maybe its cheating but i’m very curious about the two wips named “assassinating” malcolm and meeting malcolm being only lines apart lmfao
@rinskiroo adding your ask here too :D
Even if it is cheating, I'm cool with that! lmfaooo Thank you both for the ask <3
They are very similar fics and deal with the same concept, except the first one is serious and the second one is silly. They're set years apart, and if I decide on one, I will probably drop the other just so I don't have plot points that are too similar.
The first is the bane of my existence--an idea I had months ago and wanted to make work but I'm really struggling to get it to any point I'm satisfied with. It's a fic where my double agent Dravim is tasked by Moff Regus to assassinate Jace Malcolm. Long story short, Dravim is a double agent for the Republic, and he got himself into a position where he could basically hand victory over Malgus to the Republic. My Darth Occlus took a hit over this, but so did Regus. He's in hot water for such a colossal public failure, not only losing the stealth fleet to Malgus but failing to actually stop him. So he's a bit desperate for a huge strategic and symbolic victory, and taking out his counterpart in the Republic seems very necessary to appease the angry Dark Council, especially considering Malcolm is the one credited with leading the ambush that destroyed the Empire's prototype warship, the Ascendant Spear, so recently.
This is set shortly after Annihilation. Dravim has no idea who Theron is, let alone that Malcolm is someone important to him. He just sees the Republic Supreme Commander, and he goes, "Yeah, no way is the SIS ever going to be okay with this. Time to subvert it." Dravim also sees an opportunity to put the final nail in Regus's coffin, so the Empire takes the blow of losing its military leader rather than the Republic, reducing the effectiveness of its fleet. And while some of Malgus's ideals have been adopted throughout the Empire after Ilum according to the Codex, Regus is a firm traditionalist and firmly anti-alien, which I don't think changes after Ilum. So to have him fall on his face would also quiet those still holding Regus up as a symbol of the way things should return to. So the only downside is that it has a high risk of blowing up in Dravim's face if he's not careful.
Theron gets involved when he catches wind of the plot against his father. Not sure how much Theron learns about Dravim's loyalties here. On the one hand, it's meant to explore Dravim dealing with Imperial politics, his status as a double agent, and his evolving relationship with the Empire and Republic. But it's also my self-indulgent version of them meeting pre-Shadow of Revan.
Obviously, Malcolm never gets assassinated. But beyond that, my original idea for it fell apart, so I'm still trying to rebuild a plot from the pieces that actually work. Which is why there's no accompanying snippet
Aaaaand my silly one. "Meeting Malcolm?" is set in Onslaught-era, also when Dravim is playing double agent for the Republic. This time, he of course knows who Malcolm is, and when he's on a mission where the Sith attack Malcolm's flagship and board the ship, Dravim subverts an attempt to kill him. But Malcolm still takes him prisoner, and Dravim doesn't fight it because he's not confident he can get away without one of them getting killed. It's got a question mark because I'm not sure I'm keeping it; I'm just still too attached to parts of it to totally scrap it. It doesn't really move the plot forward or have much of a plot yet beyond Dravim showing up and being taken prisoner by his future father-in-law, who thinks he's a loyal Imperial.
Only snippet I'm happy with at the moment:
Theron shows up as the Alliance representative to claim their "traitor" and transport him back to Odessen, where they figure out how to proceed. Because I found the concept funny:
The nefarious Imperial prisoner in question lounges on the sleeping pod in his cell, crossed legs propped against the wall at the foot of the pod, idly tapping his fingers against his chest. Silver hair splays across the mattress, framing the flat affect of a very bored Chiss.
Dravim’s eyes flick toward the entrance at the sound of footsteps, though he doesn’t move or shift from his spot on the pod. Theron thinks he detects a hint of excitement when he realizes who strolls toward him, but it’s quickly overtaken by trepidation as he registers Theron’s mood.
Theron leans against the wall beside the energy shield, smiling broadly, Dravim’s face growing more apprehensive by the second.
“Hi, honey,” Theron says, enjoying the irritated huff his words evoke. “Tough day?”