[fic] I, Avenian

[Canderis]

“Ah, Arianna Videa right?” I said as I punched in her name. “You were pretty—"

 

The next thing I knew was that she was kissing me right on the lips and I was completely stunned. Whether it was the fact that I had never been kissed before in my life or that our very first social interaction was for her to make out with me, I still do not know.

 

“…helpful,” I finished quietly after she stopped.

 

“Don’t mention it,” she said sweetly, then kissed me again quickly and ran off. I was left there happily smiling like I never had before.

 

That was... unexpected.

 

[Agincourt]

That last part was unexpected.

 

The only thing I think that part lacked was someone on the opposite side trying to persuade people that war was against the jedi code. I think that someone like Bastila would grandstand like Malak was.

[Lord of Hunger]

Sorry to keep everyone waiting. Hopefully the work I put into this chapter will pay off.

 

Chapter 7

 

Our official entry into the Mandalorian Wars took place following the Battle of Ithor and the Second Battle of Iridonia. Our defense of the supply lanes had helped the Republic by renewing their forces and improving their morale. Although having a Jedi fighting with you in the front is preferable, to the Republic soldiers having them in the back was almost as good. The fact that the Republic was able to win on their own also gave the Generals the nudge needed to let us fight on the front lines, as many of them actually hated the idea of the Revanchists saving their rears.

 

With that obstacle removed, we were all made officers and given command of roughly one third of the Republic Armed Forces. Myself, Malak, Arianna, Voren, Ferroh, and Revan were all made Generals, Revan being our superior. While it was good to have our first command, many of us wished for a different command: the one third of the Armed Forces were in control of was the third that had seen the most combat, the most losses in battle, and the most defeats. Our soldiers were also very ill-equipped, poorly trained, and demoralized from rapid Mandalorian victories.

 

“So they gave us this,” Malak scowled when we inspecting our forces for the first time.

 

“Well on the bright side,” began Voren, “on the bright side...wait, I can't think of a brightside.”

 

I shook my head. “And this is why the Republic never wins wars without the help of the Jedi anymore,” said I.

 

Revan nodded in agreement. “The Republic Armed Forces use swarm tactics for every occasion, and always has the new recruits on the front lines before the veterans,” he analyzed. “What they don't understand is that when fighting against Mandalorians overrunning them just doesn't cut it. If your forces aren't even able to put a blaster to the enemy's head and pull the trigger then you’re just wasting soldiers.”

 

“Then let's make it possible for them to pull that trigger,” said Arianna.

 

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, intrigued.

 

“I've been asking around about social conduct around here. You have rank segregation as a standard: Soldiers only eat and bunk with soldiers. Officers only eat and bunk with officers. Generals only eat with generals, and bunk by themselves. If there is one thing I understand about people its that they like to connect and not being able to connect is emotionally unhealthy. No soldiers is going to fight alongside an officer who isn't willing to interact with them unless they are coerced.”

 

“So if we start reconnecting the ranks their entire attitude about the war will change,” Ferroh reasoned.

 

“Yes,” Arianna agreed. “They won't feel like they've been thrown unwillingly into someone else's war. They'll start fighting for each other.”

 

Revan nodded. “Alert all officers that all personnel will dine and bunk together as of this moment. Any officers who fail to do so will be put on janitorial duty for a week.”

 

As Arianna predicted, morale vastly improved. Not only was it good to have officers regularly interacting with soldiers, but the latter were very pleased to be working alongside Jedi.

 

My first battle was at Dagary Minor alongside Arianna. It was one of our early losses though the Mandalorians only won after loosing about two thirds of their own soldiers. I remember fighting along a soldier by the name of Xaart. I had met him earlier when we had first taken command. The look in his eyes at that time had been very sullen, the look of someone who felt betrayed. But as he was firing his rifle and I was deflecting blaster bolts, his look was that of empowerment. Even after the retreat, he told me that he felt like he could take on Mandalore the Ultimate himself right then and there. I told Xaart that I'd personally drag Mandalore over so that he could have his way with that insane war-monger.

 

Then came Eres III, and that was also a defeat. Although the presence of Force Sensitives on the Republic side was causing the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders to take massive losses, the sheer power of the Basilisk War Droids resulted in yet another retreat. Yet before we left our fighter squadrons managed to take out three of their battle-cruisers. However slowly, the tide of battle was turning in our favor. Revan's tactics, our lightsabers and Force powers, and the new resolve of the soldiers was having an impact on the overall war, as the Mandalorian assault was slowly grinding to a halt.

 

Duro was the next battle, though I was not there. In fact, there were few of our forces there either, most those of the other Republic Generals. The loss that the Armed Forces suffered was catastrophic not for the Republic, but for the Duros species: their homeworld was completely annihilated, transformed into a dead rock and the orbiting cities were crushed into some much debris. This defeat spurred us to make a come back. Rather than wait for the Mandalorians to strike again, we were going to attack them first.

 

Our target was Taris, nicknamed the Coruscant of the Outer Rim. If we took Taris, it would completely throw the tide of war around and possible break the current Mandalorian belief of their own natural superiority.

 

Revan had chosen Taris for a specific reason: It was where the true talents of the Republic Armed Forces would have the most success against the enemy. Mandalorians are natural warriors, and what natural warriors hate the most is fighting in a siege battle. Maneuverability drops significantly and the terrain is more complex. Any Mandalorian would prefer to fight on a battlefield than guard a city...especially an ecumepolis like Taris.

 

Meanwhile, the Republic's soldiers were more of a state police. They were used to being garrisoned on densely populated worlds and navigating through alleyways. Also, they were good at working squads and utilizing number advantages.

 

Of course, underestimating the Mandalorians would be a deadly failure. When they had something to defend, Mandalorians would fight to the death. Retreating and surrendering had little meaning for them. Thus, we would have to be prepared to kill without hesitation and take no prisoners. As gruesome as it sounded, not a single Mandalorian could be left alive. To make this point clear, Revan placed a standing order that anyone accommodating any Mandalorian requests for surrender or physical relief from battle would be arrested and court marshaled. Not a single person questioned the order.

 

I remember the day that the battle began. I was in a fighter craft speeding towards the planet, reentry flames and Mandalorian AA fire all around me. It was among the most trilling and terrifying moments of my life, and the fact that I was leading this charge made it even more so.

 

This attack was a diversion as the fleet was sneaking around to catch the Mandalorian defense fleet by surprise. Most of the fighters and shuttles behind me were salvaged craft controlled by droids. They were not meant to transport troops but to give the illusion of such and then crash into the AA towers while the few of us that were actual soldiers landed. The Mandalorians, not the brightest individuals despite their amazing courage in battle, would instantly be drawn to the point of the attack while Revan's forces would come up from behind and blast them into oblivion.

 

Unlike just about every Jedi I had ever met I was not a natural pilot. However, my training as a Consular provided me with a greater sense of precognition. I knew when turbolaser fire was headed my way and I could easily dodge. Of course, the problem was that there was plenty of turbolaser fire to go around.

 

That was where my own weaponry came in.

 

Seeing my ship fire and an AA tower blown to pieces was simply exhilarating. Both my own shouts of excitement and that of my men filed our com to the point of drowning out every other noise. I was in the middle of a situation where one well-placed shot could end my life and here I was as happy as a Youngling with his first training saber. I wondered...was this what it meant to be a Mandalorian? If so, that would explain a lot.

 

I found the perfect landing site, a stretch of platform connecting several skyscrapers that was filled with Mandalorians firing at me. It was not long enough for a complete deceleration, but I didn't need that. I flew in and right as my fighter was about to crash I grabbed my saber and jettisoned out of the craft and it rammed into a turret post and took out at least three Mandalorians. With the Force I was able to land on the ground with no injury. Immediately blaster fire rained on me, but I was prepared. To compensate for Makashi's lack of defense against blasters, Master Ell had instructed me in the technique of redirecting lasers with my hands and the Force. Every shot was but ammunition that I used with the technique in tandem with my Force Speed. To the Mandalorians I must have looked like I had hundreds of arms, all of them grabbing blaster fire and hurling it back at them. They all had helmets on so I could not see their expressions, but I felt fear arise in each one. IT was very reassuring.

 

I sensed my troops and several other Jedi land behind me while skeleton craft crashed into the AA towers. We were already cutting down the Mandalorians and the battle droids they had deployed like a farmer harvesting his crops. Mandalorians liked to give everyone the impression that they were fearless, but even they had nightmares. This must have been one of them: having to defend an urban environment against enraged Republic soldiers and sorcerers wielding a magic that they could not begin to comprehend. Admirably, none of them were fleeing as retreat had no meaning in their culture other than shame. It made it easier for us as we just wanted to cut them down there and then rather than have to deal with them later.

 

“Follow me!” I shouted as the last enemy on that platform fell. We ran through a building to another platform, yet more Mandalorians waiting for us.

 

* * *

 

Despite our ferocious attacks, the Mandalorians were not falling easily. Revanchists such as I had difficulty with hand-to-hand combat as our opponents wielded vibroswords with cortosis weave built into them. This cut down on our combat advantage. More over, we were often deflecting friendly fire in addition to our own.

 

Word soon reached my ears that Malak had finally landed and was leading the main assault on the Mandalorian HQ. The stories I was told were not that of a Jedi Guardian but of some frightening war-god able to smash metal with his bare hands. Indeed, we Revanchists were fulfilling many various ancient depictions of various primitive deities. I found out later on that among a sub-race of the Mandalorians I resembled Kataviish, the Ten-Armed God of Death. Malak apparently was known as Orcote the Iron Fisted God of Justice among the Kiffar. To no surprise of mine, Arianna was compared to Sondria the Holy Queen-Goddess of Salvation (also among the Kiffar). And Revan…apparently to some Mandalorians he was Isom’alor, the Steel-Faced God of War and Destruction. Though we never said it aloud, I think we probably enjoyed being Gods.

 

After wiping out the Mandalorians in the sector I landed in, I hooked up with Revan at our temporary HQ. Though I couldn't see his face behind the mask, his hunched over shoulders told me that something had upset him.

 

“The west sectors are being secured now, General Revan,” I greeted, my tone particularly snarky on the word 'general'.

 

“Ah, General Avenian,” he greeted back in the same manner. “How would you like to help eliminate slavery?”

 

I blinked. “Slavery?”

 

Revan turned to a digital map of Taris. “We have recently discovered that the Mandalorians are not the only major power in charge of this planet. The Exchange has an extensive operation on this world involving the trafficking of slaves. In fact, new intel confirms a business alliance between the Mandalorians and the Exchange.”

 

Now this was my turn to be angry. “The Exchange, huh?” I growled. There was one reason in particular why the Revanchists including myself had no faith in the Republic's government, particularly the Senate. The Exchange was that reason.

 

The Exchange was a massive criminal organization that had its hand in just about every illegal act in the Galaxy. Run by the Companeer and his council of Crime Lords, the Exchange rivaled the Hutts in every area of criminal activity: smuggling, pirating, assassination, racketeering, arson, slavery, and much more.

 

But they were ultimately the product of the natural corruption of the Republic Senate. The Hutts were able to evade the law because they were a legal organization dealing in illegal activities, and much of their deeds were far more concealed. The Exchange however was much more blatant about what they did and were able to manipulate the law by bribing Senator and security officials. Resolving the situation with the Hutts would involve a war with a powerful force within the Republic, but handling the Exchange merely took proper police work. In that sense, ever deed done by the Exchange was the fault of the Republic.

 

“The Exchange has a small base in one of the Lower City Districts where they keep various slaves,” Revan explained. “As soon as General Malak, General Ferroh, and General Arianna rejoin us we are going to take a break from cutting down Mandalorians and cut down criminals for a bit.”

 

“Tired of glory in combat already?”

 

“A little. It gets repetitive and gruesome after a while. Besides, if the Republic isn't going to do its job, then why don't we do it for them now while we have the opportunity?”

 

* * *

 

The Exchange thugs proved to be rather pathetic. I felt the entire time like I was fighting a small army of training droids at the Temple of Coruscant at the lowest difficulty. Eventually I got tired of taking them on individually and began using Force Waves.

 

We attempted to be thorough, but to our frustration the local Crime Lord Davik Kang managed to use the chaos of the battle to escape. Given how large Taris was, trying to weed him out would be impossible. We did, however, seize a massive store of spice and credits.

 

The slave quarters were not a pretty sight. Most of the slaves were female Twi'leks, but to Ferroh's terrifying rage there were plenty of Cathar too.

 

I saw Revan kneel before a young Cathar girl. “What's your name?” he asked calmly.

 

“J-J-Juhani, sir,” the little girl said, both in terror and awe.

 

Revan grabbed his lightsaber and in one swift move sliced off her shackles. The light above him was position so perfectly that it probably gave him some sort of halo when facing the girl. It was an amazing moment.

 

“Juhani,” he said, “you are free now. May the Force be with you.”

 

The look in her eyes was quite beautiful. We must have been Gods, though ones far different from the war deities of the Mandalorians. To them, Revan may have been Isom'alor, but to the little Cathar called Juhani he was a personal savior.

 

(And that's all for today. It may seem like I am going overboard with how great the Revanchists are and all that, but trust me, things are going to get really gruesome pretty soon. Stay tuned for Chapter 8 and the Battle of Dxun! )

[Trench]

Well done! Can't wait for the next chapter.

[VarsityPuppet]

I've read the prologue and a little under half of the first chapter. So far, I like it.

 

It's kinda premature to provide criticism at this point, but I can say that the prologue wasn't particularly luring... What drew me in was Avenian's semi-sarcastic personality (like the description of the Jedi) and his ability to use higher level english .

 

I will continue reading at a later time.

[Canderis]

Well done! Can't wait for the next chapter.

 

My thoughts exactly!

[Shuttle Atlantis]

Read.

[Feagildin]

Is there gonna be any more? Just wondering because it's been a while since your last post, I just read it and have enjoyed it thus far!

[Lord of Hunger]

Hi! Wow, it's been awhile since Chapter 7, hasn't it?

 

Well just to clarify, I was working on Chapter 8 for awhile. However, I lost all the work I did on it, so I got very frustrated as you can imagine. Then other things came up, and I forgot about this fanfic...mostly.

 

But yeah, as soon as my schedule eases up, I'm gonna start over on Chapter 8 again.

 

Thanks for reading.

[D'oh]

Very nice, Any ETA on chapter 8 ?

[Lord of Hunger]

Sometime during the holidays. I've been extremely busy recently, but I have definitely not forgot I, Avenian. I have actually been revising my plan for the ending, which lead into *drumroll* a sequel.

[D'oh]

Cool !! Thanks for the update.

[Lord of Hunger]

After far too much delay IMO....

 

Chapter 8

 

The Battle of Taris was indeed the great turning point in the Mandalorian Wars. From here on out the balance between Republic assaults and Mandalorian assaults was about even. Revan had not risen in actual rank, but he was unofficially the head strategist of the entire Republic war effort. The generals from other two thirds of the Armed Forces were constantly coordinating with him, rarely questioning him and often treating him as if he were of superior rank. The fact was, he had taken the weakest part of the whole Republic Army and transformed it into an effective fighting force that had won the most important battle of the entire war so far.

 

Revan was not the only strategist central to the war effort. In addition to Arianna and myself providing input on the frontlines, we had been assigned Admiral Saul Karath. While not on Revan's level, Karath knew the Republic Armed Forces like no one else and was beside Revan the Republic's most competent strategist. He was also quite ruthless, taking surge tactics to a whole new level.

 

As the war went on, Revan with some help from Saul designed a completely new tactical approach to the war. Rather than spread ourselves out to protect every world we could, we removed entire garrisons to strengthen our defenses on certain worlds while leaving others completely open. While several civilian worlds were decimated, we won far many more engagements and wiped out an entire section of the Mandalorian fleet.

 

“Revan, should we honestly be fighting like...Mandalorians?” Ferroh asked incredulously at our generals' meeting two weeks after the Battle of Taris. “I have no hesitation in slaughtering them, but these tactics that we are employing...we are literally abandoning our own civilian worlds and let our enemies burn them.”

 

Revan nodded. “Yes...yes, we are.”

 

“Then why--”

 

“Because that's how we win,” Revan interrupted, turning away from Ferroh. “You know something? I really hate war. I'm not talking about battles mind you. As the Echani point out, conflict is the place where meaning is revealed. War...war is a game of numbers, no meaning other than who has the numbers needed to win.”

 

We all watched as he paced around the room. “War is where things like empathy and basic sentient rights are a detriment to achieving a goal. Every soldier, every civilian, every weapon, every ounce of kolto is but a resource. The thing is, I'm good at war. I'm good at seeing the numbers, changing the numbers, even erasing the numbers. And in fact when it comes to war I can only see the numbers no matter how much I try.

 

“The numbers tell me that for every civilian I sacrifice I save the life of a thousand others. Now this view could be considered utilitarian at best, but the fact is the goal of this war is to save lives that would otherwise be lost. I can't save every single one, so I have to find out what options I have to save the most lives possible.”

 

Not even Ferroh disagreed with him. We all knew that he was right: Not only were civilian lives being saved, but so were soldiers as well. Our battle casualties had dropped dramatically because in each battle we always had reinforcements ready. And the fact was, if we tried to save ever world we probably would have lost all of them.

 

“In any event,” Saul began. “Now that we have the bastards running with their tails

in-between their legs I think it is time we targeted the heart of the war effort.”

 

Arianna blinked. “You mean Dxun,” she said.

 

“I do indeed. Dxun is the central Mandalorian training ground and the location of a massive compound. The moon itself is heavily defended by anti-aircraft tower complexes, but if we all chip in our brain power I think we can figure out a siege strategy that'll trump what you lot did at Taris.”

 

I nodded in agreement. “I don't like the idea of assaulting such a well-defended place, but the Onderon underground resistance could use a little hope. Vaklu and his lot could use the support.”

 

Revan turned to face us all, his solemn mood improved. “I agree, Vaklu has been fighting the good fight for far too long,” he announced. “Let's--”

 

What occurred then was so quick that before I knew it I had my lightsaber drawn and was blocking a pure white blade of energy. Six men and women in grey robes had fallen through the ceiling and were attacking us, my opponent being a man with brown hair and blue eyes--

 

But they had lightsabers.

 

How? Were they Jedi? I could feel the Force in them, they were definitely Force Sensitive. My opponent's fighting style was Ataru and was very Jedi in its form: even, focused, balanced. But at the same time it wasn't Jedi, because the obvious intent was to kill....

 

I stopped trying to figure out what they were and concentrated in killing my enemy. One thing we had learned so far in the Mandalorian Wars was that the Jedi fighting style only really excelled in Soresu, where the goal was endurance. Otherwise, a skilled opponent such as a Mandalorian would be able to overwhelm a Jedi simply by adding more power to certain attacks. Ataru heavily focused on acrobatics, but as this was a Jedi's version my opponent was only particularly good at dodging. Thus, when I landed my strikes with Makashi they were too much. He had to compensate by putting more energy than he was used to into defense, making his attacks weaker and tiring him.

 

Eventually I managed to get the killing blow in. He was attempted to deflect my saber away, twist, and hit my on my right side. However, I used this opportunity to turn my wrists and land a thrust into his heart as he completed the twist. His death was short, but I did not take my blade out until several moments later.

 

I turned around to find all of the other assassins dead. Saul was up against a wall with his blaster pistol drawn. Revan was in a chair, looking completely shocked. Malak and Voren were attempting to restrain Ferroh, who had completely lost it and was still trying to attack his opponent. And Arianna...she was still hacking at her enemy's corpse, tears of anguish and rage spilling down her cheeks as she quietly hissed, “Damn you damn you damn you” over and over again. I walked over and grabbed both her wrists, prompting her to drop her saber and collapse into my arms weeping loudly.

 

“Take her back to her quarters,” Revan ordered from his chair, his voice lacking any sort of emotion at all. “I'll inform security.”

 

* * *

 

I took Arianna to her quarters. After awhile she took a shower and then went to sleep. I didn't blame her: we were all very emotionally strained from the war and having to deal with an assassination attempt by fellow Jedi was enough to push anyone to the edge.

Saul called me into his quarters later that evening. “Revan had security check out the bodies,” he explained sadly. “No identification whatsoever, nothing to suggest where they or their possessions came from. All we know about them is that they were Force Sensitives and they were trying to kill us.”

 

“I see,” I remarked quietly.

 

Saul grinned and grabbed a bottle of Tarisian Ale that was on a nearby table.

 

“Something tells me that we could all use one of these,” he said. “Take the whole thing.”

 

“Thanks Saul.”

 

That night I took the liberty of emptying the entire bottle. Needless to say I remembered nothing else that had occurred other than I woke up on the floor with a massive hangover.

 

* * *

 

After two days, the Republic Judiciary and the Jedi Order both sent a small delegation regarding the assassination attempted. We were hoping that we would finally get a formal investigation team to start tracing the identity of the assassins. What we got was quite...unexpected.

 

“Investigator Solen!” Revan greeted, Malak and I waiting behind him. The Investigator was a tall elderly man with a very stern look. “I trust your journey wasn't too unpleasant?”

 

“Not at all, General Revan,” Solen replied. “However, I would save the warm greeting as I won't be staying long.”

 

Revan frowned. “I don't understand--”

 

“There will be no investigation.”

 

Somehow it felt like one of my nightmares was happening in real life. Behind Solen stepped none other than Bastila Shan, who had a very smug look on her face. “There will be no investigation,” she repeated slowly, as if she were savoring the taste of a rare cuisine. “You see, it is obvious that these assailants were indeed Jedi. Currently public opinion of the Jedi Order is quiet fragile from the Covenant affair and we wouldn't want the Holonet getting wind of another incident now would we?”

 

Revan glared and turned back towards Solen. “That's a flimsy excuse and you know it,” he said. “Why is the Republic going along with this?”

 

Solen raised an eyebrow. “Why? Why not? The Jedi Council...petitioned the Supreme Court to hand this affair over to them. Considering that you are walking a very fine line with the Judiciary over your current war conduct, I wouldn't start complaining.”

 

I had enough. I drew my saber and started running at Bastila. My mind was lost to mad rage, the memory of Arianna crying playing like a loop and the sight of the smug grin...intolerable. Then I felt a pair of strong hands grab me and pull me back into a wall. I recognized Malak's strength and quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to do anything, so I didn't resist but rather fumed.

 

Revan walked towards Bastila until he was right in her face. “I promise you, one day you will experience passion to an unparalleled degree,” he growled at her. “It will shatter every petty preconception you have and destroy all that you are. And I also promise you that the very passion that destroyed you will also save you.”

 

He walked out of the dock bay, Malak and I following his lead.

 

“I wish you hadn't done that,” said Revan as we walked, not even looking at me.

 

“So do I, but I'm only human,” I answered, still seething. “Not much to be done but keep

going.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

After awhile Malak finally spoke. “The damn Council is rotten to the bone, isn't it?”

 

“Oh, and some of the normal members,” I remarked. “Some people....”

 

“A lot of people,” Revan said. “But then again, our job is to save them even if they don't deserve it.”

 

“Here, here.”

 

((Next: The Battle of Dxun and a discovery that may change Avenian's life forever. No guarantees, but I am aiming to post tomorrow.))

[Feagildin]

Mmm, Dxun should be good! Bastila was always like that eh? lol I always pictured her turning into that only after her BM manifested. Nice work!

[Working Class Hero]

Love the story! The only thing I would change is that the prologue is very much first person, personal dialogue. The story then ends up being about Revan, so I was sort of confused.

[Tangster]

Very good. Can't wait for the next chapter.

[Te Darasuum Mandalor]

This is, no doubt, one of the BEST FANFICS EVER!

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

isn't alek trevelyan the dude from goldeneye why didn't you bring in xena onatopp instead

[Lord of Hunger]

Alex Trevelyan is the Revan PC made by Darth Yuthura (I had full permission of course). Beyond that I have no idea. I may change it to a PC name of my own.

[Istorian]

Excellent story, and I am excited by your writing skills, my partner! I must say they can be seen as equal to your modding skills!! There is a very good story here, and I like all the characters you've created, as well as your conception of Revan's complex character! There is only one thing that disappoints me. The fact that there has been one and a half month since the latest chapter and I really can't wait for Chapter 9! Keep up the good work, and I honestly don't want to rush you, it was a joke!

[Slstoev]

Since LoH has retired could someone continue the fic from his name.

I know you have to ask LoH if he will continue it, for permission, or for anything else.

 

P.S. No offense Lord of Hunger if you see this.

[Lord of Hunger]

Indeed, I did retire due to real life obligations. The only reason why I visit here (which is rare) is:

 

a) To help finish the Shinobi RP, which takes up little of my time and I want to help Phantom Knight see to completion.

 

b) To check out how my former teammates are doing, as well as Sleheyron RP and other such projects.

 

For all I know, I might be able to return during summer (no guarantees whatsoever) and even then I'd only give advice and such.

 

But yeah, Slstoev? I do take offense to that. I wasn't writing I, Avenian purely to entertain everyone and it is my work. No one is to write this fan fic other than myself, and even if I return come summer time I probably won't finish this.

 

For one thing, this was meant to be paired with Darth Yuthura's Shrouded In Darkness (which the two of us agreed upon). I was trying to write this without her finished work, and was struggling with that. Plus, writing romance is very tough stuff and Chapter 9 was going to be both romance and the Battle of Dxun at the same time.