"Shavit."
Dropping the multitool to the floor, Kyp Durron sighed, rocking back on his heels, and rested his forehead against the coral wall in front of him, tempted to pound his head on it.
He had never claimed to be much of a mechanic, but he usually managed fairly well, with the Force guiding him as he worked. That wasn't possible with a Yuuzhan Vong frigate, the living ship was closed off to him through the Force, and he found that it was much more difficult than he'd expected.
It only made him even more impressed with Jaina's inherent mechanical instincts, that she moved about the coral hull as if she'd been born working on the enemy ships.
Every once and a while, something would stump her and she'd mutter under her breath in frustration, showing off a wide range of Huttesse curse words that even Kyp couldn't follow completely, but where he would have given up and started working on something else, Jaina kept at it, and always found a way to figure out how to manipulate the ship's complicated organic structure.
Manipulation, he was beginning to realize, was one of her hidden strengths.
"Having trouble?" an amused voice asked.
Lifting his head, Kyp found Jaina Solo watching him from the other side of alcove where she was tinkering with a series of veiny tubes that she'd explained were like the wiring of the ship, an eyebrow raised and a smile etched on her lips as she observed his frustration.
"This ship hates me," Kyp informed her. "It's evil."
"Right," Jaina snorted, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure."
"No, really," he insisted. "I've spent the last thirty minutes trying to get this chipped panel to accept the graft you took from the underbelly of the ship, and it keeps shocking me."
"It's not shocking you, actually," Jaina retorted. "It's stinging you."
"Is there a difference?" Kyp grumbled.
"I'm sure the Yuuzhan Vong would tell you there is," she answered with a lopsided smirk. "Why don't you ask them, there's an observation fleet hanging around the outer edges of the system?"
"You're just trying to get me killed," Kyp accused.
"Like you need my help to get into deadly situations?" Jaina scoffed, and he shot her an irritated look. "What? It's the truth, and you know it."
"You're one to talk, Goddess."
Jaina shrugged, neither able to or interested in debating that point. They both knew he was right, attracting mortal peril was just one of those Skywalker quirks that no one in her family could ever seem to escape. People had been trying to kill her and her brothers even before they were out of their mother's womb, it was just another fact of life to the Solo children, which they took in stride, and Kyp had always been both impressed and saddened by that.
He knew firsthand what it was like to have people who wanted you dead, but in his case, he'd actually done things to warrant those sentiments. Jaina, Jacen and Anakin had been targets simply because of their family tree.
Then again, he thought to himself. The same would have been true of their mother and Master Skywalker, had anyone discovered the truth about their paternity.
After all, hadn't that been the reason why Obi-Wan Kenobi separated the infant twins, sending to the opposite corners of the galaxy and into hiding, less their father Darth Vader, or worse, the Emperor, find out about their existence and seek to turn them into agents of the dark side?
Others had desired to do the same with the Solo children, knowing the potency of the Skywalker blood within them, but not even the traitorous Brakiss had been able to turn them away from the light, while holding both of the Solo twins captive at his Shadow Academy. Having trained alongside the charismatic young man on Yavin Four, Kyp knew that Brakiss was highly skilled in subterfuge and manipulation, but the grandchildren of Darth Vader had resisted the call to follow in their grandfather's footsteps.
The irony of it all, that Jaina had not wavered even while surrounded by the dark side, only to find herself wandering astray now, did not escape his observations.
"You don't have to do this, you know," Jaina said, cutting into his thoughts.
"Do what?" he inquired.
"Help me with the Trickster," Jaina replied evenly. "Lowie's been gone for over a week now, and I know you have a lot of responsibilities with Vanguard Squadron. I can manage on my own for a few days until he gets back."
"What?" Kyp asked wryly. "Trying to get rid of me?"
"Constantly," Jaina shot back with a smirk. "But you're worse than the Vong, you just won't go away."
"Is that any way to talk to your Master?"
Instead of rising to the bait, Jaina just shrugged, shaking her head slightly to get her loose braid to fall back over her shoulder. "I just don't want you wasting time here that you could be spending up with the Vanguards patrolling the sector for Yuuzhan Vong," she explained. "Force knows someone has to keep an eye out for them."
She had a point, a very good point, but Kyp sensed something else behind her words, some underlying ulterior motive for wanting to keep him busy elsewhere.
Keeping his expression carefully schooled into a look of amusement, he reached out with a wraith tendril of the Force, gently seeping inward towards her thoughts, moving as discreetly as possible, like a breeze so soft it didn't even move blades of grass.
Jaina kept right on talking, expressing her frustration with the Yuuzhan Vong poking their noses around the edges of the system but not making any offensive movements yet, and Kyp relied on the Force to file her words away, nodding at the appropriate times even though he wasn't really aware of what she was saying. His own powers were impressive, perhaps the most impressive in the Order, although Jaina would scoff at that if she heard him claiming such a thing, and remind him, as she had once already, that Luke Skywalker was more than capable of putting him in his place.
A possibility, he would admit.
Despite the strength of the Force within him, Kyp treaded lightly as he entered her mind, because he knew that if any Jedi could sense his presence and throw him out, most likely with as much violence as she could muster, it would be Jaina Solo.
Skywalker blood was too thick in her veins.
Though her thoughts were cloaked, safeguarded behind mist and shadow, he could perceive a faint desire for him to disappear for a few days, and although that stung, more than he was willing to admit, he could sense that it wasn't anything personal.
With Lowbacca still gone on his mission to Kashyyk and Tenel Ka busy with her royal duties, as well as tending to her ailing mother, Jaina had simply been hoping to have some time to herself.
Time to grieve for her brothers and to come to terms with what had happened at Myrkr.
Feeling a little guilty for invading her privacy, and for doubting her intentions, Kyp withdrew from her mind slowly, letting his senses fade back to his own perceptions just as Jaina finished whatever she was saying, and gave him a pointed look.
"What do I think?" Kyp echoed her last words, purposefully making a show of thinking her question over, while he was really calling on the Force to play back what she'd said.
Hapes Consortium eager to avoid fighting... after Fondor and Centerpoint, animosity for the Jedi and her family... Ta'a Chume willing to supply them with more pilots and ships... best if Vong don't attack yet, so there's time to better prepare... Teneniel Djo too ill to rule... possible to get a Jedi healer to Hapes... assassination attempts on Isolder... Tenel Ka reluctant to become queen... Yuuzhan Vong putting a bounty on her head, livid about the Yun-Harla masquerade...
"I think," he said slowly. "That as dangerous as this whole goddess scheme is, it has a lot of potential as psychological warfare. We know how obsessed the Yuuzhan Vong are with their religion, even the Shamed Ones from what we've gathered, although based on what Ana- based on what happened at Yavin Four," he amended pitifully, but the damage of almost mentioning her brother's name had already been done.
Something seemed to shut down in Jaina's eyes, the faint trace of warmth and lightness that he'd noticed over the past few days was gone in an instant, replaced by something dark and cold, something that, despite all his pretenses, scared the kriff out of him.
But it passed as quickly as it had come, and that, somehow, worried him even more.
"I think the Shamed Ones already associate the Jedi with their gods," Jaina said thoughtfully, moving on as if there had never been an awkward pause, as if her heart hadn't just been wrenched and shattered all over again. "If word of my exploits starts to get back to them, then all the better for us."
"How so?" Kyp asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"The Shamed Ones may be at the lowliest level in Yuuzhan Vong society," Jaina replied. "But they're everywhere, and their numbers aren't as small as the Yuuzhan Vong would like us to believe. If they're spreading whispers of heresy in their own ranks, it won't be long before snippets of those rumors reach other, higher ears. If we want to spread discord and fear among the Yuuzhan Vong, the Shamed Ones will be useful."
"That would mean you'd have to take care not to kill any of them in combat," Kyp pointed out skeptically.
"I'd much rather have warriors in my scope anyway," Jaina retorted with a wry smirk. "Besides, the Shamed Ones aren't out on the front lines, it would be as much of an abomination as me flying a living ship."
Nodding, Kyp was more intrigued by the ease with which she dismissed the Shamed Ones as enemies than anything else she had to say. It wasn't much, and maybe he was reading too much into things, but at least she wasn't on some Force forsaken crusade to wipe out every last Yuuzhan Vong in the galaxy.
Yet.
"Just be careful," he advised grimly, locking his gaze with her own. "You're treading in dangerous territory now."
He wasn't just talking about the whole goddess charade, and they both knew it. His warning was of something much more treacherous, something that could cost her much more than just her life.
"You would know," Jaina responded with a cool smile, deliberately vague. "After all, you are the Master."
And she strikes a low blow, Kyp chuckled to himself bitterly, feeling the slight sting of her words.
"Anyway," Jaina changed the subject smoothly, and he let her. "There's not nearly as much work left to do on the Trickster anymore, barely enough of a job for one person, so you might as well focus on your squadron for now. If I need help, I'll let you know."
"I'm sure you will," Kyp agreed lowly, thinking back to the last time she had asked for his help, and what had followed on Gallinore.
I guess I have been smothering her this past week, though, he conceded to himself begrudgingly. All day, every day for the past week, when the necessary Vanguard duties haven't gotten in the way, he'd been here working on the captured Yuuzhan Vong frigate alongside Jaina.
It had been his intent to keep a close eye on her and her activities, but he hadn't realized until now how much time he was actually spending at her side.
What time was it when I finally made it back to the refugee camp last night? he asked himself, and was disgruntled to realize he didn't know, but it had been late, no more than a few hours until the beginning of sunrise. He and Jaina had worked through the night, although there certainly hadn't been any pressing need to do so.
In fact, Kyp could recall at least two times where he had silently observed that it was getting late, but he hadn't wanted to go. He liked spending time with Jaina, in ways that had nothing whatsoever to do with being her Master, or even with watching her for signs of the dark side.
That wasn't very comforting.
"I'll finish up here today, if you don't mind," he told her, gesturing to the panel he was working on. "This thing has been beating me all day, and I'm not going to let it get the satisfaction of chasing me off."
"Whatever you want," Jaina replied, her lips curling up faintly. "Let's just try not to miss dinner tonight, okay?"
"Goddess, if we do," Kyp vowed. "I will personally cook for you."
"You mean personally press the buttons on the food processor, don't you?" Jaina retorted, her ghost of a smile blossoming into a full smirk.
"Precisely," Kyp confirmed unabashedly.
Rolling her eyes, Jaina flicked her fingers, causing his forgotten multitool to rise into the air in front of him. "Get back to work, mortal," she commanded.
"I thought the apprentice was supposed to take orders, not give them?" Kyp couldn't resist throwing back at her, and she gave him a warning look, raising the hydrospanner in her hand threateningly.
Chuckling as he turned back to torn panel and the coral graft that he'd placed over it, he wondered what else he could possibly do to make the ship accept it that he hadn't already tried.
This ship is stubborn, he mused. Just like her pilot.
Maybe if he could figure out how to get the living ship to work with him, he'd be able to figure out how to get through to Jaina, too.
After about fifteen minutes of futile efforts, though, Kyp was beginning to wonder if he was only making things worse.
On both fronts.
"Need some help?" Jaina called wryly.
"I just can't see the vine connections," Kyp said defensively, although he doubted that even remotely had anything to do with it. "The lighting is too dark in here."
"Hmmm."
Rising to her feet, Jaina started to cross the alcove in his direction, placing her hydrospanner down on the coral table and exchanging it for a lumos stick. Her soft boots were silent on the spongy floor, and the formfitting, sleeveless green flightsuit she wore seemed strangely appropriate inside the living ship, complimenting the natural hues of the coral hull as she passed.
"Scoot over," she instructed, and he complied, giving her room to crouch down beside him. "I'll hold the light," she told him, turning it on and pointing the beam towards the shadows enveloping the hole in the hull, instinctively locating the vine connections without even needing to look for them.
Wordlessly, Kyp leaned in next to her, and began trying to get them to mold together with the graft.
"Try it the other way," Jaina suggested, her breath tickling his cheek as she moved closer, their shoulders touching and the warmth from her body heating his side. "I think the nerve endings need to be exposed in order for it to work."
"Uh, right," Kyp muttered, but he couldn't quite figure out where the nerve endings were, not with her pressed up against him like that. In fact, he couldn't really figure out much of anything, which was flustering, but not necessarily a negative thing.
There were certainly pluses to being so close to her.
"They're right there," Jaina told him, sounding amused, and she reached out her free hand to point to a cluster on the underside of the panel. "See?"
"Yeah," Kyp rasped, drawing a sharp breath as the fading traces of the sweet soap she'd used on her hair back in the palace, mingled with a scent that was distinctly Jaina, filled his sense, leaving him with a heady feeling. "I see."
She turned her head toward him, dark eyes glittering with something he was too dazed to identify, and the next thing he knew, her lips were brushing against his and she was kissing him.
For a moment, Kyp didn't resist, his eyes fluttered closed as he returned the kiss with a hungry desperation he hadn't even known was inside of him. Jaina pressed in closer, deepening the kiss, sliding her soft lips across his slowly, and Kyp decided he could lose himself in her, could spend the rest of his life doing nothing but kissing this woman...
"No," he cried suddenly, jerking away, his chest heaving frantically as he turned his head sharply, clarity returning to him as if he has just awoken from a dream.
And an impossibly good dream at that.
Jaina eyed him in annoyance. "No?" she echoed with an incredulous laugh. "Why the sith not? It's what you want, I know it is."
Kyp didn't bother denying it, he knew she could see right through any lie he could construct.
And it was true, he did want this. He hadn't had any idea how badly he wanted it until this very moment. But he wouldn't give in, he knew what she was really up to, and he wasn't going to be a pawn in her little game.
"This can't happen again," he said sternly, and he wondered who he was trying to convince- her, or himself? "I won't let it."
"Okay," Jaina said with a smirk. "Whatever you say, Master Durron."
"I'm going to go gather up the Vanguards for a recon run," Kyp said abruptly, getting to his feet and heading for the front of the living ship, for the portal door that would take him as far away from the hangar, and from Jaina, as possible. "Stay here and work on the ship."
"Yes, Master," Jaina called dryly.
He hurried from the Trickster, making his way across the hangar with five quick strides, and as soon as he was outside, he sighed, his shoulders sagging, and leaned against the cool durasteel wall of the corridor.
What have I gotten myself into? he wondered, a sinking feeling of dread churning in his stomach. And how the kriff do I get us both out of it?
He'd have to come up with some answers, and fast, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep resisting Jaina's advances for long. Sooner or later he knew that he would give in, and even worse, he was certain that Jaina now knew it, too.
Groaning, he closed his eyes, tilting his head back, and muttered words he never thought he would say.
"Force, I wish Master Skywalker was here."