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Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) New fic 5/30/08!
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TahiriSoloFan
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
3/22 5:15pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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Gotta love it when Kyp starts talking about how powerful a Skywalker is!  Go Ben! 
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Auntie & the Chickens ~ currently on location in Egypt, Da'Nile!  What's your favorite RotS scene? Member of TKL's Wraiths! AKA ~Auntie ~ Chicken Wrangler Extraordinaire~  Josh 1:9
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YodaKenobi
Title: TFN EU Staff
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
3/24 4:10pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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Wedge: See? Spike is all bluster and bravado. Now I am the Master.
Nicely done
Yeah, that's what I've heard. Think Drew K. is writting another novel as well.
For Mass Effect?
</Saren> The Conduit is the key to your destruction and ....
oh wait wrong universe.
Yeah, I don't think you want Booster mad at you...
He'd toss them out of an airlock for sure.
Na'rul would have to get in line I think. Mirax gets first dibs.
Valin would then be first in line to vomit  And then murder Kyp.
Good one.
Glad you liked it.
Is the sensor dish (or whatever it is) still attached?
Damn, I should have had that get torn off  
Well, that would explain a lot.
Jedi Lando? I'm afraid to think about what he would use his Jedi Mind-Tricks for 
Go Ben. Channel Bastilla through you.
I miss Bastilla. Whatever happened to her? *Nudges Bioware*
Well Pegasus helped.
It never gets old 
Good. You deserve it, motherfrakker.
Poor Rodan. Nobody loves him 
As in a trick, a deception you nitwit. Haven't you read Art of War?
LOL!
It's probably best if we don't give Kre'fey any tips 
Sounds like I may have to send Galactica to Denon...
Bet this is going to turn into a race. Gonna be a photo finish probably...
Probably  And there's no fleet coming to help the Jedi rescue team 
Thanks for reading and replying 
canadianjedimama: Okay, second's better this week...
Congrats
Sheesh Wedge, your reload must be faster than mine
But one day, first will be mine Oh yes, it will be mine.
A new challenger appears!
*ahem*
So, this week big snaps go out to Ben Skywalker. Way to go little man! For saving the collective arses of every last smuggler in the alliance, you get to be star of the week.
Ben is showing himself to have great power. It will give the Jedi an advantage if Mara lets him use it, but it will also put him in danger...
But Kyp you best have your best flak jacket on, because when Mara finds out what's gone on, you're dead. So dead that there'll be nothing left for Valin to be grumpy at...
Yeah, if I were Kyp, I'd just surrender to the Raithians while I still could. Whatever they're going to do to him couldn't be as bad as what Mara is capable of.
Which brings me to Kyp and Mirax. You are so busted. Valin's not only pissed because you're shagging his mom, Kyp, he's also ticked that you and Mirax didn't tell him about it. I think the fact that they didn't see him as an adult and tell him is going to bother him way more than the whole Corran/Kyp history. Aren't Jedi supposed to be honest?
Yes, they're supposed to be, but then, Kyp has never been the model Jedi
Kre'fey is being led by the snout. And doesn't know it yet. That Bothan may be ticked at the Jedi now, but his ar'kai is going to be of epic propotions once he gets a clue what exactly is going on. The Raithan's are going to be so sorry. But probably not until he's made the Jedi's lives living hell first... One wonders what the Bothan term for "I've been hoodwinked" is?
I'm glad you mentioned ar'kai, we haven't seen the end of that 
As for Kre'fey getting wise to the Rodan and the Raithians, we'll have to wait and see. Will he be willing to betray the Alliance when he learns of it? It would be tough for him.
YK, I read this weeks update in record time. Maybe that's because I want to get to the next Jag Fel part so bad????
Hehe. I think you'll like it. Jag opens the chapter
It was fast paced and wrapped up a few more ends as we get near the finale. What I'm trying to say is that I loved it, like always.
Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much
But not as much as I love Jag
But almost...
lol
Great job and can't wait for the next part...
Should be up this Friday barring any unforeseen interference.
EDIT: Once because "second" isn't enough of a review and once because, as usual, Hooked on Phonics did NOT work for me.
I edit my posts all the time
Spike: Damn you YK, you posted early while I was watching Torchwood
Sorry, man 
I've heard good things about that show but have never seen it.
Nevermind, when I'm actually online I'll beat Wedge to First! easily.
I look forward to the showdown
Right, the update
And Allston thought Kyp was more powerful than Luke
So did KJA
I think Allston has said that he just meant that Kyp thinks he's more powerful.
Great battle scenes, YK, (They're totally my favourite part of all stories ), and a great update!
Thanks so much, I'm glad you liked it. Just a couple more posts left, so we're done with most of the fighting.
thanks for reading!
Tahi: I see you're still around, Yoda - no invites to suppers then?
You're going to need to walk me through this one, it's going right over my head 
Heh heh - great self-preservation tactics there.
That force is strong in Lando Calrissian
Aw, poor old Kyp.
He'll live
Ha - great dialogue.
Glad you liked it.
Thank goodness they're safe - although it sounds like a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
For the moment. We'll see if things improve later.
That bit was very cool. Great sound and visual images.
Gotta love the Falcon's turrets 
That bit too - real impact with that image.
Yeeha! Go Ben.
He's a super star
That's always the rub - the little people always suffer when the bigwigs play war games.
Unfortunately, yes
Hmm - I guess it all depends on your point of view, eh? I'm loving the dramatic irony in the story.
Thanks! And yes, there is a lot of point-of-view justification in this story.
Really enjoyed that chapter, Yoda, especially the Ben bits.
Thanks so much, I'm glad you liked it. We'll be seeing more of Ben in the future as he begins to take a bigger role in the series.
Thanks for reading!
Ultima: Great post (as usual). I figured out it was battle meditation at around the same time Kyp did.
Good job Ben was having trouble on the Errant Venture but he must have figured out how to do it again.
The rescue was spectacular, and I got a kick out of Mirax's co-pilot. Any plans to keep him around?
We might see him again in the series but probably not a very significant role. I'm glad you got a kick out of him though. I figure most of the smugglers working for Booster don't think much of Kyp, given his penchant for hunting smugglers before the Yuuzhan Vong War.
Thanks for reading
Diamond: I love Ben in this. I always knew that any child of Luke and Mara's would be special!!
Yeah, I always wanted him to do big things. I'm not thrilled with the Ben we see in canon these days. It's been fun slowly introducing him in a larger role for this series. Obviously, Ben and his abilities are going to become very important.
I am glad that Kyp got Mirax out safely I only hope that he can restore his relationship with Valin!
Might be the next fic before we find out the full impact of that one
Great chapter Yoda!
Thanks so much, I'm glad you liked it  And thanks for reading!
Caedus: Like always a great post.
Thanks!
I just love Ben in your story even if I don't in the LOTF serie.
I really liked Ben in Betrayal. He reminded me of a young Anakin Solo with a bit more humor. Haven't liked him since
So if they are dealing with Corellia later, who will they send.
Jacen?
Good question. We'll have to wait and see what the reprocussions are. Corellia didn't actually fire on the Alliance but they were aiding the Smugglers by letting them resupply at Centerpoint. Not sure if the GA will be able to prove that the Corellians we're helping stage a feint or what the blowback might be yet.
Waiting for next Friday.
Thanks for reading and your reply
TSF: Gotta love it when Kyp starts talking about how powerful a Skywalker is!
About time he started respecting one of them
Go Ben!
Indeed!
Thanks for reading and your reply
Thanks again, everyone 
We're only 2 posts away from the end now 
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FORCEBlLADE
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
3/25 3:49pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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Alright Ben, saving the day once again. And Kre'fey, how niave you are as well.
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"Once you start down the dark path, forever will itdominate your destiny." :Yoda "JEDI CONFLICT" http://boards.theforce.net/Beyond_the_Saga/b10477/17951268/?13
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smash128
Registered:
Feb '08
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Date Posted:
3/25 4:19pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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Cool beans, Ben indeed will be the greatest Jedi of his generation.
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"I sense a disturbance in the Force." -Luke Skywalker. (Sarcastially)"You'll always sense a distrubance in the Force." -Kyle Katarn [Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy] Emergence-A Jacen Solo Story http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/28237145/p1/?21
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Clone_Cmdr_Wedge
Registered:
Mar '06
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Date Posted:
3/25 10:12pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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Spike posted:
Oh noes I've been pwned!!1!!1!! 
There, there Spike, You'll get used to being a mere mortal like the rest of us soon enough.
YK:For Mass Effect?
Yeah, that's what I've heard anyway.
Valin would then be first in line to vomit And then murder Kyp.
Isn't killing your Jedi master against the Jedi Code?
Jedi Lando? I'm afraid to think about what he would use his Jedi Mind-Tricks for
*Thinks about what Lando would use Mind-Tricks for*
It never gets old
Just like that Clone Wars .gif...
It's probably best if we don't give Kre'fey any tips
Good point. Don't know whose side he's ultimatly going to go for...
Probably And there's no fleet coming to help the Jedi rescue team
Well, I wouldn't call Galactica a fleet and it helped get people off this one planet...
We're only 2 posts away from the end now
-----signature-----
“You cannot play God then wash your hands of the things that you've created.
Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore.”-Admiral Adama, 'Battlestar Galactica'
"All warfare is based on deception." -Sun Tzu,
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YodaKenobi
Title: TFN EU Staff
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
3/26 3:52pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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FORCEBlLADE: Alright Ben, saving the day once again.
He's a little hero
And Kre'fey, how niave you are as well.
I think he's beginning to develop a real distaste for the Jedi. He didn't want to attack the temple, but he sees bringing Centerpoint into things as a very dirty trick.
Thanks for reading and your reply
smash: Cool beans,
I love that saying
Ben indeed will be the greatest Jedi of his generation.
I agree... Provided he lives of course
Thanks for reading and replying
Wedge: There, there Spike, You'll get used to being a mere mortal like the rest of us soon enough.
I think your taunting might come back to bite you
Yeah, that's what I've heard anyway.
Cool. I still need to read Rule of Two.
Isn't killing your Jedi master against the Jedi Code?
Probably. Though I think doing the hibbidy-dibbidy with your apprentice's mom might also be against that code
Just like that Clone Wars .gif...
Yeah
Good point. Don't know whose side he's ultimatly going to go for...
As I said to FORCEBlLADE, I don't think this little feint made him any more sympathetic to the Jedi...
Well, I wouldn't call Galactica a fleet and it helped get people off this one planet...
Better send it then
Last regular story post on Friday before the big epilogue. We'll be seeing Jag and the droids on the Rapture, find out what became of Jaina and Wrev, and then we'll go back to Denon to wrap up the Jedi rescue team's battle and finally find out who survived there.
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Clone_Cmdr_Wedge
Registered:
Mar '06
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Date Posted:
3/27 3:58pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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YK: I think your taunting might come back to bite you
We'll see...
Probably. Though I think doing the hibbidy-dibbidy with your apprentice's mom might also be against that code
And here I thought Jedi were encouraged to love.
Better send it then
Well, I've been saving this one .gif for a while...
We'll be seeing Jag and the droids on the Rapture
Hope they manage to get to Jaina.
find out what became of Jaina and Wrev
Oh, he is down there too. They can leave him.
and then we'll go back to Denon to wrap up the Jedi rescue team's battle and finally find out who survived there.
Sounds like a lively post. Is this longer than the epilogue?
-----signature-----
“You cannot play God then wash your hands of the things that you've created.
Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore.”-Admiral Adama, 'Battlestar Galactica'
"All warfare is based on deception." -Sun Tzu,
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Spike2002
Title: FF-UK RSA
Arena Manager
Registered:
Feb '02
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Date Posted:
3/27 5:08pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
- Date Edited:
3/28 1:19pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Spike2002
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Wedge, you can't pwn someone who wasn't even competing at the time.
No matter. Torchwood ain't on 2moro, so First is mine.
EDIT: Wedge can have first 2nite. I've got to go and be a doorman for an under-18s disco 
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"It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God, but to create him." - Arthur C. Clarke I agree with halibut Master to Louis_Skywalker 
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Clone_Cmdr_Wedge
Registered:
Mar '06
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Date Posted:
3/28 3:05pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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Spike posted:
Wedge, you can't pwn someone who wasn't even competing at the time.
No matter. Torchwood ain't on 2moro, so First is mine.
EDIT: Wedge can have first 2nite. I've got to go and be a doorman for an under-18s disco
</Saren> Making excuses to cover your own failing? I see Whitey has taught you well.
-----signature-----
“You cannot play God then wash your hands of the things that you've created.
Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore.”-Admiral Adama, 'Battlestar Galactica'
"All warfare is based on deception." -Sun Tzu,
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YodaKenobi
Title: TFN EU Staff
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
3/28 3:34pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
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Wedge: And here I thought Jedi were encouraged to love.
Well, maybe not that way.
Well, I've been saving this one .gif for a while...
Sounds interesting
Hope they manage to get to Jaina.
Oh, he is down there too. They can leave him.
I think that's the general consensus around here
Sounds like a lively post. Is this longer than the epilogue?
No, but it's long. It could have been longer but I made some cuts
Spike: Wedge, you can't pwn someone who wasn't even competing at the time.
No matter. Torchwood ain't on 2moro, so First is mine.
EDIT: Wedge can have first 2nite. I've got to go and be a doorman for an under-18s disco
I have so many questions right now You are a complex man, Spike.
Wedge: </Saren> Making excuses to cover your own failing? I see Whitey has taught you well.
I just think this will make the fight for First after the epilogue post more epic
Post in a few. It's a long one, so apologies in advance.
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canadianjedimama
Registered:
Jan '08
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Date Posted:
3/28 3:38pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/21/0
- Date Edited:
3/28 3:40pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
canadianjedimama
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Lying in wait....trying to be patient...
I want my Jagged!
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Lucky member of the Jagateers, my e-sister's of Jag-love! Current avatar is a homage to my first ban.... I stink at Shelf of Shame! But I'm playing again!!!
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YodaKenobi
Title: TFN EU Staff
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
3/28 4:10pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
- Date Edited:
3/29 2:34pm (3 edits total)
Edited By:
YodaKenobi
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Chapter 58: Escape
A string of jumbled tones and whistles interrupted by jerky bleeps and ululating hiccups echoed through the Rapture's maintenance storage area and down the corridor outside. Even for someone as unfamiliar with droids as Jagged Fel, it was clear to him from the garbled stream of trills that the astromech was malfunctioning.
He made it to the hatchway and found C-3PO hunkered down on a stool in front of R2-D2. A blast mark colored the front of the little droid's torso, with one of his manipulator arms twisted and dangling like ribbon, and the open panel of his diagnostic unit venting a haze of wafting smoke around the lockers and the unconscious Raithian Commando still lying prone on the duracrete floor. Threepio reached into the open panel and pulled bundles of melted wires and molten filaments away from the blackened circuits and sizzling metal that made up his counterpart's innards, bringing them into view.
"Goodness, Artoo. Will you look at the mess you've gotten yourself into now?" The protocol droid questioned.
In return, he received another knot of warbles and disjointed beeping.
"I can't understand a word you're saying," Threepio went on. "Your systems must be worse off than they even look, which is quite horrible, I might add... Oh no! Your smoldering wires are tarnishing my metacarpal covering!"
Artoo had no response, and his primary photoreceptor flickered as if he was going to shut down completely.
"Why must you always try to be the hero? Can't you see that your imbecilic attempts end up hurting more than just yourself? Look at me! I'm deformed!" C-3PO cried, holding up his right hand so that Artoo might see the series of black smudges cooked into his bronzium covering.
Instead of the mockery-drenched raspberry R2-D2 would certainly have spit under normal circumstances, the wounded droid simply chirped something meek followed by a loud squeal of alarm.
"Oh, just wait until Commander Fel returns. We'll be lucky if he doesn't ship us both off to the scrap yard after the stunt you pulled. Don't expect me to defend you either, I warned you not to interfere. I won't be putting my parts on the line for you this time! Hopefully, Commander Fel will recognize that I played no part in you almost getting him killed—"
"Commander Fel recognizes that the little droid saved his life," Jag grunted from behind. "And he is grateful."
"Sir," C-3PO swiveled around, his bright yellow photoreceptors filled with what passed as surprise. "Thank the Maker! You survived!"
"Glad to hear someone else say it." Jag staggered into the open hatchway, his body feeling as though he'd just been hit by a rocketing speeder after his brawl with Aero Gin. "I had my doubts there for awhile."
"You're injured," the protocol droid observed, rising from the stool he'd been perched on and leaving Artoo behind. "How may I be of assistance?"
The Chiss-raised pilot pushed a hand out to keep Threepio at bay. "I'll worry about my condition later. What we need to do now is get out of here."
"I couldn't agree with you more, sir. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to be at the service of a human being with such logical priorities. Why, if Captain Solo were here, he'd probably want to stay and—"
"How bad is the damage?" Jag said, pointing to the astromech and taking another step forward that made him groan when he felt bruised muscles.
"Quite extensive, I'm afraid. The blaster bolt seems to have burned deep within his torso. I'm not certain he can be repaired."
A feeling of guilt and twinge of sadness took Jag by surprise. He'd never been around droids much in his lifetime— the Chiss saw little use in them, and he'd always tended to agree. Perhaps he was only bothered because he knew how much Artoo meant to Jaina and her family, and how they would feel if he was destroyed.
But he was beginning to see just why the Skywalkers and Solos held the two droids in such high regard, and knew that he would be dead if R2-D2 hadn't provided a moment's distraction early on in the battle that allowed him to escape from Aero Gin.
He frowned, contemplating his own feelings on the matter. The astromech again began to whistle and stammer like a ship with a bad motivator.
"Can you understand him at all?"
"No. I'm afraid gibberish is not one of the six million forms of communication I am fluent in, sir."
"I guess we'll worry about his condition later too," Jag said, turning back to the garrulous droid to his left. "I've been trying to raise Jaina and Wrev on their comlinks to no avail. I'm afraid they didn't make it to our rendezvous point. Is there any way to track them?"
"Well, if Artoo was functioning properly he could use our comlink to ping theirs and trace the return signal."
"Even if they're turned off?"
"Yes, sir. It's quite simple, really. Each comlink has an individual code that's imprinted in its—"
Again, Jag held up a hand to silence C-3PO. "The rundown isn't necessary. Is it possible to do this anyway without Artoo?"
"Not precisely, sir. I'm afraid my own systems are not capable of running such a trace, but I can plug into Artoo and try and communicate with his systems directly. He won't be able to tell me anything in his current condition on his own of course, but perhaps if some of his systems are still functioning correctly, I'll be able to locate Mistress Jaina."
"Then do it," Jag said, wondering why the droid hadn't already started. He thought about mentioning the fact that he hadn't been able to reach Alema on his comm either, but it seemed suddenly irrelevant— if he couldn't find Jaina, Alema didn't matter. He wasn't going anywhere without Jaina.
C-3PO had already plugged R2-D2's interface arm in and seemed to be in his own world, the lights on his vocabulator blinking wildly.
"Well?" Jag asked. "Can you find her?"
The droid turned to him as if waking up suddenly. "I'm afraid Artoo is in worse shape than I'd feared, sir. His trace seems to indicate that Mistress Jaina is no longer on the Rapture."
"What?"
"Artoo believes she is falling towards the planet's surface at the moment. Or her communicator is."
"And Wrev?"
"The same, sir. Though neither is moving at the terminal velocity of... Excuse me, now Artoo informs me that both have stopped their descent. Quite suddenly, I'm afraid."
Jag's jaw clenched, wondering what could have happened. Had Jaina and Wrev pitched their comlinks? Had they been captured by General Rénin and his forces and the devices been pitched overboard by their enemies?
"What about Alema? Where is she at?"
"One moment, sir," C-3PO said, before sinking back into his trance with Artoo. His eyes flickered back to life after a moment. "Master Rar's communicator is still on the Rapture. Artoo's systems are convinced she is somewhere near the bow."
A hiss escaped Jag's lips as he ran his hand through his hair and found himself nearly tearing out a tuft by the roots. Something had happened to Jaina— he knew it. She would never throw her comlink out, not at a time like this. The question was: was Rénin involved, or had Jaina gone overboard with the device? It was impossible to know.
He had to trust his own instincts. Everything was riding on it.
"Can he move?" Jag asked finally, gesturing to Artoo.
"Well, yes," Threepio replied, as R2-D2 seemed to understand what was wanted and began to glide forward. The droid's treads seemed to be in working order, before he suddenly began to drift to the left and ran hard into a locker, sending him into a spinning ricochet.
"Close enough," Jag said, before turning back towards the hatchway. "Come on."
"But, sir? What about the jetpacks?" C-3PO asked, waddling after Jag.
"We won't need them."
"But, sir! That was our motivation for traveling to the storage area to begin with. How will we be leaving the Rapture?" When Jag didn't answer, the protocol droid began to lament, "Oh dear, I'm afraid he is a bit like Captain Solo after all."
It took only a few minutes to load the droids into the speeder Jag had rented and begin traversing one of the Rapture's main traffic veins. The CEDF Commander weaved in and out of lanes, rocketing past streaks of sluggish speeders whose drivers offered gestures that C-3PO felt the need to interpret. Taking a tunnel to their right that banked around a curve, Jag jerked the speeder controls and came gliding into one of the cruise liner's massive hangar bays.
He slowed, trying not to draw the attention of the security guards there and pretended to be angling towards a berthing as he traveled down the rows of docked star yachts, shuttles, and freighters. With the lockdown in place, there was little traffic inside the hangar— limited simply to people who were returning to their ships to retrieve something or those who could no longer afford their rooms and were back to living on their own ships— and it felt as though all of the Rapture's security was fixated on his speeder.
They reached the far bulkhead without incident and Jag stopped in front of a computer terminal there. "Get Artoo out and have him plug into the datajack."
"May I ask what the purpose of such an interface might be?" C-3PO questioned as he and Jag stepped out of the speeder and began lifting the dome-shaped astromech from the backseat.
"Yes," Jag replied, grunting again as he felt tender muscles fray beneath the Artoo's weight. "I want him to slice into the Rapture's security and open the bay doors."
"But, sir—"
"He can do it, can't he?"
"Artoo is very skilled in navigating through secure networks and slicing encryptions, when he is in working order of course," Threepio admitted. "But even if he is able, we will certainly be alerting the Rapture's security forces of the breach. They aren't going to miss something like the bay doors opening during a lockdown, sir."
"It won't matter."
They set Artoo down in front of the terminal and his computer interface arm emerged to plug into the datajack and began to cycle around within the cylinder lock. Perhaps the droid could understand them even if he was no longer capable of communicating in a coherent manner.
"Is it possible your memory core might be damaged? I feel obligated to remind you that the security here also includes an unknown number of Raithian soldiers," C-3PO went on. "I can tell you from my own experiences on Denon and at the Jedi Temple on Ossus that they are extremely unpleasant."
"Thanks for the heads-up."
Jag looked over his shoulder to make sure they hadn't drawn any unwanted attention before Artoo began to warble and trill softly as his arm continued to twist and screw within the jack.
"How's he doing?"
"It's difficult to say."
"Why? What's he saying?"
The protocol droid turned to Jag with his typical blank expression and brightly glowing yellow eyes. "At the moment, Artoo is reciting a recipe for air cake, sir."
Jag opened his mouth to respond but found there was nothing to say. After a moment, C-3PO added, "I'll let you know if he mentions the bay doors."
Just as the pilot was about to ask how likely it was that Artoo was actually doing anything of significance, the bay doors in the center of the hangar floor began to part and revealed the blue glow of the atmospheric containment field, soon accompanied by wailing alarms and flashing red lights.
"He did it!" Jag said in surprise, too stunned to move for a moment. Then he rushed forward and scooped R2-D2 from the durasteel floor, before tossing him into the backseat of the speeder. "Quick, strap him in."
Threepio made his rushed waddle for the passenger side as Jag hopped into the speeder he'd left idling. "Might I ask what you're planning to do now, sir?" Threepio asked as he climbed clumsily into the backseat with Artoo and began to pull crash webbing around them both.
"We're going to fly to the surface," Jag replied, kicking the speeder's turbine engines and beginning to speed towards the opening hangar doors while security guards began to call out above the blaring alarms.
"But sir, this is a landspeeder. You can't possibly fly this to Togoria's surface."
Jag had considered trying to steal one of the ships in the hangar but he knew it would never work. By the time he even began to prep the engines, legions of Raithians would have descended on them.
"I'm a pilot, Threepio," Jag replied simply, his eyes fixed on the stretch of durasteel in front of him. "I could fly you down there if I had to."
"Goodness, I think I miscalculated. You may actually be worse than Captain Solo."
The bay doors were not even fully open by the time the Rapture's crew found a way to override Artoo's command and the shifting panels began to slide closed again. Jag punched his throttle harder, turning everything in the hangar into a blur of hull plating and he closed the bubble-like transparent canopy of his speeder. Security guards were too shocked by what they were witnessing to discharge their weapons, seeming content to stare at a man who they thought was clearly attempting suicide.
"Oh no!" C-3PO wailed as Jag opened the speeder's engines fully and barreled towards the closing gap in the deck and shot through it. "We're doomed!"
It was the last thing Jag heard before they were completely enveloped in the deafening roar of the violent winds, even through the transparisteel. Togoria was a green haze of flowing moors, steaming bogs, and forests below, growing steadily larger with each instant the landspeeder went into its freefall.
Jag engaged the jet engines, doing his best to keep the speeder upright so that they wouldn't end up tumbling through the tempest, and angled the speeder into a wind current. The engines were the only thing keeping him from piloting a duracrete brick down to the surface, allowing the speeder to fall at a slightly gentler angle, but also increasing their speeds. There were no drag fins, no breaks that did much at such an altitude, no way to slow down the growing expanse of drab green below from rushing up at them.
When they were no more than three dozen meters from the ground Jag drove his boot down hard into the repulsor controls and jerked the flight controls back. He heard a loud mechanical shriek and a crunching noise as the force of the repulsor matched against their own momentum and Togoria's gravity began to tear the speeder's frame apart. The cockpit filled with durofoam, its emergency systems convinced the speeder had already struck something, and Jag used his last seconds of elevation to try and turn the drag created by the repulsors into a gliding landing through the black spots beginning to form in his vision.
The grass of a clearing came rushing up at the canopy, and the speeder crashed into the ground with enough force to bury its nose in a meter of dirt.
For Jag, everything went black.
With a pained snarl, Jaina Solo finished cinching the makeshift splint around her left leg, using her one good hand and her teeth to knot the torn cloth around two pieces of wood she'd shaved with her lightsaber from the crooked trees in the forest around the pond. The limb was clearly broken, radiating blinding agony throughout her body that seemed to eclipse the other aches and pains from her fall— at least, the physical ones.
Her left arm was in nearly the same condition, the ligaments inside torn and tissues bruised. She glanced down at her elbow to see it red and swollen.
Jaina winced. She hadn't figured out what she was going to do about that yet.
Collapsing back on the bank, the Jedi took in the fetid stench of swamp water and sweltering bogs, overpowering the distant aroma of sultry marshes beyond the tree line. She tried to ignore the torture of fractures and deep contusions and contemplated sleep. Night was falling over Togoria, bringing with it a sky filled with clusters of giant white stars, larger than she could ever remember seeing. As mesmerizing as it was, the night was also casting a curtain of shadow across the forest so dense that the tree line had become a wall of black, and the chirps, trills, and howls of a hundred different insects and animals who would no doubt become her next biggest problem.
Her eyes closed and she saw Jacen's face.
They snapped open. He always seemed to be there when she blinked, as if waiting for her. Jacen's face was as it had been on the Rapture when he'd confronted her, eyes red, tears running down his cheeks, but so cold and determined.
Jaina didn't want to think about it. It hurt more than her bruises, more than the deep damage to her arm, or the snapped bone in her leg. She still couldn't believe that her twin brother would betray them all, that he would join the Sith and try to capture her.
Jacen had always been the most ethical person she'd ever known, guiding the Jedi through dangerous moral territories during the Yuuzhan Vong War and finding the path to true peace. Jaina knew him better than anyone, shared a bond with him that no one else could ever truly understand. At times, it felt as though they were two pieces of one being, even during his long hermitage on Zonama Sekot... Yet, not even she could make sense out of what had happened to her brother.
Had Jacen really fallen to the dark side? Had his mind been poisoned against the Order? Had he just gone mad?
It was overwhelming. Jaina tried to think of how she would explain it all to her parents when the startling reality of their mission began to crystallize inside her mind— Jacen could hurt them too. He knew the location of Halo and could have sent a whole Raithian fleet there to destroy it or storm it as they had the Jedi Temple.
Jaina's heart sank further as she realized her parents and her little brother were in so much danger and she could do nothing to help them. She loved Jacen as much as she loved anything in the galaxy and it hurt so much to know that he was the cause of such evil.
Pushing away the anguish, Jaina's head turned in the muddy bank and her eyes fell on the man laying a meter away from her. Wrev was still breathing, but there was no question that he was in bad shape. The cauterized wound where his right hand had once been was the least of her worries, as Jaina could tell from several protrusions that Wrev had broken bones from the fall as well, and that it had probably done more series damage to the unconscious Jedi. She wasn't sure how long he'd survive, especially out in the wilderness.
Jaina had nothing in the way of real medical supplies, and had never been much of a healer. She'd thought about trying to set some of his broken bones, but was afraid she might end up doing more damage. Despite her lack of skill in the area, she would have attempted to use the Force to aid him in his recovery, but Jaina was simply too weak to even entertain the idea. The battle with Jacen and her fall had taken so much out of her that Jaina had spent the evening slipping in and out of consciousness, as exhausted as she could ever remember being.
A noise in the forest broke her out of her trance— not the thrum of fluttering insect wings or the calls of tree-dwelling animals, but the unmistakable sound of a tree branch snapping beneath someone's boot.
Jaina's blood went cold. She gathered herself to her feet, barely noticing the spike of sharp pain that shot up her broken leg for the cold knot of fear that had formed between her shoulder blades, and unclipped the lightsaber dangling from her belt. There was nothing visible in the gloom of crooked gray trees and black forest, no movement she could detect, and reaching out in the Force to find the noise's source only seemed to fatigue her more.
Immediately, she choked off her attempt, electing instead to hobble into the forest, gripping the hilt of her lightsaber in one hand while hugging her ravaged left arm around her abdomen as a way of protecting the mangled limb. The brilliant starlight and the luminescent glow from one of Togoria's moons vanished in the shadows cast by twisted ashen branches that had been stripped of nearly all growth and ended in sharp blades that periodically raked Jaina's clothing and face as she ducked through the thickets.
When the darkness became too much, she traded her lightsaber for the glowrod attached to her belt and snapped the device on, casting a stream of light through the woodland that showed nothing but dead trees in her path. After a few meters, the forest opened up to where she could stand and walk more comfortably, limping with each stride as she shined the beam of light around her and searched for any trace of an attacker.
She knew that there was no hiding from Jacen. No matter how much she tried to shut down her own presence in the Force, he would be able to find her through their bond.
A glint of metal knotted in a patch of tall grass caught Jaina's eye in the band of the glowrod's light as she swept it over the maze of trees to her right. Hesitantly, she strode towards it, ducking beneath a trio of low hanging branches in her path before reaching the thicket of grass and the object tangled within it. Shining the beam of her glowrod directly down on it, the object's nature was completely revealed.
Jaina snored. Wrev's lightsaber.
She bent down with some effort to tear it free and tucked the silver cylinder into the pocket of her jacket when another crisp sound knifed its way through the forest. Whipping around, Jaina aimed her glowrod behind her and found nothing in its glare, but knew as the tremors of fear rippled through her being like an echo that it had come from the pond.
"Oh no," she whispered, seeing a puff of steam from her own breath in the cold night air.
Jaina shot off before she had time to consider her options, sending jolts of pain coursing through her leg with every stride while hanging tree limbs slapped and battered her flesh with rough scrapes and lashing-cuts. The tree line hit her like a wall of enemies this time, but she refused to slow, feeling the branches snap against her body as she came charging back to the bank and the murky waters still glistening in the pale moonlight.
Her eyes immediately found Wrev, still lying where she'd left him— still breathing— with no one and nothing around the pond to disturb him. But a flash of movement to her left forced Jaina to stop in her tracks, and she looked over to see dark shapes moving within the forest, and a light sweeping through the branches much like her own.
Jaina dropped her glowrod and freed her lightsaber again, this time not hesitating to thumb its activator to life and send the meter long blade of blue plasma exploding from its emitter with a crackle of energy.
"Stop right there!" Jaina shouted.
There was no doubt her pursuers had seen the flash of her glowrod as she was running through the forest, so her only hope was to try and scare them off. As weary as she was, she didn't know how long she could last in a fight, especially against a cadre of Raithian Commandos.
"Oh, please don't kill us!" A tremulous voice called back through the woods. "We've been through enough!"
Jaina lowered her blade. "Threepio?"
"It's us, Jaina," replied a tall man as he stepped free of the forest followed by the gleaming protocol droid.
"Jag!"
Jaina shut down her blade and rushed forward, falling into Jag's arms as they met on the bank and he wrapped her in a tight hug. It didn't feel good, or safe, but there was a tremendous sense of relief in Jag's embrace, knowing that there was at least one thing she cared about that hadn't been taken away today.
"Are you all right?" He asked, putting her at arm's length to get a better look.
"No, I'm not," she admitted. Jag didn't look as though he'd been hitting the Rapture's renowned spas either, with a nasty looking bruise on his forehead and his clothes and hair crusted in dried durofoam. "How did you get here? How did you find us?"
"We had a speeder, but we don't now," Jag replied simply. "We've been tracking you through your comlink. Artoo's doing actually."
As if on cue, the astromech came rolling out of the forest, his treads clogged with a tangle of vines and overgrowth before he tipped over and landed face-first into the mud.
"I'm afraid Artoo may be in need of some maintenance when we return to Halo," C-3PO admitted.
"No kidding," Jaina said dryly. "What about Alema? And the Squibs?"
"I don't know," Jag frowned.
"You left her?"
"I couldn't raise her on the comm and I knew you were in danger, so I decided it was best to find you, Jaina. It's you they're after. Alema's a resourceful girl. If she hasn't already been captured, she'll find a way off the Rapture and make it back to us. Once you've left the system, so will General Rénin and those two Raithian warships in orbit."
The Jedi Knight didn't feel like correcting Jag's mistaken assumption about the general on board the Rapture and she couldn't really find fault in his reasoning. She knew now better than ever that the Raithians were after her specifically, and her friends were simply getting caught in the crossfire. The best thing for Alema was being far away from her right now.
"What about you? How in the blazes did you get down here?" Jag asked, again taking in her wounds. She could tell from the glint in his widened emerald eyes that he was terrified for her.
Jaina lowered her head, fighting off tears. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
He pulled her close again, and they remained that way for what seemed an eternity before Jag leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
"Wrev's in bad shape," she said into his shoulder. "I don't know how we're going to get off this planet."
"We'll figure something out."
His confidence gave Jaina the first glimmers of real hope she'd had in days, but it was quickly extinguished as she closed her tear-rimmed eyes and saw her brother's face again.
"We better let you sit down for a bit," Jag said when he felt her shiver beneath his touch. "You shouldn't be—"
The pilot's chastening broke off as the sound of more snapping branches and rustling leaves came from behind them. "Threepio, would you help Artoo up?" Jaina asked impatiently.
"Mistress Jaina..." The bronzium protocol droid began, sounding more petrified than usual. "I believe assisting Artoo may be a matter you wish to put off for now, if we're still alive for such an event of course."
"What are you talking abo—"
Jaina pulled away from Jag to find three of the largest Togorians she'd ever seen emerging from the forest, all of them training blaster cannons on her and Jag. She was just about to reignite her lightsaber when she spotted more eyes in the forest and the glint of moonlight on the metal of a variety of blaster muzzles and emitter nozzles, and knew that they were completely surrounded.
"Don't shoot!" Jaina pleaded, raising her hands. "We're not here to harm you... We're hurt."
Jag tried to pull her behind him and shield her with his body— she wasn't sure whether to be touched by the gesture or to jam an elbow into his ribs for his overprotectiveness.
"You're trespassing," said a particularly mean looking Togorian, with a coat of gray fur, one ear that was split, and the other so gnarled it barely existed on the top of his head. "Humans are not allowed here."
"We know, and we're sorry," Jaina said, making sure everyone could see her empty hands and hoping none of the pack had itchy trigger fingers.
"We crashed," Jag explained. It was a reasonable enough explanation— certainly the Togorians couldn't hold that against them."
"We found a speeder," the leader said, glaring at them. "No ship."
Jaina looked at Jag, wondering how he'd managed to make it to the surface with Threepio and Artoo when the Togorian's gruff voice continued.
"No more lies," he said, his whiskers quivering with anger and his fangs bared. He was nearly three meters tall, with arms as thick as Jaina's whole body. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Exchanging a glance with Jag, Jaina stepped forward, keeping her hands raised. "My name's Jaina Solo and I'm a Jedi Knight. We're in danger and we need your help."
Instead of scoffing at her, the Togorian's blaster cannon lowered slightly. "Solo? Han Solo's cub?"
"Well... His daughter, yes," Jaina admitted, beginning to feel even more nervous.
The Togorian seemed amused and she thought Jaina heard a murmur working its way through the trees.
"Solo," the gray creature repeated with a grin. "Yes, we remember him well."
***
Tangles of thick cannon bolts peppered the building above the wide walkway, sending a plume of molten rubble tumbling down at Han Solo so fast that he barely had time to dive away from it, only realizing after the debris had crashed in a smoking pile that it had been Leia who'd pushed him out of the way. Blaster rifles sang out as Kyle Katarn and Kirana Ti returned fire, picking off the snipers on the ledge across the skylane with the frightening ease that only two Jedi Masters could manage, burning holes through chest plating and helmets with each crimson bolt.
Han winced as he did his best to push himself to his feet. His left arm was wrapped in a sling made from Leia's tattered robe, but he managed to keep his trusty DL-44 in his right hand and fired a few rounds at the Raithians who'd attempted to ambush them. The Corellian had suffered a compound fracture during the speeder bike crash that had occurred during their battle with the living alien tank, leaving the limb completely useless and nauseating to look at.
"You okay?" Leia asked, coming up beside him with her lightsaber buzzing, ready to pick off any of their enemies' bolts that might find their way towards them. It pained him to see her so beat up, her back and hands covered in blisters and burns and her white robes blood-crusted and stained with scorches. He was amazed she was still standing, but less so after having watched her take down that Raithian contraption— Han was still adjusting to the realization that his wife was a killing machine.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he grunted, pumping a few more salvos into the pack of Raithians for good measure.
"We should keep moving," Kyle said from behind them, lowering his blaster as the last of the snipers went silent.
They'd found Kyle seated on top of the smoking wreck of one of the Raithian walkers, his lightsaber resting on one knee while he sipped cheap ale from a dented canister as if he had all the time in the world and Denon wasn't boiling to an inferno. There was a cut on his scalp that ran down the side of his face and his knuckles were split, but otherwise the Jedi Master seemed unharmed. Kirana Ti had been nearby, waiting patiently for Kyle to catch his breath and admiring the Raithian creation bearing a maze of smoldering furrows and sizzling pits scorched through its carapace by her own lightsaber.
Along the way, Meewalh and Cakhmaim had found them, offering no explanation for where they'd been but the burns in their cloaks and bruises on their flesh left little doubt that the Noghri had fought their way back to Leia as quickly as possible.
Han nodded to Kyle before setting off down the crater-poked walkway amidst the stray columns of billowing smoke and small fires littering their path. The journey from the courtyard where Leia had slain the monster across Denon's Senate District had been a long and arduous one, but finally the GFS tower was in view through the haze of energy dispersal and wisps of smoke. Their mission was a failure, but Han began to believe they just might make it off the Galactic Capital alive.
How did they know we were coming? It was a question that had been gnawing at his brain since the ambush, and the only conclusion he could come to was that it had to have been one of the Jedi or their closest allies— someone had betrayed them all.
From the corner of his eye he noticed Leia falter and turned around to see her grimace.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Leia shook her head, her expression turning grave and Han began to assume the worst. "It's Anakin... Something's wrong. I've never felt him like this."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think something's happened to Tahiri."
Han's face fell, wondering just exactly what his wife was feeling through the Force. "Then we'd better hurry."
The five of them began to sprint down the deserted walkway, dispatching any enemies along the way and making their way up the tangles of pedestrian bridges towards the GFS headquarters. Leia took the lead, her Jedi senses guiding them towards their youngest son like a bloodsniffer who caught the trail of supple prey.
The damage around the GFS tower that Mara's team had been sent to infiltrate was even worse, with whole sections of permacrete pedwalk missing and meters of safety railing torn from its struts. Blast damage, lightsaber gouges, and strewn rubble marked the path the Jedi had taken, and Han was certain as he took it all in that they had been ambushed by the Raithians as well.
They passed the GFS building, moving to the tower beside it that housed the offices of Galactic Senators and Chief of State Fyor Rodan.
That's where that they found Anakin.
He was standing in a courtyard as they crested a pedestrian bridge, his lightsaber a blur of motion as streams of Raithian soldiers and sentinel droids poured from the Senate Offices and filled the air with cascades of red dashes and the tang of scorched atmosphere. Han froze, stunned to see so many lightsaber-ruptured bodies and smoking droid frames littered at his son's feet, as he seemed to cut down one of the blue-armored soldiers or the sentinels with each stroke of his incandescent blade. Anakin wasn't retreating, wasn't even searching for an avenue of escape— he was standing his ground, letting the Raithians come running out to face him and killing them.
Blaster bolts exploded in fiery blossoms around the young Jedi as he deflected volleys back at his enemies, and Han snapped out of his temporary trance, raising his blaster and beginning to fire on the Raithian lines as Leia and Kirana Ti Force-leapt over the safety railing down into the courtyard to help his son. Kyle freed a concussion grenade from his belt, thumbed on the activator and pitched it down into the Raithian lines with an earsplitting crackle that sent bodies flying across the cobblestones and the survivors running for cover.
With somewhat less grace than his wife, Han stepped over the safety railing and hopped down into the din, his feet hitting stone only a moment before his backside did the same. He pushed himself to his feet and sprinted across the courtyard to his son, passing a statue of Borsk Fey'lya that he might have considered blasting himself if he wasn't dodging streaks of crimson energy.
He reached the young man at the same time Leia did, her violet blade weaving in and out of the dwindling fire and sending bolts ricocheting back at a pair of sentinel droids.
"Anakin!" Han called to his son. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"
The Jedi didn't seem to hear him, as if he was lost in the waves of the Force, continuing to deflect streams of blasterfire.
"Anakin?" Leia asked.
"Anakin!" Han moved closer, holstering his blaster and reaching for his son's shoulder. "This mission's over. We have to go!"
Anakin whirled around when Han touched him and the aging Corellian jerked back, afraid his son was about to take his arm off. He appeared stunned to see them, as if realizing for the first time that they were there, his mouth open and his ice blue eyes rimmed with pain. Finally, recognition began to seep into those orbs, as Kirana Ti, Kyle, and the Noghri dispatched the last of the troopers.
"Anakin... What's wrong with you?" Han asked.
The Jedi blinked, breathing heavily from the exertion of fighting so many enemies. "They killed her," he blurted finally.
The words hit Han like a blow to the gut. There was no need to explain who his son was talking about. Tahiri Veila had been Anakin's best friend since they were children at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV, and something considerably more in the years since the Yuuzhan Vong War. The blonde girl who almost always seemed to be barefoot, and always seemed to be talking, had grown into a beautiful woman and a great Jedi Knight, and Han found that the idea of having lost her hurt as much as when he thought Anakin and Jacen had died. She'd become a sort of adopted daughter for Han and Leia at the time, helping each other cope with Anakin's "death" and a reminder that their son's life had not been wasted.
"I'm... I'm sorry," was all Han could manage, fighting off tears.
"Oh, Anakin..." Leia cried, grabbing her son's arm, the evidence of her own lost battle running down her face. It was a rare occasion when his wife, the former Princess of Alderaan and Chief of State of the New Republic was at a loss for words, but Tahiri's death seemed to have taken her by surprise as much as it had Han, and she instead wrapped her son in a fierce hug.
"It was Faybol, I think," Anakin seethed. "He got Jysella too."
Han was beginning to feel ill but he tried to keep himself composed amidst the emotional maelstrom. "I'm sorry, son. But we have to go."
"Go?"
Anakin didn't seem to understand, so lost in his own anger and grief that it was as if the idea of leaving Denon had never occurred to him. Han exchanged a look of concern with his wife as Leia broke away from their son. He'd never seen such fury in Anakin, never seen him fight the way he had in the courtyard— but Han knew that he would have done the same thing had something happened to Leia.
"We have to get you home," Han went on tentatively. "It's not safe here for any of us."
"I'm not going anywhere," Anakin said coolly.
"Anakin, I know it hurts right now, but you've got to come with us. This isn't what she'd want... Tahiri wouldn't want you to die here."
The Jedi's eyes flashed with anger at the mention of her name and Han thought for a moment that his son was going to punch him for employing such a tactic, but slowly, he nodded, as if he was finally beginning to understand. "I have to go get her..."
Han nodded, clasping Anakin's shoulder. "Okay. Let's go get her."
Anakin led them up three levels of pedwalk to a vacant tram station, with Kyle, Kirana Ti, and the Noghri providing cover fire whenever a Raithian or a GFS speeder came anywhere near them. As they neared one of the station's entrances, however, Anakin broke into a dead run. He was frantic, whirling around as if searching for something.
"She's gone!" He shouted, ducking into the tram station to continue her search. "She's not here!"
Again Leia looked over her shoulder at Han, her brown eyes cast with sadness and disbelief. "Are you sure this is the right spot?"
"Yes!" Anakin snapped, storming back down the entrance. "They took her!"
"Anakin... We have to leave," Han said evenly. We can't—"
"I am not leaving until I find her! I'm not letting them have her!"
The words sent a chill down Han's spine and Leia moved to soothe their son. "I know," she said, rubbing his shoulder. "But Tahiri's with the Force now, Anakin... It's... she is with you."
Kyle and the others were silent and looked almost as shattered as the Solos at the news of Tahiri and Jysella. Han was beginning to contemplate drawing his blaster and hitting his son with a stun bolt to get him to come with them when Mara and Octa Ramis appeared running from the GFS building, looking completely defeated and as battered as the rest of the team.
"We found the Lady Luck in the impound bay," she reported emotionlessly. "We should get moving. Kyp sends word that the GA fleet is on the way, apparently."
Han was about to ask if she found Luke but quickly realized what a stupid question it was. Still, Mara seemed as though she could read his mind. "I saw him. They loaded Luke and the other Masters onto a shuttle and took them. The mission's over."
"Jacen?" Leia asked, wondering if Mara had caught a glimpse of their oldest son as well or if there was a chance he was still on Denon.
Mara shook her head. "But they had the others from the military detention area, so he must have been on board."
Their mission had failed completely, Han's promise to Luke broken. Now his best friend and his son were prisoners and could be anywhere in the galaxy... He hoped Jaina was having a better time of things, wherever she was.
"Is the Luck still functioning?" He asked after a moment. There was at least one promise he could still keep.
"Access codes worked and the systems seem to be intact," Mara replied.
"Then lead the way."
Han looked over at his shoulder to see if Anakin was going to come willingly. The young man stared back at him and said nothing, and Han nodded, taking his son's silence as reluctant compliance. He wasn't going to make him say that he was abandoning Tahiri.
Mara led them all down to the next level and started for the GFS hangar when the flashing strobe lights of a security speeder came streaking into view, and banked hard ahead of them. Kyle and Mara leveled their blasters at the vehicle, getting ready to unload on it when it came to a dead stop on the pedwalk. The doors opened and out came the unmistakable sound of Barabel sissing.
"You don't like our new transport?" Tesar asked as he and his mother Saba hopped out of the GFS speeder, its lights still flashing red and white. "What about our scalez?" Both mother and son were wearing a piece of a Raithian walker's carapace as armor across their backs and over their heads. The pair found their reactions more amusing and erupted into a new fit of sissing as their forked-tongues flicked out to taste the air.
Han wondered how the pair had found each other, having been on different sides of the Senate District, but assumed it had something to do with their Barabel meld— he didn't want to know how they acquired the airspeeder.
"I guess that's everyone," Mara said, seeming to know something had happened to Tahiri and Jysella without asking. "Let's go."
The Lady Luck rose from its berthing and exited the GFS hangar bay under a hail of blasterfire as swarms of security officers rushed out to stop the Jedi from escaping. Han engaged the drives and they flared a brilliant white and blue as he pulled the yoke back and shot for Denon's stratosphere.
"You're not seriously going to try and pilot this one-handed, are you?" Leia asked from beside him.
"It will be fine," he said. "You can be my extra hands."
Leia rolled her eyes but fell back in her seat. Mara and Kyle were in the cockpit with them, while Anakin was back in the star yacht’s cabin with the others staying as quiet as the Noghri. It was the worst day Han could remember in a long time— at least if they got out of there alive, he could make Lando's day by returning his beloved ship to him.
"We've got two X-Wings rising from the Fleet Offices to intercept," Mara reported from the navigator's station.
"Han, this is silly, just let me fly—"
"I've got it, no problem," Han said, | |