#tale of the dathomir witch

[skellymom]

Posted 10/31/23

Chapter 4-The Finale!

The BAD BATCH Mini Series HALLOWEEN Fan Fic

"The Tale of the Dathomir Witch

To read Chapter 3:

https://www.tumblr.com/skellymom/732696093237870592/the-bad-batch-mini-series-halloween-fan-fic?source=share

(Credit for awesome Halloween BB dividers goes to: stars-n-spice!)

Things go CRAZY while The Batch tries to end Darth Sidious! The tide will turn...and familiar faces show up!!!

SWEET REVENGE IS SERVED TO SIDIOUS IN THIS CHAPTER!!!!

All Ages HOWEVER there is some violence, so BEWARE my 13-17 year old readers!: Mentions of canon Star Wars Empire badness, crying, blood, cutting wound, villain using the Force to crush someone's heart, villain snapping a neck (bloodlessly) star wars swearing, the "S" swear word, and some supernatural revenge at the end of this tale!

Word count: 2.9K

“Start a Riot” by Beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRa9XSVrblI 

With no more troopers in their way, Hunter and Echo ran to the doors. Echo removed his mechanical hand, holstered it, and snapped in his scomp. He inserted it into the lock furiously trying to open the doors. Hunter slid his vibro knife into its sheath, drew his second weapon and trained both blasters on the hallway behind them. 

Imps rounded the corner and were picked off by Hunter’s blaster fire. The doors opened a few inches with Echo’s ministrations, then slammed shut again. A string of profanity left Echo’s lips and he sweated furiously while trying to concentrate on breaking through the locking mechanism. Hunter covered him with blaster fire, but it was getting more and more difficult to do so as more troopers rounded the corner. The doors opened briefly and slammed shut again. 

“DANK FERRIK! Hunter, they won’t stay open long enough. Next time they open wide enough, you go through QUICKLY. But ONLY when I say so!!!” Echo yelled through the blaster fire. 

“Noted!!!” Hunter replied. 

Echo concentrated, scomp rotating back and forth. The doors shook and slowly opened again. Echo could feel them fight his scomp to slam shut. He shoved his scomp in deeper to try to hold them open. 

“HUNTER, NOW!!!” 

Hunter pivoted quickly and dove through the opening. As the doors slammed shut behind him, he could hear Echo’s screams of agony as he was hit by multiple blaster bolts. 

************************************************************************

At that same instant Tech heard a voice inside his head. It was clearly NOT his own inner voice. “Leave NOW!” He stopped; eyes wide in total disbelief. 

“Wrecker, HOLD ON!” Tech fired up the Marauder, engaged the afterburner, and PUNCHED it out of Docking Bay 3. A squad of Imps screamed as they got caught in the ship's fiery exhaust. 

Wrecker barely had time to register as the Marauder lurched forward violently. His large frame slammed into the tail gunner’s steering wheel and sent multiple cannon fire shots into the floor of the bay as they ascended...then through the outer top of the ship as the Marauder exited. His face squished against the tail gunner windscreen while the force of the ship's velocity held him there, chest still pressed up against the firing mechanism. Wrecker watched as Docking Bay 3 collapsed onto itself and exploded. He hoped with everything in him that Hunter, Echo...and Crosshair would be safe. 

Several Imperial Tie Fighters followed in hot pursuit. Wrecker’s chest was still doing the firing while he tried to peel himself off the tail gun windscreen. Tech clearly had the Marauder on full throttle for this escape. 

“Wrecker, keep those Imperial fighters occupied! I’m putting in co-ordinates for the hyperspace jump!!!” 

“I’M TRYIN’!!! 

Tech gritted his teeth and tried NOT to think about leaving his brothers behind. His leg bounced manically while he punched in co-ordinates for the blue-green planet Old Daka had given. Then he loaded the scrambling signature to cover their tracks. 

“Wrecker!” 

“WHAAAAAAT!!!” He had FINALLY pulled himself off the windscreen. “What NOW???” 

“Jump in 3...2...1!!!” Tech warned. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!” Wrecker slammed back into the windscreen as the Marauder made the jump successfully. 

************************************************************************

“Cold Blood” by Valen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZozhNENHy4 

Hunter tucked and rolled into Darth Sidious’ room. He came up firing, felling several stormtroopers who awaited his entrance. He could see Sidious torturing Old Daka with Force Lightning. She looked much weaker than when she exited the Marauder, but still chanting in an ancient tongue. A rift in the air was starting to form behind her, as the lightning entered and exited her body into it.  

He looked sharp, dual wielding blasters, and aimed at anyone who dared advance. Hunter noticed Sidious had a huge number of troopers around him. And his lap dog Darth Vader at The Dark Lord’s Side.  Hunter was vastly outnumbered in that huge room with a side entrance so that reinforcements could file in as needed. They all had their blasters trained on him. Hunter also noticed small circular mirrors placed around the walls... 

...a lone blaster shot rang out. Hunter stood his ground and didn’t move a muscle. The laser bolt bounced around the room, killing a good number of Imps. 

Sidious stopped torturing Old Daka. He turned to see the troops entrusted to his defense struck down. With the Force he sensed and turned to face the source: Crosshair removing his helmet looking Darth Sidious right in the eye with an angry defiant scowl. 

A collective gasp came over the remaining stormtroopers in the room. They were all very aware of Crosshair’s allegiance to The Empire. To see him rebel shocked them, and shook some of them up. 

“I NEVER did care for YOUR kind.” Sidious hissed. “CLONES!” He spat. “Think your act of heroism will redeem you? Or save your brother?” He chuckled and grinned. Ruined teeth in a ruined head. 

Vader’s mind recalled old memories of long ago...serving with clones...serving with THESE clones...but there were others. Memories flooded back to him...somebody named Rex? There were the others...what were their names??? 

Crosshair aimed Firepuncher toward Sidious. He really didn’t think he had a chance at killing the Sith Lord, but at this point it was worth a try. What did he have to lose. Crosshair was willing to die with all the horrible things he had done after leaving The Batch. 

Unfortunately, Sidious wouldn’t let it go down that easily. When Cross pulled the trigger, Firepuncher didn’t discharge. Sidious laughed, then reached out and Force grabbed Hunter, slamming him into the wall and holding him there. 

“YOUR weakness is your HEART” He addressed Hunter. "Such an easy thing to destroy.” Hunter dropped his blasters and held his chest. Sidious slowly started crushing Hunter’s heart. He screamed in agony and kicked the wall furiously.  

Then Sidious addressed Crosshair. “Watch your brother die before your eyes, CLONE!” 

Horrible sounds were coming from Hunter as the Sith crushed him. Crosshair screamed and threw his ineffective rifle at Sidious. It was Force blocked and tossed aside. Then the Sith released Hunter letting him fall onto the ground in a heap. 

A stormtrooper doubled over, holding his stomach, and made retching noises inside his helmet. 

Crosshair ran to his brother, knelt and put Hunter’s head in his lap. 

Hunter barely managed to speak. “I’m...sorry...” 

Cross sassed back, but with utter grief on his face. “Hush Hunter.  There’s no need to apologize.”   

He searched Hunter’s glassy eyes. They stared far off somewhere he couldn’t see... 

“SPARE ME!” With utter disgust Darth Sidious reached out with the Force and snapped Crosshair’s neck. His dead body fell over his brother. Sidious then turned his attention back to torturing Old Daka again. 

************************************************************************

“Angels Among Demons” by Instrumental Core: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ecg2mahps 

Hunter and Crosshair laid there for a few moments. 

They both heard someone approaching. Calling their name.  Someone familiar. 

Cross rolled over and looked up.  Hunter stared past Cross’ shoulder. 

Jesse was standing there next to them, a huge smile on his face.  “Welcome, Vod!” 

“WHAT???”  Both Hunter and Crosshair exclaimed simultaneously.   

Hunter followed up “Didn’t you go down with The Tribunal right after Order 66???” 

Jesse inhaled sharply and rubbed the back of his neck “Well...about that...” 

************************************************************************

Old Daka grimaced with the onslaught of Force Lightning against her back.  The Transference Spell was wearing thin.  Instead of passing though her to open the veil, she was absorbing more of it.  The pain was unbearable, and she was growing weaker.  It was getting more difficult to pull open the veil wider.  She could see the fabric of time-space bulging, starting to separate at the seams, but it wasn’t enough. 

“I see you are succumbing to The Power of the Dark Side, Old Woman!”  Sidious leered with pleasure at her agony. 

“Hardly, you nasty worm!”  Daka shot back.  She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of admitting how painful this was.  “Old Daka’s still a STRONG Night Sister.” 

Sidious shot her with another round of Force Lightning.  Maker, she was going to need some help.  She fell to her hands and knees. 

Sidious howled with gleeful malice.  He rose from his throne and signaled to the remaining troopers to fall back and hold fire.  Vader stood in front of them, watching it all play out. 

Daka spied Hunter and Crosshair’s dead bodies several feet away.  She crawled slowly to them. 

“Tsk...look at you, reduced to crawling on your hands and knees.  You cannot escape my wrath, witch!”  Sidious slowly approached Old Daka relishing her helplessness. 

Daka reached out and yanked Hunter’s vibroblade from its sheath.  She glanced up to Sidious, who was now standing almost over her. 

“You dare think you can injure a powerful Sith such as I with that tiny weapon?  Give up, old woman, I clearly have the high ground.” 

Old Daka slowly stood with immense effort.  She looked Sidious right in the eye.  With the last of her strength, she traced the blade over the artery in her neck and across her heart.  The arterial spray hit Sidious across the face, but it didn’t dampen his terrifyingly hideous smile.  Rather, enhanced it, now highlighted in crimson red. Daka turned and managed to take one step away from her assailant. 

The stormtroopers, used to seeing clean cauterized deaths, gasped at the carnage and looked around at each other.  One took off his helmet and dropped it to the ground.  His young eyes wide and tearing up. 

“Come now...I cannot let you escape in death, can I?  At least not without me serving THE FINAL BLOW!”  

Vader stumbled backwards, bumping into the stormtrooper behind him.  The trooper, who was paying attention to the horrifying scene in front of him, squawked fearing Vader’s wrath.  The Dark Lord paid the trooper no mind, as this all felt...so wrong...SO, SO WRONG!  The Force tearing at his mind, dredging up painful memories. 

Sidious raised his hands and shot Daka with larger bolts of Force Lightening, lifting her off her feet and away like a rag doll.  Old Daka perished...but not before screaming out one last incantation and stabbing the bloodied enchanted vibroblade into the space-time rift. 

It ripped wide open as Old Daka fell dead upon the floor and...  

...Tup and Fives spilled out through The Veil.  The clones looked at Sidious, with bared teeth and clenched their fists in seething anger. 

Sidious stopped and looked upon them in horror.  He hadn’t anticipated the Night Witch to successfully cut open the veil between the living and the dead.  Of course, he hadn’t done his homework and plotted the thinnest day belonging to The Wheel of the Standard Cycle! 

Vader fell to his knees.  He didn’t think it possible. 

Sidious let loose a barrage of Force Lightening at the two clones.  It passed through them like nothing and split the hole even wider.  Hunter stepped out.  Crosshair followed.  Sidious’s eyes bugged from his head.  The stormtroopers turned tail and ran, pushing and trampling each other to get away from the ghosts coming back from the dead.   

Something broke in the young stormtrooper.  He raised his blaster screaming, tears streaming down his face and squeezed off several shots at Sidious.  Sidious, sensing this, raised his hand to strike the youth down... 

...and was Force blocked by Darth Vader...still on his knees.  The blaster shots hit Sidious in the arm, leg and his chair.  He went down screaming. 

“YOU INSOLENT SHITS!  YOU’LL ALL FEEL THE WRATH OF MY POWER!!!”  The pain, anger, hate...all the horrible dark evil intent on crushing anything in the way of his attainment of unlimited power was on full display. 

Echo stepped out of the veil.  He looked back into it motioning “ALL RIGHT EVERYONE! LET’S GO!!!” 

The veil burst wide:  Clones, Jedi, Younglings, Twi’lek, Nomaadi, Wookies, Mandalorian, Rebels, and many more who were causalities of the Empire and the machinations of Darth Sidious appeared.  They flooded through the veil and advanced on the now immobilized Dark Lord.  They passed by Vader and the young stormtrooper, filling the room, reaching out for Sidious.   

Sidious, still screaming full of fear and rage impotently struck out with his Force Lightening to its full potential.  It accomplished nothing.  Vader shielded himself and the trooper.  The horde of souls descended upon Sidious, reaching into his body, pulling free the ghost within the twisted man.  His physical shell fell over onto the floor, eyes rolled up into its head.  The screaming continued, but not from Sidious’ corporeal body.  His Force Ghost was passed along like some grisly postmortem spiritual crowd surfing.  Every hand that touched him pulled a little more power from him, rendering Sidious weak and even more dreadful looking than before. 

He was shoved into the opening of the veil where more hands awaited him.  The unholy screaming continued as he passed from the physical world to the spiritual one.  Souls carrying him to his eternal punishment. 

“The Gravity of Love” by Enigma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MExoMS5uHnk&list=RDGMEMQ1dJ7wXfLlqCjwV0xfSNbA&index=5 

The room slowly emptied as the crowd stepped back into the veil.  Soon only Tup, Fives, Echo, Crosshair, and Hunter were left.  They turned and looked at Darth Vader and the stormtrooper by his side.  Vader cowered and the trooper stood in disbelief. 

“What about them?” Echo inquired 

“Oh...they have another path.” Fives winked. 

Tup added, “Yeah, no need to bother.” 

Jesse stuck his head out, “What’s taking you all so long?  Your brothers are waiting!” 

Fives grabbed Echo’s hand and took off into the rift.  Tup ran after them. 

Crosshair stepped into the rift and looked over the Hunter, “Coming?” 

“In a minute.” 

“Suit yourself, vod.” Cross inserted a ghost toothpick into his mouth and disappeared. 

Hunter stared at Vader and narrowed his eyes, “General Skywalker.”   

Vader looked up at Hunter, amazed the clone figured it out. 

Hunter leaned in close to Vader, almost touching his nose to his mask.  His voice deep.  “Lost two brothers and a sister to turn the tide on this Empire situation.  Whatever you do from here on out...MAKE IT RIGHT.  AND MAKE IT STICK!”   

Vader weakly nodded. 

Hunter gave him his most feral dad expression before stepping into the veil and vanishing. 

The room was quiet.  Vader still upon his knees. 

“Ani?” 

Vader looked up.  Padme Amidala stood next to the breach in the veil. 

“Padme???”  Vader’s voice softened. 

As she stepped toward him, Vader disconnected the life support seal on his helmet and opened it up. 

“Have you come to take me with you?”  Tears ran down his face. 

Padme stopped in front of Anakin “Oh Ani...no. It’s not your time yet.” 

Anakin's face fell and he sobbed.  “I’m so sorry...the things I did to you...to so many...” 

“You have a lot of work to do, Ani.  The galaxy needs help putting things right.  It will be difficult, but you are left with the power to change things for the better.” 

“They’ll hate me, Padme.  I tortured and killed people...destroyed so many homes, families...” 

“Ani, you won’t be alone.  Obi-Wan is still alive.  So is Ashoka Tano” 

Anakin’s eyes widened. 

“Yes, you will have to face the repercussions of your actions.  Other surviving Jedi: Yoda, Quinlan Vos, Shaak Ti will preside over your trial.  You’ll need to be strong, Ani.  Perhaps they will decide that your punishment will be to rebuild what was broken?” 

“Perhaps...I hope...” 

“Obi-Wan is expecting you.  On Tatooine.  He will help you...and help find our children.  Take good care of them for me, Ani?  Will you do that?” 

“Anything for you, Padme...I love you.”  More tears. 

“I love you too, Ani.” 

Padme looked up and addressed the young stormtrooper.  “Please help him get off this ship.  Make sure he gets to Tatooine safely.  You also have a bright future ahead...AFTER facing the consequences of your actions.”  

The stormtrooper nodded wide eyed. 

Padme walked to the opening in the veil and turned to them, “May the Force be with you both.” 

With that she was gone. 

Anakin closed his mask and engaged the life support seal.  He slowly rose to his feet, then turned to the young stormtrooper.  “What is your name?  How old are you?” 

The young stormtrooper was clearly terrified...and confused. 

“I’m Anakin Skywalker.  And I promise not to hurt you.” 

“Jebith...Jebith Freed.  Fourteen Standard Cycles old...sir.”  The age Ashoka Tano was when she joined as his padawan.  A child. 

“Well, Jebith, looks like we have a lot ahead of us.  Are you ready?” 

************************************************************************

“All Soul’s Night” by Loreena McKennitt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RooTTuLCfNM 

“And... that is The Tale of The Dathomir Witch.” 

There was a hush from the group around the bonfire. 

“So that’s why we celebrate The Thin-Veil Time?” 

“Yes, Little One.  We Night Sisters lead The Parade and make Pilgrimage to the Memorial Garden to care for it.  Many all over the galaxy joined the Pilgrimage to leave offerings as thanks for freeing them.  As the galaxy healed from unrest and adjustment after Sidious’s absence, more arrived every year.” 

The child stared into the forest.  Plasma candles lit piles of gifts, flowers, and holo tributes arranged around graves with five helmets, each with names written across the top...and one missing a helmet. 

“On this night, we remind those that visit The Memorial: 

If you see The Keen Man 

He will lead away you from trouble 

If you see The Clever Man 

He will help solve your predicament 

If you see The Strong Man 

He will soothe your grief 

If you see The Unbroken Man 

He will open doors closed to you 

If you see The Eye Man 

He will remind you an outlook can change 

These are helper spirits 

If they seek you, trust in them 

For death is not terrifying, nor final 

Grandmother Daka blesses you this night 

May The Force Be With You” 

“Why are you crying?  Are you sad???” 

“No child, just remembering loved ones tonight.  They are tears of gratitude.” 

The full moon broke free from the dark inky clouds, to shine down upon The Memorial.  Six Force ghosts materialized, as if conjured into presence. 

“Thank you...I love you all.” 

“Happy Halloween, Gran-momma Omega.” chirped the littlest little one. 

“Happy Halloween, Love.” Omega cackled 

To my readers:

Blessed Samhain, Dias de los Muertos, and Happy Halloween! 

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[darth-maul-of-dathomir]

I am told that only very rarely do the witches of the Singing Mountain Clan go to war, thus few of their witches learn bladecraft. This one, obviously, did.

I spotted her from afar as I wandered the coast, practicing forms atop a plateau. Graciously the mountainsister greeted me upon approach, despite the enmity between Mountain and Night. Curious as to why, I made an offer to spar. She was eager. I expect that her sisters do not present enough of a challenge for someone of her skill level.

In the wake of five rounds and with the sky threatening rain, I advised her to seek the males of her coven, and see if they could provide a challenge. Her expression was... flummoxed. So much so that I began to wonder if mountainbrothers are allowed weapons. The clans are all... different. I suggested nightbrothers as a secondary choice.

[thehollowprince]

So, for those of you who have watched TALES OF THE EMPIRE, and might be slightly confused by the sudden appearance of another Clan of Witches on Dathomir, don't be. I've been told there was a reference to other witches in a book written by Filoni's wife, but the idea didn't originate with her.

The Witches of Dathomir actually first appeared in the 1994 book, THE COURTSHIP OF PRINCESS LEIA, in which we met several different clans, the Singing Mountain Clan being the most prominent. That was thirty years ago!

The Nightsisters were there, too, but they were the aberration, not the norm. They became the first thing casual fans think of because they were the only ones featured in the animated show, and that's sad, because there's a whole backstory behind them that would make for a great viewing.

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

Went into tales of the empire expecting to come out of it with a new fondness for Morgan Elsbeth

And yet here I am..with a completely unexpected new love for the Fourth Sister

[nubimera]

I need more of it

Give me the Dreaming river clan and the Misty falls clan. Make the Frenzied river clan and the Great canyon clan canon again.

[grayrazor]

I’m glad that Tales of the Empire re-introduced non-Nightsister non-darksider Dathomir witches. Brought back a bit more of that planet’s lore from the old EU, even if Ahsoka radically reimagined the origin of that culture.

[interdimensionalhellscapeportal]

You mean to tell me that Filoni stole the fucking Singing Mountain Clan & Augwynne Djo from Legends, dumbed down the names for "originality", and made the true Witches of Dathomir FUCKING NUNS with FUCKING WIMPLES

I am. Without words. I will however be glad to throw hands if I ever have the misfortune of encountering that rancid wannabe cowboy irl

[thereisnosp00n]

Me, immediately upon seeing the trailer for Tales of the Empire: "Okay no but like REALLY if this isn't one of the ~SUPER SECRET~ projects that the *LITERAL VOICE OF THE DARK SIDE* is working on then WHAT ARE WE EVEN DOING"

[iviin-855]

I just realized that due to dathomiri zabrak being sexually dimophic and swtor still allowing you to play with both genders as both forms they accidentally made it possible to play an explicitly trans character

[princessbrunette]

starwars!au — additional characters ୨୧

some people have been asking for more lore regarding my star wars obx universe, so here’s some more characters !!

barry is a bounty hunter too. think more of a boba fett, but with a pirate background like hondo ohnaka. he keeps to himself, and is good at what he does — but when he hears of rafe coming along and taking you, the princess, a bounty that was promised to him for more credits than he’s ever known — he starts to look into rafe. will he come after rafe? or will they come together and form an alliance?

big john routledge was one of the best jedi masters of his time. comparable to qui gon jinn, he often didn’t play by the councils rules but would often get away with it due to his impeccable fighting skill. a few years after the birth of his secret son john b, big john uncovers the secret that is ward being a sith lord. confronting who he thought to be the chancellor, the sith lord tells him that he has many trained sith watching his son, ready to take him out at a moments notice. if he wants to ensure his son lives, leave the council and never return. wanting to protect his boy, big john disappears without a trace — leaving his son to be raised by the council and trained as a jedi. john b has little memory of his time spent with his father, being only young when he left — but is raised on the amazing tales of him fighting for the galaxy. entering his early twenties — john b decides he is going to set out to find his father, who he caught wind of to be alive, and living on a far away desert planet undercover. whilst john b sets out on this journey, big john has been leaving his son clues across the galaxy to point him in the right direction of figuring out that ward is a sith, so perhaps his son can be the one to uncover the truth and expose him.

cleo has lived many lives. never really having a family, the girl has jumped from being a mechanic and working on ships, to deciding she could be making a lot more money and seeking out bounties to make her name in the bounty hunting world. whilst she was raised to be cold and put herself first, her kind heart stops her getting what she feels she should want. when she runs into a group of jedi trying to save the princess (you), they help her out of a sticky situation and in return she tells them the information she has about the bounty on the princess. after this, she joins the group reluctantly on their wild adventures.

carla limbrey, the witch of dathomir. when struck with illness, the witch is deadset on finding a cure. she’s tried everything, but now — for the spell to cure her, she believes to require the blood of a jedi, one pure of heart. she believes this to be john b, and therefore sends a team of witches and bounty hunters to track down the boy.

topper thornton, a member of the senate alongside sarah. playing a similar role to clovis from the clone wars, he is desperately in love with sarah — but utterly controlling and overall gross. his constant attempts to silence her voice all whilst forcing himself to be in her proximity quickly get old. luckily, sarah isn’t afraid to put him in his place.

[skellymom]

Posted 10/31/2023

Chapter 3

The BAD BATCH Mini Series HALLOWEEN Fan Fic

"The Tale of the Dathomir Witch"

To read Chapter 2:

https://www.tumblr.com/skellymom/731405312676003840/the-bad-batch-mini-series-halloween-fan-fic?source=share

(Credit for awesome Halloween BB dividers goes to: stars-n-spice!)

The Batch and Old Daka leave Ord Mantell to KICK SOME BUTT!

All Ages: Sadness, mentions of canon Star Wars Empire badness, crying, and some sweet revenge at the end of this tale (It's coming in Chapter 4)!

Word count: 2.5K

“Take Cover” by Unsecret: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB7LWLDa0qs 

The morning sun rose upon Ord Mantell.  The Batch awoke from their slumber surprisingly refreshed.  Unbeknownst to them, Old Daka had swept away the nightmares like old cobwebs.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t take away the hole in their hearts. The one approximately the size of their sister. 

Hunter was still unaccounted for.  The last anyone had seen him; he had run away after Omega and Riffraff's departure.  Gone all night.  Tech inquired out loud about his absence. 

Old Daka, who had been meditating and humming opened her eyes, “He’s on his way back.”  Then she closed her eyes and resumed humming.  Ten minutes later Hunter stumbled aboard the Marauder, dirty, sweaty, exhausted. 

“Hunter!”  Echo exclaimed. 

“Caf, shower...” he rasped.  Hunter, trying to be a leader after his absence and thinking those two things would give him the energy to continue forging ahead on the journey. 

“Shower THEN sleep!” Daka commanded, eyes still closed.  “You may have started to process your grief, but rest is required...then caf.” 

Hunter, too tired and beat down to argue headed to the refresher. 

“Clever Boy and The Unbroken, I will give you the coordinates to our destination.” 

“What is the plan of action to secure us proximity to Darth Sidious undetected?”  Without Hunter present, Tech needed details. 

“You all are on a need-to-know basis for now.  For safety reasons.” 

Echo leaned over and whispered to Tech, “Pretty glib, eh?  Hope she knows what she’s doing.” 

“I heard that.  And, yes, I do!”  Old Daka sassed, eyes still closed. She resumed humming. 

Tech and Echo exchanged glances. 

Tech fired up the Marauder and took off from Ord Mantell.  It left the upper atmosphere of the planet and eventually settled into hyperspace. 

“Granny Daka?” 

Old Daka stopped humming and opened her eyes.  Wrecker was standing before her holding out a ration bar and cup of caf.  “Thought ya might be hungry.” 

The old woman smiled warmly at Wrecker.  “You’re a sweet boy.  Thank you.”  She patted his hand and took the items.  “You’ll be a wonderful partner to Hazard.” 

“Who’s Hazard?” 

“Oh...you’ll see.” Old Daka smiled and winked as she bit into the ration bar. 

************************************************************************

Many hours later Hunter emerged from his bunk.  He looked much better than he did earlier in the rotation.  Daka had helped him sleep while she meditated.  Echo handed him a cup of caf. 

“So... what’s the plan?”  Hunter inquired. 

“According to Old Daka, we are on a need-to-know basis for safety reasons.”  Tech quipped. 

“I know we usually go by the seat of our pants, but this seems like a mission we shouldn’t be improvising.”  Hunter sipped his caf. 

“My thought’s exactly.” Echo added. 

Wrecker sat and watched the conversation unfold. 

Old Daka was quiet for a moment.  Then she spoke, “We are to be captured.  That is the easiest way to gain access to Sidious.  I will give you more information as we progress.  If I were to give you too much, he would be able to read your minds with the Force.  That would put a damper on our mission.” 

“Wouldn’t he be able to anyways.”  Tech playing devil’s advocate. 

“He’d see us coming before we even got to his location.” Echo stated. 

“No. Because I will be dampening his ability to see us clearly.  And the less you know, the less he will.  The rest you must trust me on.”  Old Daka closed her eyes and started humming again. 

“What makes you so sure you can block out a powerful Sith Lord like Sidious?”  Hunter asked. 

Old Daka kept humming with her eyes closed. 

“Uh, Granny...hello?” 

Still humming.  Eyes closed. 

“Good talk.”  Hunter frowned sarcastically. 

*********************************************************************** 

“Hide and Seek” by Kergy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c03J4wXMuGM&list=RDEpak9TqrKLs&index=13 

Several hours later Tech perked up and addressed Old Daka.  “We are nearing our destination in a few moments.  What is our next plan of action?” 

Old Daka opened her eyes.  “The large Imperial ship we will be infiltrating will enquire about who we are as standard protocol.  Answer them as you would if you were bringing me in as a prisoner.” 

“They’ll recognize us right away.  We’ll be blasted right out of existence.”  Echo piped up. 

“Sidious has had a large bounty on my head for some time now.  Delivering me was eventually expected.  Plus, I can handle the crew on the Imperial bridge right from here.  For all they know you are Trandoshan Bounty Hunters who finally managed to bring me in. Speak as you normally would.  They won’t suspect a thing.” 

The Batchers, all shot each other uneasy glances. 

“Hope you're right Granny, or this is going to be a VERY short mission.”  Hunter frowned. 

The Marauder left hyperspace and a large Imperial vessel came into view.  A minute later, the Marauder was being hailed.  Tech opened communications then glanced at Old Daka.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  The Imperial ships bridge inquired about their presence.  As Tech began to speak, Daka waved her hand and muttered something under her breath. 

“This is Cradossk aboard the Trandoshan Bounty vessel.  We have captured Night Sister Old Daka and are here to claim our bounty.  We request access to board.”  Tech’s leg bounced continuously as he spoke to help keep his voice even. 

The comm was quiet.  Everyone held their breath. 

“Do ya think they bought it?”  Wrecker finally spoke up. 

Still no answer. 

Echo ran a hand down his face, “We’re kriffed.  Lads, it’s been a pleasure working with you.”  He looked at Old Daka, “Well, at least we tried.” 

Still no answer. 

Then... 

“Permission granted.  Proceed to Docking Bay 3.” 

Everyone exhaled audibly.  Tech maneuvered to land inside the ship.

 

“Before we land, I should inform you all that Sidious isn’t alone on that vessel.  I sense another strong presence on board.”   

“Oh?  And who would that be???  Hunter had a bad feeling. 

“Darth Vader is with him.” 

Everyone on the Marauder threw up their hands and groaned. 

************************************************************************

The Marauder touched down at Docking Bay 3.  The Batch stood and awaited their next piece of the plan. 

“Clever and Strong Boys, you will stay with the ship and leave when I give the signal.  From there you will proceed to the blue green planet I gave you coordinates to.”  Old Daka nodded to Tech.  “Keen Man and The Unbroken will chaperone me as prisoner.” 

“How will I know ‘The Signal’” Tech seemed confused. 

“You will ‘know’ through the Force.”   

“That will be difficult as I lack Force sensitivity.”  Tech was concerned 

“No matter.  I will use the Force to alert you.  Trust me.”  Old Daka’s reply had him scratching his head. 

Hunter interjected, “Wait...once we step off the Marauder Echo and I won’t see Tech and Wrecker ever again?” 

“Yes.” 

“Lady, you sure don’t leave people time to say goodbye!”  Hunter was trying to hold his composure.  After having to quickly leave Omega, losing two more brothers was more than he could deal with. 

Echo stood by terribly crestfallen.  His face didn’t hide it.  But then he had lost so many brothers before joining The Batch.  At least with this mission there would be a reason...and possibly a future. 

Tech knew logically this was the best scenario for the most favorable outcome.  His head accepted this.  However, he had a horrible feeling in his chest...just about heart level. 

Wrecker knew he had no control over the situation and did what a good soldier and brother should: follow orders and complete the mission.  It took everything he could to not break out in tears again. 

Hunter grabbed Tech by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a hug.  His other hand reached up and pulled Wreckers forehead to his.  Wrecker gave up and started bawling, squeezing them both in a huge bear hug.  Tech was trapped in the middle, silent tears escaping his goggles.  Wrecker reached out and grabbed Echo, squeezing him into the group hug. 

Old Daka watched the clones say goodbye for the last time. “We must hurry.  An Imperial officer, Vader, and two stormtroopers are approaching.  I will use the Force to disguise you as Trandoshans.” 

The Batch parted.  Wrecker wiped his face.  Tech dabbed at his goggles.  Hunter grabbed handcuffs and snapped them on Old Daka’s wrists.  Echo disengaged his scomp, holstered it, and replaced it with his mechanical hand.  Then he along with Hunter took out their blasters and escorted the old woman to the Marauder’s gangplank to leave the ship.  Everyone had a lump in their throat. 

Old Daka took a deep breath and exhaled.  Nobody but Hunter could feel something in the air change.  Everyone and everything looked the same, but he suspected Daka’s glamour spell was radiating around them. 

Hunter and Echo escorted Old Daka off the Marauder.  They walked down the gangplank and a few feet into the landing bay to meet Vader and the Imperial Officer. 

Daka had cloaked Hunter and Echo with her glamour spell.  Everyone laying eyes on them wouldn’t know the difference...except...she sensed a presence... 

…up above and ahead several floors up a tall, thin man with silver hair stared down at them.  He seemed very interested in the interaction that was to take place.  Strangely enough, he was hard to read using the Force.  Not that he fought her trying to read him...there was just...nothing.  An impenetrable wall to the inside of his head, his thoughts.  This man was trying very hard to hide his true feelings.  She didn’t sense Jedi, but more like Hunter, someone actively designed with a special ability.  He also had a long-range rifle trained on them.  

  “Start a Riot” by Beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRa9XSVrblI 

Tech, ever-vigilant noticed their brother on the upper platform. 

“Wrecker, look!” He whispered and pointed out Crosshair’s position. 

Too late, Vader sensed some small change in the Force, cocked his head.  Old Daka, catching this employed an underhanded tactic to distract Vader. 

“Ani?”  Vader started at a familiar voice.  His gaze shot back at Old Daka...but she wasn’t there.  Instead stood Anakin Skywalker’s mother.  “Ani!  Don’t let them kill me!!!”  She had tears in her eyes, her face pleading.  His sweet long-lost mother.  

Vader was prepared for some type of scheming and magic by Old Daka...but NOT this.  Old vivid memories ripped through his head and heart.  He Force snatched the old woman up by her neck.  She expertly kept her glamor spell up, still pleading and crying as Schmi Skywalker, but could only barely maintain this deception.  Her glamour spell on Hunter, Echo, and the Marauder melted away and they were revealed. 

The Imperial officer yelled an order to open fire on them while attempting to comm for backup.  A blaster shot caught the back of his head and he went down.  The two stormtroopers next to him barely had enough time to squeeze off a shot before they too were taken out.  Hunter looked up to catch a glimpse of Crosshair and they locked eyes for a moment before all hell broke loose.  Imps spilled out into the bay, shooting. 

Aboard the Marauder Tech opened fire from the pilot's seat and Wrecker from the tail gunner's roost.  They had kept their shield up ever since landing and the stormtrooper blaster shots harmlessly pinged off it. Tech engaged the Marauder’s propulsion system to turn the ship 360 degrees so they could continuously fire at everything in the landing bay.  Explosions and smoke filled the space.   

Hunter and Echo ducked double wielding their blasters while furiously looking for Vader and Old Daka.  They had disappeared entirely from view.  Fortunately, Hunter could still sense the old woman’s glamour spell.  It tickled his senses but was quickly getting away from them. 

“Echo!”  He yelled.  “Vader took Old Daka into the ship.  Cover me while we follow and track her.” 

“Got it, Vod” Echo yelled back. 

The Marauder came full circle firing away.  Tech spotted Hunter and Echo through the windscreen attempting to get access to the Imperial ship. 

“Wrecker, I’m opening the gangplank.  You must cover Echo and Hunter!” 

“I’m ON IT!!!”  Wrecker jumped down from the gunner's seat, grabbed the rapid rotating blaster from the Marauder’s gun rack.  He took his position at the open gangplank and fired away hollering like mad. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” 

Tech aimed for the door between the landing bay and inner ship entrance.  He fired the Marauder’s cannon and blew a hole through it.  Hunter and Echo hopped over the smoldering wreckage of the door, quickly turned and saluted their brothers.  Then they both disappeared into the ship.   

Wrecker stepped back onto the ship and ran back to the aft gunner's roost. Tech closed the gangplank. With the Marauder’s shield still strongly intact, they continued to use the ships’ cannons to shoot and destroy everything they could until they were signaled to leave the Imperial vessel.  

Hunter’s senses tingled stronger.  He was on Vader and Old Daka’s trail.  He holstered his second weapon and pulled his vibroknife, slashing and shooting as he progressed forward.  Echo, holding the rear shot furiously at anything that moved. Troopers fell by the dozens as both clones progressed quickly down several hallways and corridors. 

************************************************************************

Meanwhile, Old Daka kept up her ruse as Schmi Skywalker, crying, pleading. Vader still had her by the neck as he Force dragged her above the floor and down the corridor towards Darth Sidious’ room aboard the vessel. He was angry about her choice of deception. It hurt him deeply, but he couldn’t kill her. Sidious needed her power...and... even if he didn’t...Vader seriously started to doubt he could kill her. Not due to a lack of power...but a lack of will.  

Backup stormtroopers advanced past them to stop the oncoming clones. They stole glances at Vader yanking a crying, levitating woman past their formation. A few stopped cold, tripping up troopers behind them. Shaking their heads and unsure what was going on aboard the ship. This was indeed unprecedented and shocking. 

Vader arrived at Sidious’ door. Blaster shots rang out from Hunter as he and Echo rounded the corner and advanced. Vader turned to see Hunter fully feral shooting a blaster in one hand and mowing down Imperial troopers with a vibroknife in the other. He ducked, parried, jumped, flipped, and dispatched them easily. Darth Vader briefly admired this clone. He would have made an ideal Sith. Pity he would be killed. Vader then turned, dragging along Old Daka, and slamming the doors shut behind them. 

To read Chapter 4! And juicy revenge!!!

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[darth-maul-of-dathomir]

A mountainsister out on patrol. She is communicating mind-to-mind with her rancor, gesturing at a split in the path with that halberd of hers. The beast is laden with provisions. Either she is on a long journey, or she prefers to wander Dathomir's wilds rather than spend her time on the Singing Mountain.

Either way, the weather has been foul lately. I believe the seasons are turning. She will end up soaked unless magic or shelter is used to stave off this rain. I am headed for a cave... at least, it looks like a cave. We shall see.

[anghraine]

Updates:

1— My mother is still hospitalized; they discovered she had three different "pockets" of pneumonia, and sepsis, and that her lungs were in some way pulling on her heart, and the hospital doctors say all of this was 100% preventable if her usual doctor had paid any serious attention to her complaints. The hospital currently has the pneumonia and sepsis under control, apparently, and has been able to dial down how much oxygen they're feeding her to keep her, well, oxygenated, but they haven't gotten her heart back to normal (she has arrhythmia and some scarring at the best of times) and refuse to send her out of intensive care until they can get her pulse down.

(My response: "I love you and I know it's boring and miserable for you, but good for them. Also you're getting a new doctor in the city once you're out.")

2— My bff, his other friend/our housemate Ash, and I distracted ourselves by watching four episodes of Tales of the Empire (all three of us are intense SW people in somewhat different ways). I was pretty tired, but my general thought was that I enjoyed the short form, the stories were fairly compelling in execution, and the animation style is way less grating than what I saw of TCW's characters, but it seems to assume and almost require a level of familiarity with so much other stuff that it's a little meh for me personally (e.g. I know of the witches of Dathomir, but not enough to care that much without being given a reason in this story). It's kind of an unfortunate contrast with Fallen Order, which is unfair given how much time FO had, but which internally supplies so much of the interest and stakes that I don't have to anchor it to my previous SW experience to care.

3— Ash has been eager to experience mainstays of PNW city life, including chain stores and restaurants. We started, as I mentioned before, with Trader Joe's, but we've been driving around different areas so she could also experience Jack in the Box, Shari's, Fred Meyer's, and even (going further afield) a Weinerschnitzel.

She's also asked things like "how do people feel about Southern jibberjabber" because some of the people she's met here seem puzzled by her chattiness, and she wanted to make sure she wasn't offending them. We explained that people here tend to be direct but are more likely to be surprised than offended by her level of friendliness. And then, when we were talking about shops to go to today, she was like, "won't they be closed?"

Us: ????????????

Her: It's a Sunday, right?

Me: ...ah. Uh, no, that is, uh, generally not an issue.

BFF: This is a land of godless heretics!

Her: So people just work every day of the week?

BFF: Well, there are usually different shifts at the stores, so it's not always the same person running things, but there's generally someone there.

Me: Some places with smaller staff do shut down for a day out of the week, but it's not necessarily on Sundays. It might just as easily be on Mondays or Thursdays.

Her: O_O

[darkladylumiya]

My thoughts on Tales of the Empire

I'll start with my overall thoughts - the animation is really good, though at this point the contrast between more standard Clone Wars-style models and the more realistic ones who look like they could be from a video game is a bit jarring (though this could easily be a just me thing, I've not seen anyone else talk about this), the Barriss arc was way better than the Morgan Elsbeth one, which I doubt was a surprise to anyone, though I still have some issues with both. My big thing is that, compared to Tales of the Jedi, where we get little excerpts and character moments to fill out the characters and their progression through time, here Tales of the Empire is more or less our only source for info on these characters at this point in time. We know what happens with Dooku and Ahsoka in between their episodes - we have no clue what happened to Morgan to get her from Dathomir to running a planet for example, or how Barriss went from inquisitor to hermit healer (though this example is much less extreme).

Anyway, into the arcs proper. Get excited everyone, other force witch clans are back! Like the... checks notes Mountain clan. Not Singing Mountain. Just... Mountain. Cool, thanks Filoni. A decade later you finally make other Dathomiri clans canon, but you just shave a word off a name and now it's totally your own original idea, right? And don't worry, we'll have more totally original ideas from Filoni later, but first. Okay, the first episode is kinda like... a nothing episode. We end the episode with Morgan in the same position as she was halfway through, with a strange plot where Morgan immediately tries to seduce people to the Dark Side because... I don't know, she can? And again, we have no clue how she made it off planet. Dathomir doesn't exactly get a lot of space traffic, and apparently there are droid gunships still scouring the planet looking to kill literally any Nightsister left. Surely the first episode should have dealt with her getting off-planet? And not her sowing some dissent in a clan we've never met before and never see again? Some dissent which immediately ends and goes nowhere because most of them are now dead.

Anyway, next episode, she's in charge of a planet now because she has to be for The Mandalorian to still work - surely her getting to be in charge of a planet should have been an episode? Have the first one be her family getting killed and then her getting off-planet with some scavengers or pirates or whatever, the second episode is her rise to power over this planet and then the last is her meeting Thrawn? But sure, whatever, she's in charge already, cool. She's the designer of the TIE Defender, because they love beating my boy down. I'm not even going to ask how a Nightsister who has probably never even seen a starship before her clan got murdered figured out in the however many years it's been now knows how to design one of the best starfighters out there. Let's actually address that though - how many years has it been? The Battle of Dathomir was 20 BBY. The episode starts with a shot of Coruscant, where we see six Venators before finally an Imperial-class Star Destroyer appears. This implies to me that this has to be early on in the Empire, right? The first five years or so maybe? But then in Rebels season four there's an episode where they steal a TIE Defender prototype. So it took the Empire, or I guess Thrawn more specifically, at least seven years to go from design to a single test model? That's just strange to me, but who knows, it's been forever since I've seen that Rebels episode so maybe I'm just misremembering how they talked about it there. Anyway, the thing that truly got me was Pellaeon and Rukh. Fucking Rukh. But yeah, why was Eli Vanto not here but Pellaeon was? New canon more or less replaced Pellaeon's role with Vanto, so why is he not here now but Pellaeon is? My guess - because Filoni wanted to cover all the Thrawn bases. He read a brief summary of people and things associated with Thrawn in Legends and he put them all in one episode. We have Pellaeon, we have TIE Defenders, we have fUCKINg Rukh. I genuinely do not know why the FUCK Rukh is here.

Okay, let me explain. In the original Thrawn trilogy from the 90s, Rukh is Thrawn's personal bodyguard. Rukh is a Noghri, a species who regard Darth Vader as the savior of their people because their planet got nuked during the Clone Wars (it was an accident) and Vader came in and promised to help rebuild the planet, which he did. Very slowly, so the Noghri would always be indebted to him, because as it turns out they're very good assassins and commandos. But the important thing to note is that they're sworn to Vader, and serve him. Now in the books they work for Thrawn because they're more broadly sworn to the Empire, and after Vader is dead they end up working for Thrawn once he's in charge of the Empire. But Filoni doesn't care, the Noghri are associated with Thrawn and so here Rukh is as his bodyguard testing whether Morgan can fight. As soon as she got attacked, I immediately guessed it was going to be a Noghri, but once I saw the face of her attacker I was much less sure, because the head is completely wrong for a Noghri by the way, their head looks nothing like that. But anyway I lost it when Pellaeon said Rukh's name, because I knew I was fucking right. We're just pulling out all the sick Thrawn trilogy references, but not actually using these characters in any meaningful way - Rukh is here so his character page on Wookieepedia can have a canon tab now and so Filoni can show off his cred of pretending to have read a single book in his life. Oh yes, there is another thing Rukh is famous for by the way. KILLING THRAWN. I'm sure Filoni just forgot that little detail. Or who knows, maybe he'll just recreate it word for word at some point because he cannot do anything but steal from other people's work but do it in a worse and more amateurish way. I was so upset with Rukh being here with no explanation or justification I really did not care about anything else that happened in the rest of the arc. Thrawn shows up and recruits Elsbeth and then the third episode is just her killing a diplomat and burning a forest for no reason, yeah sure whatever who cares. I simply wish at some point there would be a notable character from Legends who is just... left there, and doesn't get dragged by cowboy hat man into whatever nostalgia bait ploy or attempt to pretend he has ever read a book, because the nostalgia bait doesn't work anymore. It just doesn't - it simply pisses me off. You're reminding me of better stories while I watch your lame shows, Filoni. Is that really what you want?

Ugh. Anyway, Barriss. I have a lot less to say because it's actually pretty good. I think it's way too short and she deserved way more screentime, or at the least not having to share an equal amount with Morgan Elsbeth (who I honestly forgot was even in the Mandalorian, I genuinely thought she was made up for the Ahsoka tv show for a while she's so forgettable). Anyway, the fundamental flaw is still that Barriss's massive heel-turn change of heart came out of nowhere and makes little sense with her character as established, so while this does a decent job at building upon that, it doesn't change that her arc in The Clone Wars makes no sense and was obviously chosen so that Ahsoka could be emotionally devastated by her best friend betraying her. A different complaint I then have is like... when did Barriss, woman who killed over a dozen people in a terrorist bombing, at least one of whom was someone she knew and liked, Barriss who murdered a woman in cold blood and purposefully framed her best friend so she could get away with this bombing, Barriss who convinces a wife to make her husband into a living bomb, Barriss who kills three clones with her friend's lightsabers to set her up even further and leads her purposefully where she has stashed more of the same bomb material, and indeed Barriss who kills someone who seemed to be her friend with the same technique she used to kill the woman who was about to rat her out - you want me to believe she suddenly has an issue with killing a village full of people? I'm sorry, but you have to actually explain how she sees this as different. Because you don't actually address at any point how she might feel about her terrorism now, or even what exactly her moral compass is. Killing innocents is good when she does it bad bad when it doesn't make the political statement she wants to make? I just don't get it. Anyway, final episode is the best of the series because it does the most to actually have a moral and message and actually does something pretty interesting? Whether she dies or not (I doubt she does personally), it's still an interesting setup for something else, either another season of this or a comic or book or whatever, to come back to and follow what the hell Lyn (and probably Barriss too) does now. I'm also glad Filoni finally remembered Barriss's specialty was healing actually, and not terrorism, even though we don't actually get to see her do any healing, with the Force or otherwise. Oh also, why does she look so old? It's like she aged 50 years over the course of 10? Like Lyn looks exactly the same but Barriss looks like she's 80. Idk, that was weird. Anyway I've rambled long enough, Filoni is still a hack who's never read a book in his life, but the Barriss stuff here was pretty good, at least somewhat enjoyable throughout. If you watch anything, watch that - all the Morgan Elsbeth stuff is terribly forgettable or outright frustrating.

5/6 edit: I’ve fixed Eli’s name (sorry Eli) and while it’s been pointed out to me that Rukh is in Rebels, a fact I was unaware of, I’m going to maintain the rant as it stands with this disclaimer here at the end - Rukh was in Rebels and was not originally added in this show. However, I still think his design sucks.

[bolithesenate]

Boli I saw your wip game post and my god that's a lot of wips lol, I'm mostly curios about this ones:

anti anarchist royalists

no witches

the heart of a star is home

cache lineage

true sith padme (tale the l palpy)

fuck it all

come ooooon, tell me what your brewing!

*cracks knuckles* Okay, here we go

anti anarchist royalists - this one is a original fiction writing exercise for the fantasy writing course I am in. I got the prompt "a young and inexperienced king tries to stop his kingdom from falling into anarchy" and the main purpose of the exercise is to figure out how to describe characters

this is everything I have so far and I'm not sure if I'll add some more bc I'm actually quite happy with it even though I am miles away from the recommended word count lol

Augustin folded his hand in front of his face and observed the chaos that lay before him. Noblemen screaming their lungs out left, right and center, none really getting the point across they would liked to have made. Maybe that wasn’t the worst thing though, he thought. He’d seen what their ‘points’ had done to his mother’s reign – as well to the short time his dear sister had claimed the crown that was slowly and steadily making its way down the back of his head. It was technically his sister’s crown and thus made for a woman two heads taller than him and with the thick hair befitting her heritage and station. They hadn’t had time to fashion one for him properly, the people who’d led him to his crowning had said – but Augustin knew that was not true. His sister’s guard, those that had stayed, hadn’t even bothered to hide their whispers.  Everyone expected him to last a week at the utmost on this damn throne. His nanny-turned-head-maid had even told him so straight to the face, just this morning. She’d been braiding his hair in an attempt at providing some support for the crown and tried to talk him into slipping some sharp hairpins in. You know, just in case a would-be-assassin came into stabbing distance. Which was unlikely, from everything Augustin knew of their ilk. Assassins tended to stay in the shadows and way out of reach of their intended marks. Those that didn’t, didn’t stay assassins for long. At least that’s what he had gathered from the fact that the head of the palace guard and the spymaster were still looking for the man – or woman – that had taken his sister’s life. Only barely suppressing a sigh, he reached up, pulled the crown back into position and winced. The ominous mass of gems and gold immediately had jabbed one of the sharp pins into his scalp. Great. Heavy crown, heavy mantle, heavy heart – Augustin was just fourteen, palace-pale and definitely not made to be king. Least of all king of a nation that was so dedicated to tearing itself apart as Vesna.

no witches - this one is a future part of the mud fic universe, centered around Sheev's (mis)adventures on Dathomir and the weird situationship he strikes up with Talzin during it.

It's also the fic I have started coming up with the dathomiri conlang for, so there's that

(Ig this makes little sense if you haven't read the mud fic, but the tldr is that Sheev was kidnadopted away from his og family by Jaster and so is about 50% more stable in his life choices down the road)

Well after the sun had gone back down again, the little witchling returned. Only this time, she carried a thick, leather-bound (Sheev hoped it was leather) honest-to-the-Stars book with her. By the Manda, Jaster should never be allowed to know of this, lest Silas reconsidered his stance on expansive politics. Conquering worlds over rare books was not something that had been done before in Manda'yaim's history, but if his buir had shown anything so far then it was his neverending willingness to pave new ways. Her yellow eyes flitted towards him, then to the book and she let the thing plop down on the dirty floor. The wince that went through Sheev at that sight was entirely the fault of the rigorous conditioning Jaster had put him through in regards to proper handling of precious artifacts. Nothing more. He didn't care for old books, after all. The witchling's grubby little hands pawed over the pages of the thing, flipping back and forth until she seemed to have found what she was looking for. Hopefully not some sort of crazy witchcraft magic spell. That green fire everywhere was really starting to give Sheev eye strain. If he got myopic during his stay here they were going to pay for his contact lenses, that Sheev swore to himself. Then his attention was drawn back to the witch-child, who started sounding out words. "Ssah-," she tried, but broke off with a frown. "Ssuh," her face did weird things as she sounded out the words - at least Sheev assumed that's what those were trying to be, "Zuh-ee…kar?" Yellow eyes wandered up at Sheev, seeming almost hopeful? Which was weird. Sheev scowled. For good measure.

the heart of the star is home - now this i am excited to talk abut, because it's my ghiblification origin story for Feemor! We all know and love him as the one normal guy in the disaster lineage, but I say what if that is all very hard work on his side!

His father might be a farmer (and proud o that) but his mother is the spirit of the desert their family cultivates XD

It also gives me the opportunity to smol Feemor, which is a joy in and of itself

He moved through the field of glowing lights, Feemor in his arms. With every step Audunn took, the glowing, hovering points closest to them shifted, parting and making way. Then, the man raised his voice and a smile was plastered on his face, the burnt skin around his eyes and cheeks crinkling in delight. “Najm,” he called out, “Look who has returned!” And while Feemor’s mind was preoccupied with following the implications of those words, the lights all around started to move. As if someone had dropped a loadstone in a bucket of magnets, all the individual points of light coalesced into a rising, writhing flame in the sand before them.  Audunn’s milky eyes reflected the multicolored fire like mirrors, shadows deepening the laugh lines around his mouth and the mottled skin above. It would have been scary if Feemor hadn’t felt the genuine love and joy radiating off the man. Yet he couldn’t look directly at the flame. He tried to and the Force screamed in warning – and with the Force rang a second, lower warning, like a woman whistling in the night.

now for cache lineage - this one is all about Jocasta and her padawans! Listen, the moment I learned she had three whole students in (eu) canon, I knew I HAD to do something with it. The thing that popped out eventually was the start of my first ever chatfic, so....

('cache lineage' is the name I have given their lineage because I think it fits nicely) (Ole Bole is Olee Starstone, Mr.Galaxywide is Jerec and Grandstand is Jocasta Nu. Jin-Lo is self-explanatory)

Box Office Hit Ole Bole: who tf changed the chat name? Ole Bole: rude Mr. Galaxywide: guess Mr. Galaxywide: also, Master whi is this traitor still in the chat? exile her now Ole Bole: TRAITOR?! Ole Bole: I’ll show you traitor you ******* ******* *** *********** Ole Bole: wtf what’s that Ole Bole: what is happening Mr. Galaxywide: guess you got censured, Ol. ***** ** **** Mr. Galaxywide: D:?! Mr. Galaxywide: really? suck is censured?! Mr. Galaxywide: OH NOW IT WORKS?!?!! Mr. Galaxywide: ***!?!?! Mr. Galaxywide: ******* ********* ***?? Ole Bole: @ Grandstand what is going on??? Ole Bole: @ Grandstand Ole Bole: @ Grandstand Ole Bole: @ Grandstand Mr. Galaxywide: @ Grandstand Mr. Galaxywide: @ Grandstand Mr. Galaxywide: @ Grandstand Mr. Galaxywide: @ Grandstand Mr. Galaxywide: @ Grandstand Grandstand: Preemptive safety measures. Grandstand: Children, behave. @ Grandstand has added @83365299 to the Chat @ Grandstand changed @83365299 to @ Padawan Learner Rayce Padawan Learner Rayce: Thank you, Master Nu Padawan Learner Rayce: :D Ole Bole: A BABY?!?!?! Padawan Learner Rayce: Hi, I’m Jin-Lo Rayce, happy to be here. Padawan Learner Rayce: I’m not a baby, I’m 12? Mr. Galaxywide: A BABY!!!!!!

true sith padme - that one was my very impulsive 'a sith is just nine handmaidens and a queen in the same trenchcoat' fic where Padme and company get to be the unhinged teens they were meant to be. They also cause enormous psychological damage to Palpatine because in true naboo fashion they all chose very similar sith names and also switch places willy-nilly to cause more confusion

This actually had one chapter already published, but I've been very lazy with working on the next one. nonetheless, here, have a snippet of a later thing

<Pretender, you do not know what Forces you play with. My wrath will- > "I'm sorry," Eirtaé interrupted the cloaked figure, "I think you have the wrong comm number. Who are you?" <What?!,> the cloaked stranger spat, <I am DARTH SIDIOUS, and you, 'Darth' Akako, are a pretender to the Line of Bane and I–" "Ah, yes, I see now," Eirtaé interrupted him once again, "No, I am not Darth Akako, I am Darth Shirogo. Darth Akako is my cousin thrice removed." Then, after a very brief moment of consideration, she added, "She is known for her rogue actions, if you have an official complaint, please direct it to the High Council. I will transmit their contact right now." She sent the guy Dormé's private comm. The older Handmaiden would know how to stall for time better than her. <You–!> "Thank you for your time and have a good day, good bye!," she cheered and then cut the line, the fake smile that had split her face immediately falling. Grumbling, Eirtaé rubbed her cheeks. Just what the kark were Padmé and Sabé doing out there? And who the fuck had given this old creep her comm number?!

and last but not least

fuck it all - the one and only crossover i'll likely ever write. That's my witcher/lotr crossover where Thranduil and some guard ocs get transported into the witcherverse and proceed to adopt their way through the ranks of protagonists

Another already published thing i should fix up a new chapter for at some point, but after the latest weirdnesses with how the witcher series was treated by netflix it kinda lost its shine. i'll return to it one day though.

Until then, have this. I like to think I am hilarious.

Thranduil looked at the young edain with the rather garish red doublet (the scale-like detailing of the fabric woke unpleasant memories and seemed a bit distasteful). The man was currently drinking what must be the fourth or fifth tankard of beer since Thranduil had entered the dimly lit establishment and he was still holding up pretty well. This, coupled with the fine lute leaning on the side of his chair sealed the deal. ‘He certainly looks like a sensible young man’, the Elvenking thought. “Young man.” There was a benevolent smile on his face as Thranduil tapped the edain’s shoulder to gain his attention. The man reared back, startled, and stared at him with big brown eyes that were red and swollen, as if he had cried not long ago. ‘Oh dear’, Thought the Elvenking now, but it was too late. His smile took a tad of a strained note. Hopefully it wasn’t recognizable. “Young man, I may have a business opportunity for you.”

[classicanalyzer]

Tales of the Empire Thoughts and Reflection

Morgan Elsbeth - The Vengeful Nightsister

The Path of Fear

"It appears your path is set, Morgan Elsebeth. I pity you, for I can see what is to come." Mountain Clan Matron

The origins of Morgan's darkness begin with a tragedy. Her Nightsister tribe (whether that be a part of the same group as Talzin's or another Nightsister group is unclear) is massacred including her mother Selena (Voiced by Morgan's actress, Diana Lee Inosanto, who also voices the older Morgan in the next two shorts). You can really feel Morgan's anxiety and fear kick into overdrive as she saw her people and her own mother die to the onslaught of the droids.

General Grievous is terrifying as hell here. This is the CIS General who strikes fear into the Republic, Jedi, and the unlucky souls who have to contend with him. Likewise, there is no humor from the usually humorous and affably evil Droid mooks as we see them ruthlessly carry out the genocide of the Nightsisters.

The Mountain Clan gives me the vibes that they're Light Side-aligned witches. On that note, it's great to see other Dathomir witch clans since in Legends there were more witch clans than just the Nightsisters. However on that note, when Morgan goes on a hunting trip with Nali, the Mountain Clan Matron's daughter, they hide from a patrolling droid gunship. She then incites fear into her about the patrolling droids, even asking her if she can stand to see he mother die.

Morgan did want to protect the Mountain Clan from the Droids perceiving their unwillingness to prepare for the worst as cowardice. However, in doing so, she with three witches (one of whom is the Matron's daughter) got caught by a patroling droid gunship. But instead of getting the untrained witches to safety, Morgan went straight to destroy the droids who killed her family while leaving the witches to be killed.

The ending of the short ends Morgan alone with the fires of her fear giving way to destruction. Fear can cause a person to do things that end up harming those around them, even if the fear is out of a genuine desire to protect others. I don't think she was fully lost yet, but she clearly let the fear consume her after that.

"Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger." Yoda

The Path of Anger

"Why do you seek Imperial favor?" Thrawn.

"Revenge. Years ago, my people were all but destroyed. Our culture, our beliefs, are fading into memory. Yes, I seek power to ensure my future, to destroy my enemies. My anger gives me strength, and it is that strength that I offer the Empire." Morgan Elsbeth

"Offer accepted."

We open on Coruscant with 4 Venators and an Imperial ISD. It is revealed that Morgan is the designer of the infamous TIE Defender which makes her indirectly responsible for the events of Rebels S3-S4. Of course, the Imperials, particularly Moff Isdain, she presented it to are more interested in Corvus' resources, Morgan's disappointment and worries are felt with her facial expressions... until a familiar Captain is curious about her project.

Captain Pellaeon is disappointed to hear Morgan's response is the standard "Glory to the Empire" statement. Mogan is forced to return to Corvus with an angry crowd of people who worked hard and made her Magistrate, surrendered their freedoms, and trusted her to bring work and prosperity to them. It didn't help when Morgan referred to them from a backwater world and negatively looked down on them.

As night falls, with the angry crowd, Morgan remarks how "ungrateful" they're being and how they're not her people. This shows how Morgan is projecting the loss of her people on the people of Coruvs. However, she didn't take the time to be with the community as she views herself outside of it. She doesn't have long to think about this as she's ambushed by Rukh. The townspeople including Wing who have no love of Morgon now don't even bother to send the guard to help. With some quick thinking and skills, she was able to disarm and hold the assassin at her mercy. Pellaeon then revealed himself and stated how this was a part of a larger test.

With that, Admiral Thrawn (it feels so weird not seeing him in his GA outfit) enters the scene with his theme playing. As Thrawn acts more like his novel counterpart by discussing the Empire's shortcomings by focusing on self-interest and petty infighting over the growing threat of the rebellion. With that, he asks Morgon why she wants to join the Empire. She reveals that she wants revenge for her people being wiped out. It gives me the feeling that she wants to burn down the galaxy at this point, a feeling which is more true in the next short. As Thrawn gives her three of his ISDs, Wind solemnly notes that the Imperial occupation is not good news.

The ending of the short reveals how Morgon wanted to be in a community but she can't bring herself to truly be a part of it. Which is why she ended up rejected as people can't see her as one of their own since she chooses not to be a part of the community.

"Anger leads to hate." Yoda

The Path of Hate

"Be brave. No matter how dark things get." Nadura

"I can't." Wing

"You can. Help will come...... but you must be ready to do your part. Even if it is small. You can make a difference." Nadura

The dawn of the NR has come as Nadura, a former laborer, came back to her home for Corvus to become a NR planet. However, she discovers the town has only gotten worse and more oppressed by Morgan. She assures Wing that people can change and perhaps Morgan too. However, the truth couldn't have been farther. As Morgan talks about a vision she has and rejects any offers by Nadura (even thinking she's an ungrateful laborer despite Nadura pointing out the harsh conditions and "fair wages"), at that point despite Wing and Nadura pleading for a peaceful resolution, Morgon chose violence.

Even after killing the NR guards and Nadura, she had her soldiers burn down the forest almost out of spite (Nadura had pleaded with her to not burn everything around her... only for us to get the chilling statement of how her world has been burning since Dathomir). However, a ray of hope arrives when Wing is assured help is on the way by Nadura and he needs to be ready to help whatever he can. This really got to me as I was invested in Wing's growth, especially when we see him in Mando S2 helping to free the prisoners and alerting Djarin about the droid. He was able to live up to Nadura's hopes.

In the end, the cycle repeats itself. It's depressing and tragic to see how the sympathetic victim becomes the victimizer monster. In Morgan's quest to see her destiny fulfilled, she became just like the cyborg General who killed her people. The short ends with a seemingly downer note as Morgan destroys the communicator (Bo-Katan on the other side). However, there was a brief moment of Ahsoka's leitmotif used, a sign of what's to come in Mandalorian S2 The Jedi, where Ahsoka overthrows Morga and Wing plays his part, even if it is small.

Reflecting upon Morgan's character, her arc, and character remind me a lot of FF16's Barnabas Tharmr, both wanted a sense of belonging and were willing to do anything, even die for that. Morgan's revenge seems to be her wanting to burn the galaxy for allowing the massacre to happen. While we don't have a suffering short, the Ahsoka finale is the suffering of one of Yoda's famous lines.

"Hate leads to suffering." Yoda

Barriss Offee - The Conflicted Jedi

Devoted

"Brothers, sisters enter. Enter. Now it is time you meet your new Master. Long Live the Empire!" Grand Inquisitor

Operation Knightfall has come... and Barriss Offee can only witness the fires of the Jedi Temple in her prison cell. Even after betraying the Jedi, she didn't want to see them perish (her reason for her actions in the first place was to protest the Jedi's involvement in the war). Of course, it doesn't take long for the Inquisitorius to take an interest. As Barriss recognizes Lyn, she discovers the narrative that the Jedi tried to "assassinate" Palpatine. Under threat of being killed if she refuses, Barriss takes Lyn's offer of an opportunity.

At Nur (I prefer Fallen Order's Nur over Kenobi's Nur but this show made Kenobi Nur look good), Barriss reunites with two Jedi, Ahmar (HE'S VOICED BY HUNTER?!) and Dante (VOICED BY ROWAN FREEMAKER?!), as we get the Grand Inquisitor (Jason Issacs is back!) recapping them of the galaxy's changes (Republic to Empire) and encourages them to prove themselves to join their ranks... discouraging them of trying to leave. Interestingly, Barriss acts the most Jedi-like (meditating while waiting) while Dante (is too scared of leaving) and Ahmar (who correctly sees that the Empire is no better than the Jedi) act un-Jedi-like. As Barriss tries to dissuade Ahmar from leaving, he scoffs (he notably asked why she wasn't in prison when they first reunited) why they should listen to her as it implies he might've been disgusted by what she did.

As Dante's opinions are validated with Ahmar's bloodied gem tossed, Barriss is taken to be tested by the Grand Inquisitor. What's really ironic is that the Grand Inquisitor became disillusioned by the Order because of Barriss' speech, and now he's giving her a crash course in truly embracing the Dark Side. You can see Barriss slow reluctance to give in to her anger but as the "fight" goes on, she becomes more aggressive and gives in to the Dark Side. With the Grand Inquisitor casually dodging her moves and encouraging her to stop "fighting like a Jedi", this results in Barriss hitting his shoulder armor... but he was still able to disarm her. As the blood drips from Barriss nose, she finally uses the Force to attack the Grand Inquisitor and with blood dripping from him, he regards her as ready for the final test.

The final test is of course... a fight to the death or else both will die. Even despite tapping into the Dark Side, Barriss doesn't want to fight... but Dante consumed by his fear decides to go for the kill. Barriss fights defensively throughout until she decides to save her life by Force-Chocking Dante. This of course is how she framed Ahsoka for murder and you can tell how shocked of what she just did as she's given her own Inqusistiro mask and greeted as a sister by Lyn.

The final scene shows Barriss, Lyn, Marrok, and even the Inquisitor from TotJ's episode Resolve meeting their new master: Darth Vader. The irony does not need to be stated. As Barriss puts on the helmet, truly accepting her role as a Jedi hunting Inquisitor. Her devotion is now with the Inquisitorius. We see the journey of someone who went from accusing the Order of promoting violence and warmongering to now joining an order of hunters who will reap violence (which she will discover).

Side Note: The Clone Shock Troopers and the proto-Purge Troopers are some of the most asshole Clones I've seen.

"Long Live the Empire." Barriss Offee

Realization

"The Jedi are a threat to be eradicated wherever they are found." Lyn Rakish

"Then you have one Jedi left to deal with." Barriss Offee

Barriss and Lyn are sent on a mission to deal with a Jedi supposedly located there. Barriss rightfully questions how they can trust the intel with Lyn's blindly believing she shouldn't question orders from the Grand Inquisitor. Throughout the entire episode, we see Barriss truly believe in the Imperial propaganda that they were bringing peace and prosperity to the galaxy. However, she sees the shantytown and ruins of a world where a rebel cell operated, and she's shocked about why the Empire would allow this to happen. Lyn coldly gives no empathy to the people as they rebelled against the Empire.

Eventually, they reach the town square where we see a major difference between the two former Jedi. Lyn aggressively threatens the townsfolk about revealing the Jedi and spews out Imperial propaganda about the Jedi which only gets her nothing from their elder. However, Barriss notices a child who seem to know where the Jedi is. Barriss' approach is calmly approaching the child, even taking off her helmet to nicely ask. Unsurprisingly, Barriss' approach worked out as the child gave the Jedi's location. This shows how despite being an Inquisitor, Barriss believes the Inquisitorius is a better version of the Order. However because the Governor lied about no Jedi being there, Lyn killed all of the people in the square. I think this might be one of the most violent moments in SW animation as we see several civilians killed on-screen. Thankfully, Barriss was able to spare the child as she encouraged them to not look back... that child is going to have so many trust issues when they grow up.

We get to know more about Lyn's thought process as it's clear she believes fear will bring a projection of strength (something which comes back to haunt her in the next short). It doesn't take long for the two to find the Jedi. The Jedi managed to knock out Lyn and we get a really cool duel between Barriss and the Jedi. Barriss tries to sympathize with the Jedi about being abandoned and left alone to join a new community. This convinces the Jedi to surrender after sympathizing with being alone and tired of running. However, Lyn then nearly kills the Jedi despite them surrendering. This was the last straw as Lyn dismissed Barriss' point of their surrender and that was when Barriss finally returned to the Light, as she Force pushed her former friend off the cliff. Symbolically, Barriss then drops her Inquisitor helmet off the cliff. She then begins to heal the Jedi as she proclaims they're not alone.

Side Note: The Jedi (They/them pronouns) is also voiced by a Queer VA, Ry Chase (goes by any all pronouns) which is amazing representation to see. I'm also so happy they aren't killed.

"I won't let you die. You're not alone." Barriss Offee

The Way Out

"I forgive you." Barriss Offee

"I don't want your forgiveness. I want you to show me the way out." Lyn Rakish

"You know the way out. You just have to accept it, Lyn."

"Stop calling me that."

"But that is who you are."

"There is no way out, is there?"

"That's what the Empire wants you to think."

"I am gonna get you out of here."

As a family with their Force-sensitive child makes their way to find help, they can meet with The Healer, otherwise known as Barriss. She has once again reconnected with her Jedi roots and embraced it. It's even highly implied she reconciled with Ahsoka which is the most heartwarming thing to know happened. However, Lyn has found them all (ironically she wasn't even searching for Barriss).

As Lyn is now sunken low to hunt children, Barriss notes how fear has become Lyn's master and not her ally as Barriss like the Grand Inquisitor dodged every strike.

In many ways, Lyn getting lost in the cave reflects how fear consumes and blinds you. As you let fear dictate your life, you cannot find the way out. But when you let go of fear, the way out is quite clear, the family and the attendants were able to easily get out of the cave as a result.

As Lyn becomes more afraid and fearful when her trapped state is apparent. We see the true Lyn, someone scared of failure, and the organization she serves. Lyn's mental breakdown reflects how just like in the first episode, fear can let you hurt people you weren't intending to hurt... as she stabs Barriss in her blind rage. However, Barriss's compassion despite everything she did was enough to finally break through to Lyn's heart, and like Reva, she abandoned her weapon to hopefully help Barriss. However, whatever Barriss lives or dies isn't important what is important is she helps her friend find the light.

Upon reflection, the Lyn represents Barriss' idealism being twisted by the Inquisitorius. Barriss and Lyn thought this new order would be better than the Jedi. However, while Barriss sticks to her Jedi's beliefs (she ended up in jail for protesting the Jedi's involvement in the war but still believed in its values), Lyn for a long time embraced the violence and heartlessness of the Inquisitorius. It's little wonder why Barriss wanted to do everything she could to help her.

Despite the darkness in these two shorts, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Happy May the Fourth!