#blade's au

[blade-liger-4ever]

Hey, anybody recall how in Legends Plo Koon had an unnamed Padawan in 21 BBY? Do you have recommendations for how to swing that cat over the fence, because it's giving me ideas and I don't yet know 1 how to make it work, and 2 if I should use that as angst potential for Wolffe before he gets the recovery period he deserved in Rebels but in my AU.

[blade-liger-4ever]

The Problem with Mara Jade, and Why She Doesn't Work

A Mara Jade dissection? From me?

More likely than you think!

Now make no mistake, I know exactly what kind of fanatic waters I'm treading. After all, it's no secret that the Star Wars fandom simply adores anything that Mara does, and people have been clamoring for her "long awaited" return to the Star Wars Canon since she was cast off along with the rest of the crew when the Mouse took over Lucasfilm. However, I have had many thoughts in direct opposition to Mara's worshiping fans, and now that I've finally had enough of both Mara's escape from her actions and attitude, as well as having snapped after suffering the ignorance of those who praise her to the heavens, I'm at long last going to tear down this character and explain in detail not only why she makes no sense in universe, but why she should have never been introduced the way Zahn introduced her in his trilogy featuring Thrawn.

Buckle up, 'cause I am not holding back on the fandom's darling girl.

Problem One: She never suffers in her upbringing

It's explained by everyone in Legends and the fandom that Mara Jade was taken in from a young age to be the infamous "Emperor's Hand" and raised to kill his enemies without remorse and blindly follow his orders. They all say the training is rigorous, and that she was spared no shortage of training in combat, espionage, and whatnot, and I will admit, her skills prove it. But you know what the flaw with this logic is?

Mara is not once shown to have any trauma, pain, or even physical scars from the training.

Don't believe me? Just look at her trading cards which, for added benefit, had a professional "head-turning beauty" model pose for her. She's a shiny, pristine woman in those pictures with no sign of the abuse she logically would have suffered during her training.

"Blade, why are you harping on logic? This is Star Wars, where there are space wizards and jetpacks and intergalatic travel. Logic doesn't have a place here."

I keep "harping" on logic because for the suspension of disbelief to properly work, there needs to be logic for things to work in a story. Take Galen Marek, a fellow Legends character, for example. He was raised by Darth Vader to be a relentless, unstoppable assassin - and his body is covered with scars, and most importantly, it takes Galen two thirds of the game to break free of his loyalty to Vader and see that he's been nothing but a means to an end to his master. By contrast, Mara doesn't suffer nearly as much, nor does she even, truly, break out of Palpatine's hold, even in the globally praised Thrawn Trilogy.

Which brings me to Mara's next problem.

Problem two: She never truly rejects the Dark Side, or her role as the Emperor's Hand

Now before you jump on me, let me say this: I recall her killing Luke's clone and "freeing" herself of the final command Palpatine lodged into her brain. However, if given the option, I still believe Mara would have killed Luke simply because she had no real reason to not kill him.

Oh yes, she kept finding "convenient excuses" to keep him alive, but those are points of plot armor. Anyone else in her place - like fellow Emperor's Hand Shira Brie - wouldn't have hesitated to shoot Luke's head off, or stabbed him through the heart with a lightsaber. The only reasons she didn't were because Zahn wanted Luke to have an enemies-to-lovers dynamic, and the writing world has never recovered since he glamorized that trope. Furthermore, despite the fact that Mara has a conniption over being lied to and manipulated into thinking she was the only Emperor's Hand by Palpatine, she does not do so with a realization that she was doing the wrong things for the Emperor. No, she only sees that she was used as a means to an end, and her fury is not all that different from Maul's rage when we see the former Sith Apprentice again in The Clone Wars - which, logically, points to the fact that Mara had a thirst for power, something that Legends actually confirms.

Don't believe me? Pull up her Wookieepedia file. It explicitly states in her bio that in her early career, she practically dreamed of killing Vader and taking his place as Palpatine's apprentice. It's even said she revels in the Dark Side and her mission as Palpatine's Hand. Furthermore, she does not even express remorse for her actions, or even attempts to make amends by sharing her knowledge of Imperial Intelligence with Republic Intelligence. Compare her to Black Widow: when Natasha Romanov switched her allegiances, not only did she reject her past and even her nationality, she joined SHIELD to atone for her actions.

What does Mara do? Get Anakin's lightsaber handed to her by his own son after she tried to kill him repeatedly, and simply departs to "find her own path."

No honey, you don't get to be rewarded for choosing practicality in that moment with Luke's clone, and you certainly don't get to traipse around the galaxy free of consequences for your actions without at least giving vital information to the Republic.

"Oh, but she'll suffer from the memory of what she's done, Blade!"

Really? There is no reason for that woman to have a conscience, and the fact that everyone tries to hammer that into me points me to the next issue.

Problem three: Mara Jade is given a conscience with no substantial basis for it

Allow me to bring to light the history of a former assassin I love dearly for what she suffered to explain Mara's struggle here: X23/Laura Kinney of Marvel fame.

Literally born into a branch of the Weapon X project, Laura's life revolved around nothing but training, emotional distance, cold-blooded torture, and killing on orders from the highest bidder - and she made her first targeted kill at age nine. Because of that, she emotionally shut herself down.

Why do I have no issue with Laura's response to her first kill? Because she had two people who went against the Facility's status quo and fed her scraps of kindness, warmth, and love.

And for that, Laura was mind-controlled into killing them both as "poetic justice".

The first one she had killed via a "trigger scent" that was engineered to send her into a blind rage was used on her teacher, Tanaka. When she awoke from it, she was horrified to find her "sensei" lying dead in a pool of blood, her own claws coated in his blood. After this, she was given Kimura as a trainer/handler, and the woman took every opportunity to abuse and torture her - all in the name of "making her strong". This, coupled with her mother having to back off on showing her love, made Laura suppress her emotions, and deal with them by cutting herself with her own claws. Her mother, Sarah Kinney, didn't realize until later that the scars (I cannot recall if they healed or not) were Laura's own doing and not Kimura's.

Laura was used by many to kill hundreds, and Sarah eventually gave up hope that there was a little girl left in the assassin.

That changed, however, when Laura found a young boy listed as a target on her assignment. She knew that if she left him alive, she'd be faced with more punishments, torture, and abuse. She knew that, and she must have been terrified for her life.

But Laura, having been shown compassion and love at different points, was able to see a bit of that same fear in the boy.

And despite knowing full well what was in store for her, Laura let. Him. Live.

Sarah orchestrated her and Laura's escape after this, and had Laura undertake one last mission to kill the personnel at the Facility and the new clones of Laura that were being grown. However, Laura's main abuser had a last laugh by getting some of the trigger scent on Sarah, and even though they were both free, Sarah paid with her life at Laura's hands.

To this day in the comics, Laura waking to see her dying mother and her claws sticky with her blood, is one of her most traumatic and devastating memories.

I bring this up, patient readers, to point out the severe flaw in Mara's creation. She was taken in at three years old to be raised in the heart of evil, and yet she's somehow the only Emperor's Hand to have a conscience. Three years old is not the proper age to have a total recall of what morality is, especially when you're being trained to kill with abandon and to not care about taking a life. More to the point, Laura had two people who gave her morals and humanity. Mara, by contrast, had no one: no nanny or diaper-changing droid was mentioned in order to credit where she got her moral compass from, which flies directly against Galen's turn from the Dark Side. Because even Galen had PROXY to thank for being remotely approachable at the beginning of The Force Unleashed. If you don't believe me, check out his Wookieepedia file; the droid is expressly stated to be the reason he has any compassion at all.

Mara has no reason for having a moral compass, and anyone who tells me otherwise should go dunk their head in a frigid cold lake.

Problem four: Mara has too much autonomy for a born and bred assassin

Remember what I was going on about with Laura? Beyond the surface of what I scratched, she never got a break or any rewards for a job well done. That is because no one viewed her as anything more than a tool to get things done. Among the underworld, she was a favorite weapon, but because of that favoritism, Laura was worked to the bone by people around her. When you're a tool, favorite or otherwise, you don't get breaks.

But according to Timothy Zahn and countless others in Star Wars, Mara got to take vacations because the Emperor favored her so much. And furthermore, she had such an advanced favoritism with him, and was such a spectacularly good agent, she could choose who to kill and who to hide from the Emperor without him being the wiser. Mara even had the nerve to think of and enjoy herself as a "law unto herself" while still being under Palpatine's thumb.

Nonsense.

Fellow assassin Galen never had breaks, child assassin Laura Kinney never had breaks, international spy Natasha Romanov never had breaks. They never had breaks because they were TOOLS. Tools, in the eyes of their masters, are nothing but instruments to be used or thrown away as seen fit, regardless if said "tool" is a handheld object or an entire company of soldiers. Assassins have this even worse because they are people exclusively used for your personal gain. Giving Mara Jade breaks from her work is stupid and breaks the logic of having an assassin turn over a new leaf. And the reason for that is because all the other examples I named worked their fannies off in order to make amends and actively choose to become better. Even though we got little with Galen atoning for his actions, he still tried his best.

Mara doesn't do anything to atone, apologize, or even make up for the things she did. She lived and died in Legends continuity as a selfish brat who got away with literal murder and never had anyone question why they had her there on their side when there was never a guarantee beyond Luke's out-of-character defense of her by saying she "no longer serves the Dark Side/the Emperor".

Luke, my guy, my childhood hero second only to Optimus Prime. You know better than this. Yes, you see the good in everyone, but there was never anything she did right for purely right reasons to have garnered that level of loyalty and devotion from you. She tried to kill you, wanted to take your father's place in Palpatine's grand scheme, and was frightfully close to killing you in the third movie of the Original Trilogy while laughing as you fell into the sarlacc pit. The fact that this all goes on, and no one in or out of universe makes her pay for her actions tells me she was just everyone's darling OC insert girlfriend for Luke, who they could do anything with, and people would and did accept it because they wanted Luke to have a "pretty bad girl wife".

Luke is the pinnacle of goodness in Star Wars. A pinnacle of goodness deserves someone who is just as good for almost the exact same reasons as the pinnacle, but able to back him up in his saving endeavors while being a shoulder for him when there was one lost soul he couldn't save.

Mara Jade has none of that, and she never showed anyone that level of care and attention. And if she did, it did not make sense with all the crap she got away with.

Conclusion

Well, there's not much I suppose to conclude this. I expressed why Mara doesn't work in excruciating detail, and why she didn't work in the end. I will go out on a limb and say that my distaste for her is clear, as well as my opinion that she should not have won Luke's hand when he had many other love interests (look it up. Trust me, he had many girls eyeing him, and had many dates in Legends.)

I will, however, say this much: In my Star Wars Canon, Luke marries Alex Winger, the only girl in Star Wars who I feel matches his personality and needs well. Ben Skywalker will not exist in it, unless I make him the oldest or youngest of Luke and Alex's kids, which is entirely possible now that I consider that option. And it may surprise you, but I do intend to bring Mara into my stories - as a true villain, though she may get a redemption before dying in my own take.

Regarding any hate I receive for both my tear down of Mara and my changed plans for my own Star Wars Canon, I will tell you this: I am one person with these thoughts and feelings, so far as I can see, whereas the much adored Mara Jade has hundreds of appearances in old Star Wars media and various fanfictions. If you can't tolerate my dislike for Mara, then go pout in a corner while reading Legends books involving her. It's not worth either of our time to fight over that blasted female, and I've got too much on my table to bother wasting my free time arguing over her.

Good day, and may the Force be with you.

[blade-liger-4ever]

Hey there another question to ask , how will you rewrite mara jade ? I am curious to know .

My idea is to make her a villainess/foil to an OC I have. That's the only way she makes sense to me, and while I intend to let her get killed (eventually), I may decide to be nice and let her get a redemption of sorts before the wicked witch croaks.

It's nothing against normal Mara fans, I just feel that Mara should be a villain who dies. Again, it only makes sense to me, especially since her behavior in Legends was no different from a pragmatic villain who joined the angels simply because it was convenient.

[blade-liger-4ever]

Hi there i loved your Au of where mara is not married to luke and i wanted to read your Ao3 story. I couldn’t find it.

Um, those ideas are mostly outlines and things in my head I'm trying to put to digital paper. Moreover, I don't exactly have an AO3 account. I keep my AU ideas here, under #Blade's AU.

If you want more, type that in to satisfy your curiosity.

[blade-liger-4ever]

Introducing Boza Eldar, heir to House Eldar!

(Sorry, I got a little editing-happy with some of them.)

Now, regarding his clothing style, since Boza's a Mandalorian, I knew from the get-go that designing him in armor wasn't going to work. However, when I came across the options I used above, I realized that I could easily try and show him in a "body glove", though I had to make do with the gloves and shoes. The belt...actually fits on its own. I chose this pose to give the idea of Boza working out in the early morning, and I tried to show in his expression that he's a rather smiley fellow who isn't easily ruffled even in mock combat. As for his given name, well, let me explain that before attempting to whip up his backstory:

Boza was named, and made in honor of, Chadwick Boseman.

Four years ago, Mr. Boseman was sadly taken from the world. Many were left heartbroken and sad, most of all his family. Unbeknownst to the public until his passing, Mr. Boseman had been suffering from cancer since the late stages of Captain America: Civil War's finishing production, at least. He did not share it with anyone outside of his family, and fought it just as hard as the Black Panther would have.

On a more personal note about the late actor, I want to extend my thanks to him in this tribute. Long before he was cast in the role, the Black Panther, also known as Prince/King T'Challa, was always a favorite character of mine. I briefly saw him in Avengers: Earth's Mightest Heroes, and then sporadically in Avengers Assemble. However, my greatest introduction to the character and his backstory was brought to life by Mr. Boseman. Truly, watching him in the theater as Black Panther felt like watching my favorite side Avenger come to life and step into the real world. Mr. Boseman played the character just as poised, regal, ferocious, and honorable as I had come to know and expect of the character. In hindsight, his part of the film riveted my attention almost as much, if not to the same degree, as the story of Cap and Bucky. I was much happier for his portrayal of T'Challa than I would have guessed, and perhaps more than I realize now. And for that, I am eternally grateful he was offered and accepted the role, for without him, my experience with both the film and the character would be much duller, and my memories of the old MCU would not be nearly as bright.

Rest in peace, Chadwick Boseman. You have earned it, and may you continue your adventures as the Black Panther in Heaven.

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Boza Eldar was born the sole heir to his House in the Mandalore System. The Eldars are renowned for their prowess in martial arts, and their ability to use their words as weapons in the political games of the galaxy. As the only direct heir to the House, Boza studied across the System to learn battle strategy, martial arts, languages, politics, technology, the arts, and much more. However, during his studies, he became more and more suspicious of the Empire's motives, causing him to dig into their works in his off time - which he did not often have. Realizing the true nature of the Empire, Boza was prepared to take the matter up with his parents about pushing back when news of Sabine Wren blowing the whistle on the Empire after her tenure in the Academy spread through the System. Not long after, Sabine was accused of being a traitor to Mandalorian society, and a coward for running from her people and "justice".

Despite the people's distaste for the "runaway Wren", Boza, impressed by her courage to say anything against the Empire, was inspired to slowly build up a secretive group of Mandalorians to combat the Empire someday. His parents helped him set up the network, though it was mostly conducted through intelligence gathering and occasional "heists" that disrupted the Empire's work and transports. Despite this, the atmosphere was still tense, which grew worse as rumors of a rogue Mandalorian outside the System was wrecking havoc and combating the Empire grew - and that she was a Jedi. Although Gar Saxon insisted the rumors were Rebel propaganda and censored all information regarding his work into recent Mandalorian "traitors", Boza knew this was no coincidence.

Although he had no particular love for the Jedi, Boza's studies of history involved Tarre Vizsla, and how the Mandalorian Jedi brought peace and unified the Clans and made them the powerful Sector that they now are. There were no Jedi from his line or any other in three thousand years, and yet now, not only has a member of a prominent Clan taken a stand against the Empire, but the first Mandalorian Jedi since Tarre has appeared, standing against the Emperor by her sheer existence. If the rumors about her were true, and if she and Sabine Wren were both working for this "Rebel Alliance", then that could only mean one thing:

The Mandalore System must go to war against the Empire.

Boza's family has their own religious view of what the Jedi call the Force, and he is certain that the appearance of a Jedi Mandalorian is a sign that they must unite once again, lest they be crushed. He, Sabine, and this rogue are children, but they can lead in a firefight, or inspire others to take up arms and combat the Empire. They must grow into these roles, for their people depend on them.

When Lady Bo-Katan Kryze returns with her own army of Mandalorians and wielding the Darksaber, Boza wastes no time in bringing his forces to supply her lost troops. Working with her, he finds himself assigned as a field commander alongside none other than Sabine Wren herself. Despite her still stained image in Mandalorian society, Boza cannot help but find her intriguing. They fight well together, are evenly matched in a fight (though they each have a tendency to "lose" a match to the other), and understand their respective interests in art. Where Sabine is colorful and expressive with her artwork (both with and without explosives involved), Boza prefers sculpting. He likes to work with his hands, and it helps calm nerves and distracts from the severity of the war. Although it is joked about often, others pointing to Boza allowing Sabine to paint his sculptures and figurines as the moment she fell in love with him has much evidence going for it.

When the war is over and Mandalore has been freed from the Empire, Tristan has assumed his birthright as the new Count Wren while Sabine's younger twin sister, Sacha, has joined Fenn Rau's new Proctectors. However, both Boza and Sabine realize that even with her courage and loyalty to Mandalore being proven, most men will still avoid her due to old political wounds, not helped by the fact that even now, Tristan is arranging a marriage for himself to earn some additional support, as Clan Wren is still persona non grata, both from their time with Death Watch and Sabine's past actions reflecting on them. Despite that, Boza knows one man who doesn't care for that part of her past, and asks Sabine if she would accept his hand in marriage, offering Clan Wren the support and protection of House Eldar as a wedding gift as well.

Zeb swears the marriage was one of the biggest, and definitely the most colorful, that he's ever attended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's all, folks! Almost all of this is original on my end, save the name Eldar; although they're only known as Clan Eldar in the canon Star Wars universe, I decided to promote them to a House's standing in my take. I see Boza and Sabine having three kids, though I don't think either of them would mind a fourth - or even be unhappy with just two. I didn't have a place to put this, but I envision Boza having a pet "wolf cat". It's an actual named animal in Star Wars, though it has no official art - but I'm willing to imagine House/Clan Eldar's sigil is one....

Thank you for reading, and may the Force be with you!

[blade-liger-4ever]

So, I've decided to start something.

Well, a series of somethings.

I've had some Star Wars AU ideas as of late, which I'm thinking of turning into little ficlets that will be posted on Tumblr. If I feel bold enough from my experiences here, I may transfer them over to my WordPress account, but time will tell on that front. In most of these fanfics (which hopefully won't be long - or not, we'll see), there are going to be featured a couple of OCs, as well as established character/OC relationship(s) over previously established pairings. Many of you will probably be discontent over this, however, I will do my best to explain these new pairings and why I was dissatisfied with the original love interest.

Before I get into that however, I will introduce one of these OCs, who was also inspired by the lost potential of one of Disney's most recent princesses.

Click below, and you shall see Starkiller/Galen Marek's AU love interest: Raya Karimi, descendant of the noble House of Zakuul.

Now, before we get going, let me say something: I do not hate Juno Eclipse. I did, however, find the connection between her and Galen...a little unsettling. I am not saying it was unhealthy or toxic, nor am I saying that Juno should have never been in the same room as Galen. That said, it seemed, at least in the second game for sure, that Galen was over-relying on her and putting too much of his needs/hopes on her for his own good. And no, I'm not agreeing with what the narrative said about Vader having control over Galen so long as she lived. I think what I'm trying to say is that, she ended up being a Living Emotional Crutch for him, and that trope - whether applied to a man or woman, in real life or in fiction - deeply unsettles me. The idea that someone needs another person in order to operate as a human being, or to be kept from totally falling apart...it doesn't sit well with me, and, I suppose, scares me. I don't want that for either of them, hence a new love interest for Galen.

Now, whether or not Juno lived after that final cutscene in Force Unleashed II, I confess, for the purposes of this AU...Juno does die. In the main Star Wars universe that I envision, she does live, but for the purposes of my story, it only makes sense that she is killed by either Darth Vader or Boba Fett. Galen can only do so much to protect her, and moreover, the likelihood of either of those villains killing her is extremely high. PROXY will, quite possibly, be at least salvageable here as well; I don't yet know if he will be a series of pieces that Galen and Raya and their other two crew members will have to put back together, or have his parts integrated into a separate unit. Considering I gave Raya a revamped HK-77 assassin/protocol droid as her muscle pre-meeting Galen (HK-77s are from Legends, by the way; look them up), PROXY's role may be redundant, in which case, some of his salvageable components would be used for HK.

She will also have a small, cat-dragon hybrid known as a felico. Her name is Tapi, and I'm trying to picture her as a traditional Asiatic/Japanese dragon, but one that is small enough that she can easily climb onto someone's shoulder. I picture the same body style, but with shorter whiskers, dexterous talon-like paws, feathered wings of proper proportion, and some fur that helps her with sneaking some items off bad guys, or just all the way around enhance her cuddliness. Color wise, she might be all black or shades of gray with bright green eyes.

Raya I envision as one of the few survivors of the noble family from Zakuul, with perhaps a smidgeon of Force-sensitivity. Her family had guarded artifacts from the Old Republic Era (the time of Revan in SW:KOTOR to SW:TOR, for reference), and so she was trained in the use of both melee and ranged weapons. She was an energetic child, and a prodigy when it came to most topics, although she worked exceptionally hard to get good at working with starship systems and repairs. The Empire eventually came to Zakuul for those same artifacts, around the time Raya was twelve or fourteen. The planet attempted to fight, and was soon overpowered; however, many managed to take off with the artifacts, hiding them away from Imperial eyes. Raya was captured after one battle, and after some time, forced to watch her father's public execution. This sent her into a blind rage, and before she knew it, the squadron that had been detaining her lay at her feet in pools of blood and missing limbs. Shaken by her own actions, she managed to escape, and spent the next six or eight years bouncing across the galaxy as a freelance agent for hire. However, Raya never worked with the Empire, and even though she made apparently shady deals, it was all in the effort to locate those missing artifacts, which she managed to hide with the aid of the hidden in plain sight Jedi Haja Estree.

Following one lead on the edge of the Outer Rim/Wild Space from their efforts on Tanalorr, Raya comes across the remains of the Rogue Shadow on an unnamed planet, the owner of whom, Galen Marek, has resided in for almost a month. He's full of anger, but her stubbornness, humor, and clear disdain for the Empire manages to convince him that she is an ally and not an enemy. Working together, they leave the planet and attempt to return while being side-tracked by HK-77 picking up old, disconnected transmissions from something ancient - so ancient, in fact, that it could be a cache of artifacts from the time of Revan....

I hope you find this interesting, and if you want more, please feel free to check in for updates on it!

[blade-liger-4ever]

Rise and Shine

Galen knocked on the door to Raya's room on their Paladin-class freighter New Horizon. "Raya, it's past o'eight hundred. C'mon, it's time for breakfast."

No return sound greeted him. Frowning, he knocked harder and repeated, "Raya? Raya, are you okay?"

He didn't hear a response, but he faintly heard a rustling sound on the other end. Stepping back, he glanced around, and once he was sure neither Tapi nor HK-77 were walking down the hall, he turned back to the door. Lifting his right hand, he focused on the door's inner mechanisms and used the Force to unlock it. There was a whoosh sound as the panel slid back, and quickly stepping in, he blinked to readjust to the dim lighting as the door shut behind him. Looking around, he opened his mouth to speak when a muffled snore caught him off-guard. Facing the direction of the cots, Galen felt his mouth hang open as his eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

Before him, lying half on and half off the bed in nothing but loose night clothing, lay Raya Karimi. An arm dangled off the side, her long brown-black hair obscuring the lower half of her face while her intricate braid trailed down her back. She was barefoot, and midway through a snore she subconsciously lifted her head to swipe at her nose before returning her arm to it's limp position. As she resumed snoring - the sound of which reminded Galen of a hoverbike with a small engine - one would hardly have guessed Raya were descended from the old Zakuulan nobility.

Galen stared at her, then reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as another, though far quieter, snore escaped her. Apparently, she had stayed up later than he'd realized on decoding the old treasure maps they'd uncovered last week. To be fair to Raya, she was less interested in profit and more invested in the possibility of an uninhabited planet holding relics from the Old Republic Era from four thousand years ago. Her insistence on it being important finds against the Empire and a preservation of galactic history, coupled with her pleading kath hound puppy eyes, had made him relent in their debate on it last night.

Evidently, he should have known better than to leave her unsupervised with said historical artifacts. Or at least, Galen should have joined her in it. Then she would have been more susceptible to honest sleep when she had a partner's rest to account for.

Removing his hand, Galen sighed through his nose and walked around to the other side of the bed so that he was more or less face-to-face with her. He looked at her for a moment, briefly torn about waking her or not. Force only knew when she got to sleep, and they'd been run ragged for ages.

If I'm being honest, she looks kinda cute when sacked out that hard.

Okay, that did it. Galen had been thinking things about her that bordered beyond friendship for a while now, and after his - his loss, courtesy of Vader - he wasn't ready to dwell on those thoughts.

Time to give Raya a wake up call.

Crouching down, he reached over and tapped her shoulder. "Raya, it's morning. Wake up."

No response. Rolling his eyes, Galen lightly shook her shoulder. "Breakfast. Now. Or I'm giving Tapi yours," he threatened.

What sounded faintly like "get vacuumed" left her mouth before Raya turned her face away from him. For added effect, she hunched her shoulders as if attempting to bury herself under some nonexistent covers.

Galen set his jaw. Fine. If she wasn't gonna answer to her food going to the felico, he'd give her something to wake up to.

Standing up, he marched toward the wall that held the room control panel. Scanning it, he found that the light and air conditioning were right next to each other. Giving a mischievous smirk he hadn't shown since he'd reprogrammed PROXY to mock his first pilot, Galen half turned to look at Raya's prone form. He hovered his palm over the dual buttons, counted down from three, then slammed his hand on the controls.

Immediately, the room burst into bright light, followed by hard blasts of air from the vents directly above Raya and himself. No sooner had he squinted against it did Raya scream, and he saw her half jump up on the cot, her hanging arm suddenly gaining purpose and grabbing something from down below. His danger sense blared, and Galen's eyes widened as he saw her snap into a half defensive position and throw a tool right at him.

Letting out a shout of surprise, Galen dove for cover, the wrench clanging solidly against the wall. Scrambling up, he looked back to see Raya roll off the bed, then pop up and thrown an empty coke bottle at him. Galen moved his head to the side, the cold metal making a cartoon-ish whizz sound as it missed his ear before bouncing off the wall and noisily rolling across the floor.

In hindsight, this was probably not his wisest idea.

Moving to a stand, he ducked his head as Raya chucked a loose sock at him. "Raya, wait, it's me!" he yelped, then realized that the air was blowing loudly above them both.

Throwing out a hand, he quickly lowered both room settings to a reasonable rate as he saw Raya roll across the room in his peripheral vision. Instincts kicking in, he turned and saw her yank out a blaster, turning to him and hurriedly setting it to kill with wild-eyed fear.

Yeah, he was never doing this again.

"Raya, stop!" Galen shouted, reaching out and telekinetically pulling the blaster out of her hand and into his.

Raya shrieked as the weapon flew from her hand, though the grip she had managed to keep meant she stumbled forward a few feet. Fumbling, Raya braced her hands against the floor to keep from falling, then looked up at him as he turned the blaster back to stun. Blinking rapidly, her fear was soon replaced with exasperation and sheer frustration as he tossed the weapon onto her cot.

"Galen! What the kriff were you doing?!" she demanded, breathing hard as she staggered to her feet.

"You wouldn't wake up, and it's two hours beyond your usual routine," he shot back, though traces of sheepishness were evident in his voice. "You wouldn't wake up when I shook you, so I just...tried the room settings."

"Do you have ANY idea how many times I've woken up to enemies trying to break into my place?" Raya retorted vehemently as she straightened her shirt. She blinked and looked down at herself, then swallowed and pulled some of her hair foward so it covered her front. Realizing what she was doing, Galen quickly darted his gaze around the room before finding her eyes again. Although there was still a fair bit of indignation in her brown eyes, there was a hint of amusement in them as she hissed, "Seriously, I've had to do more duck and rolls and grandma throwing tactics than anyone just to keep my head attached."

Despite the absolute absurdity of the situation, Galen couldn't help but find her now broken facade of anger funny. And adorable.

Clearing his throat, he answered, "Sorry, I didn't think that far ahead. Um, anyway, HK was saying something about maintenance, and I made breakfast, so...I'll let you get changed."

Turning on his heel, he marched toward the door, stopping as it opened before looking back and adding sincerely, "Sorry about the uh, fiasco. Won't happen again."

"Thanks," Raya replied, her voice somewhere between flustered and pleased. Facing the doorway, Galen exited the room, but the door didn't close before he heard her muttering, "Ex-Imperials...Force, they're one of a kind."

Galen wasn't sure what to make of that, but he didn't fight the content smile it brought to his face.