When next Celestia returned to her penthouse after another long day of medical testing, all she felt was drained. Ignoring the salutes from her guards, the princess simply slunk back to her room, curled up on the sofa by the window, and stared outside. Beyond the table and the statue resting atop it, she could see miles out into the vast cityscape of Coruscant. Millions of beings lived in those skyscrapers, tens of thousands of them were being shuttled this way and that by an army of speeders. But the princess had a mind for none of it.
Luna was the only subject she had a mind for right now. How could she do this? Celestia asked herself the question for the thousandth time. How could her little sister do this? How could she stand to remain in the service of a being like Vader? Couldn’t she see what her absence was doing to Equestria? Doing to her sister? Celestia had nearly been killed by Vader for daring to try to get her back, and Luna slapped that away like it was nothing? After she had waited a thousand years, welcomed her back after her attempt at nothing less than planetary extinction, her sister just rejected her after a mere few months under Vader? What would drive her to do that? How could she be so unrepentant, so ungrateful?
And, as Celestia stared past the statue and out the window beyond yet again, a new question came unbidden to the princess' mind.
How dare she?
“In my creator’s time, there were many amongst the Jedi Order who considered personal attachments to be unbefitting of a Jedi,” said Bastila’s image. “Moreover, they considered it to be dangerous, leading to selfishness, possessiveness, and even the dark side.”
“That’s…” Twilight wheezed from where she lay sprawled out on the plains. “That’s completely wrong!” She forced herself to sit up, muscles aching with the effort of nearly eighteen hours of nonstop exertion. “Friendship, attachment, love… those aren’t negative influences. They’re what make our lives worth living. I’d never have discovered what harmony was really all about without them!”
“Fortunately, my creator was not among them, and so I agree with you,” the hologram nodded. “She married, and had a child, even though it cost her reputation with the Order to suffer greatly. Some even called her a heretic for it, even after her long service against Darths Revan and Malak.”
“That’s horrible!” The alicorn took another deep breath. “Did they ever… manage to reconcile?”
“I… don’t know,” the gatekeeper said, looking down a little sadly. “When she created me Bastila Shan was not on good terms with the Jedi High Council, and because of that I rarely saw use. She was decades dead by the time I was invoked for serious training, so I never found out how it all ended. Regardless,” she looked up again, “The reason that I bring that perspective up is to offer my own. I do not believe attachment to be some crime or stigmata. The Force flows from all life, as we draw close to it, it is natural and healthy that we should seek to draw closer to our fellows. To deny this is cut ourselves off from an essential part of the Force, no different really than lopping off an arm.”
“No matter what they said, I wouldn’t trade my friends for any amount of Force power.”
“And I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“Then why bring it up?”
“Because, though I believe their answer to the problem was incorrect, the old Masters were pointing out a legitimate difficulty. Attachments can go awry, leading to jealousy, possessiveness, festering hatred, or lust for vengeance. This can be a struggle for beings oblivious to the Force’s call, for those who hear it plainly the consequences can be most dire. Not a few have fallen to the dark side when, out of fear or desire, they’ve called on it to try and possess or to save the ones they love.”
“That sounds a bit more like greed than love.”
“Perhaps, but at the same time one should not be entirely unsympathetic towards them. Stalwart in opposing them, yes, but not completely unfeeling. They cry out to it for power, oblivious to the costs. The dark side will give them the power they seek, but take everything from them in return.” Bastila frowned. “You must understand this: the dark side will never allow its adherents to be happy. Simple things like joy, peace, or even contentment are anathema to it. Whatever happens, whatever love was once there, it will perish in flames and leave those poor souls with nothing but ashes.”
“Why…” Twilight looked thoughtful. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because it seems like a lesson that would be relevant to you.”
“You think my friends are in danger?” Twilight sat bolt upright, previous exhaustion forgotten.
“Not in any immediate sense, no,” Bastila shook her head. “But you had mentioned that your species can live indefinitely. Does this include all the inhabitants of your world? Does it include your friends?”
“Well… no,” she answered slowly, looking down a little.
“That is why,” the gatekeeper answered softly. “My creator knew well the pain of losing someone dear to you, the temptation to call upon dark powers to try and call them back. She also knew how important it was not to surrender to that temptation.”
“And what exactly was her solution?” Twilight frowned, contemplating a subject she really would rather have not. “How did she deal with the problem?”
“She learned to trust in the Force, and its will. I know that that perhaps sounds like a mere platitude, but it is true. The Force surrounds us, binds us, moves through us and through all living things. Jedi allow themselves to become conduits for the will of the Force, and through that we come to understand that our loved ones are not truly gone. They move on to greater things, becoming a part of that which is all around us. In that way, they never truly leave.”
Twilight just frowned harder. She’d never been one with much time for religion. Then again, death had been a stranger until not so long ago, and ever since she’d had a constant stream of activity to keep her mind busy. She wondered if she’d truly ever thought that hard about it.
“Grief, sorrow, and mourning for the lost are all perfectly natural processes, and far be it from me to deny them to anyone,” Bastila continued. “But at the same time, one cannot allow sorrow, when it comes, to dominate your mind. You are a being with a great deal of latent power, and I am certain there will come a day when you are at your lowest and temptation will reach out to you. It is vital you understand that even the most powerful beings cannot save everyone, and that giving in to temptation will only bring you misery.”
“That’s… a pretty heavy lesson.”
“I know. But it is a necessary one.”
“You mind if I go and consider that for a little while.”
“By all means,” she spread her arms, “go and sleep, eat, meditate, or whatever it is that you require. I will be here for you, when next you are ready.”
As Twilight rose to her feet, the hologram vanished.
“I need three things,” Luna said, as she scrawled through a long list of beings. “First, I need someone who knows how to swing a sword around, at least well enough not to cut off their own arm.” She could only skim at the lightest of paces, allowing the Force to guide her instincts, as she browsed through a list of the millions of people in prison on Denon for various offenses.
“I don’t think arranging for a martial artist should be terribly difficult,” said Commander Neeri, walking beside her. “While it’s true Denon has never been famed as a warlike planet, when you gather enough beings in one place you’ll inevitably get some who take a fancy to the art of combat.”
“Second,” Luna continued, not looking up. “I’ll need at least three or four squads of Stormtroopers. Well-disciplined men, who know how to shut up, do as they’re told, and ask no questions.”
“Easily done,” said the ISB man. “We have tens of thousands of Stormtroopers garrisoning this planet, it should be no difficulty to pull a few squads for your use.”
“Make sure that they are up to snuff. The last ISB personnel assigned to me were dreadfully below par.”
“Of course, my lady,” he nodded hastily.
“Thirdly, and most importantly, I need a Force-sensitive. Someone a Jedi could sense. Ideally, I would prefer that they bear a resemblance to the martial artist, but I am aware we cannot be too choosy in this field.”
“A… Force-sensitive?” The Commander looked aghast.
“Did I stutter?”
“My lady, we of course would comply with your request, but…” he fidgeted a little. “We turn over all captured or suspected Force-wielders to our superiors, be it to Lord Vader or to your organization. We don’t simply keep them lying around.”
“And you are telling me that on this entire planet containing billions of souls, there is no one you even suspect of being a Force user? Not a single, solitary soul?”
“Well…” the man considered for a moment, as the skull-faced helmet turned to stare up at him. Neeri gave a slight shudder, before hastily continuing. “The closest that we know of is an Iktotchi who runs a gambling establishment in the Spirtal district. There’s been a persistent rumor that he has the ability to read minds or see the future to ferret out cheaters, but there’s never been any hard evidence of that. In any event he’s been quite scrupulous in abiding by Imperial regulations, so we’ve never had any cause to investigate further.”
“And now you do,” Luna finished for him. “Round him up without delay. Make certain you confirm his presence and secure all possible vectors of escape before moving in. Then bring him to me, I will know if he can touch the Force.”
“And if he can?”
“Then I wiill have everything I need.”
“What is the meaning of this?” demanded the Iktotchi, not an hour later.
He had been carrying out his normal midday work, reviewing profit reports and ensuring his premises were clean before the sundown rush, when a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers had pushed their way past his security, cuffed him, and dragged him off without a word of explanation. Now here he was, alone and cold in a gloomy black detention cell, without the slightest pretext of legality or hint of he was being charged for. Most people would have been afraid, and he was, but he was also indignant. He’d always done everything the authorities had asked of him, be they Republic or Empire, and keep his establishment far from trouble. And now he’d simply been randomly seized and unlawfully thrown in detention!
“Shike Roan,” said the strange, armored quadruped that had just entered. “Owner and proprietor of Roan’s Roulettes for some twenty-nine years now, am I correct?”
“Yes, and a law-abiding citizen that whole time! I demand to know on what charges I’ve been imprisoned for, and I demand to speak with a lawyer at once!”
“You are in no position to make demands,” it said in that filtered, mechanical, presumably female voice.
“You can’t just pull a man off the street and throw him in prison for no reason!”
“Can’t I?” She relaxed one of the wings folded against her armored side slightly, and a small cylinder floated out. There was a deep hiss as a red blade flared to life, brilliant in the cell’s gloom. “You don’t seem to have any idea of just who you are dealing with.”
Shike recoiled franticly from the crimson lightsaber, eye wide, but in the tiny cell there was nowhere to go. Backed up against a wall and with the blade a mere few feet from him, his face quickly began to acquire a sheen of sweat.
“Please,” he breathed. “I d-don’t know anything about Jedi, I swear! I’ve never met one in my life and I would n-never give harbor to-”
“Oh, I know,” she cut him off. “You would already be dead if you were suspected of that. No, I called you in here because I need you for something else.”
“…need me f-for what?” he managed.
“The specifics are not important. All I require is that you sit in a cell for a few days, and meditate when I tell you to.”
“Meditate?” he blinked. “I’m… not exactly a monk, ma’am. I-I don’t know much about-”
“I do not really care how proficient you are with it, that you have a dim, weak, but recognizable presence in the Force is enough. Simply do your best when commanded, and I will see to it that you are well-rewarded for your efforts. Does that sound agreeable?”
“I-I…”
“Oh, and please keep in mind that if you say no, I will have to execute you as a threat to operational security.”
Shike stole a quick glance at the humming lightsaber, swallowed, then nodded quickly.
“Excellent.”
I'm curious.. Is it possible that luna would return tl the light along the finale of this story?
This is what I don't like about miss sparkle...
She can't make any sacrifices and could only see things that are in front of her
If she chose to save her friends or luna, her whole planet and everything she holds dear could go up in flames.
She's not cut out to be a monarch
Seems like dark side seed is beginning to grow within Sun princess...
I wonder if some kinda finale could be sorta princess three-way force-battle, with older one's fallen to their specific view's, and youngest trying to snap them out if them. Guess well see eventually...
Why don’t I trust Noctis when she speaks of rewarding one for their efforts?
Twilight can gather strength from those she knows and loves, but she indeed needs to be careful, for her feelings might send her on the same path the former Anakin followed.
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I’ve the feeling Celestia is still far from the Dark Side, and I rather think she’ll know better than to fall in its tempting clutches.
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To be honest I am reminded of what Jolee Bindo said about love to Revan. "Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Passion can lead to rage and fear, and can be controlled... but passion is not the same thing as love. Controlling your passions while being in love... that's what they should teach you to beware. But love itself will save you... not condemn you."
Beyond that I suspect it could be argued Anakin's almost complete lack of attachments outside of Pamde is part how what made it so easy for him to be swayed to the darkside though did have though Palatine having access to him from a very age made it far easier allowing him to play wise old mentor while poisoning his mind behind the scenes for decades.
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Twilight has limited experience with politics, and their whole race is about friendship and harmony, who only recently found out the universe isn't all sunshine and rainbows...
To quote Bertrand Russel:
"Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country."
Twilight is only now realizing dying for her friends and home won't be sufficient...
That being said, I love how the characters develop. Great job!
So the bait is a "captive Jedi"? It's a bit weak as far as baits go.
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It's kind of hard to customize your bait for your target when you don't know who they are, if they're even still on the planet, or whether they existed in the first place.
And so, the birth of Darth Solus begins...
That statue must be a very subtle Dark Side artifact indeed, considering what Vader's collection of artifacts was capable of doing to even those that were not Force-sensitive, and Celestia should certainly be capable of feeling something given her power. Sidious chose well in his gift.
And I think even Sidious is going to be surprised by Celestia's transformation. Think about it. She has spent plural millennia being the kind, soft spoken, loving princess to all of her ponies, rarely speaking out in anger (to our knowledge). That means she has, again, plural millennia of back up, darker emotions waiting for a chance to be released just beneath the surface. All it takes is a single spark to start a wildfire... or in this case ignite a star. And it will be glorious.
You know, I think Luna's lessons with Darth "Choke first, ask questions later" Vader have actually paid off. She is being much more sneaky and cunning in this trap. She's not lashing out in anger. She's keeping her temper in check. Impressive. Most impressive.
This is good. She is learning well. This should prove very interesting to see how she progresses from here.
Now as for Twilight, why not teach her the alternate version of the Jedi code?
There is the standard Jedi code of course:
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.
Personally however, I've always preferred this slightly different take on it.
Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force.
The differences make it so much more than the conventional Jedi code in my opinion, and would fit with what Twilight has found herself in much better.
Thank you once again for the update.
And the subtle machinations of the Dark Side begin to plant little thoughts in Celestias head. Funny that Shan mentioned both Revan and being married but failed to mention the connection. Guess it would just lead to her having to tell Twilight the entirety of KotOR and distract from her lessons.
Luna has definitely been influenced by Vader in more than combat techniques. She's behaving like a proper commander now.
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Luke shouldn't have died in the first place, projecting one measly illusion should not nearly be beyond the one of the most powerful Force wielders ever to live. And of course they made him a pathetic failure too because why not? Jedi academy burnt down by Darth Emo, because we can't any competition for precious little Mary Sue, I mean Rey. Oh, and he loses a fight to a random bitch who didn't believe he, or the Force, existed about two weeks prior. And that's not even going into the blatant character assassination. You're telling me the man who marched right up Darth fucking Vader, one of the single most evil men in the galaxy, in full confidence that he could talk him into redeeming himself and succeeded would even consider hurting his nephew because "abloo bloo bloo some funky vision he might do a bad thing maybe". Bullshit. Utter bullshit.
And why on earth wouldn't it hyperspace ramming work considering you demonstrably can slip through planetary shields in a fighter and target capital ships? Do you even know the sheer amount of kinetic force an object going at light speed would wield, still less one going past it? Why didn't the Resistance just autopilot their X-wings at lightspeed as cruise missiles into the not!Death Star? Why the FO waste money building that shit instead of throwing hyperspace-fighters instead? Why didn't the Empire do that instead of wasting money on Death Stars? Why didn't the Rebels hyperspace an X-wing into both Death Stars, or Super Star Detroyers? Even if you assume it only works with capital ships because [insert arbitrary reason], it still doesn't make any sense. Oh, and that's not even the official explanation, the official explanation is because it was illegal. Because apparently the Sith and the likes of Tarkin and Grievous care about laws now. Why didn't Dooku crash droid-piloted dreadnoughts into the Jedi Temple and Chancellor's office, usurping the Sith and destroying the Jedi in fell swoop? Why didn't Grievous, who hates the Jedi more than anything and is totally okay with war crimes, put his droids to hyperspace kamikazing the Jedi Temple? Because shut up.
And that's not even beginning to get into the countless plotholes. For instance, where did Snoke learn to use the Force? It's emphasized he's not a Sith, so what is he? Where did he get the kind of power he displays? Did Palpatine teach him? If so, where was he earlier? If not, where did he come from and why is everyone following his orders? Where did a pack of ragtag remnants get the money, technical know-how, infrastructure, and manpower to create and crew a bigger Death Star (that immediately blew up), a bigger Super Star Destroyer (that immediately blew up), a fleet of new Star Destroyers, and a new Stormtrooper Corps? How the hell did the NR miss that kind of work taking place? Why did everyone immediately fold to these bozos? Why didn't they use a microjump to catch up to the Resistance fleet? Why didn't they call another fleet in to head them off? Why are you manually dropping bombs at point-blank rank in space? Where are the Y-wings? Why was an arrogant moron like Admiral Cat Lady given command of a lemonade stand much less an officer's commission? I could go on for hours.
Bringing back the best elements? Crudely ripping some them off is more like it, and doing a bad job at that. But honestly this post is probably long enough as is.
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Just to respond to this point, I don't think it was the projecting that did him in. It was established during one of Rey's and Kylo's communions that physical sensation, including pain, transfers through the projection. Meaning, those turbolaser blasts from the not-ATATs? Luke felt every one, even though (this being a projection) he could act like he didn't. Likewise, he felt himself impaled on Kylo's lightsaber. The projecting didn't tax him unto death. The sustained and massive trauma did; it is a testament to Luke's physical fortitude and strength in the Force that he held on until a theatrically impactful moment.
8715768
A mind-link between two people as set up by someone else is not the same thing as illusion.
(Incidentally, why didn't Snoke make the mind link between himself and Rey so he could tear the Luke info out directly? Where did he learn to do that in the first place? Why didn't Palpatine do that? Who the hell knows.)
Hmm... comment section's getting a bit spicy.
Good work on this, Snake, good work, loving how it's coming along.
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Lukes moment of considering to kill Ben was just that. A single moment. He immediately felt deep shame and regret afterwards. He has always dealt with pulls to the Dark like that, even during those moments with Vader you mentioned. Or did you forget when he gave into rage and just started hacking away at Vader and only just managed to keep himself from finishing him? People go on about "he would never even have that moment" but in all honesty yes he would. It completely fits what we were shown in the Original Trilogy. Doesn't fit in with the EU but EU Luke is literally irrelevant. As for the projection killing him, it wasn't a mere illusion. He had to actually see/hear everything going on half a galaxy away while he himself was old. It is by far the most impressive use of The Force in the films to date. Hell, being dead isn't all that bad for Luke since he's just going to become an even more powerful Force Ghost anyway.
As for the hyperdrive bits, the capital ship essentially rammed them at high speeds. They didn't actually enter hyperspace yet. Hyperspace is another dimension and when ships enter it they build up speed incredibly fast. In a similar light, they decrease in speed incredibly fast when exiting hyperspace. That decrease in speed is why nobody ever used it as a weapon. The destination of the hyperspace jump is also not very exact. If you jump to a planet, you'll end up in orbit instead of the planet itself. If Grevious tried to use it to kamikaze the Jedi Temple all that would happen is a bunch of cheap ships made to crash appearing in orbit around the Republic Capitol. As for why no one used the increase in the beginning in the same way, if an X Wing went really fast and hit the Death Star all that would happen is the X Wing explodes. Physical mass is extremely important, as is the speed, when it comes to this and the entire squadron of X Wings from A New Hope wouldn't have destroyed the Death Star if they all hyper-rammed at once.
The plotholes for Snoke are the same plotholes Return of The Jedi had with Palpatine. Much like Palpatine with Return of The Jedi, I those questions will be answered outside of The Last Jedi. Andy Serkis has hinted towards Snoke still being alive and the aforementioned leaks about the Old Republic era trilogy mention the Yuuzahn Vong's power being changed from Force Immunity (never liked that anyway myself) to being biologically tied to the Dark Side which allows them and their organic weapons/ships to regenerate. The leaks also imply this ability is how Snoke as lived so long while also confirming his existence as an ancient Dark Side user. These leaks are from a reliable source, while we can't just assume they are true without a grain of salt, that have been right before. This would also explain where The First Order gets its money from since someone as ancient as Snoke could very easily subtly amass a massive fortune over the course of a few thousand years. Edit: Main point of this paragraph is that Star Wars has never explained everything in one movie, and oftentimes an entire Trilogy. Expecting it now is rather odd.
The microjump thing has merit but the only person I can remember ever performing them well in both Legends and Canon is Thrawn. They themselves also didn't feel the need to jump since they would have won the battle anyway, from the knowledge they had. As for why an arrogant moron was given command, that's just how Star Wars seems to work. In both Legends and Canon, officers are strangely incompetent.
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Sorry for double commenting but a Force bond between two individuals is nothing new. The new part is Snoke being able to make it happen instead of it happening naturally. As mentioned before, Star Wars rarely explains everything in one movie especially when it comes to Big Scary Bad Guy™ and his powers. Palpatine pulled Force Lightning out of his ass in RoTJ when the Force was only shown as mystical telepathy/telekinesis beforehand.
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He gave into rage because Vader successfully employed Dun Moch against him, by threatening to corrupt Leia. An experienced Sith Lord with decades of practice finding psychological weak spots managed to touch his. Meanwhile I'm expected to believe the guy who refused to strike down the Emperor would even think about harming a child in bed? Bullshit. And then just break down to a childish level and run away from the galaxy? Also bullshit. And EU Luke is relevant, because for all its flaws he's a much better character.
As to hyperdrive ramming, not only are you headcanoning you're demonstrably incorrect. The Falcon in TFA shows you can go right through a planet's shield and totally ignore its gravity well at hyperspace, and the risk presented is that you'll crash into the planet. Which is what you want in this scenario. Also you seem to have no idea just how much kinetic force even a small object going a fraction of the speed of light has. Here's a hint: an object the size of an X-Wing going .75c would explode with far more force than the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated.
Not explaining everything is not the same as not a word explaining anything at all. Considering the last we saw of the Empire they were being routed you are in fact obliged to present some sort of reason that they would be able to muster the military assets and personnel necessary to idiotically rebuild everything that failed miserably last time BUT BIGGER. The Supremacy had a crew of more than 2,000,000 where the hell did they get that kind of manpower to throw around? How did they train and pay everyone? Where's the logistical train you'd need to maintain that nightmare?
Microjumps are just short jumps across hyperspace, easily done to put you in close range. And why not split the fleet, sending some ahead to be the hammer to the big ship's anvil? Surely it doesn't represent the sum total of FO fleet assets in the universe, why not call for a second fleet to intercept if you're unwilling to do the former for some stupid reason?
All that being said, I think everyone else reading along is probably tired of this subject, so I think I'm going to ask everyone myself included to stop now.