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#coruscant and the core worlds
sw5w · 4 months
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And on the Payroll of the Trade Federation, I Might Add
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STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:28:20
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kad-dala · 8 months
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Fancy day, fancy Daranu 🌰🍒🍸
Somehow hearing speeders just outside an actually cosy cafe is a mood.
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gurrillero-aa · 2 years
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i'm late to the party but tales of the jedi is so good!!!!
#i got so emotional with the young dooku episode#you can see the root of that frustration how it's wearing on him and how to follow that thread into who he becomes#it's so interesting to see that he essentially starts trying to do good and trying to fight corruption in the senate#how he can see the entire system is flawed and needs to change#but how ironically it is that same corruption that leads to his eventual fall and doom in essence#like who can say you didn't want to choke that lil bih senator whatshisname#i don't think it was accidental that his whole speech and the scene with the soldiers was very 'imperial'#this is the rot from where the whole empire sprouts#not this guy specifically but this kind of attitude of senators making lil kingdoms out of their planets & living at large in coruscant#idk it was very interesting to see this episode so close to andor#i feel like there is a direct correlation between this and the senators at mon's party and the contrast with how people are being oppressed#and it comes to show how basically the empire only set in motion what was already there and already established??#i keep thinking back at mon saying 'people will suffer' and i was half expecting luthen to yell people are ALREADY suffering#they've been suffering long before the emperor basically finished crushing the last bit of freedom#and i think cassian is a very good example of that#like yes the empire sucks but so did the republic#they drained and destroyed his whole planet to mine it for resources#resources that you can bet they would never see an ounce of gain from#it's just outer planets being exploded for the benefit of the core worlds#and it brings some logic as to why cassian is the way he is in this season??#he tried staying in his lane he tried fighting back and none of it worked#so you can't entirely blame him for having lost hope and being out to save himself and the people he cares about because no one else will#in fact they will very much try to kill them if he's not vigilant and feral 100% of the time those were the lessons he he was taught#and damn i spiralled again ilrhjdnrvd IT'S NOT MY FAULT ALL THIS NEW SW CONTENT IS SO GOOD AND LEAVES YOU THINKING#like i had to stop after ep 2 and PROCESS bc there is so much there and they are doing political commentary so well#and it's always my favourite part about star wars i am a nerd i love to dive deep into politics#tales of the jedi spoilers#totj spoilers
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ahsoka-in-a-hood · 13 days
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It's my headcanon that there's not a galactic-wide holonet. That infrastructure just isn't there. Individual planets like coruscant probably have a holonet, sure, and some core worlds are connected to each other, but for a lot of the galaxy, most of the galaxy even, the average person just doesn't have access to a galactic equivalent of Earth's internet.
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padawansuggest · 5 months
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Me: *has a million fics I have started in the past month*
Brain: …
Me: plz don’t-
Brain: BUT WHAT IF OBI WAN WAS BABY AND GOT TAKEN ON CORUSCANT BY A DEATH WATCH NOT CAUSE HES JEDI BUT BECAUSE THEY WERE ALREADY HEADING TO AN ILLEGAL SLAVE AUCTION AND HES A REDHEADED STEWJONI BABY AND HE GETS AWAY AND RUNS INTO LITTLE KELDABE WHERE HE PROMPTLY MEETS JASTER MEREEL AND CLIMBS HIM CAUSE JASTER FEELS SO SAFE SOF KIND SO DADDY SO CUDDLES AND WARMTH AND LOVE AND SO NOW JASTER IS TAKING CARE OF OBI WHILE JANGO AND MYLES ARE ABOUT TO GET SENT OUT TO FIND RHE DEATH WATCH MEMBER WHEN TEMPLE GUARD FEEMOR SHOWS UP SAYING HES BEEN FOLLOWING OBIS TRACKER FOR A HALF HOUR AND HES GONNA HELP THEM TAKE DOWN A CORE WORLD SLAVE AUCTION AND LEAVES BABY WAN WITH JASTER ONLY TO COME BACK LIKE FOUR HOURS LATER WITH ARLA FETT AND A CRYING BLUBBERING JANGO AND A CONFUSED MYLES AND ALSO MONTROSS IS DEAD AND SO IS PALPATINE THANKS
Me: …I fucking asked you not to… does baby wan get so many cuddles he’s a happy baby bundle of kisses and loves???
Brain: OBVIOUSLY
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varpusvaras · 10 months
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Alderaan, 3.15 am, some days after the war has ended:
Fox, startling awake: Bail?
Bail: Yes...?
Fox: I forgot my commlink to Coruscant
Bail: Oh, don’t worry about it, we can get you a new one
Fox: Yes but all my contacts are in that one, what if one of my brothers tries to call me and they panic because they can’t contact me?
Bail: Fox, you are in one of the Core worlds and publicly living with the Queen and her consort, if none of your brothers are capable of reading the news, that sounds like it’s their problem
Fox: ....I like it when you are right
Breha, from the other side of the bed: They better learn how to read the news before the wedding, now back to sleep both of you
--- --- ---
Fox, with his new commlink in hand: hey guys, how are you doing? I’m asking now because none of you came to my wedding
Rex, yelling the loudest in the group call: BITCH we thought you were DEAD, where the fuck are you???!!
Fox:
Bail:
Breha:
Cody: wait, what wedding- Obi-Wan why are you laughing at me
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book-of-baba-fett · 1 year
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Revolve - Captain Rex x Fem!Reader
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Summary: After months of thinking he was dead, Captain Rex comes back into your life. There will be time to figure out where you lie in a galaxy neither of you know anymore, but for now you can't keep your hands off him and Rex needs to show you how much he missed you.
Warnings: Smut (18+ only for this folks), oral sex (f receiving), boob & general body worship, PiV, praise kink, mentions of/light cockwarming, creampie
A/N: Inspired by Rex's return in The Bad Batch season 2, but no spoilers for the episode's plot. It's been a long time of writer's block, so i'm kicking up my brain again with some good old smut featuring our favorite blond captain. Divider by @galacticgraffiti
Word Count: 3.4k
Ao3 Link
Masterlist
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You were always careful with how you left your apartment: Coruscant wasn’t a safe space to live, even before the Empire. Now there was a false sense of security, a cover brought by the end of the war that should make you feel comfort but you couldn’t lose the fear that something else would come to shake your world at its core. Thing were supposed to be safe, but you didn’t recognize the galaxy anymore. You couldn’t stop looking over your shoulder as you walked home, you never lingered in secluded spots for too long, maybe you were being paranoid, but ever since you the war ended you knew you weren’t safe. Maybe it was because you lost the one person who you knew would always look after you. So, you always triple check that your doors are locked before bed, that your security system was on, and would repeat the same motions when you left for work in the morning. So, tonight when you arrive home to an unlocked door, it’s more than a surprise.
You recognize the simple signs of disturbances; your chair slightly nudged to the side, a cloak resting over the back of your couch. Whoever came in was giving you warning signs so you wouldn’t be alarmed once you saw the shadow of their figure staring out your window.
And the last thing Rex ever wanted to do was frighten you.
At the sound of your keys landing on the counter, Rex turns to face you. He looks good for a 'dead' man. Your heart pounds heavily in your chest, your feet frozen in place as you take in the man in front of you. You never believed the reports, couldn’t fathom that he had died in the crash that took his brothers. Still, it was like a ghost stood in front of you, and you were afraid if you acknowledged it, you would wake up from this wanted dream.
But then he says your name, the rumble of his voice too present to be a figment of your imagination. His eyes are filled with longing and disbelief even though he had sought you out; you would have teased him for it if you weren't in shock yourself.
You practically leap at him, and Rex is waiting with open arms; those strong, caring arms grasping you tightly as he tugs you into his chest. The vest he wears is so light you can feel his heart thudding in his chest, as runaway with glee as yours is too. He presses his face into your neck, smelling the scent of your shampoo, taking in your essence. HIs hands grasp your clothing, he needed this moment just as much as you did; this tangible proof that you still existed after everything else fell apart.
"Cyar'ika," He murmurs, his breath hot against the skin of your neck. Hu nuzzles into you and you feel the stubble growing on his cheek; a new thing for him. "I'm sorry it took me so long."
"I thought I lost you," you manage to squeak out, eyes burning from tears threatening to spill over.
"I wanted to be here sooner," you can feel the weight of honesty on his words. Rex pulls back, his eyes once again finding you. Now that you're closer, you can take him in much better. A pale scar on his temple is the only sign of injury on him. He rests his hand on your cheek, his thumb circling over where tears had already managed to stain. "I would have been. But it wasn't safe."
"It still isn't," you interject, your worry for him renewed in a different way. "So much has happened so quickly. And I don't believe what they're saying about the Jedi being traitors, it just doesn't make sense."
"It's all lies," Rex insists in a harsher tone than he's ever used with you. He dials it back once he sees the apprehension on your face, pecking a kiss on your forehead before exhaling. His face is lined with exhaustion, his eyes tired, and you can feel the anger laced with guilt radiating off him. "Palpatine was using them, using all of us, all along."
"What happened?" you almost don't want to know, but you have to understand where he's been, everything he's dealt with. You can't take his burdens, but you can help him with the weight.
"It's not a quick tale," he says with a mirthless chuckle, that deep sound that you love so much hidden behind the dead seriousness.
"Well, I'm here to listen," You nuzzle against his hand, planting a kiss in his palm.
"Later. Right now, though..." Rex's tone gets lower, his hand sliding to your neck as the arm around your back squeezes you tighter. “It’s been too long since I kissed you.”
You don’t have time to reply before his lips are on yours, a moan catching your throat as his grasp tightens. Rex is slow, tentative at first, as if he’s savoring the moment to make up for lost time. But when you pull back for air, it’s like a switch flips in him; his eyes are dark with desire, hooded as they look over you.
He guides you back to the bedroom he’s spent so many nights in. He knows your place like it was his own, and one day you had wanted to make it so. Now you know that day could never be.
Rex kisses you again, hungrier and insisting as his hands find the waistline of your pants. You can’t hold in the giggle that escapes your lips at his frantic attempts to take your clothes off. You help him as best you can, lifting your shirt up. Rex makes an indignant huff when he has to release your lips, but its quickly silenced as you stand in front of him in your bra and panties. His hands reach around your back, his deft fingers skillfully removing your bra. His eyes are locked on your face as he slides it off you, watching the way your lips tremble in anticipation.
Rex’s touch was reverential; his fingertips grazing over your skin, raising goosebumps as his touch passed. Your nipples pebbled, from the cold air or from the arousal of the heat of his hands against you, you weren’t sure.
“I missed you,” you whimper as he nudges you to sit on the bed. That doesn’t encompass all you’ve felt in the last few months. Nothing could compare to the ache you felt without him. But you couldn’t burden him with that, not when he was dealing with so much.
“I’ve missed you too, Cyare,” Rex leans down and clasps both his hands around your face. “But I’m here now. It’s just you and me.”
He’s quick to remove his clothes, eager to feel his skin against yours. You slide back as he does, taking him in as you prop up on your elbows. His chest is littered with more scars than you remember, something that frightens you. But you can’t let your fears get in the way of this moment.
You spread your legs wider, smirking at the way Rex’s eyes linger on your panties, the only time of clothing either of you are wearing. He prowls to the bed, slowly climbing on it and over you until he’s kissing you again.
“Have I ever told you how gorgeous you are?” Rex murmurs against your lips.
“You could mention it more often,” you can’t resist the urge to tease, ignoring the fluttering in your stomach. Rex blows a huff of air against your lips as he chuckles in response.
“Alright then,” he starts, his voice dangerously low as he presses up.
“You’re gorgeous,” he repeats, pecking a kiss on the corner of your mouth. His lips trail down to your jaw, his breath hot on you as if meets the sensitive skin of your neck. You yelp in surprise as his teeth meet your skin, nipping lightly before his tongue laves over the sensitive spot. “And so sexy.”
He makes his way down to your heaving chest. His palm cups on of your breasts, squeezing as he plants open mouthed kisses on your sternum. His eyes meet yours once again, a slight smugness in them as his tongue peaks out and flicks over your nipple.
“Love your perfect tits,” Rex groans before sucking your nipple between his lips. You whimper from the pleasure, your cheeks hot and your core aching. He moves to your other breast, sucking on that nipple too as you squirm beneath him. You try to press your legs together to release some of the need settling in at the apex of your thighs, but Rex’s body between you prevents that. But he knows what you want, and starts to grind his hardness against you. You gasp as you feel how large he is, his hot and heavy cock rutting against you. Droplets of precum smear against your lower abdomen as Rex lazily thrusts, still focused on your chest.
When he decides he’s done, he scoots lower down your body, his tongue tracing his path down before he gets to your panties. Rex looks up at you, his brown eyes filled with sinful wanting as he licks a stripe over your covered slit, tasting the tang of your arousal that had already dampened your panties. You moan his name, one of your legs crossing over his back to nudge him closer to you.
“Patience,” Rex tsks, that small, confident grin that drives you insane still on his face. His fingers toy with the band on your panties. “Only good girls get rewarded.”
You hmph, prepared to sass him back when he raises an eyebrow at you. You put on a sweet smile, and nudge your legs slightly further apart, waving your hips as you wiggle.
“I’ve just missed how good you make me feel,” you sound breathless as you say it. “I can’t handle being teased right now.”
You try to shift again but Rex holds you steady. He presses a kiss to your thigh; the roughness of his stubble sends a shiver down your spine. You must be dripping in your panties, your need for him to give you everything taking over. “Rex; please.”
Rex was a resolved man, but he always had a weakness where you were concerned. “Anything for you, cyar’ika.”
Rex loops his fingers around your waistband and slowly slides your panties down, groaning when he sees your glistening lips. Once they’re off, he crawls back to you on the bed. His strong arms wrap around your thighs, his large hands holding your thighs steady and open for him as he dives in.
You moan as soon as his tongue glides through your lips, you try to grind your hips against his face but his grip is strong, holding you in place as he tastes you. He licks a long, flat strip up your slit, then circles over your clit with his tongue, You can’t hold in the way your breath hitches as he flicks over your clit, teasing you as he begins to finally relieve some of that pressure aching in you. 
Rex groans against your skin as he tastes you, thinking of how much he missed this, missed you. It’s cliche to say, but he eats you like a man starved; he had been so long deprived of you that now he needed to relish it, savor it. Something ignited in him, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of your thighs as he buried his face there. You knew if he wasn’t holding you steady, your legs would be squeezing against his head. Your hands jump to the back of his head, your nails probably scratching the back of his head, but he gives no sign he minds. In fact he seems to like it; he groans into your core, the vibrations against your sensitive skin making you keen.  
His eyes dart up as you gasp, a challenge and a cockiness in his eyes that sets you on fire. He unwinds one of his arms from your legs, the limb weighted with the signs of that sweet soreness you’ll feel in the morning. You’re about to offer Rex some teasing remark for it, when you feel a thick finger probing at your entrance and your words turn into a moan. 
“Relax, cyar’ika, I’ve got you,” Rex croons as his finger slowly drags in and out of you. He puls it in and out of you, slowly increasing his pace, before adding a second finger in. Your walls cling to his fingers, tightly clenching around them as Rex fingers you. He crooks his finger, finding your g-spot with such a skill and ease; he knows your body so well, knows exactly what to do to make you feel good. 
With only one hand to keep you in place, your squirming has increased; your body acting of its own mind to chase his fingers as they thrust into your pussy. The way his fingers fill you is near perfect, second only to his cock. You can feel the pressure cresting in your body with every stroke of his fingers inside you, your breath leaving you in sighs as your chest begins to heave. He slips another finger in, stuffing you and warming you up for what’s to come and you swear you’re close to seeing the Maker. 
“That’s it, pretty girl,” Rex grunts out, his voice husky with arousal. You can feel his breath on your pussy as he encourages you. “I can feel how close you are. Go on, let go for me.”
He leans in and wraps his lips around your clit, sucking as his fingers stick with their consistent motion against your g-spot. You cry out his name, your body tensing as you climb that peak, finally toppling over with a swipe of his dexterous fingers. Your vision dots white and your voice cracks as your head rolls back. Rex keeps sucking your clit and fingering you as your orgasm washes over you, only slowing when your body relaxes again. 
“How was that?” Rex asks, his smirk telling you he already knew the answer. He pushes himself back up, climbing over you so he could kiss you; you could taste yourself on his lips.
“Hmm could have been bett-oh,” Your teasing reply is cut off by Rex kissing you again, his hand slips to your neck, his fingers clasping around it. He only gives a light pressure, not enough hurt you in any way but enough to remind you who made you feel that good. You can feel his cock, hot and hard against your thigh as his kiss grew more insistent, tongue meeting tongue as your arousal built up again. Rex can’t wait any longer either. 
 “I need you.” He grunts out in between kisses, needy and purposeful. 
“Then take me,” you reply, out of breath, ready to offer him everything you have. 
Rex enters you slowly, his cock stretching you, filling you in the way you craved. Your hands clenched around his biceps, nails digging into his skin as you hissed from the slight pain that came from getting used to him. But maker, it was so worth it. Rex’s muscles were clenched as he held himself back from roughly snapping his hips to yours; he wanted to take you, claim you entirely as his and Maker knows you would willingly let him. But that restraint made those first moments all the more savorful, something to cling to before you lost yourselves.
Rex groans roughly as his cock hilts completely inside you, pressing his forehead against yours. He stills for a moment, breathing heavily as he feels you around him, warm and tight. He loves the feeling of you beneath him trembling with want, loves the way you bite your lips as you try and hold your whimpers inside. His eyes are dark as he looks down at you, taking you in and reading you to judge when you’re ready for him to move.
He fills you so perfectly, you would let him lay here for hours, semi-crushing you with his cock inside you as your cunt squeezes around him. You would have him use you in any way he wanted and you would let him. But now there’s one thing alone you want, you meet his eyes and nod, digging your nails tighter into his skin as you beg, “Move, please Rex .”
You cry in pleasure as he thrusts back and slams his hips back into you so hard you feel him in your gut. You’re still moaning when he thrusts again, just as hard, just as deep.
This wasn’t your soft and tender Rex; you knew he was there, under the hardened layers of a man who had lost everything. This Rex is still kind, still devoted, but he has a need burning through him. A desire to take you and consume you. His grip around you is harsh, his arms squeezing you as they wrap around your torso so hard you half wonder if he could break you. His thrusts near punishing, his cock plunging deep into you. You can’t hold in your moans and cries; and Rex doesn’t want you to. He wants to hear you, needs to know how you fall apart under him, how you call his name, how you beg for him.
“That’s my good girl,” he grits out, his voice so low it sparked a fuse inside you. His eyes flashed as you clenched around him. “Taking me so well. You look so beautiful like this.”
“You feel so good,” you tell him. But there’s a smugness on his face.
“I know, princess,” you swear you could cum right then. He knows what he’s doing to you. He can feel the way your body trembles beneath him, how your legs quake around his waist, how your cunt is leaking with arousal all by what’s he’s doing to you.
You clutch onto him likes he’s your life line, and in a way he is. Everything revolves around him, in a way that fills you with bliss when he’s with you and a way that filled you with dread these last few months without him. You’re still torn under the surface, wanting to cry in joy and sorry over ever emotion running through you at seeing him again but you’ll have time for that later, time to figure out what comes next. Right now, the only thing that matters is he’s here with you.
Every stroke of his cock inside you knocks the air out of you; you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve moaned his name or how many times your name has left his lips like a prayer. His praises for you falling between every thrust, igniting that fire in your gut as he pounds into you.
Rex holds you tighter and you feel like he could snap you in half; his thrusts going faster and faster, his grunts in your ear getting louder. A layer of sweat beads on both your bodies, the smack of your hips meeting is lewd but heavenly.  Your breath is pitching, every time Rex moves his cock hits you in a place so deep as he pushes you closer and closer to ecstasy. He can feel you pulsing around him, hear the way your voice is cracking and he knows you’re about to come.
“Come on mesh’la, that’s it,” Rex orders hoarsely, his voice rugged and tense as he holds himself together for a little bit longer, “come for me.”
You start to see stars as your orgasm hits you. Rex fucks your harder as you come, his breath loud as he chases his own orgasm with you. Your pussy clenches around Rex’s thick cock, milking him dry as he grunts out and spills inside you. You should be embarrassed by how loud you are, knowing there’s no way your neighbors can’t hear you yell Rex’s name but you can’t bother to care. Rex’s thrusts speed up as he empties himself into you, until he presses all the way in once more when he’s done, filling you into most sinfully delightful way as he collapses on top of you.
You both lay there for an immeasurable amount of time; his cock still filling you up, plugging your mixed releases that slowly leak out of you as he softens. His lips are in your neck, softly kissing you as he murmurs his adorations into your skin. Your fingers trace circles on his back, over the scars that litter his body. There are conversations to be had, plans to be made: but nothing else matters in this moment more than having your Rex back, safe with you.
--
Taglist & Rex Hoes (fill out this form on my masterlist if you want to be added!)
@stankferrik @nyravioppri @pinkiemme @fivesarctrooper1 @twistedstitcher27 @frietiemeloen @galacticgraffiti @a-c-lee @ashotofspotchka @itsagrimm @rexandechosandwich @stankferrik @nyravioppri @mavendeb @rain-on-kamino @alwayssnivellus @amyroswell @Sailingthehighseas @lucyysthings @manqoz @lady--kenobi @punkpirate82 @rowansparrow @starstofillmydream @sunshinesdaydream @lucyysthings @hotpinkplastoid @fordo-kixed-rex @ilikemymendarkandfictional @babygirlrex0504 @djarrex @sleepingsun501 @rexxdjarin @fett-djarin
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radiofreederry · 3 months
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A map of the galaxy in 9 ABY in @gabajoofs and my Star Wars timeline. By this point, the Galactic Civil War is considered by many to be effectively over, as the centralized Galactic Empire no longer exists, with only a handful of remnant factions remaining. The New Republic governs much of the galaxy, but their hegemony is not singular, and several other groups exist which are able to project power in the galaxy.
The factions which hold territory include:
The New Republic: After the Battle of Yavin, the Rebellion restructured itself into the New Republic, initially based on Chandrila. Over the next several years, the Republic waged a campaign against the fracturing Empire, securing the Galactic South and the Core before finally liberating Coruscant in 7 ABY. A series of escalating scandals brought down the leadership of Mon Mothma the following year, and she was succeeded in her role by Leia Organa, who pushed through governmental reforms and currently serves as the Republic's Chief of State, with Cal Omas as her Prime Minister. The Republic now sits at a crossroads, with several political factions vying to influence its destiny - including a right-wing political coalition led by Mon Mothma's daughter Leida.
The Pentastar Alignment: The largest and most successful of the post-Endor Imperial splinter states, the Pentastar Alignment, known in Republic space increasingly as simply the Imperial Remnant, controls most of the galaxy from Ord Mantell northwards. It has been so successful largely by avoiding conflict with the Republic and the Mandalorians, instead targeting smaller Imperial warlords including Warlord Zsinj. Pentastar has absorbed much of the remaining Imperial fleet and many of its greatest remaining military minds, including Grand Admirals Martio Batch and Gilad Pellaeon, the latter of whom acts as supreme commander of the Pentastar fleet. Governed from Bastion, the Pentastar Alignment is led by Ardus Kaine, former Grand Moff of Oversector Outer. Though he has taken the title of Legate in reference to military leaders of Bastion's ancient history, in all but name he is Emperor, and inspires great loyalty in his men.
Mando’ade Aliite be Te Anila Grat’ua Mand’alor (United Clans of Mandalore): After Endor, Death Watch veteran Vasili of clan Bev’miir, who had spent several years uniting the disparate Mandalorian clans, launched an assault on the Empire's holdings in Mandalorian space. After securing Mandalore, Bev'miir, now known as Mandalore the Uniter, waged war to expand Mandalorian space to historical heights, helping to crush the Warlord Zsinj and destroy the power base of the Hutts. Since securing the borders of Mandalorian space, Bev'miir has been content to rule his worlds in relative peace, reforming Mandalorian society and restoring the supremacy of the clans. He recently signed a treaty alongside Chief of State Organa in which the Republic recognized him as the legitimate representative of the Mandalorian people and his government's sovereignty over the worlds it controls.
The True Mandalorians: Supporters of Bo-Katan Kryze's claim to lead the Mandalorians, including her own Nite Owls and several smaller clans, united as the True Mandalorians and attempted to gain their own foothold to unite the Mandalorians. While the Republic recognized Kryze as the true leader of the Mandalorians and offered support, ultimately Kryze's forces were only able to secure Onderon's moon Dxun, losing the planet Jabiim to Bev'miir's faction. Now, languishing on the jungle moon, they have lost even republic recognition, and their future is uncertain.
The Hapes Consortium: The small, independent enclave of the matriarchal Hapans has gone unmolested since Endor. Chief of State Organa is planning a diplomatic mission in the hopes of bringing them into the Republic.
The Greater Maldrood: Treuten Teradoc's Imperial remnant, governed from Togoria, has been hit hard in the campaigns against Zsinj and the Mandalorians, and struggles to protect its remaining borders even with Grand Admiral Rae Sloane in command of its military. Reluctantly, Teradoc has opened annexation negotiations with the Pentastar Alignment.
The Neimoidian Socialist Confederation: After the election of socialist Thog Rutak as Trade Monarch, Neimoidian society was thrown into a civil war in which the socialists emerged victorious, and set about reforming Neimoidian society and nationalizing the Trade Federation. The confederation has grown to include much of the former Corporate Sector after its own socialist revolution, and is aligned with the Republic as an independent affiliated observer state.
Zakuul Space: The ancient worlds of Zakuul and Iokath have remained uncontacted for centuries, and some say they no longer exist. Others insist that they are out there, filled with riches and waiting to be plundered.
The Chiss Ascendancy: In the Unknown Regions, the Chiss control their territory and watch for threats known only to them. They have not established relations with the Republic.
The New Confederacy of Independent Systems: After Endor, rather than joining the New Republic, a group of former Separatist worlds, led by Magisterial Porro Linn of Balan-Quod and mainly from the Tion Cluster, formed a revival of the CIS. They have received little support, and have not normalized relations with teh Republic.
The Proto-Sith: A number of dark side factions, including the Knights of Ren, the Prophets of the Dark Side, the Lost Tribe, elements of the Reborn and the Inquisition, and the Sorcerers of Tund have gathered in what was once Sith Space and the Centrality. The Rule of Two died with Palpatine and Vader at Endor, and it is time once again for the Sith to cheat death...
Black Sun, the Iron Triad, the Exchange, et al.: In the wake of Endor and the decimation of the Hutts, organized crime has grown in power. Several worlds in the Galactic south and former Hutt Space are now openly run by crime organizations, in particular the Iron Triad, founded by former Imperial officer Ubrik Adelhard, which is based on Klatooine. After the death of Prince Xizor, the leadership of Black Sun remains unclear.
The Central Committee of Grand Moffs: A small group of Grand Moffs working in concert with Supreme Slavelord Trioculus of Kessel - who claims to be the Emperor's son - has monopolized the spice trade with a small fleet of Imperial ships, conquering the Pyke Syndicate and incorporating it into their own operations. They are considered of least concern to the Republic.
Hutt Space: Campaigns by the Mandalorians and Iron Triad, and a revolt of the Evocii on what was once Nal Hutta, have destroyed most of the Hutts' power in the galaxy. Individual crimelords such as Dertykop of Taris or Teemo of Tatooine still exert power, but the Ruling Council has retreated to Varl and the Bootana Hutta, and only a sliver of Hutt Space remains.
The Imperial Royalist Confederation: After Ysanne Isard launched a coup in late 4 ABY, Sate Pestage and Mas Amedda fled Coruscant for the fortified Deep Core, where they set up their own government on the Emperor's throneworld of Byss. There Amedda rules as Imperial Regent, surrounded by sycophants, and the Republic is content to let him stew.
Other factions which hold no territory but still have a measure of influence in the galaxy include:
Moff Royen's Imperial Remnant: A small fleet of ships which remains independent of the other major Imperial remnants, mainly patrolling the Red Hand Cluster.
The New Jedi Order: After a quest of several years to uncover secrets of the Force and find Force-sensitive recruits, Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Master, has reformed the Jedi Order, heading the new Jedi Council. The location of his temple is a closely-held secret, with rumors placing it anywhere from Yavin to Ossus to Tython to the mythical world of Tanalorr.
The Children of Ghorman: The Republic Commision for the Prosecution of War Crimes and Crimes against Civilization was established in 6 ABY for the prosecution of Imperial war criminals. Valarr Ulgo, an Alderaanian former ISB officer and member of Republic Intelligence, formed the Children of Ghorman in order to secure these criminals, a group of Rebel veterans who were all impacted personally by Imperial atrocities with the sole objective of capturing those Imperials who were beyond the Republic's reach and bringing them to justice.
The Mining Guild: The fall of the Empire was a boon for the Mining Guild, which regained its independence. Under the leadership of Athor Skarhill, the Guild has moved in a left-wing direction, and affiliated itself with Garm Bel Iblis' People's Union Party.
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gffa · 1 year
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SO WHAT ARE JEDI HEALERS LIKE IN CANON? The subtitle of this project was literally, “Started making it.  Had a breakdown.  Bon appetite.” because Star Wars lore is a mess of about five distinctly separate continuities and hardly anything has been devoted to this particular niche of Jedi worldbuilding.  I spent a few hours hunting down sources, most of which were just one or two lines, at most a whole entire single paragraph! of information, and not much on how Force healing actually works. This is fair, primarily the Force is about the emotions the user puts into it, that’s the core, central theme of what the Force means to Star Wars worldbuilding, rather than nitpicking details about hard rules of how it works.  Further, the Force isn’t full of hard and fast rules on a bigger scale, it depends on the person, it depends on their mood, it depends on whether it’s a Tuesday or a Friday, because it’s about serving core themes, not about serving a system of magical rules. That said, here’s what we know of Jedi Healers specifically in canon, both as a group within the Jedi Order and as an ability of the Force.  This post will mix together Legends and Disney/Lucasfilm canon, as well as include RPG books that are not meant to be sources of canon, because the whole point of this is to give worldbuilders some tools to start with, should you want!  HAVE SOME FUN WITH IT, PICK OUT WHAT YOU LIKE, AND BUILD UP FROM THERE.  \o/ KNOWN JEDI HEALERS: - Rig Nema (Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon) - Stass Allie (Disney/Lucasfilm canon, as a healer) - Barriss Offee (Legends canon as a healer, Disney/Lucasfilm canon as working with healers) - Mill Alibeth (Disney/Lucasfilm canon) - Nahdar Vebb (Fantasy Flight Games canon, as a healer) - Vokara Che (Legends continuity) JEDI HEALERS ROLE IN THE JEDI ORDER: Jedi healers seem to be fairly rare and they were regarded as fairly precious:
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(Jedi vs Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force / Legends canon) Note:  In this instance “Old Republic” = prequels era, and while this snippet is Legends, Rhinnal has been mentioned in Disney/Lucasfilm canon in The Rising Storm.  In the FFG books, the Jedi established a chapter house on Rhinnal for many patients that was still in use and had been expanded during the prequels’ Jedi Order’s time.  So, the Jedi have Halls-of-healing-esque houses on other places beyond Coruscant. Jedi Healers were regarded as the most sensitive Jedi of all:
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(Wild Space / Legends Canon) JEDI HEALERS’ STRUCTURE: Rig Nema was a Consular Jedi, which was a Jedi that devoted themselves to the study of a science or diplomacy, where she was a dedicated doctor.  Jedi specializing in healing seem to often withdraw from any combat duties, as well as they fall under this specialized role within Jedi career paths.
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(The Visual Encyclopedia / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) In Legends, the Jedi Healers worked with the MedCorps Jedi, as well as the were in leadership roles in the Temple’s infirmary and on worlds like Rhinnal and H’ratth.
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(The Jedi Path / Legends canon) Note:  The Service Corps are tricky, because Legends established them just after The Phantom Menace came out, before even the second movie of the prequels had arrived, much less TCW or anything.  Which means much of the content that came later had a tendency to contradict itself, as well as they do not exist at all in Lucas’ canon, and they are only mentioned in deeply obscure reference guides in Disney/Lucasfilm canon (and no mention of aging out--which further cannot work the same way, as TCW and Dooku: Jedi Lost establish that 14 year olds are young for Padawans and that 17+ isn’t rare for Padawans), but have never appeared in any book or comic yet.  All of which means:  Feel free to use them!  Source material is a buffet that you get to pick and choose from!  But be aware that some things are fundamentally incompatible from one continuity to another, and the Service Corps is a big one of those. Within the Jedi Order, there was a sub-order of the Knights who practiced healing arts, called the Circle of Jedi Healers:
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(The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia / Legends canon)      “Seated on the Jedi High Council due to her invaluable role as a Jedi Consular, Master Stass Allie is gifted not only in diplomacy and Lightsaber combat, but also Force healing. As a member of the Circle of Jedi Healers and overseer of the Medical Corps, she continues to hone her healing abilities even while deployed as a general for the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars.” (Complete list of Force Collection cards / Continuity status unknown, probably Legends as it started in 2013) Not all Jedi had to be dedicated healers to work with the medical clinic.  In Disney/Lucasfilm canon, Barriss Offee often spent time helping injured Jedi, because she found healing to give her solace.
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(Stories of Jedi and Sith / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) Though, in Legends, Barriss was more directly a healer, working under Stass Allie in the Circle of Jedi Healers, where she specialized in disease rather than surgery.
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(Star Wars Databank / Legends canon) Similarly, when Mill Alibeth finds her place within the Jedi Order, at Yoda’s suggestion that she use her abilities for specialized medical and spiritual assistance for war-wounded Jedi, she’s not necessarily Master Nema’s Padawan, it’s not so formalized as that, showing that there’s a lot of flexibility within the Jedi Order’s studies and paths.
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(Brotherhood / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) JEDI HEALERS’ ABILITIES: While Jedi healers focus on medical training, they also train Jedi in the main components of Jedi philosophy, like greater control and insight.  When Mill Alibeth begins training with Rig Nema, she gains greater mastery over herself and the insight she has into Anakin in their meditation together:
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(Brotherhood / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) In addition to Jedi healers being rare, it seems like it was taxing for them to directly use Force healing, because it drained them personally.  While much of Kylo’s ability to revive Rey seems to come from that they were a dyad (and this would not be possible with other types of Force Healing, so other Jedi could not do that particular thing), Rey does do some Force Healing, where she must calm herself and center herself to do it properly, and it takes energy from her to accelerate healing. It’s not much here, she doesn’t need to recover from it, but anything more significant and likely she would have.  So, Jedi healers have to be careful about how much they give of themselves when healing others.  This is also why Grogu collapses after healing Greef in The Mandalorian.
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(The Rise of Skywalker novelization / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) Another Jedi healing ability is the Healing Trance, which would accelerate their natural healing process.  While in this trance, because their heartbeat and breathing slow, they can appear to be dead to others, and they’re unaware of the world around them.  Depending on the climate, they can last anywhere from a week to a month within this trance, without outside hydration being given to them.
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(Jedi vs Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force / Legends canon) JEDI HEALERS WITH THE FORCE VS TECHNOLOGY: The Jedi Order of the prequels seems to balance between technology and the Force, that both have their place in healing.  In the episode “Voices”, Rig Nema relies on medical scans to show Yoda’s physiology, as well as a tank of dark liquid (either a bacta tank or a sensory deprivation tank, both would be useful for Jedi who need calm and no distractions to connect to the Force) to help him, but it’s balanced with his connection to the Force being plumbed, it’s not focused only on technological means.
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JEDI HEALERS HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR: In addition to being extra sensitive, Jedi Healers would be spending time in places that were soaked in pain and suffering, just by the nature of injured people’s anguish.  Not only would they face the difficulty of dealing with a patient’s pain directly, Force-sensitive means being psychic, as in that pain literally soaks into the walls around them.
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(”The Jedi Who Knew Too Much” / Lucas canon / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) It’s intense enough in places that have a bad accident and those feelings linger, it’s a hundred times worse in places where people are always in pain or dying.  Jedi Healers aren’t just subjected to the person’s suffering that’s right in front of them, but the thousand patients before them that have left their emotional imprint on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the pillows, the bed, the very air around them. HALLS OF HEALING/MEDICAL WINGS:
The Medical Center and Infirmary seem to be located about halfway up the left-hand side of the main ziggurat: "Medical center and infirmary, staffed by Jedi Medical Corps.” (Complete Locations | Disney/Lucasfilm canon)
“The Jedi Temple's Halls of Healing were beautiful. They had lofty ceilings and enormous windows that spilled golden light over the blue and green and rose-pink walls and floor. Imbued with the Force's most gentle aspects, with love and nurturing and peace, they were full of perfumed flowers and green growing things, with the music of running water and the vibrancy of life renewed. They were the perfect retreat for those who were broken in body and mind, a place where the ugliness of suffering was washed away.” (Wild Space | Legends canon)
It’s difficult to get a sense of the size of it in The Clone Wars, but it seems to be fairly big, given the diversity of what we see of it, there may be more hard scientific areas and more gentle healing areas, both:    - Obi-Wan’s transformation into Rako Hardeen is in an area with multiple cordoned off areas with doors that can be fogged over. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon , Disney/Lucasfilm canon )
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Likely the same area in the episode “Voices”, it seems like it’s in an area of the Temple that’s a hallway away from windows facing the outside. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)
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 Anakin and Mace share a recovery room, which has a different style from the other infirmary rooms, done in different colors and with softer lighting, indicating that they have gentler recovery rooms versus the active medical problem areas It has a window looking out over Coruscant, indicating that it’s near the edge of the ziggurat, likely an area for less critical patients and meant to promote healing. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)
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 Yoda is put in the infirmary in an area that looks to be the same area, but also has a separate area for a bacta tank, which seems to be at least possibly similar to the same area Depa was in when she was submerged in bacta. When Anakin walks into the room (and later he and Yoda walk out), we see what looks like sky through a window in the background of the outside hallway, possibly indicating this was near the edge of the ziggurat as well.  (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)(Kanan: The Last Padawan | Disney/Lucasfilm canon)
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zealfruity · 8 months
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Behold.
@agentartemus 's girlfriend. And the girlfriend's boyfriend too ig.
Mini bios and some notes below the cut:
Oyam'sava Ket, more commongly known as Sava, was born and raised on Coruscant. She took up her mother's job as a trustworthy mercenary for the Titan Corps, a group of private contractors often hired by large entities for a number of jobs. She has a much younger sister who still lives with their father on Coruscant. Oyam'sava hopes to earn enough money to move her family up to the higher levels. She has a collection of droids ranging from tiny toy-like drones to a work in progress reprogrammed B1, all of which Kamsheed begrudgingly tolerates for her sake. She also has too many clothes for what her lifestyle requires, but that's not about to stop her. She has at least four knives on her person at all times.
Kamsheed Hizua operates under the codename "Daubhat", a togruti expression for a physically small hunter. He'd been called this often when he was younger, having gotten a growthspurt much later than his peers and yet still being concidered shorter than the average togruta of his village. He grew up on Shilli and finds the much more populated core-worlds overwhelming and kind of gross. He tries to visit his family as often as he can, but due to an unpredictable and busy job, he rarely can. At least he has Sava and his rapidly growing number of friends to keep him company. He's a fearsome fighter, although he has the bad habit of just tackling people instead of actually using hand to hand skills. He makes up for it with great aim.
Assume any fashion decision Sava makes is Rhea Ripley coded unless it involves the colour gold and the usual Star Wars women's clothing elements. She would probably be really into Stevie Nicks and The Runaways, though she would also know every word of Rihanna and Lady Gaga's discographies. Overall just a big woman music enjoyer. Her favourite colour is orange but she never wears it because it clashes with her skin.
Kam's a complete biker/gym guy through and through. All of the references I used for the posing are just pictures of Kim Mingyu of Seventeen, because I love Seventeen, and I love Kim Mingyu. He listens to whatever Oyam'sava listens to but he WILL try to suggest any type of space-equivalent dad rock that he can come up with. Would get VERY emotional when any Queen song plays. Hates Jizz and Debstup music and it's part of why he doesn't go to clubs unless he absolutely has to for some reason. He is malewife.
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sw5w · 15 days
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An N-1 Starfighter Soars Into View
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STAR WARS EPISODE II: Attack of the Clones 00:01:57
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antianakin · 10 months
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So I recently rewatched Clone Wars, and season 7 was complex for me (mostly because it felt like too much Ahsoka away from the actual Clone Wars). The "Jedi don't care about the common people idea" coming from the sisters wasn't a bad worldbuilding thing since we know canonically Palpatine was trying to build dislike of the Jedi.
But the Mandalore arc where Ahsoka throws a fit because Obi-Wan and Anakin don't have time to go on a side quest for a planet that's not even part of the Republic when the literal Capital and Head Of State are being attacked? "This is why people don't trust the Jedi you only care about the core worlds." Girl took that to heart in the worst way possible.
Yeah, I think my feelings on the season 7 underlying theme is that it went too far in the direction of "the Jedi have lost their way, but Ahsoka realizes that instead of just abandoning the Jedi ways, she should re-discover the TRUE meaning of being a Jedi, unlike those OTHER Jedi who are being too political."
We all know that Filoni likes to try to promote Ahsoka as "better than the other Jedi," it's a reoccurring theme at this point and one that shows up for the first time in season 7 (chronologically at least, it would've shown up first in Rebels actually but it was slightly more subtle then. Slightly). So when Trace and Rafa bring out their sob story and then seem to blame the Jedi for what happened to their family more than, you know, the CRIMINAL WHO BROKE OUT OF PRISON IN THE FIRST PLACE, and the moral of the story at the end of both this arc and continuing into the Siege of Mandalore seems to be that the Jedi have "lost their way" because they no longer really care about the little people in the face of the war.
I think you're right that there's a germ of a good storyline here about how Palpatine's manipulations are working on the regular citizens, but the issue with this is that in order for that to be the story, the story needs to reinforce that what Trace and Rafa feel about the Jedi is WRONG, that the information they think they have is WRONG. But what we really get by the end of the arc is that they're RIGHT, the Jedi HAVE lost their way, and it's ONLY Ahsoka who realizes that and understands the true meaning of being a Jedi.
This continues into the Siege of Mandalore arc when she accuses Obi-Wan (and the Council and the rest of the Order through him) of being too political when they refuse to supply her with an army on a whim. She claims she's "not being fair" which should be an indictment against her entire argument, but it doesn't really feel like it is. It feels like we're supposed to be cheering her on, like "yeah, that's right, Ahsoka, you don't HAVE to be fair because the Jedi aren't being fair!" The Jedi no longer care about the little people and THAT'S why they won't help Bo-Katan take back Mandalore, they ONLY care about the elite in the Core and THAT'S why they prioritize Coruscant.
The issue with this entire theme is how contradictory it is across all of season 7. They claim that the Jedi only care about the elite of Coruscant when they choose to prioritize it except that the entire last arc was about the little people of Coruscant being abandoned by the Jedi in favor of going out to help other planets affected by the war. And the claim is also made in this episode that the Jedi SPECIFICALLY only care about the Chancellor's life, but then Ahsoka advocates for prioritizing Palpatine later because he's Anakin's friend or something like that. So what are we supposed to understand? That protecting Coruscant is only about helping the little people who live there when it's Ahsoka doing it? That defending and protecting Palpatine is only righteous and not about politics when it's Ahsoka doing it?
And THIS is where we get back to Filoni lifting Ahsoka up as better than all of the other Jedi. Ahsoka gets to get away with shit that no other Jedi is ever allowed to get away with. Ahsoka can be contradictory and hypocritical because she has to be right all the time no matter what the situation is because she's Ahsoka and better than everyone else. Specifically, obviously, better than all those other dumb Jedi in the Prequels Jedi Order.
I've seen people try to give benefit of the doubt to this season and claim that Ahsoka being contradictory and hypocritical is the point, that Ahsoka is still young and struggling with her feelings about the Wrong Jedi arc and figuring out who to trust, how to trust herself, and so she's being unfair on purpose and making mistakes, etc etc. And I understand that theory, but I just can't share it because at no point in either arc does it feel like I'm supposed to understand that Ahsoka is WRONG. I'd love for that to have been the story, because honestly I think there's a lot of merit to finally giving Ahsoka flaws again via the Wrong Jedi arc, showing how it's really impacted her and how much she still struggles with it and how it makes her unfair and unkind and lacking in compassion and understanding sometimes when it comes to the Jedi. That it's not necessarily the JEDI who've lost their way, but AHSOKA. If we stayed with the path that the Wrong Jedi left us on of Ahsoka saying that the person she no longer trusts is actually HERSELF, not the Jedi, that could've been great! But season 7 turns around and says "actually no, she just straight-up no longer trusts the Jedi completely but totally trusts herself just fine."
I don't HATE season 7, there's plenty I like about it, and I honestly do like Trace and Rafa and their arc (which seems to be a minority position), but it's also got a lot of things I dislike about it and it'll NEVER be within my most favorite seasons of TCW, honestly.
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deejadabbles · 8 months
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Safehaven (Thorn x Reader)
Summary: Who can blame you for falling for your bodyguard? Rating: G (but Minors DNI) A.N: A continuation of this drabble, I tried to keep this one thematic with the first, but it... got away from me and came out much longer than the first. Word Count: 1,405 Warnings: None, besides mentions/explorations of loneliness. Masterlist /// Tag List Sign Up  /// AO3
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You had never felt more alone in all your life, than in the first year of the war. Lost and alone.
Life was never particularly easy, growing up on a planet far from the comforts of the core worlds. That's why you had devoted your life to science, to the betterment of your people. You wanted to help, to pave new ways for your home.
But then, they turned their backs on you.
Your world was now a safe haven for tyranny and pain, your leaders bowing and scraping at the feet of those who would twist your inventions into weapons- into tools used for killing, not healing. It sickened you, sickened you to your core.
So, you had turned to the Republic. The lesser of evils, the safer danger, the only real option if you wanted you and your family to live. And now, now you were lost and alone. Your loved ones smuggled away to some secret hideaway, while you were put to work for the Republics oh so Grand Army.
You made the most of it. Always, you wanted your inventions to help, to better, so you did what you could. Especially since this side of war had real, living, breathing men fighting on it. You did all you could to ensure your contributions could help, could protect.
Then, just when the height of your lost isolation hit, you met him. Commander Thorn.
The bounty placed on your head had hardly phased you. They could come all they wanted, as long as you and your inventions weren't under a separatist thumb. But the Republic wasn't willing to risk losing an investment, so, they gave you a bodyguard done up in red plastoid.
Thorn. He was...so unlike anything you had expected.
You weren't stupid. You knew no one on this godforsaken city planet trusted you. You saw the way your "colleagues" looked at you. The strict rules on your comings and goings. How all your comms were monitored. Coruscant was not your safe haven, it was a glass cage where everyone expected you to turn on them, just as you had turned on your own home. It didn't matter to them why you had done it in the first place.
Except Thorn.
At first, he was professional enough, but even then, you heard the lightness in his voice. The modulator did little to hide the tease in his tone, and that T visor couldn't mask the way his gaze lingered when you offered him a smile.
Commander Thorn treated you as if...as if you were worth protecting. He never made you feel like a burden, or as if you were just another job to him. He talked, and listened and never once regarded you as if you hid a treacherous mind.
But even more, he took the duty of protecting you to heart and it was the first time he touched you that you realized just how much your loneliness had started to ease with him around.
The moment you cried out, skin burnt while working on a prototype, he had swooped in, taking your hand so delicately that it made your breath hitch in your throat. He was so tender and caring, over nothing but a small burn.
And funny. Maker, he was funny.
"You know, it's in my job description, I should totally punch that prototype for endangering you." It was said with a wink as he bandaged your hand, and you hadn't been able to stop the bubble of laughter that took you over.
Before that moment, you couldn't even remember the last time you laughed- and it felt good. It felt so good to laugh again, even if it was over a such a silly joke. It made that hole that had been growing in your heart a little easier to bear.
You loved how humorous he was and, to your surprised delight, that first laugh seemed to make him want more. He seemed to stockpile silly jokes like a dragon horded treasure. They were stupid, and he knew it, but they made you laugh so he said them anyway, day after day.
Slowly, it became easier to smile. Joy came easily now that he was there.
Once, in a more serious moment, he had thanked you for your craftsmanship, thanked you for wanting to keep his brothers safe with armor worthy of them.
"It's nice to know you have our backs. People like you...you help make all the fighting feel worth while." The rare, far away look in his eyes in that moment could have broken your heart, if it wasn't for the fact that Thorn seemed incapable of causing you any amount of pain.
His gratitude was sweet, but wholly unnecessary. The mere idea that giving soldiers a fighting chance was something that needed thanks made you scoff. But, given the way you'd seen his brothers treated by some, maybe Thorn was shocked over even that small amount of care.
It gave you a new determination, to show him all the care in this maker-forsaken galaxy. You had discovered that your handsome, funny, charming bodyguard needed little encouragement to bend the rules, and you used it to your full advantage. Making him meals in the small kitchen of your cage that started to feel more like a home. Asking him about his wants, his dreams, even if he had little to say at the start. Begging him to partake in your hobbies, in the hopes that he might find more of his own.
Thorn was a rule bender, but, when it came down to it, he was still damn good at his job.
The danger was almost over before you even had time to register it in your shocked state. The bounty hunter was down with only one shot fired. A shot that had barely grazed you thanks to your loyal protector. Then, when the ringing in your ears stopped, his voice was the first thing you heard.
And it sounded like home.
More like a home than your birth place, and certainly more than this heart of the republic.
It was all you could do to stay in the present and follow his guidance to keep you safe, to ensure your safety. You let him do his job and the danger passes swiftly, with nothing but a grazing burn to your arm for that that bounty's trouble. It was a rather small incident, all things considered, but Thorn was still the picture of concern, even when he guided you back to the safe haven.
Once again, Thorn made you feel like you were someone worth protecting. Not because it was his job, but simply because you were you.
It was possibly one of the purest forms of love you had ever witnessed.
Though, you were wrong about one thing, Thorn could cause you some small prickle of pain, even if it wasn't his fault. Because longing could hurt, and you hadn't realized how much it had been hurting you this whole time. Not until that night, not until you were worn thin from reporting the attack to Fox and sick to death of the medical staff looking you over; not until Thorn took your hand again and firmly told everyone that it was time for him to take you home for privacy and rest.
The longing for your tender protector had been growing for so long that it was almost easy to accept, but not tonight, not when he had shown you so many different kinds of care. Now, having him so close made you feel comfort and heartache in a bizarre tandem.
You almost made it to your front door, before everything was finally just too much.
When the fear, and pain, and bone tiredness of the night finally hit you, Thorn was there. He caught you when your knees gave way and swept you up into his arms with ease. Your bodyguard carried you as if you were a blushing bride, to the place he made feel like a home. Like a true safe haven.
Commander Thorn needed little encouragement to bend the rules, so, when he placed you safely on your bed, you kept holding on, pulling him close. You asked him to stay and he didn't even hesitate. Not because it was his job, but because you were you.
That was all the reason Thorn needed to love you.
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Tag List: @blueink-bluesoul @anxiouspineapple99 @starrylothcat @sinfulsalutations @commander-sunshine @dystopicjumpsuit @wolffegirlsunite @sunshinesdaydream @arcsimper5 @littlemissmanga @wings-and-beskar @clonemedickix @freesia-writes @idontgetanysleep @523rdrebel @moonlightwarriorqueen @briefartnaturewolf @kimiheartblade @littlemissbshine @funeralreunion @chubbyhedgehog-blog
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LOVE AND WAR
001; I CAN BRING YOU IN WARM
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previous chapter | next chapter | masterlist
Warnings: guns, violence, alcohol, drunkness, blood, knives, allusion to slavery
Summary: you had spent your entire life running, from corellia, from your family, from the empire and now from bounty hunters. But when one man sees how you care for his child, what is he going to do with himself, especially as he finds himself falling for you
Wordcount: 3.9k
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Daiyu was the worst planet you’d ever been on and it wasn't for the lack of nightlife or for the lack of interesting jobs but because of its weather. With a dark black hood over your head, hands pressed into the pockets as you walked through the crowded cities, you scanned the area for anyone with a bounty puck.
This time 6 years ago, you were one of the most celebrated people in the entire galaxy. You had people fawning over you left right and centre, you had more medals than you could possibly want and you had everything. Or so you thought.
You tried not to think about that time of your life too often and on a planet like this, you didn't have to think about much about anything for too long of a time. It was easier to sit there in one of the bars, a drink in your hand as you drowned in the neon lights and the large crowds that swarmed the city.
However, the planet required you to constantly be looking over your shoulder, always watching out for the next person who was going to try and attack you, whether it be imperial sympathisers, random drunken men with no impulse control or bounty hunters.
You had spent your entire 20s saving the galaxy, joining in on the rebellion and whilst your brother and your best friends got to sit pretty in their Jedi training camps or their coruscant apartments or their thrones, you were stuck living day by day, hiding from bounty hunters.
There was no way to determine when you changed from the hero to the girl being hunted down by Bounty Hunters every other week but you assumed it had something to do with Lady Proxima, a tall white grindalid who looked after you - more like worked to the core - after your parents death.
She was the one who had set the bounty after you nearly eighteen months ago now and though you wished you could escape it, you had no regrets for trying to kill her - the act that landed you with a bounty in the first place.
In the distance, you spotted the nearby nightclub and cantina and it wasnt hard to distinguish its flashing lights from the dark dreary weather on Daiyu. You looked around, pulling the hood off your head as you took shelter under the opening to a loud nightclub. You looked around before stepping inside, entering the world of drugs and mayhem and forgetting.
Hesitantly at first, you pushed your way through the mass of people that had grouped in the middle, dancing along with the live band in the corner. You pushed past a human and a zabrak making out in front of the bar as you tried to make it to the alcohol as fast as possible.
You pulled a chair back at the bar, your jacket now draped over your lap as you called out to the twi’lek at the bar to bring you a drink. In a few seconds, she placed the drink on the bar in front of you, waiting for you to slide a handful of credits across the smooth surface before walking away.
You reach for the shot glass on the table, swirling it around for a second before pulling it to your lips and downing the glass in one fluid motion, throwing your head back before putting the glass back down on the table.
The burning feeling was present in the back of your throat, causing your nose to scrunch up in a mix of disgust and euphoria as you allowed the drink to overwhelm your senses. You opened your eyes, pushing your lips together as you looked at the bartender again, hand raised to signal her over.
Before she made it over to you, another man slid up next to you. He was a slimy man with greasy blonde hair that was sticking to his temple and the way that he looked at you, almost like a stick of meat, made you sick to your stomach.
“You want to buy some death sticks?” He questioned, his voice hoarse like he'd been smoking them all morning - and it wasn't even 12 o’clock yet, not like you’d be able to tell that with the dreary grey weather on the planet.
You had dealt with your fair share of assholes at bars - actually, you had dealt with your fair share of assholes in general - but today you were not in the headspace to fight with him.
It had been nine years since the day that you had lost your best friend, a memory that you didn't want to spend too much time thinking about. All you wanted to do was drown in your liquor and forget about the troubles of the world, to just watch it spin around you.
“She doesn't want to do that,” a deep voice said and you felt chills run down your spine at the sound of it. There was something about this low, almost modulated voice that drew you to him and slowly, you turned around to see a man standing there.
He was tall and still but the most recognisable feature was that he was covered in armour. It was glistening, multi-coloured in the club's neon lights and there was no expression in his body language and you couldn’t see his face to determine what he was thinking either.
You took a deep breath in, eyes narrowing on the man. You two were looking at each other - or at least you assumed he was looking at you - and neither was moving. The man trying to sell you death sticks just rolled his eyes, standing up and tucking his seat in before stumbling towards the group of people to sell too.
You hadn’t realised that you’d been staring at the man for too long, an uncomfortable amount of time really, but when you felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment, you looked away from his visor and back at the new shot on the bar in front of you, “I don’t need to be saved,”
He didn't make a noise, just reaching into his pocket and before you could panic and imagine him pulling out a blaster and shooting you point blank, he pulled out a holo-puck and you couldn’t figure out which scenario was worse. You stared at your face as it spun around on top of the holo-puck, your name plastered at the top of it.
Your eyes trailed from the puck to him and he hasn't moved a muscle. There was something uncovering about the man and you couldn’t tell whether it was the fact that you couldn’t see his face and recognise any emotions, or if it was his regular demeanour.
“I guess this means you’re not going to buy me a drink,” you teased, standing up from your seat at the bar. Now standing up, you realised how tall he was, towering over you as you tried to find an escape plan.
He didn't laugh at the joke and you assumed his face was as emotionless as his body as he stated, “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold,” The modulator made his voice deep, the sound reverberating through your body.
Your breath hitched in your throat because although you should be scared of this emotionless bounty hunter who was probably here to kill you, you werent. There was something about him that you couldn’t put your finger on that made you feel intimidated yet secure.
“What does cold entail?” You questioned, hoping the slight fear bubbling up wasn't too obvious in your voice.
He tilted his head to the side slightly. Nobody had ever asked him that before and if Din was being honest, you weren’t like any bounty he had hunted down before. One, you were definitely the most beautiful bounty he had ever encountered. And two, you were the most calm; everyone else would either be running or begging at this point but you were doing neither, just staring him down like you could see through the visor.
“Carbonate,” he stated, his voice cold.
You felt a shiver run up your spine at the word, and not the good kind of shiver. There weren't many things that scared you in this universe, maker, you’d even encountered Darth Vader himself bur carbonate, that was what scared you. You’d seen someone you cared dearly about be stuck in there for half a year and you’d seen what it could do.
He noticed your shift in demeanour at that movement. Whilst your face didn't react to the words, he could see the flash of fear in your eyes, a small crease appearing between your brows.
“Well then Mr Mandalorian, I think I might have outstayed my welcome,” you stated and before he could respond to what you said or even comprehend it, you were ducking down under his clas arm the knife which appeared in your hand dragging along a slit between the pieces.
He swore under his breath, eyes scanning the room before seeing someone with a similar hood to yours running out of the door into the pouring rain and when you made the mistake of turning back round, hood falling from your head, his eyes met yours and he started running through the crowd.
Din shook his head as he pushed through the high and intoxicated people of the planet, knocking one or two of the down as he tried to make it up for the maker forsaken club.
When he got outside, the rain hitting his armour, he scanned the area for you but he had no idea where you went. He shook his head, unsure how he could’ve lost you.
The sound of a vendor yelling and a crate of fruit falling to the floor in a near alleyway was a telltale sign of escape and he decided to hitch his bets and chase down that way and lucky for him, the maker was on his side today as he saw you running round the corner, wet from the rain.
He chased after you, feet carrying him as fast as he could as he raced around the unfamiliar streets of Daiyu. He didn't know why you were being hunted but he didn’t care, as long as it gave him enough money for petrol and food for him and Grogu.
You looked behind you, swearing out loud as you trod in a puddle, broken shoes filling with water. You kept going despite the pain in your legs and the burning in your lungs. You’d be damned if you survived Darth Vader himself but a Mandalorian took you out.
Stopping round a corner, your hands on your legs as you caught your breath, you thought you’d be okay and you were. You found the best way out but then you saw a group of men shooting at this round ball.
You watched as they laughed to themselves, shooting at this thing that you suddenly recognised as a pram. That’s when you spotted a small green alien sitting behind the pedestal, looking up at you.
Every instinct told you that you had to keep running from that Mandalorian bounty hunter that was pretty ready to ‘take you in cold’ but your morals told you that you had to save the little baby from whatever these rogue gang members wanted from him.
You sighed, shaking your head as you pulled your blaster out, closing one of your eyes as you shot one of the three men in the head, killing him instantly. The next shot hit the second man in the stomach and he doubled over, hands on his stomach as the other man searched for where the gunshot came from.
He let out a yell as he noticed you, the two men shooting at you and you managed to take them both down before rushing down and grabbing the child. He was small and green and as you held him in your arms, he reached out for you with little green hands.
“What’s your name, little one?” You asked, watching as he grasped one of your fingers with his little hand. He just babbled and you assumed that he was too small to answer you so you smiled, giving him your name.
When you heard more yelling and blaster fire, you assumed that there were more gang members and you hid behind a wall, hearing them yelling about finding the child.
“They're talking about you kiddo?” You questioned, voice quiet so that they didn’t hear you. He cooed, a mischievous smile on his face and you assumed it was him.
You didn't know what to do, just waiting and looking around and hoping that they had passed. You had also managed to escape the Mandalorian that was after you and as soon as you got this kid back to his family, you were going to get off of this planet and find the next hiding spot, maybe .
That's when you heard more blaster fire and the body of one of the gang members fell down at your feet as you shielded the child from its view.
You assumed that they were all dead when it went quiet and you stepped out hesitatingly, blaster in one hand and the child in your other. He cooed, smiling up at you as you looked around, “Listen, don’t be worried, i'm going to find your parents,”
You felt a presence behind you and froze up, turning around and looking up at The Mandalorian who had been hunting you down earlier. He was wet from the rain as well and when he noticed that you had a little child in your arms, he tilted his head in confusion.
Now it was your time to start bartering and you stepped back, holding the child closer to your chest, “Listen, take me in warm, I don’t care, just let me find this kid's parents,” you said.
Din felt his heart pounding in his chest as he watched you, an insanely beautiful bounty, holding his child to your chest protectively. There was something weird about the feeling bubbling up in his chest, one that he’d never felt before.
The child reached his little arms out, giggling to himself as he tried to reach for Din and you looked at it confused, “He’s mine,” he stated, a small bit of emotion evident in his voice.
Your brows furrowed as you looked down at him, the child cooing in your arms as you placed him back down in his slightly battered cot. He used the controls, going back over to Din and looking up at him.
“You’re an awful parent, leaving him here alone,” you said, your blaster still in your hand. You
Din smiled to himself under the helmet, glad that you couldn’t see his amused reaction to your comment, “I didn’t, he must have escaped my ship,” he stated, that cold tone to his voice.
You sighed, looking up at him. You brushed your wet hair from your face, only now realising that you were still standing in the rain, “You gonna take me in warm Mr Mandalorian?” You asked, hands held out in surrender.
He cocked his head to the side and you definitely recognised that movement as confusion, “You’re just giving up like that?” He questioned.
You shrugged your shoulders, “I’m not going to be able to convince you to let me go,” you stated and he nodded, reaching into his back pocket, eyes narrowed and focused on her; he didn’t understand why she was just letting him take her away.
He had his hands on the restraints, about to put them on her when more gang members sped around the corner, looking around for the two of them - and by that, they were looking for Din and Grogu.
The Mandalorians head was spinning with the events of the days and his oddly submissive bounty and as he looked at the people who were hunting down the child and trying to kill him, he knew he had to make a rash decision that any other day he would scold himself for.
He turned to you, pushing your hands down and putting the restraints back onto his belt, “Can you shoot?” He asked, his voice still cold but now you could sense a bit of fear in it. It was strange, how you could feel this emotionless man opening up to you little by little but you could.
“Can I shoot?” You teased, repeating the question back at him before pursing your lips together and nodding, “Of course I can,”
Din nodded, looking down at you just as the gang members looked into the alleyway, one of them exclaiming that they had found the child and you wondered what was so interesting and lucrative about this kid that this many people were ready to die for.
He looked back at you, taking a few steps forward, “Stay in front of the kid okay,” he stated and you nodded, watching as he began shooting at them.
You looked back at the child who put the lid over his pram and you turned back and started shooting, the sound of blaster fire echoing through the alleyway.
This morning when you woke up in tha5 small, damp hostel, this wasn’t how you expected the day to go. You would never have imagined that you would be standing in the pouring rain, fighting alongside the man who was trying to take you in as a bounty so that you could protect his son.
You slid down, the rain making the cobblestone pavement wet as you slid under the man's legs, slicing through his thighs with your knife and watching as he collapsed down, your knife jamming into the back of his neck. You pulled it out with a grunt, wiping the blade on your trousers before grabbing your blaster and shooting the man behind you.
Din watched in awe, he shouldn’t feel this way towards anyone, especially not towards a bounty but the second that he had laid eyes on you in the cantina bar, he knew there was something special about you and now, as you stabbed men to protect his son, he shouldn’t have felt as turned on as he did.
You turned around, spinning on the heel of your foot as you shot another one, watching him fall down with a scream. It was the last man and as you took a deep breath, pushing your wet hair out of your face and looking at the Mandalorian, you smiled.
He watched as you stepped over the myriad of bodies on the floor, using the pad of your thumb to wipe some of the blood that had splattered on your chin away and you walked up to the cot, watching as the child opened the lid.
He chuckled at the sight of you and you smiled back at him before looking up at the Mandalorian. Your smile fell as your eyes landed on his helmet, unable to see what he was thinking and he was glad you couldn’t see underneath because he was sure that from the heat on his cheeks, he was blushing like a schoolboy.
There was an awkward silence that fell as you looked around at the bodies that littered the floor of the alleyway and you held your hands out again, “Take me in warm?” You questioned.
You could hear the faint sound of his breath hitching in his throat through the modulator as he pushed your hands away. He watched as your brows pulled together, a deep crease appearing between them as you looked up at him, "They won't be needed,"
You chuckled, a slight smile tugging at the corner of your lips, "You might be the nicest bounty hunter I've ever encountered," you stated and Din knew that if you could see under his helmet, you'd have teased him for the way his cheeks were bright red as he looked at you.
Being in his mid thirties, he had spent the best part of twenty years hidden under the helmet and away from the world and with his helmet on, he could be as expressive as he wanted, a superpower that was working overtime right now.
"Lets go," he said, keeping his head held high as the child followed in the hovering pram next to him.
You had so many questions that were trying to bubble up to the surface but you pushed them away, not wanting to agrivate the man who was being so kind to you whilst holding your life in his hands.
Some people looked at you as you walked alongside him and now you wondered if the attention was from the gunfire earlier or from the large Mandalorian you were walking with.
You looked up at him, continuing to walk. You’d only encountered one mandalorian before and he had been a bounty hunter too but you knew that’s not all they ever did. The one you were walking with now hadnt told you his name unlike the last one and this one was a lot more quiet and reserved.
There were so many questions swimming in your head and it made you dizzy as you wondered what this man wanted and why he was being so kind. Why did he have a kid? Why was he green? Was the Mandalorian green? What was your bounty for? What did he want?
“You okay?” He asked, his voice snapping you out of your thoughts and that’s when you’d realsied you’d stopped and had been staring at him for at least thirty seconds. He had his head cocked to the side, one hand on his hip as he stopped as well a few feet in front of you.
He was waiting for your answer and you nodded, a smile appearing on your face to try and be polite as you started walking again, “Just got lost in thought, its been a long day,” you stated, tryin to make your excuse sound plausible. You couldn’t just explain that you’d been staring at him.
Din hummed in response, continuing to walk alongside you, guiding you in right direction towards a ship that you recognised as a razor crest. You walked towards it, one hand brushing over the cold and slightly wet metal of the ship as you looked back at him, eyes wide, “You have a Razor Crest?”
He nodded, walking over to you, “Let’s go,” he said and your face dropped as you watched him walk up the ramp, remembering that you were just a bounty to him like you’d already forgotten that.
He didnt notice and just watched as you walked up the ramp as well, looking around at the room and watching as he picked up the child and placed him on the floor. The little child giggled, running in the direction of the cockpit and you just watched, as smile on your face.
Din looked back at you, his heart skipping a beat as he saw the smile on your face and when you made eye contact - or he made eye contact with you - he gestured to the cockpit, “You probably want to come sit down, we’re going to jump into hyperspace soon,” he explained.
You nodded, muttering a thank you as you squeezed past him into the cockpit, seeing the child having already strapped himself into the seat behind the pilots seat. Din came in, his hand brushing against the child’s head which made him laugh, before he sat down in the pilots seat.
You strapped yourself in, eyes focused on the front window as you felt that familiar presssure of hyperspace, watching the blue lights in the distance get closer, laughing you three into an unknown destination to you. But you were so ready for it.
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So this is the first chapter of the bounty x bounty hunter series and I hope you enjoyed it, I really love the concept and can't wait to expand on it. If you liked it, I would love to hear any feedback. Also, I am going to be opening a taglist so if you want to be added, just send an ask or comment on here, I don't mind. Hope you enjoyed it :)
Taglist:
@babygirlrex0504
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thegreenlizard · 2 months
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Not Obi-Wan’s first slave uprising (II)
This is a drabble for“Not Obi-Wan’s first slave uprising” AU. It’s three disjointed pieces of tell don’t show in a trench coat, but I was trying to organise my (and Obi-Wan’s) thoughts, so it served a purpose. It’s not quite the path that that would take Obi-Wan to the conclusion at the end yet, but it might be pieces of it.
“All a jedi must do, padawan, is follow the Light. The rest is window dressing.”
—patron saint by spqr
What would have happened if the republic hadn’t miraculously been given an army just when they needed one, Obi-Wan thought. Would the republic have been overrun? No, the separatists wanted to secede, not conquer. More likely, the senate would have been forced to issue a draft, which would have been immensely unpopular—as the Military Creation Act had been, before the discovery of the clone army—both among the wealthy and influential core worlds who feared their populations would not accept it, and the Rim worlds who feared the draft would draw from their populations disproportionately. It would have made war less popular, less supported, and protracted war doubly so. It would have lead to seceding worlds facing less opposition, and the republic having less brute strength to force them to stay. It… would have meant the republic would have had to make concessions, reforms even. It would have meant diplomacy and negotiations would have to be attempted if all our war wasn’t an option. It, in fact, was exactly what the Jedi were meant to do.
Not this: commanding an army of slave soldiers to fight a war to force worlds to stay in a republic they no longer felt served their needs. To keep power in the hands of those who already had it, but weren’t willing to compromise to keep it.
*
In the days following the Military Creation Act and the draft of the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan had kept thinking back to something he had been told years ago, while he was still a padawan. Obi-Wan had been some months out from Melidaan, still on a probation, still trying to reconcile his experiences with the expectations of the Jedi. He had been trying to repair his frayed relationship with his newly reinstated master and had been hesitant to bring up any of his doubts. They had taken an easy diplomatic mission to Alderaan where Obi-Wan had met Bail, then still Prestor.
Bail had been a few years older than Obi-Wan, still growing into himself, but already he had had that core of duty and integrity that Obi-Wan had never ceased to admire. And he had told Obi-Wan something then, that had stayed with him all these years. That it was the duty of any leader, to serve the people whom they lead.
It was not the teaching of the Jedi. The Jedi taught that their duty was to serve the entire galaxy, and all sentient life therein. The Jedi were not leaders, but diplomats and arbitrators, facilitators of a different kind. But service and duty were baked into them in the crèche all the same. And there was something about Bail’s wisdom, that had resonated with Obi-Wan as he kept getting missions that turned into firefights and sometimes all out wars.
Obi-Wan already lost his argument with the Jedi Council then. He had only been a lowly knight and had been in the position to argue in the first place due to his mission debrief after Kamino and his lineage relationship with his great-grandmaster Yoda. But in the end, he had been told in no uncertain terms that the Order was not in a position to refuse the draft or to fight the Military Creation Act.
It had been a bitter pill to swallow. To go from Kamino, where the lights of the clones had shone so brightly in the force, as unique and riotously colourful as any city despite the outward appearances, to Geonosis where the lights of both Jedi and clones had been snuffed out in troves. He had been feeling sore in the force, from all those deaths. As far as he knew, the campaign was still ongoing, but he had been recalled to Coruscant to give his mission report in person—and to accept his assignment as a general of the army.
Only to then realise that the newly passed Military Creation Act afforded the clones no civil rights, not even sentient status. To realise that the Jedi were just… going to accept it, because of politics and of the greater duty they could apparently serve.
Frankly, if the Jedi’s duty to all sentient life did not extend equally to the men under their command, then Obi-Wan no longer cared about following the Order’s rules. He would never stop being a Jedi, but as Qui-Gon had once put it, being a Jedi was about following the light—the rest was window dressing.
But now, his duties as a Jedi were to include direct command of soldiers. Men, whose wellbeing relied on his decisions. Men, who would live or die on his word. That was not the case with other sentients of the galaxy, who were free to make their own decisions. Didn’t that make his duty to his men greater, not lesser? Didn’t that make it primary?
Obi-Wan had always struggled with attachments. But he did not know how to fight with divided loyalties, how to split his heart and portion pieces of it carefully, calculatingly. There was no room in war for it. He had always given all of himself to the fights he chose. To Melidaan. To Mandalore. To their people. He did not know how to do any less now.
He felt like he was at the precipice of something, at a fork in the road before him where he could only choose to walk one path but not another. He had a choice: his men, the order, or the senate.
He had, he realised, had to make the same choice before: to be a Jedi, or a general. To serve the people, or his mission brief. He had already made his decision and had kept making it over the years. And he found that it was not so hard to make again, after all.
*
“It is the duty of any leader, to serve the people whom they lead,” Obi-Wan starts haltingly.
“My primary responsibility—my primary loyalty—is no longer to the Jedi Order, the senate, or even the republic and its people. It is to the men under my command.”
“If these duties conflict, I will put our men first.” Obi-Wan willed his commander to understand. “We will fight, and we will die. But only as long as it is in the pursuit of the common goal our men choose to make those sacrifices for.”
“Any man who wants out of the fight, I swear I will find them a way.” He would. It would be difficult to smuggle deserters out, but he would personally falsify death certificates for everyone who’d rather take their chances outside GAR.
“I will not force you to fight. I will not be your slave master. If you would rather strike out at the unknown regions, just give the word. If you’d rather dump my ass before you go, just give the word. If you’d rather I step down from the command and start fighting for your rights in the courts, I swear I will pull every favour and piece of blackmail I have accrued during my diplomatic career. And if you’d rather break your chains—Cody, it wouldn’t be my first slave rebellion.”
Obi-Wan rises from his chair and drops on a knee in front of his silent commander. He pulls his lightsaber from his belt and offers it to Cody.
“So you see, it is not you who are at my service. It is I who am at yours.”
*
Cody doesn’t know what to say to his general offering to commit treason for him and his men. The man has literally gone down on his knee to, what? Swear loyalty to Cody, a clone? This is so far outside the parameters of his training that Cody might just as well have been transported to another dimension entirely. And he does not know what to say.
The general, still kneeling at Cody’s feet, tries for a smile though it comes out more as a grimace.
“You don’t have to say anything, commander. We can pretend this conversation never happened. I know I haven’t earned your trust yet. You don’t have to decide anything now.”
Kenobi gets up, sits back in his chair and scrubs his face, looking a little lost. Then, to Cody’s horror, he starts undoing the plates of his armour and pulling open the body glove underneath.
“Did you know that there’s a word for a freed slave who enslaves others?” Kenobi asks conversationally and tilts his head until Cody can see his bared neck. It’s pale, like the rest of him, and there’s a band of twisting scar tissue around it. Cody must react somehow, because Kenobi nods and starts putting his armour back to rights.
“Depukrekta,” he says with disgust. “I wasn’t a slave for very long, in the grand scheme of things, but I…”
“I—to be frank, I considered resigning from the Order and refusing the draft entirely in protest. But I thought you and the men at least deserved a choice in how you wanted your battles fought.” Kenobi shrugs and adds ruefully “And the option of resigning publicly is still open, should you wish to be rid of me.”
Kenobi, having said his piece, slips quietly out. Cody states after him for a long time, thoughts whirling. Then he comms Fox.
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ospreyeamon · 7 months
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some heads are not fit to wear the crown
Houses Ulgo and Rist’s assassination of Price Gaul and Queen Silara Panteer is one of those decisions where – though murder is wrong, though it triggered great strife – I absolutely understand why they did it. Ulgo and Rist removed what they viewed as dangerously incompetent leadership because they believed it was necessary to protect Alderaan.
The Galactic Republic agreed to sign the Treaty of Coruscant because they lost the Great Galactic War. The Imperial fleet had succeeded in occupying Coruscant’s skies, giving them the ability to launch an orbital bombardment at will, while the Republic lacked the means to dislodge them. Imperial troops had taken the Galactic Senate hostage and killed the Supreme Chancellor. Because the Empire had already been winning the war even before they seized the capital to use as a bargaining chip, the Sith Emperor was the one to set the terms of the frosty peace.
The Treaty of Coruscant was a shockingly good deal for the Republic under the circumstances (which is why many in the Empire were so resentful of it). The only territory the Empire demanded they cede which the Empire had not already occupied or was actively contesting was seven uninhabited star systems, when the Republic did not expect to be able to hold most of those fronts. The Empire had Republic representatives followed around by droids to monitor their adherence to the Treaty, but did not demand any Republic citizens be handed over to stand trial in the Empire for crimes real or invented. Crucially, Empire set no caps on the Republic’s ship building or military expenditure and extracted no economic reparations.
Those like Gaul Panteer, Leontyne Saresh and Elin Garza who publicly decried the Treaty, saying that the Republic should have kept fighting rather than accept peace with the Empire, were in denial about the political reality of the situation. At that time, the Republic had no prospect of being able to swing the tide of the war to put themselves in a stronger position in the peace negotiations. If the Republic had refused to ratify the Treaty the Empire could have levelled its capital, killing billions and decapitating institutions like the SIS headquartered on the planet. The only meaningful blow the Republic was dealt by the Treaty of Coruscant was to its pride.
Bouris Ulgo hated the Sith Empire, but he wasn’t an idiot. The Treaty of Coruscant, humiliating though it may have been, gave the Republic the perfect opportunity to rearm itself in the breathing space provided by the Cold War. The Republic was bigger than the Empire – bigger economy, bigger population – so given the opportunity they could out produce and out recruit the Empire. If the Republic was patient, then they could have their vengeance and victory.
But being protected by the Treaty of Coruscant long enough to rearm required remaining part of the Galactic Republic, because the Empire made the Treaty with the Republic. The moment Alderaan seceded, it was no longer protected by the Empire’s promise to withdraw, and the Imperial Military could launch a second invasion without breaking the Treaty. And why wouldn’t the Sith Empire invade Alderaan? What else did all their forces ordered to break off the attacks on Coruscant and other Republic worlds have to do? Gaul Panteer’s very loud and public removal Alderaan from the Republic must have looked like an open invitation for the Empire to come and conquer some beautiful new camping sites.
And for what? Was Gaul Panteer arrogant enough to believe Alderaan so important that he could manipulate the Republic into abandoning the Treaty of Coruscant? Was he so myopic that he imagined he could sit on Alderaan feeling self-righteous with no consequences he hadn’t considered in the heat of the moment? Did he think that he could leverage Alderaan’s status as a Core Founder to extract concessions from the Republic to undo the cessation and stop opposing the Treaty – is that what his secret negotiations with the Republic were about?
Declaring the secession was an act of short-sighted rage. Failing to walk it back was self-absorbed irresponsibly. He placed his people in the firing line of a second invasion without so much as a warning, let alone a consultation.
Gaul Panteer was Alderaan’s senator, not Alderaan’s head of state. He wasn’t the elected monarch, just the reigning Queen’s heir. The decision to take Alderaan out of the Republic never should have been his to make; the question should have been decided by Queen Silara and the aristocratic assembly at the Elysium (and, if Alderaan were actually a democracy during this period, a general referendum).
This raises the question of why Queen Silara didn’t countermand her son’s declaration of secession. Maybe Gaul inherited his lack of strategic acumen from Silara. Maybe she disagreed with the secession, but decided that it was more important to avoid undermining the son she had appointed senator than to keep Alderaan in the Republic; that risk of House Panteer losing face took precedence over the risk of the planet being invaded. Or maybe Queen Silara, who suddenly fell ill upon her son’s return from Coruscant, lost control over the situation because Gaul took advantage of her poor health to usurp her authority.
Whatever the reasons, House Panteer was not doing a good job of fulfilling one of the most ancient traditional functions of any monarchy: making sure your lands won’t be conquered by an external power. Alderaan’s other great noble houses were not doing a good job of encouraging House Panteer to take their job more seriously. Probably the Elysium was already bogged down in the gridlock which would later prevent them from electing Queen Silara’s successor.
Bouris Ulgo was the head of the Alderaani military, its planetary defence force. It was his job to protect Alderaan from invasion. Gaul Panteer had made that job impossible. House Rist, infamous as spies as well as assassins, agreed with his assessment. Possibly the Rists had gotten wind of the Imperial Diplomatic Services overtures to House Thul.
Bouris Ulgo was a soldier, who had killed many times before in defence of his homeworld. Everyone and their pet Thranta on Alderaan seems to know the Rists are assassins; the nobility tolerating a house of assassins among their number implies a tactic approval of the occasional convenient murder.
To protect Alderaan, Ulgo and Rist decided, Gaul and Silara Panteer had to die. Only by killing them could they instigate the election of a new monarch – a monarch who would return Alderaan to the safety of the Republic before the Empire could take advantage.
According to his lore entry, Bouris Ulgo didn’t return to Alderaan after the Treaty with any ambitions of becoming king. I suspect he came back to see to the wellbeing of his lands and his vassals as he hadn’t been able to after the Battle of Alderaan, to keep an experienced eye on the planet’s defences during Panteer’s foolishness, expecting to soon leave again to assist in the Republic’s preparations for the anticipated second war. While some sources say he intended to usurp House Panteer, if that were true it would have made far more sense from him to announce the imposition of martial law and declare himself king immediately after the Panteers’ assassination while loudly denouncing the murders as obviously the work of the Sith Empire, not wait until it was clear that the election of Queen Silara’s successor had ground to a holt because of the assembly’s bickering and House Thul had appeared, plainly planning on letting the Empire in by the back door.
To me, Bouris Ulgo is a deeply tragic figure because his assessment that he alone of the heads of the Great Houses cared more for the good of Alderaan than petty politics was correct. Unfortunately, he was a military man with a military mindset who lacked the skill at political manipulation to achieve his desired goal of returning Alderaan to the Republic, falling back to military tactics inappropriate to the problem he was attempting to fix out of desperation. It feels unfair that Ulgo should be saddled with blame for the civil war over Panteer, when Gaul Panteer’s decision to secede was the pivotal domino in the chain of events which resulted in Alderaan becoming the stage for an Imperial-Republic proxy war.
It really says something about House Panteer that in their planetary missions they accept both factions’ solicitations of alliance and can be swayed to either side. Organa or Thul, Republic or Empire, Jedi or Sith – one is as good as the other if vengeance on Bouris Ulgo will be reaped.
Gaul Panteer claimed such outrage that the Republic conceded to a frankly beneficial peace with the Sith Empire that he took Alderaan out of the Republic, drastically increasing the odds the Sith Empire would launch another attack on the planet. The surviving members of House Panteer claim such outrage that the heads of their house were assassinated because they put the planet in incredible danger that they are willing to support the Thul puppets of that same Sith Empire Gaul Panteer deemed it unacceptable to compromise with, even at the cost of billions of lives. House Panteer’s effective foreign policy is that the last attacker to have assaulted Castle Panteer is the devil who must be destroyed, regardless of the potential cost to Alderaan. Truly, some heads are not fit to wear the crown.
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