stasis pod. Whose occupant I healed, after defeating her in a lightsaber duel ... and slowing her reaction time by using the lost Force art of Morichro. Thus, her stab wound wasn't lethal, although Lumiya thought so," Jacen said ... and Ben GASPED, as the pod turned translucent - and he saw - NELANI DINN. *ALIVE,* according to the pod's sensors. "You'll excuse me if I leave - I doubt Nelani will want to see me as the first person she faces?" Jacen asked, and Dad let him go - with Master Durron following, Ben noticed. It was kinda unfair. #Jacen. You tried to save Nelani,# Ben thought, hoping ... Well, it was a start. But Ben looked at Dad ... and reminded himself to keep his eyes open. Mom and Dad never mindkriffed him, after all ... --------------------------------------------------------------- It was a simple, quiet affair, in the GAG HQ gymnasium, as the night settled over Coruscant. Luke - more for his role as the central founder of the New Jedi Order, since he'd resigned officially as Grand Master to try and foster more trust from the other Council members - had been asked to conduct the simple set of vows ... a semi-secular set. The full, Ewok religious vows would have to wait until after the Skrull invasion was turned back. But the couple were young, and in love, and wanted some assurance of a future together. So Myri Antilles, daughter of Wedge and Iella, and Kettch, son of Kolot and Meriala Kalar, wed. In retrospect, Betsy figured, Kettch's father's identity shouldn't be a surprise - Kolot, the victim of brain experiments by biotechs working for the obnoxious Imperial Warlord Zsinj almost 30 years ago, was an "enhanced" Ewok, and a gifted pilot. The bride's guests included most of the Jedi Council, Han, Chewie, Remy, Zayne, Gryph, Warren, Betsy, GAG troops, Omas, Niathal, the Fels, Tenel Ka, Artoo, Rogue and Wraith squadrons, and Formbi. The groom's side was a sea of furry guests, with Threepio sitting in. The lights were dimmed, and a soft Ewok horn was blown, as Myri walked down the aisle in an off-white dress with a tearful Wedge, after the rest of the wedding party preceded them. Wes Janson - Rogue Squadron's jokester, who had originated a prank with a STUFFED Ewok toy named "Kettch" decades ago - had to be sedated for giggles when Wedge gave away the bride. It was no coincidence that Iella Antilles "sedated" Janson with a stun bolt. And stripped him to his boxer shorts, to commemorate Wedge's revenge for the first Kettch joke. Syal Antilles, Myri's sister, was the maid of honor, with Tahiri, Kolir Hu'lya, Jysella Horn, Seha Dorvald and Tiu Zax as bridesmaids. Valin Horn, Kettch's roommate from the Jedi Temple and best friend, was the best man, with Anakin, Thann Mithric, Doran Tainer, Ben and Jace as groomsmen. Tace proudly served as the ringbearer, and Allana was the flower girl. (Jacen the Elder was NOT invited.) Myri and Kettch stood, her reply a happy "Yes!" and Kettch's a merry "Yub-yub," when Luke spoke the simple vows. And Ewok and wife kissed, Skrulls and Sith be damned. --------------------------------------------------------------- tbc ...