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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After
those on the Thuls’ flagship had heard the news and gotten over their initial
utter shock (in which all three women, not inclined to being very emotional,
sobbed hysterically and uncontrollably), everything got quiet again. All three men were holding their
respective wives. Jakory looked
over at Leonia and stated quietly, “Dad.”
Sniffing
softly, she nodded. Jakory shifted
his attention back to his wife.
“Dia, honey, will you be alright if I go ahead and call my
dad?”
Pulling
him tightly to her, she nodded against his tunic, then
released her grip. Jakory stroked
her hair, then kissed her head. “I’ll be done soon, ok,
honey?”
She nodded
again. Jakory went to the comm
station and put his father’s frequency into it. The man who
answered, however, was not his father.
The voice had too thick of a Corellian accent for the voice of his
father. The next logical person
would be…“Aaron?”
“Correct. Jerik couldn’t answer his comlink—he’s
detained at the moment. Who is
this?”
“Aaron,
this is Jakory. I would really like
to speak to my father as soon as possible.” He tried to inject a tone of urgency
into his voice, and seemed to succeed.
“Ok, I’ll
have him call you back in a minute.
Where should he call you at?”
Jakory
paused a microsecond before responding.
“Tell him to call me on the Thuls’ flagship. Thank you.”
“No
problem.”
Frustrated
that he didn’t reach his father on the first try, Jakory leaned back in the comm
station chair. He swiped a hand
over his face, grimacing as he came in contact with the scratch on his
cheek. He couldn’t believe this was
happening—not to him, not to his family.
It seemed as if bare moments had passed before the comm was signaling an
incoming transmission.
Running
his hand through his hair one final time, he flipped the switch—and was
surprised to see his father’s face.
He must be using someone’s link,
since there’s a Holonet transmission.
“Dad?” he said, a bit disbelieving of how out of it his dad looked. For the first time, his father looked old.
“Kory,”
his father responded simply. “Aaron
said you called?”
“Yeah, I
did,” he replied. Great.
How do you ask your father if he’s heard the news about your planet being
blown up? Jakory took a quick
breath. “Dad, have you seen any
news–”
“Dad!”
Leonia finally figured out that Jakory was talking to their father, and ran over
to the comm station. He turned in
his chair slightly to tell her, “Yes, I got a hold of
him.”
His
father’s voice came over the comm.
“Nia?”
Jakory
turned back to the comm station.
“Yes, Leonia is here with me too, Dad.” He took a deep breath. “But have you seen any news
reports?”
“I–” his
father started, then stopped. He
seemed to be composing himself as he tried to speak again. “Son, I–” he started again, then looked away from Jakory. Jakory couldn’t ever remember a time
when his father had been afraid to look him in the face.
“I think I
understand,” he replied quietly.
“You know that Alderaan is–” No, I
won’t say it! He bit his lip
and held back tears that were fighting to be shed. There’ll be time to mourn later. For now… Leonia’s gentle voice interrupted his
thoughts.
“Can I
talk to him?”
He looked
at her and nodded, grateful for the excuse to get off. Looking back at his father, he said,
“Nia wants to talk to you now, Dad.”
Jakory got up from the chair and went to hold his wife once more. Her green-grey eyes caught his, then she once again buried her face in his tunic. He reveled in the feeling of her in his
arms as he listened to his brother-in-law point out to his sister that they
would be coming to Corellia as well.
Leonia
corrected what she said to her father, then asked her
husband, “Happy now?” as he gave her a grin. She talked to him for a few more minutes
before she looked ready to get off.
Jakory nudged her in the Force to let her know he wanted to say goodbye
too, and she looked sharply at him.
Quirking an eyebrow to let him know she understood, she returned her
attention to her father as she said goodbye.
Jakory
kissed his wife on the forehead once more as he released her to replace his
sister in the comm station chair.
His father looked as if he were holding tears back as well. Jakory couldn’t remember the last time
he’d seen his father cry, or if he ever had. Blocking himself from that train of
thought, he said simply, “Hi again, Dad.”
Taking a deep breath, he added, “I just wanted to tell you that I love
you too. Anyway, we’ll see you by
tomorrow, ok?”
“Yeah,”
Jerik, his stoic father, acknowledged.
“And I love you, son.”
Thanks,
Dad. I needed that. “Take
care, Dad,” he said aloud, and cut the transmission short.
Once
again, silence seemed to reign.
Jakory remained in the comm station chair, and only shifted as his wife
came and sat in his lap. Finally,
Leonia spoke up, addressing Bornan and Aryn.
“We need
to borrow a shuttle,” she told them, sounding a bit apologetic. “As soon as
possible.”
Aryn
smiled slightly, even through her tears.
“I was Bornan and I could go with you, to escape this boring
conference.”
Her
comment was met with a few laughs.
The mood quickly sobered, however, as their thoughts returned to the
business at hand.
“I’ll go
prepare a shuttle for your departure,” Bornan said. “Will you be ready in a half
hour?”
Mrlin
snorted slightly, looking at the other three people who would be going to
Corellia. “Are you kidding? With how stubborn we are once we make up
our minds? Of course we’ll be ready
in a half hour.”
Bornan
acknowledged his comment with a nod, then left to prepare a
shuttle.
Jakory
kissed Dia’s hair to let her know he was getting
up. As they both stood, he turned
to Aryn and said, “Sorry we’re cutting our time with you short. We really do appreciate all you’ve
done…”
“Don’t
worry about it,” Aryn replied.
“It’s important for you to be with your father right now. So please, go.”
Jakory
nodded in thanks as he guided his wife out of the lounge to gather their
things. His sister and
brother-in-law followed shortly.
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