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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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YodaKenobi
Title: TFN EU Staff
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
4/8 3:48pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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Red: I can't believe there's only one post left.
Me too. This has gone on for entirely too long  14 Months now.
Can't wait to see how it ends...
You'll see it sooner than everyone else. It starts out kind of slow but I think it ends well.
Oh, and I don't really mind if Wrev is still alive.
Well, that makes like 2 of you
Perhaps he'll be maimed instead
He just was. Wanna lend him a hand? Har-har-har.
or he'll have lost his ability to talk so he can't crack those smart ass comments anymore.
That would be a nice twist.
Wait, never mind, I like his wise ass comments.
Except at Jag's expense?
We might be seeing less of Wrev in the 3rd fic, but I can't really get into that right now.
Thanks for reading and your reply 
Okay, final post on Friday. We'll be wrapping up everything that needs wrapping up, find out what became of Alema and the Squibs, what happened to Jaina, Jag, & co. on Togoria, where Luke and the other Jedi prisoners are headed, see the aftermath of the fighting on Denon, and see the Solos' reaction to learning about who really betrayed them.
POVs will be Jacen, Mara, Fyor Rodan, Jaina, and Leia.
Oh, and we find out if Darth Malig is telling the truth about something big at the end 
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Chimpo
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
4/9 3:09pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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Hmm less Wrev in next book. For the first time I feel sad about it  Who will I love to hate instead? ( bring Kyp and I'll be happy )
And Red is here I miss the good old days 
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Clone_Cmdr_Wedge
Registered:
Mar '06
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Date Posted:
4/10 1:40pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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YK:*Waits for angered Alabama-posters to come in and bludgeon Wedge*
I'm still waiting for them. Not that they could get to me anyway since I'm in my gunship.
When Sith die, I believe they go to a place called "Chaos." Maybe Wrev can go there?
I don't know...it might spit him back out... 
We might be seeing less of Wrev in the 3rd fic, but I can't really get into that right now.
Are you saying that Wrev might lose a leg or two as well? There would be less of him to see if that was the case... 
Okay, final post on Friday. We'll be wrapping up everything that needs wrapping up, find out what became of Alema and the Squibs, what happened to Jaina, Jag, & co. on Togoria, where Luke and the other Jedi prisoners are headed, see the aftermath of the fighting on Denon, and see the Solos' reaction to learning about who really betrayed them.
Sounds like a full boat. This is going to be one monster post I think. *rubs hands*
Oh, and we find out if Darth Malig is telling the truth about something big at the end
*Cues up the over-used, yet highly effective, Ominous Music(TM)*
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“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:
4/10 4:52pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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Chimpo: Hmm less Wrev in next book. For the first time I feel sad about it Who will I love to hate instead?
Oh, I didn't mean there wouldn't be all new reasons to hate him But I can't get into that yet.
( bring Kyp and I'll be happy )
Well, Kyp will be in it too
And Red is here I miss the good old days
Red is always here, she just likes to remain quiet, I think. She sees all though 
Wedge: I'm still waiting for them. Not that they could get to me anyway since I'm in my gunship.
What if they have the Dukes of Hazard car?
I don't know...it might spit him back out...
lol
Are you saying that Wrev might lose a leg or two as well? There would be less of him to see if that was the case...
You're right, I guess we'll technically be seeing less of him in the next fic no matter what I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I'll just slowly part him out like Alema in canon.
Sounds like a full boat. This is going to be one monster post I think. *rubs hands*
Yeah, it's a bear like AoH's epilogue. Well over 10k, I'm afraid.
*Cues up the over-used, yet highly effective, Ominous Music(TM)*
Tomorrow's the big day. Hope to see you all there
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jagsredlady
Registered:
Oct '02
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Date Posted:
4/11 12:55pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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Chimpo posted:
Hmm less Wrev in next book. For the first time I feel sad about it Who will I love to hate instead? ( bring Kyp and I'll be happy )
I feel the same.
Chimpo posted:
And Red is here I miss the good old days
Me, too, Impboy. I'm just a lurker these days, and you know what? I still get in trouble that way.
Wedge posted:
Are you saying that Wrev might lose a leg or two as well? There would be less of him to see if that was the case...
 Exactly! That's what I meant, Yobi. What's the big deal with losing just a hand?
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Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge. ~ Mark Twain
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Tahi
Registered:
Jun '02
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Date Posted:
4/11 2:40pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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Late again! Sorry.
"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!"
Silly old C3PO.
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.
Classic.
I enjoyed the scene with Jag and the droids a lot  Great dialogue.
"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."
Wonderful. Actually - can I have a copy of that recipe? Air cake sounds just the right kind of thing for an airhead. 
"Goodness, I think I miscalculated. You may actually be worse than Captain Solo."
The greatest compliment ever. 
Had Jacen really fallen to the dark side? Had his mind been poisoned against the Order? Had he just gone mad?
Can we choose option 4 - all of the above?
"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!"
I love it!
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.
Words escape me - this is SO Star Wars.
nstead 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."
Yay - at least I think so. Tell me Han doesn't owe the Togorians anything?!
Han was still adjusting to the realization that his wife was a killing machine.
Yeah - he'd better remember to put the toilet seat down from now on, or else.
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.
Ha - great stuff. It brought home to me again why I admire Han. Things are so much harder for him and yet he keeps on going anyway.
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.
Hee hee - loved that bit. A little of echo of Chewie in RotJ in the AT-AT. Just the kind of thing the Barabels would find amusing, too.
What a relief they found Anakin - but his silence is making me nervous.
Good on Klorne for being suspicious, especially as it meant she let the Lady Luck get away.
What a chapter!
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YodaKenobi
Title: TFN EU Staff
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
4/11 3:31pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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Red: Me, too, Impboy. I'm just a lurker these days, and you know what? I still get in trouble that way.
I guess you should just post all the time then 
Exactly! That's what I meant, Yobi. What's the big deal with losing just a hand?
I'm afraid to ask which body parts you think I should have had him lose
Tahi: Late again! Sorry.
No worries, of course
Silly old C3PO.
He's very sensitive
I enjoyed the scene with Jag and the droids a lot Great dialogue.
Thanks
Wonderful. Actually - can I have a copy of that recipe? Air cake sounds just the right kind of thing for an airhead.
So who are you cooking it for then?
The greatest compliment ever.
It is 
[]Can we choose option 4 - all of the above? [/i]
Absolutely.
Words escape me - this is SO Star Wars.
Aww, thanks 
Yay - at least I think so. Tell me Han doesn't owe the Togorians anything?!
Who knows? He was good buddies with one way back when though. We'll find out whether these were Togorians who remember him fondly or not in the epilogue.
Yeah - he'd better remember to put the toilet seat down from now on, or else.
Ha - great stuff. It brought home to me again why I admire Han. Things are so much harder for him and yet he keeps on going anyway.
Yeah, he was always my favorite as a kid
Hee hee - loved that bit. A little of echo of Chewie in RotJ in the AT-AT. Just the kind of thing the Barabels would find amusing, too.
I hadn't even thought of the Chewie connection but you're totally right
What a relief they found Anakin - but his silence is making me nervous.
The epilogue might make you more nervous
Good on Klorne for being suspicious, especially as it meant she let the Lady Luck get away.
She's a potential ally for the Jedi at this point. Hopefully that will continue.
What a chapter!
Thanks so much, I'm glad you liked it And thanks for reading!
Okay, here we finally are Today is the last post of Exodus. I hope you guys like it, but I'll warn you again that it's going to be a bear to get through. Extremely long.
Hopefully it will answer some questions though and give you an idea where we'll be heading in the next fic.
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Spike2002
Title: FF-UK RSA
Arena Manager
Registered:
Feb '02
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Date Posted:
4/11 3:35pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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Can't wait!
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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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Caedus93
Registered:
Oct '07
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Date Posted:
4/11 3:44pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) updated 3/28/0
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Burning in my seat. Just waiting for the uppdate.
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YodaKenobi
Title: TFN EU Staff
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
4/11 3:59pm
Subject:
RE: Exodus (Post-NJO AU: Jaina, Jacen, Anakin Solo, H/L, L/M, Tahiri, Jag, Kyp, more) Completed 4/11
- Date Edited:
4/12 1:28pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
YodaKenobi
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Epilogue: Exodus
She wasn't dead.
He could feel that much as he marched urgently through the Rapture's tunnels, boots thumping almost noiselessly against the glades of cream-colored carpet lining his path with Commander Nyll and three of his elite commandos keeping pace behind him. The presence was murky, but it was there, as if she was trying to hide from him and failing.
Still, it felt to Jacen Solo as if everything was slipping away.
All of the misgivings he'd had about Malig's mission had materialized, turning the entire expedition into a debacle that almost cost Jaina her life. As convincing as the Dark Lord's vision of the Force had been to him, Jacen began to wonder if he really understood anything at all. He didn't even really know who Malig was.
There was no limp in his step as he rounded the corner despite the fact that his right knee was screaming with blades of pain from whatever had popped inside his leg when his sister had delivered a sweeping kick to it. His right shoulder was on fire, boiling from Wrev's lightsaber strike which had come too close to the old wound Darth Malig had healed, but Jacen did not wince or grimace as the smoldering fabric and wet tendrils of his Raithian combat suit brushed against it with each movement.
If he'd learned anything from Vergere, it was not just to endure or accept pain— but to embrace it.
The memory of his Fosh guide only brought the same questions to the surface of his mind that had been lurking for weeks. Was the spirit he kept seeing really her? Had she really met Malig and set him on a path to become the Sith's apprentice? It didn't seem possible, and yet the alternative was that he was simply going mad, which while more comforting in some ways, seemed unlikely.
He wished that the Force would offer him more guidance, or that he could interpret the tangle of blurred images he glimpsed when he slipped into a trance-like state within the Energy's flow, the erratic visions of the future that he'd been getting since his hermitage on Zonama Sekot, but was too limited to truly decipher. It was a side-effect of having lived in the tampasi for so long, meditating there and becoming a part of the living planet in a way that perhaps no one else had. Jacen could see time the way Zonama Sekot did, but it didn't mean he could understand it.
Where was his path leading him? If he could see it, if he could see which direction his choices led, he could be certain he was doing the right thing.
Jacen sighed as he and his guards entered one of the cruise liner's extravagant resorts, trying to forget his failures but still sensing that glimmer of Force power on Togoria that felt like a part of him.
The corridor's ivory-colored bulkheads glistened with the shafts of artificial sunlight filtering through a series viewscreens arrayed on the left and slivers of prismatic brilliance reflected from the Iridonian crystal chandeliers tethered to the ceiling every five meters. It was as lavish and elegant as any of the lodgings packed within the Rapture's Mon Calamari-crafted hull, but now stood eerily still— cordoned off by the Raithian forces.
News of their presence and the true nature of the cruise liner's lockdown were spreading quickly throughout the Rapture after Aero Gin's antics and Jacen ordering more than three dozen patrons to vacate their rooms. The suites were now part of an official investigation and they needed them in order to ensure the security of the entire ship.
They reached the end of the corridor where a set of finely-crafted double doors decorated with a flame-like etchings were guarded by two of the blue-armored Raithian troopers who had come to the cruise liner with Aero. The soldiers saluted Jacen as he approached and allowed him and Nyll to pass as he palmed the door control and the panels slid away into the walls with a pneumatic hiss.
Beyond the arched doorway was one of two suites that were now being searched, with a handful of guards stationed around the room with their blaster rifles at the ready, and the prisoners shackled and seated on the two giant beds amidst the mounds of tasseled-pillows and bundled shrouds cascading down from the canopies. On one bed was a heap of twitching blue fur that chittered and sneezed, and tried in vain to wash their ears with the stuncuffs around their tiny wrists. On the other, lay a lissome Twi'lek with long, graceful legs, and sinuous lekku that draped flatly over her shoulders.
She looked up immediately when the doors parted, her green eyes widening with surprise.
"Jacen?"
There was a quiver of excitement in Alema's voice, as if she thought his appearance there meant she would be rescued, and Jacen couldn't stand it— he couldn't see that look of complete disappointment in another person's eyes when they realized that he was not who they wanted him to be. The look Jaina had given him... and Uncle Luke.
He looked away quickly, turning his attention to one of the women standing guard. "Where did you find them?"
The trooper's apprehension at the sudden shift in the chain of command seeped into the Force. Only days earlier, the Raithians had been hunting Jacen, and he realized it was going to take some time to build trust with the soldiers, just as he was losing all he had built with the people he loved most in the galaxy. Thankfully, the Raithian troopers at least seemed to trust their superiors enough to obey Jacen when they were told he would be their new leader.
"In a jettison tube around the bow, sir," she answered. "They appeared to be waiting for something."
"Have they said anything?"
"Not the Twi'lek— she just came to though." Jacen glanced over at Alema and noted for the first time the bandage over the dimple of blue flesh at the base of her throat where a pestile dart had pierced her. Had it only been a week since he and his siblings had destroyed the toxin refinery on Felucia in order to cut off the Raithians' supply of the weapon? And now what was left of it was aiding him... He didn't know how to feel about that.
"Jacen!" Alema said in disbelief. "What's going on?"
He ignored her.
"The Squibs won't shut up though," the soldier went on, gesturing with her blaster towards the three creatures on the other bed. "They keep trying to make deals with us, promising us all sorts of information and treasures.
The little alien's tufted ears perked up when Jacen turned his attention to them and their eyes gleamed with a similar flash of opportunity for escape that Alema's had. "Greetings," said the male Squib in the center. "Name's Sligh. This is Emala," he said, motioning with his snout as to not draw attention to the restraints around his wrists. "That's Grees."
All three looked up at him with their large brown eyes and fluttered exceptionally long lashes in an attempt to maximize their adorability. Jacen chewed his bottom lip before turning back to the soldier. He still wasn't used to talking to the blank visors of the Raithian helmets, but at least he could feel a person there behind the armor.
"Was anyone hurt?"
As bad as things had gone, none of the commandos Jacen had led onto the Rapture had sustained casualties, though he had heard of a dustup in one of the storage rooms with a man who fit the description of Jagged Fel and beat one of Aero's soldiers unconscious.
"The Twi'lek killed one of my people and put another in the medbay for the foreseeable future until we nailed her with the dart. Be careful, General, she didn't even have a weapon. She's cute, but she's a nasty little space hussy."
Alema didn't seem bothered by the insult, directing her scorn instead at Jacen. "General? What are you doing?"
The former Jedi finally turned his attention to the bound Twi'lek, squatting down next to her bed so that they were nearly eye level. "Alema, listen to me— I know about Jaina, Jag, and Wrev. Was there any one else with you?"
She slowly leaned back, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"This is important. Who else came here with you?" Alema just glared vibroblades at Jacen, and he shook his head, continuing on. "Look, if you just tell me, I can help—"
He recoiled against a spatter of moisture as Alema spit in his face.
"I'm not telling you anything!" She snarled. "You would betray us to them? Murderers? Slavers? You're nothing but a lying schutta, Jacen Solo."
He stood, sighing as he wiped his face with his hand. "See what I mean?" The trooper said. "Very refined."
"There are ways of making her answer questions, sir," Nyll said from behind. "We have people that specialize in that kind of interrogation."
As much as Jacen was beginning to genuinely like the Raithian and his commandos, it seemed that every so often, Nyll or his men would say something that gave the new Sith Lord chills and made him question whether he'd made the right decision back on Denon.
Jacen stared at Nyll's dark face-plate for a moment before shaking his head and turning back to Alema. "It doesn't matter, I guess. If there's another Jedi here from Ossus, I guess we'll bring them in sooner or later."
"You're disgusting," Alema seethed, as Jacen's comlink began to chirp.
He snapped the device from his belt and thumbed it on. "Solo."
"General, where are you? I've been trying to contact you for more than an hour."
It took him a moment to recognize Captain Sayge's voice through the tangles of static jumbling the transmission from the Forage hanging outside of Togoria's atmosphere to the Rapture.
"We've been kind of busy down here, Captain," Jacen replied with a trace of irritation. "What's the emergency?"
"It's that bounty hunter woman, sir. Apparently she took the shuttle from the Rapture and docked with the Drayker."
The Drayker was the first warship that arrived at Togoria from Ossus, bringing Aero Gin and her forces to the Rapture.
"She's not here anymore?" Jacen asked in disbelief.
"It gets worse, I'm afraid, sir. According to the ship's captain, Gin then boarded her Stealth Dagger and left the system."
Jacen brought the comm away from his mouth trying to make sense of it all. He knew that Aero had been in a very public scuffle with Jag in one of the cruise liner's theatres and by all accounts, she'd been left paralyzed for some time before disappearing. Jaina had always been the bounty hunter's target, but Jacen knew his sister was down on the planet's surface somewhere... So where was Aero going?
It didn't make any sense, but he decided it was probably better this way. He'd never wanted her on the mission to begin with, and having a loose blaster cannon like Aero far away from Jaina and the others meant there was less chance of one of them being killed.
"Thank you for the information, Captain. Was there anything else?"
"Well... Commander Nyll sent word to me that you were unable to capture Jedi Solo," the captain began tentatively. It felt so strange for someone to refer to his sister as "Jedi Solo" in front of him without the fear of confusion, but then, Jacen knew he was no longer a Jedi. "Did I hear correctly that she is on the planet's surface?"
The man who had been General Rénin's trusted captain aboard the Exodus seemed as though he didn't believe a word of it. "That's correct," Jacen replied into the comlink.
"Sir... Should we not be trying to interdict the system then? Bring in more warships and pickets to stop all outbound flights? If she can get to a space craft somewhere on Togoria she'll easily escape."
Again Jacen lowered the comlink as he considered how to respond. He'd bungled his sister's arrest so badly that he feared he was doomed to fail again, especially when Aero Gin's actions seemed to confirm his worst fears about the operation, knowing that no matter how hard he tried, the others involved could put Jaina's life in danger.
And now she and Jag and maybe Wrev were down on Togoria like cornered animals, and Jacen remembered his days at the Jedi Academy with his collection of exotic pets— or even the many creatures on Zonama Sekot— well enough to know how animals reacted when they were cornered. If he was to make another attempt to capture Jaina on the surface or they snagged her with a tractor beam on her way out of the system and dragged her in as a prisoner on one of the Raithian warships, his twin would fight to her death.
She would never surrender.
Jacen saw that clearly when she dove off the Rapture's hull to what should have been certain death.
Finally, he raised the cylinder of white plastoid back to his lips. "No... negative. We can't start intercepting all ships coming out of Togoria. It would ignite a civil war faster than we already are."
"So we're... letting her go?"
"That's correct. Get the Forage prepped to jump back to Denon, Captain. My men and I should be up there in an hour or so. This mission is over."
There was a long enough pause over the fizzling static to communicate Sayge's lack of confidence in him, before the man's voice came back. "Very well, sir."
"A wise decision," one of the Squibs said as Jacen switched his comm off.
"Yes," said another— Grees, if he remembered correctly. "We can tell you're one of the smart Solos."
"Not like your sister," Emala added. "She tried to swindle us."
"Double-cross."
"We're glad to see you do not suffer from her deficiency," Sligh continued. "And you're lucky too."
"Why's that?" Jacen asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"That you have us to deal with, of course."
"We have information to trade you that will prove very valuable to you," Emala explained.
"It's why we think you're wise to just let your sister go," Grees said in a blatant salesman's attempt to hook Jacen by being cryptic.
The former Jedi fought to keep from rolling his eyes. "And why's that?"
"Because we know where she's going," Sligh explained. "We were tricked into selling the Jedi some supplies—"
"We didn't know they were wanted criminals," Grees was quick to point out.
"Yeah, we certainly wouldn't associate with that kind of scum if we'd known that."
"We're not Ugors," Emala chastened.
"But when we got there we knew things weren't on the up and up, so we hid some tracking devices in with their supplies."
"We were working undercover for the Galactic Alliance!"
"Right," Grees said. "But then your sister and her two dim-witted mates kidnapped us and forced us to come here."
Emala nodded. "We're actually lucky you came along to rescue us from them."
Sligh picked up with the story, forcing Jacen to keep looking from one to the other of the furred-creatures. "When your sister found out about the tracking devices, she got very upset and destroyed the remote."
"So unprofessional," Emala added.
"We were very disappointed in her."
"But you're in luck, General," Sligh announced with a confident grin forming below his snout. "Because we remember what system our tracking beacons were at before it was destroyed."
"Where the Jedi are hiding."
"And where your sister will be heading."
All three of the Squibs' ears perked up again when their explanation was finished, as if anxiously awaiting Jacen's offer for their information or perhaps even expecting praise for their diligent service to the Galactic Alliance.
"I already know the location of the Jedi base," Jacen said, crushing the little being's hopes and enjoying the look of astonishment on their furry faces.
"But... but..." Grees sputtered.
"You're bluffing!" Sligh blurted. "There's no way you could know that the Jedi are at—"
Jacen waved his hand and sent the Squib sailing into the wall with a blast of Force energy. The flailing creature bounced off a nightstand and tumbled across the floor jabbering angrily in Squibbian. The last thing he needed was the Squibs revealing to his men the location of Halo and putting his friends and family in more danger. It was one piece of information Darth Malig had not asked for and something Jacen would never tell.
"Is there anything else you have to offer for your freedom?" The new Sith asked, hoping the change in subject would distract the Squibs from mentioning Hoth.
The three little beings exchanged looks before Emala turned to him and said, "We can make you a very generous deal on a Chiss charric."
Jacen just stared at them for a moment before saying, "I'll think about it," and turning back to the female trooper to his left. "Where are the other two?"
"In the adjoining suite," she explained, voice muffled through her helmet, before she gestured to the room hidden by the curve of the white wall and the archway that separated the two suites. "Grajja! Bring them in."
A muscled Falleen in a garish orange robe and a slight woman with dazzling geometric blue tattoos appeared in the archway, shuffling forward reluctantly. Unlike Alema and the Squibs, they were not restrained, but the pair of troopers behind them were nudging them forward with the barrels of their blaster rifles.
"Administrator Qixiz," Jacen greeted, keeping his hands at his hips near the lightsaber clipped to his belt and the blaster pistol stuffed into a thigh holster. "Thank you for coming, I know you're a very busy man."
The Falleen was put off balance by Jacen's greeting, furrowing his sloped brow further. Qixiz had hardly been given a choice in the matter, as the Raithian General had sent his troopers to retrieve him by force and bring him to these suites.
"I... It's my pleasure," he managed.
"I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten your assistant's name."
The young woman exchanged a glance with her employer before turning back to Jacen. "Spek," she answered.
"Right, Spek," he said, before turning and beginning to pace around the chamber. "Well, as you can see, Administrator, we located the Jedi and their allies here."
"I'm relieved," Qixiz said. It was always more difficult to tell when cold-blooded creatures were lying, especially when they were as naturally convincing as the Falleen. They rarely fumbled or fidgeted— there were never any beads of perspiration forming on their scalps or shivers running up their spinal ridges to give them away. Thankfully, Jacen had the Force and the facts to tell that the Rapture's administrator was anything but happy by seeing Alema and the Squibs there.
"We also found their ship." Jacen looked up from his aimless route around the room. "The one Aero described to you when she arrived and you said that nothing like that had docked here— You said no one had docked with the Rapture recently."
Qixiz's mouth tightened and the Raithian's new leader continued. "And of course, if you're standing here, I'm sure you recognize the suites you rented my sister and her friends."
The feather-haired girl at Qixiz's side was squirming in place while her employer remained stoic, saying nothing as he stared back at Jacen.
"So why did you lie to us, Administrator?" Jacen asked, closing the distance between them, his jaw clenched as he tried to conceal all emotion.
"You've got it all wrong, Solo," Spek began, her blue lips trembling.
The Falleen beside her opened his own mouth to respond but Jacen cut him off. "Before you lie again, let me assure you that I'm well aware of your species' invulnerability to Jedi mind-tricks, so don't bother suggesting that my sister used the Force to deceive you and make you forget of their arrival here."
"Leave them alone," Alema hissed. "They did nothing."
"They did enough. You couldn't have come here without him knowing."
Qixiz scowled. "What do you want from me?"
"The truth."
"The truth? I didn't want to aid the Jedi. I couldn't care less about them. But what I do care about is peace and security on this ship, and that mad woman who first brought your people aboard the Rapture made it very clear she was going to make a mess if she found them. What choice did I have? If I handed them over, it would be bad for business. If there's a fight here, that's even worse.
"I was only doing my job, which is keeping this cruise ship running smoothly and turning a profit for its owners."
Jacen was struck by the simplicity of it. While he always seem to be caught up in a huge galactic struggle, Qixiz was just trying to protect his little corner of existence, as indifferent to the larger things at play that would ultimately affect him as Aero probably was to the lives of those on the Rapture. The Falleen just didn't want to have his life disturbed.
But whether his motives had been noble or not, Jacen couldn't escape the conclusion that Qixiz's actions had saved his sister's life— he'd kept her and the others alive and safe from Aero long enough for Jacen to arrive, and he could hardly blame the Administrator for his own failing in being able to convince his sister to surrender willingly. The blame for that rested firmly on Jacen's shoulders, and perhaps on Wrev's as well, for his unreasoning and violent interference.
"I see," Jacen said. "And you realize what you've done amounts to treason?"
The broad-shouldered Falleen just sneered. "I would have asked for legal counsel if I thought there was any chance you'd allow it."
It was a crime punishable by death— one of the few the Alliance had, and Jacen couldn't help but remember it was also one of the charges against his uncle.
"So what are you going to do to us?" Spek questioned.
"Nothing," Jacen replied. "You're free to go."
"Sir... are you sure that's wise?" Commander Nyll moved forward, clearly worried about his superior's sanity. "There's plenty of detention space on the Forage."
It was a surprise to see Nyll questioning his orders openly and Jacen knew immediately that the Raithian must have been extremely rattled. There was no doubt in Jacen's mind what the Nyll was thinking: That's not what General Rénin would have done. Rénin wouldn't have even bothered detaining them— he would have killed them. He would have punished them for their betrayal and sent a message to everyone else in the galaxy about committing treason against the new Galactic Alliance.
But that's not what the Raithians would be anymore— not while Jacen was in command of their forces. Kol Rénin had been a cruel butcher, corrupted by his own power and desire for more. Like Palpatine... like Vader. If Darth Malig was right, that wasn't what a Sith Lord was supposed to be and it wasn't how Jacen Solo would ever be.
"Qixiz and his assistant probably saved my sister's life, and they are free to go," Jacen responded, not turning to face the commando.
The pair of troopers with their blaster muzzles nestled between the two captives' shoulder blades lowered their weapons. Tentatively, the Falleen stepped forward, giving Jacen a small nod of thanks before reaching back to grab Spek's tattooed-hand. "Come along, Miss Tavin. We have a ship to run."
Jacen stepped to the side, allowing them both to leave as he felt relief rolling off of them through the Force at having escaped with their lives.
"And what about the others?" Nyll asked, gesturing at Alema and the Squibs.
"Yes," the Twi'lek Jedi said in a surly tone. "What will you do with us now?"
"You're coming with me," he replied. "All of you."
"There's no need to punish them too."
"I think the Squibs will be very useful."
"Squibs are very useful," Emala chimed in.
"Very resourceful," Sligh added.
Alema shook her head, her long lekku twitching angrily as her supple lips sneered. "You are not going to imprison me as you have others."
"In time you may change your mind," Jacen said as the troopers moved to grab Alema by her elbows and hoisted her from the bed.
"There's someone I want you to meet."
***
The Lady Luck's landing ramp descended in a fog of flushing exhaust and streams of vapor that billowed across the hangar's durasteel deck like an unfurling rug to welcome the returning Jedi. Bystanders looked on as whispers worked their way through the echoing chamber in hushed tones, wanting to know if all that had been sacrificed had been worth it, and if the Jedi's leader and the others captured had returned.
Mara Jade Skywalker came storming down the ramp amidst the flood of exhaust before it even touched the ground, her brooding presence a web of fire and grief while the sour expression smeared across her features drained all hope from the onlookers that their mission to Denon had been any sort of success. Kyle, the Barabels, and Kirana Ti were a few steps behind as Mara began to stride across the deck, looking for a boy amongst the clusters of Jedi, mechanics, smugglers, and other allies.
Halo was much the same as the rescue team had left it almost three days earlier, the glowpanels ringing around the bulkheads and beaming down between storage gantries dim and flickering wildly and the hangar deck strewn with parts and tools on top of scuff marks and carbon black scars. It was Lando who broke from the circle of gatherers first, almost jogging forward to intercept Mara on her path from the docked star yacht.
"What happened?" He asked, face falling as he inspected the woman's face more closely.
She just shook her head. "Where's my son, Calrissian?"
"Oh... he's over there" the dapper man stammered, gesturing back to the gathering as Mara stepped around him. He at least waited until he thought she couldn't see him to run up and hug one of the Lady Luck's landing struts.
Mara pushed her way through the others until she found him, standing next to Kyp and Mirax near an aging shuttle that was being repaired, its gutted control housings stuffed with tangles of stripped wires and dangling cables. Ben was filthy and looked as tired as Mara had ever seen him, his eyes barely open, his clothes rumbled and red hair disheveled— it was immediately obvious that the boy had not spent the time since she'd left on Halo in the care of Tendra Calrissian and Tionne.
"Mom!" He cried, his azure eyes lighting up for a moment as she rushed forward and he met her halfway.
Mara crouched down to wrap him in a tight hug while wishing she could reach out in the Force to make sure her son was okay. There was no injury or trauma that she could detect by looking at him, but her son was more exhausted than she thought, and in between the beams of elation she saw within him at her return, was something that was troubling him.
"Where's Dad?" He asked when she put him at arm's length.
It was all Mara could do to keep from crying. She'd failed her son, failed her husband, and now she wasn't sure if she would ever see Luke Skywalker again. There was something so final about the way that Raithian shuttle had disappeared through Denon's night sky that made her blood run cold, and Mara found she could not look her son in the eye as she lied to him.
"I saw him and he's fine, but I couldn't get him yet. I will though, Ben," she said, finally managing to look up. "I promise."
Tears were already running down the young boy's cheeks and Mara wiped them with her thumbs, hugging Ben again before she stood up and turned her attention to the Jedi Master standing awkwardly to her right.
"What happened to him?"
For just a fraction of a second, the way in which Kyp Durron's eyes widened when she addressed him made her think that he'd just as soon run away as answer her question.
"Look, it's not my fault!" He began— Mara knew it was bad. "Ben snuck on board the Falcon and from there he got on the Errant Venture when we docked. I had no idea until it was too late!"
"What!"
"We would have taken him back but we couldn't," Kyp said, holding his hands up. "The battle had already started and we couldn't risk transporting him through it all. He was safer on the Venture."
"Please don't be mad, Mom," Ben pleaded from below. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to help."
Mara kept her eyes on Kyp as they narrowed into a glare. "Did you make him help you, Durron?"
"No, no. I couldn't make him... I mean, I asked him to help since he was going to be there anyway. What's the harm?" If her son had not been there, Mara was fairly certain she would have backhanded the dark-haired man. "He saved a lot of lives, Mara. I don't think any of us would have survived without him. The Alliance just attacked us and—"
"You put the idea in his head! You encouraged this!"
"And it's a good thing I did; we'd all be dead right now!"
"Just stay away from my son," Mara seethed.
"Where's Jysella?" Mirax asked, looking over Mara's shoulder as the Solos finally made their way down the landing ramp, Anakin appearing as despondent as he had been on the trip from Denon to Hoth. "And Tahiri?"
Mara's mouth opened to respond but no words could be urged from her tongue. In her anger over Ben sneaking off to Corellia and her own failings, she'd forgotten that Mirax was standing there and the other losses they'd suffered. Valin stepped forward, having been lurking somewhere behind Mirax, a scowl of suspicion forming around eyes far too hard for one so young.
"Tahiri's gone," Mara managed. "She was killed. And Jysella... we're not sure what happened to her."
A cry escaped Mirax's mouth before she covered it with one hand and tears formed a glistening layer around her eyes.
"I lost sight of her," Mara continued, shaking her head sadly. "She and Tahiri were supposed to be behind me, I... I don't know what led them another direction. Anakin found Tahiri's body, but your daughter... we don't know where she is."
"You left her?" Valin snapped in disbelief.
"There..." There was no reason to believe she survived, Mara stopped herself from saying. "There was no choice. We had no idea where she went and... We were ambushed. Somehow, the Alliance knew we were coming and they trapped us."
"What?" Kyp's jaw was clenched and his dark eyes flared with anger.
"Haven't had time to figure it out yet, Kyp, but we've got a traitor somewhere in the Order's allies."
"Jysella," Mirax said, grabbing Mara's arm and still fighting off the despair threatening to spill over her trembling eyes. "You didn't... feel anything?"
The Jedi Master and former Emperor's Hand found she had as much difficulty facing Mirax as she had her own son and looked down, shaking her head. "She was there in the Force one minute and then she just wasn't... I never felt her go."
Valin put his arm around his mother, holding Mara's gaze a moment before turning to comfort the woman as she broke down completely.
"She's not dead, Mom. I'd know," the young man whispered.
Mara had to turn away, grabbing Ben by the hand and leading him away to allow the Horns a chance to grieve yet another loss to their already fractured family.
"Mom, are you mad at me?" Ben asked as they made their way back through the crowd.
"No, I'm just sad Ben... We'll talk about your punishment later."
"Oh..."
The boy sounded only slightly disappointed, before he turned grim and his face fell further, leaving no doubt he was again thinking of his father. Ben was too young to be enduring so much, to be without Luke, and to be caught in the middle of a war and have people asking him to fight it.
"We need to get you to bed," Mara started. "You—"
Her words were lost as the hangar erupted with the screeching wail of the docking alarm buzzing through the chamber and forcing everyone to whirl around towards the bay doors as they pulled open to reveal the shimmering glow of the atmospheric containment field wrapped over the star-dappled darkness outside and the river of tumbling rock and sparkling star dust that formed Hoth's asteroid belt.
It took only a moment for the small starship to appear, banking around a pock-riddled asteroid as it angled for the open bay, the system's sun casting a sheet of golden light across its vertical ring of forward viewports that reflected in a glare of amber and violet-white beads. Mara recognized the approaching craft as an old Neimoidian Sheathipede-class shuttle that had been retrofitted with a hyperdrive and a small weapons mount along its belly.
The insect-like transport broke the magnetic seal over Halo's hangar bay and cruised slowly in before its repulsors engaged and it twisted around to land softly on its four landing struts. A group of mechanics along with Han and Leia were rushing towards the new arrival before Mara had a chance to even consider who it might be or why the spacestation's control would allow them in. She found herself edging through the group to see who it was.
Streams of exhaust vented around the craft's legs before its landing ramp was lowered to the hangar deck and two figures appeared, one supporting the other as it limped down the plank of metal. They stepped beyond the shadow of the transport's tail fin and the faces of Jag Fel and Jaina Solo came into view, bruised and beaten. Jaina's leg was in a crude splint and her left arm wrapped in a sling— Mara had never seen the young woman so battered, even during the carnage of the Yuuzhan Vong War.
"Jaina!" Leia exclaimed, pushing through the crowd to get to her daughter first with Han hot on her heels. "What happened?"
"Get Halo ready to transport," she said, wincing when it was obvious talking made the cut and bruise on one cheek throb. "We're not safe here any more."
***
"Can you explain to me, Director... what exactly I'm looking at?"
The small courtyard between the Galactic Alliance's Senate Offices and the Chief of State's private hangar bay was nearly unrecognizable. Smoldering craters in the ground still bled wisps of smoke from grenade detonations and dust rolled from the cascades of strewn rubble, adding to the haze of battle hanging over the city in the wake of the Jedi terrorists' rampage across the district. The once pristine gray cobblestones were raked with blast marks and covered in heaps of bodies and scattered metallic-blue armor still bearing crooked furrows and blacked pits burned through the plasmasteel to detail each stroke of the murderer's lightsaber.
Ayddar Nylykerka removed the hat that had been covering his large Tammarian head as he studied the carnage. "This would be one of the crime scenes," he said, almost as if he didn't believe it himself. "We have nothing duracrete at this point, but the reports during the battle coming back to Federation Security were that the perpetrator was none other than Anakin Solo."
Fyor Rodan's eyes widened as he turned away from the corpses to check if the Intelligence Director was joking. "You're telling me that one person did this?"
"As far as we know. There were no survivors, sir."
The Chief of State shook his head, turning his attention back to the remnants of the massacre that had concluded less than ten hours earlier. GFS teams were making holorecordings of the scene and carefully collecting evidence under Than Ulgran's orders as Denon's sun was just cresting over the top of the glistening towers in the planet's cityscape, shinning brilliantly down with far more promise than Rodan felt at the moment. It was the time of morning where it felt painfully bright and the muscles around his eyes ached from having to squint out so much of the radiance and see the trail of bodies.
"But a Jedi?" He asked.
"Is it really that surprising? This has become their method as far as I can tell. More brutal this time for sure, but the murder was the same as that of Commander Darklighter and Sien Sovv."
"Oh, yes, of course," Rodan replied, silently chiding himself. Nylykerka, like the rest of the galaxy, was unaware that Darklighter and Sovv had actually been murdered by General Rénin and the crime scenes manipulated to look as thought they'd been the victims of a Jedi assassin.
"There he is," Nylykerka went on, stepping forward and gesturing to a body that stood out in the sea of ruptured armor.
It was large and wrapped in garish orange robes of shimmersilk that only a Kuati royal would consider fashionable— Rodan knew instantly that he was staring down at the body of his Minister of State, Mulla Habbas. There was a burn hole through his hand where several fingers were missing, and his bulk ended at the shoulders where he'd been decapitated.
Rodan was reminded of Sien Sovv suffering a similar fate in his office only days earlier on Rénin's blade. He couldn't help but look down at Habbas and wonder if he was glimpsing his own fate. Should be betray Darth Malig, he was certain to know what such a death felt like, but now it seemed the honorable Jedi were actually as ruthless as the Raithians were making them out to be, and actively hunting their enemies. If Solo had tracked down and murdered Habbas, who was little more than an intermediary in the Jedi's exile, he and his cohorts were certainly going to come after Rodan— and he expected he would receive even less mercy.
No matter which direction Rodan turned, his fate would be the same. He was absolutely alone in this now, and as he looked at Habbas, he wondered if the Jedi were sending him just that message.
"It's a shame," Nylykerka said, his air sacks inflating with a sad sigh.
"Yes," Rodan agreed absently.
"I know he was a friend of yours. You have my deepest condolences."
"Yes, yes. Thank you very much, Director."
"His head is over there if you’d like to identify him officially, sir.”
Rodan suddenly felt queasy. "I think I'll pass."
A voice cut through the cacophony of city life and the crowds of bystanders perched on still-intact pedwalks that overlooked the courtyard to get a peek at the massacre, drawing his attention, and the Chief of State looked up to see a shimmering projection of a HoloNet broadcast on the side of a building. Next to the attractive Zeltron anchor were file images of Habbas and General Rénin along the side while streams of Aurebesh flowed beneath it all.
Rodan couldn't quite make out what was being said over the crowd noise and fumbled for his portable 'Net receiver and switched to the right channel before slipping the earpiece in as the anchor's crisp voice sounded in his head.
"...Unconfirmed reports that both Minister of State Habbas and the Raithian Supreme Commander were killed in the Jedi attack early last evening. It remains unclear whether the assassinations were the goal of the orchestrated assault or if Habbas and Rénin were victims of circumstance, but it does make sense of the announcement from the Chief of State's media office this morning, declaring that none other than Jacen Solo would become the new leader of the Raithian military. "
A picture of the Solo's oldest child replaced that of the deceased on the left-hand side of the projection.
"According to the release, Solo has abandoned the criminal Jedi to aid the Alliance in its fight against them. No word yet on how he's come to lead the Raithian forces rather than one of the GA's own branches or even replace Sien Sovv as the Supreme Commander. Similarly absent was any mention of Solo's connection to Hapes, as their recently anointed first King of the sixty-three worlds that make up the Consortium.
There still is no word from Chief Rodan's office about the attacks themselves.
Again, we have received unconfirmed reports that Mulla Habbas and General Kol Rénin were two of the victims in last nights attack. Rénin is the Raithian leader who came to fame nearly two months ago when he rushed to the aid of the Alliance at Kuat and—"
The voice vanished into the distant sound over the crowd murmur as Rodan plucked his earpiece free and grumbled under his breath. "Well, I guess word's out now."
"Yes," Nylykerka said. "You know how I felt about Rénin. He was torturing prisoners. I'm sorry he's been killed, but this could be a great opportunity."
"Yes, I see your point."
Rodan was barely listening to the Intelligence Director. All he could think about was how easy it was for Darth Malig to replace those who were doing his bidding, even his own trusted servant. And now the Jedi had become desperate, staging a feint to use Centerpoint at Corellia and rampaging through Denon with total disregard for innocent life.
He remembered how Malig had forced him to kill Cal Omas only a month earlier.
A lesson in how to maintain power, the Dark Lord had called it.
The old man's eyes swept back to Habbas' still form and a chill like he'd never felt before began to set into his bones.
***
Jaina watched as the figure hung suspended in the viscous fluid, his body distorted and stretched by the curve of the tank's glass and features obscured by the breath mask and the jets of oxygen bubbles streaming from it to the top of the pool. He would be submerged for days, perhaps more than a week as the synthetic chemical regenerated tissues and tried to mend more than a dozen fractures in the Jedi Knight's body. But there was nothing the bacta could do to replace Wrev's right hand— he'd have to be fitted with a cybernetic implant to repair that.
Sighing, Jaina toweled off her own sodden hair and tried to get the cloying scent of bacta out of her nostrils as she continued to watch through the observation screen where the med droids and Tekli monitored Wrev in the med lab. Things would have been so much easier if Halo wasn't one giant ysalamir-bubble where they were unable to use the Force for anything, let alone heal themselves. She'd been submerged herself for more than six hours and would need at least three more treatments to repair the nasty break in her left leg, but she didn't care. The session had repaired the damaged tissues in her arm and fused the torn ligaments along with a host of other cuts, bruises, and a mild concussion she'd suffered in her fall from the Rapture, and all she could think of now was what she would soon have to face.
It had been haunting her since she saw Jacen there on the cruise liner, seeping into her nightmares while she hung within her bacta tank, and consumed her on the voyage from Togoria to Hoth. They'd been lucky that the Togorians that found them there knew and remembered her father fondly— it was often the opposite when some stranger told her they remembered Han Solo. She didn't ask how or why, but they gave her and Jag a shuttle with the promise of a future cred payment via a bank transfer in order to get them off the planet and she knew she would be forever indebted to them for their kindness.
But things had only gotten worse since they'd arrived on Halo and Jaina learned what had happened to the other Jedi and her family since their escape from Ossus. Tahiri Veila was dead, a young woman who was more of a sister to Jaina than a friend, and Jysella Horn was presumed dead as well— both after having been ambushed on Denon. The Jedi were all mystified by how the Raithians had anticipated their rescue attempt on the galactic capital, knowing someone must have betrayed them and completely baffled by who it could be— but Jaina knew.
To make matters worse, Winter Celchu had contacted Halo through a secure channel to inform them that Admiral Ackbar had been killed when Raithian forces had stormed his home on Mon Cal to arrest him for treason. Someone had obviously informed them that the retired hero had been aiding the renegade Jedi and the GA had sent their new favorite attack massiffs to take care of the problem.
Jacen, how could you? Jaina thought as tears began to run down her cheeks. What he'd done on Togoria was bad enough, joining a Sith Lord and attempting to take her as his prisoner, but now people they loved were dead because of him.
The soft whir of shifting servomotors glided in behind her and Jaina looked up to see the faint reflection of C-3PO's bronzium plating in the transparent barrier between them and the med lab. She wiped her eyes, hoping the protocol droid would not notice she'd been weeping as he waddled in beside her and gazed through the observation screen at Wrev and then turned his bright photoreceptors onto her.
"Why, Mistress Jaina, you appear to be fully functional again," he praised. "I'm so relieved."
"Thanks, Threepio," she said, smiling weakly.
"I'm afraid I cannot say the same for poor Artoo. He's badly damaged and everyone here is occupied with preparing the station to be towed to another system to repair him."
"I'm sure he'll be okay. I'll take a look as soon as I can, okay?"
Jaina turned back to the observation window as C-3PO went on.
"I don't think anything can be done; I've never seen him like this. He's always been such a reckless little droid. I knew eventually he would end up like this but he would never listen to me. Now things will never be the same... Why, Mistress Jaina, what's wrong?"
The young woman didn't bother wiping her tears away this time as her barriers finally broke.
"My brother's betrayed us," she cried.
For perhaps the first time in his existence, the protocol droid didn't seem to know what to say, instead gently laying a hand on Jaina's shoulder as she slumped forward and shook, hot tears pouring through her clenched eyes. None of it seemed real. As fractured as the galaxy had been in her life time and as harrowing as the Jedi's exile from the Alliance had been, there had always been a hope of recovery, the reminder that they'd made it through the battles against the Yuuzhan Vong and could face anything.
But not now.
Jacen had sent her universe spinning into oblivion and Jaina could no longer see even the faintest of lights awaiting them at the end of the darkened path they'd been herded onto. Threepio was right— things would never be the same.
A familiar presence approached from behind and Jaina heard the measure footsteps grow louder in the observation chamber.
"I should return to Artoo and see if there's something I can do for him," C-3PO said tentatively, peeling his hand from her shoulder. "I'm sure everything will work out... eventually."
Meekly, the droid turned and padded stiffly out of the room. Jaina finally swiveled around on the stool she was seated to see Jag standing in the entrance. There was a bandage on his forehead and he looked as though he'd just gotten out of the sanisteam, but his face remained scruffy and he was still donning the clothes he'd worn on the Rapture.
"How is he?" Jag asked, gesturing to his chin to the bacta tank beyond the partition.
"He'll live."
"I suppose that's good news," he replied dryly. "... And you?"
"I'll live too."
The pilot smiled. "That, I know is good news."
"I'm glad someone does," Jaina replied, absently fidgeting with her flight suit. She'd put it on too soon after emerging from the bacta tank and was annoyed by the fact the fabric kept sticking to her skin. "How are the preparations coming?"
"We should be ready to go in four hours," he said, taking a few steps forward.
They stayed that way for several minutes until the silence became almost deafening to the Jedi Knight.
"I have to tell them, don't I?"
Jag nodded. "Yes."
She'd told Jag everything while he flew them away from Togoria— about Jacen, about Wrev's injuries, about what her brother had said on board the Rapture about the Sith. It had all come pouring out of her in the cockpit of the Neimoidian shuttle through a stream of tears as Jag tried to comfort her.
"They're going to find out sooner or later," he went on. "Best they hear it from you sooner."
"What are they saying?"
"They've put together that we're moving Halo because of a traitor, obviously, based on the fact they were ambushed at Denon. But no one has any idea who it is yet."
Jaina wished she could reach out in the Force and find Jacen, to touch that presence she knew so well and see that there was no taint to it, that she had misunderstood everything that had happened aboard the Rapture or perhaps even dreamed it all. She couldn't just let her brother go...
"I don't want to do this," she said, shaking her head.
"I know. But you have to," Jag replied, before offering her his hand. "And I'll come with you."
It happened in a small cargo hold.
It was dark with only a few working glowpanels ringed around the floor and a column suspended above, and nearly empty, with crates and plastine cylinders scattered across the deck that served as seats for the gathering. Much of the metal that had been used to make Halo had been harvested from old ships and structures by Tendrando Arms, and used in the less public areas of the space station— the cargo hold was no exception. Its bulkheads were dull gray durasteel, tarnished and worn from years of use, and scarred by carbon burns and chemical spills.
Jaina stood before them, explaining what had happened since she left Ossus under assault, detailing Lowbacca's heroic sacrifice and the circumstances that led them to the cruise liner at Togoria known as the Rapture.
"I should have never trusted those Squibs," Han grumbled.
He was sitting on a long ridged footlocker beside Leia, who punched his thigh to quiet him, keeping her eyes focused on her daughter who had called them all there for something she would only describe as "important." Anakin seemed as though he was barely listening at times, seated on a metal crate a half meter away and often staring straight ahead in a trance, while Mara remained standing in the back, her arms folded and wearing a scowl that Leia had come to know was not anger but her sister-in-law's way of listening intently to something disturbing.
Perched on a carboplas barrel across what made up an aisle between them, was Tenel Ka, who seemed more confused than anything, but Leia could hardly blame her. The Queen Mother had told them of her mission home to Hapes and her father's death at the hands of his own mother. For his part, Jag remained silent, standing dutifully at Jaina's side and a pace back as if to lend support.
It was in this setting that their lives would change forever, and Leia hadn't an inkling it was coming. She would later muse whether she might have sensed something in the Force if there hadn't been so many ysalamiri on board the space station hiding them from Faybol— if the energy would have given her some hint, some warning, some clue at the revelation that would tear her family and the galaxy asunder.
"But it wasn't Rénin who was pursuing us," Jaina said, almost as if it were physically exhausting to continue on. She swallowed hard, her eyes filled with sadness.
"It was Jacen."
For Leia, time seemed to stop. At first, she thought she might have misheard, or hadn't been paying attention to her daughter's story as closely as she thought, but the grim expression on the young woman's face as she awaited their reaction quickly cast such theories in doubt.
There had to be some other explanation. Jacen would never...
When the Alderaanian Princess opened her mouth to respond however, she found she didn't know where to even begin.
"What?" Han said in disbelief.
"Jacen, Dad. He told me he killed Rénin. I think he's become this Sith Lord's new apprentice and the leader of the Raithian Army. He wanted to take me back to his master."
"Darth Malig," Mara said.
"Right."
"Jacen?" Han repeated. "Our Jacen? The kid with all the pets is a Sith Lord?"
Jaina only fixed her father with an I'm-not-kidding stare.
"Jacen would never do such a thing," Tenel Ka said, shaking her head.
"You can ask Wrev about it when he comes to. Jacen's the one who did that to him."
"No, there has to be some kind of mistake," Leia gasped.
"I wish it was, Mom. But I know what I saw. I know what I heard and what I felt too. Jacen has joined them and that explains why you guys got ambushed on Denon. He betrayed you."
"No, no," Han said more forcefully, pushing himself to his feet and pointing his finger at Jaina. "I know you're wrong there. Jacen didn't even know about the mission to Denon. He was already a captive by then. He couldn't be the traitor."
"Yes, he is," Mara said from behind, drawing everyone's attention, the look in her eyes telling Leia she was deep in thought, putting the final pieces of the puzzle in place. "Jacen manipulated us, Han. He sent us that message, told us not to come after him knowing full well we would, and sent us those security maps for the two buildings. They knew where we'd be because the holes in the security were put there to lead us to exactly those locations. Jacen suggested which way we should go by letting us do the work on our own and knowing what we'd find."
Han ran his hand through his hair as if he hadn't considered that possibility and was caught off balance. It made so much sense that Leia felt her own pulse racing and she began to panic. Everyone in the storage hold had found their way to their feet, unable to stay seated for such a crushing revelation. "That doesn't sound like my boy... Maybe they just intercepted his message and figured things out on their own."
"Jacen wouldn't do this," Leia added. "Not Jacen... no."
Their oldest son had come to represent everything that was good and honest in the galaxy. He was the kindest person Leia had ever known, able to empathize with every living thing he came across, and had become the Order's moral guide. It was Jacen who had been adamant that they not attack the Yuuzhan Vong, fearing it would corrupt the Jedi forever, and who had found a solution for a real peace with the invaders. Han and Leia couldn't have been more proud.
Jacen would never take the quick and easy path— it just wasn't his way. He was always questioning, always evaluating his thoughts and actions to be certain he was doing the right thing.
Leia was so consumed in confusion and despair that she barely noticed Anakin taking a step towards his sister, the look on his face showing he was puzzled as they were.
"Jacen did this?" He asked.
Jaina nodded. "Yes."
Slowly, Anakin blinked before returning to his seat on the crate and leaning forward in contemplation.
"It just... It can't be," Leia said, turning back to her daughter.
"I know my own twin brother, Mom. I don't know why Jacen's doing it, but he is. And he's the reason we have to get out of here— he knows where Halo is, and if he knows, it will only be a matter of time before he tells his new master. No one is safe here any more."
"He was mad at Luke." Mara was pacing around the hold. "Jacen came to our apartment one night, distraught and yelling. He felt like Luke had destroyed the Order by allowing Lando and Karrde to blackmail the Senate into electing Cal Omas so we'd have a pro-Jedi leader."
"That's true. Jacen, Anakin, and I had several arguments about it."
"So Jacen | |