Star
Wars:
When
Alderaan Went Kablooey...
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Author:
Marina Kenobi
Summary: A
simple tale of a group of people whose lives were affected by the destruction of
Alderaan.
Spoilers:
For the original Star Wars movie, but who hasn’t seen that? A few spoilers for some of Corra
Ven-Jade’s stories.
Disclaimer:
As much fun as it would be to own the Star Wars universe, I don’t. Mr. Lucas does. I just borrowed it for a little while… I
don’t think anyone would want me to have control of it permanently! I’m not making any money off this
story. I also stole most of Corra’s
characters for this story…They’re kinda fun to play with! (I promise to put them back when I’m
done…)
Feedback:
Marina_Kenobi@yahoo.com or Arcadia_Organa@hotmail.com …I like
constructive criticism, not flames!
Acknowledgements:
My fearless editor Marista…thanks for taking time to look for my mistakes. And muchas gracias to Corra…for the
laughs, ideas, snacks, encouragement, characters, Mr. X, and
duct-tape…
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Jerik
Taren was in the Corellian Cantina on Corellia with some of “the guys.” The people included Aaron, Eamon Valchon and his wife Nyamé (known as “Neah”), and a few
more former CorSec people. They were teasing each other about old
missions and stories—and there was a lot to tease about.
Jerik
asked for another Corellian brandy.
His attention was caught by a breaking news story that had interrupted
the local zoneball game on the holovid. He
squinted, trying to understand what was being shown, then his eyes widened in comprehension.
“Hey, turn
that up!” he yelled at the bartender.
The bartender knew him well enough that he didn’t question Jerik. He obediently turned up the
volume.
“Jerik,
what…” Neah started to ask, but he shushed
her.
“We have
just received word of a great tragedy,” the newsanchor
intoned. “The peaceful haven of the
planet Alderaan appears to have been blown to bits. We are not yet sure what or who caused
this appalling act. Whatever
occurred, it appears that it was quite unexpected. All that is left of the noble planet are
great shards of rock and whatever happened to be offworld. The galaxy has sustained a great
loss.”
Jerik
stared blankly at the holovid
display.
“Jerik?”
He blinked
slowly. He felt numb inside and
eventually realized that Neah was shaking his
shoulders.
“Are you
okay?” she was asking repeatedly.
Jerik
shifted his confused gaze to her.
He felt a glass being shoved into his hand.
“Drink
this, then talk,” Aaron’s voice advised.
“What’s
going on?” someone else asked.
“Is Eamon okay?” Aaron asked.
Jerik
swallowed down what was in the glass—the brandy he had asked for, he slowly
realized. As his brain finally
started to function, the numbness he had been feeling was swept away with the
pain that suddenly flooded through.
“Are you
doing better, Taren?” Aaron addressed him.
He barely
nodded, just to acknowledge his friend’s question. If that was really Alderaan…Corra!
Suddenly,
his comlink buzzed. It wasn’t on
his belt for once, and so Aaron took the opportunity to answer it for him. He spoke to whomever it was on the other
end in a low voice, and got off shortly.
Aaron went over to the bartender, spoke to him for a minute, and returned
to the table.
“Jerik,
the bartender said it would be alright if you used one of the comm viewing
stations to return your call,” Aaron told him.
“Who
called him?” Neah questioned.
Aaron
looked straight at Jerik before responding. “That was your son Jakory, Jerik. He wants you to call him on the Thul’s flagship.”
That cut
through the fog of pain in Jerik’s brain.
“Kory called? I need to talk
to him.”
Instead of
making a sarcastic comment like he might normally, Aaron simply nodded and
indicated with his hand where Jerik should go. As soon as Jerik stood up, he felt his
legs wobbling like a young toddler’s.
He firmly resolved to make it to the comm without falling, and did so,
gritting his teeth the whole time.
A minute later, he had patched a signal through to the Thul’s flagship.
When Jakory’s face filled the screen, Jerik
blew a very small sigh of relief.
“Dad?” his
son queried, a worried look on his
face—uncharacteristic for the usually laid-back young
man.
“Kory,”
Jerik stated simply. “Aaron said
you called?” Even that immensely
simple phrase seemed too hard for Jerik to say.
“Yeah, I
did,” Jakory replied, running his fingers through his hair nervously. “Dad, have you seen any
news–”
“Dad!” A
female voice cried from the background of the comm. Jakory turned to address someone off
screen.
“Nia?”
Jerik asked.
“Yes,”
came the reply from his son, just as Jerik’s friend
Neah asked a confused, “Yes?”
Jerik was
able to focus on the rest of his son’s reply as Aaron quickly informed the
confused Neah, “That’s his daughter’s
nickname.”
Jakory
continued his reply by saying, “Leonia is here with me too, Dad. But have you seen any news
reports?”
“I–” Jerik
didn’t know how to respond. If he
admitted that he had, that would almost be akin to admitting that Corra was
likely— “Son, I–” he dropped his gaze from Jakory’s
eyes and nodded slightly, unable to speak.
“I think I
understand,” his son quietly said.
“You know that Alderaan is–” Jakory stopped speaking suddenly as
well. Jerik looked back up to see
his son biting his lip. Tears
glistened unshed in his eyes.
Jakory glanced at a person off screen again and nodded once. He looked back at his father. “Nia wants to talk to you now,
Dad.” Jakory disappeared off screen
and for a moment the screen was blank.
Then the face of Jerik’s daughter appeared. Like her brother, she had tears in her
eyes, but her voice seemed stronger.
“Hi, Dad,”
Leonia said simply.
“Nia,”
Jerik managed.
“Kory and
I–” She
paused as she seemed to listen to someone off screen. “I’m sorry, I meant to say Kory, Dia,
Mrlin, and I–”
She tossed off screen, “Happy now?” then returned her attention to
her father. “Anyway, Kory, Dia,
Mrlin, and I would like to come and see you as soon as possible. Can you tell us where and when to meet
you?”
Jerik
thought for a moment, glanced back at Aaron, and raised an eyebrow, almost like
his good old self. Aaron nodded and
shrugged. Jerik looked back at his
daughter. “Aaron agreed to let you
come to his home here on Corellia.”
He rattled the coordinates off.
“As for when—whenever you make it here. We’ll still be
here.”
“All
right, Dad. Thank you. We should be there in a day, probably
less.” Leonia glanced back off
screen. “Kory wants to talk to you
again, so here he is. Oh, and
Daddy?”
Jerik
raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t
called him that since she was little.
Leonia
smiled. “I love
you.”
Jerik
choked up. “I love you too,
sweetie.” He didn’t care if his old
friends heard him be a softie—he had lost his home and most likely Corra (the
thought was too shocking to dwell on for long) but he wouldn’t cheat his
children of his love now, for appearances’ sake.
Leonia had
disappeared and Jakory had replaced her by the time Jerik could see clearly
again.
“Hi again,
Dad,” Jakory said. “I just wanted
to tell you that I love you too.
Anyway, we’ll see you by tomorrow, ok?”
“Yeah,”
Jerik said. “And I love you,
son.”
“Take
care, Dad.”
And with
that, the two Taren men ended their conversation.
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