II
makashi
Aboard the Invisible Hand
Descending into the atmosphere of Coruscant
Anakin Skywalker turned away from the blinking red and green holo panels at the fore of the Invisible Hand's bridge, doing his best to hold back his frustration. He should've known what they were telling him, given whom they had just faced. It was disturbingly predictable, though not as disturbing as the fact another Sith Lord pulled their strings.
"All of the escape pods have been launched," he said, turning back to Obi-Wan, Chancellor Palpatine, and Artoo-Detoo.
"Grievous," Obi-Wan spat. He had yet to say anything about Anakin's decision to kill Count Dooku, though it was easy to say nothing when they had yet to discuss the duel's conclusion.
Artoo beeped and blared as he moved forward, taking up a spot besides Anakin among the piloting seats and consoles. Sections of the transparisteel viewport were covered by durasteel plating, thanks to General Grievous's escape. They had nearly been sucked out into the vacuum before the blast shields had shifted into place. Anakin knew there was no time to dwell on the fact that with the droid general's escape, the war would continue on.
"Can you fly a cruiser like this?" Obi-Wan asked, sitting down next to Anakin. The seats they occupied were uncomfortable, designed for droids like the B1s common place throughout the Separatist army and navy.
"Do you mean, 'Do I know how to land what's left of this thing'?"
"Well?"
Anakin turned his attention to the console before him, toggling anything that would make a difference. He keyed in coordinates for a crash landing site on the edge of the Bureaucratic Sector. He had seen the long stretch of plain duracrete enough times to trust his skills. "Well, under the circumstances, I'd say that my ability to pilot is irrelevant." He glanced to his left so he could meet the gaze of both his master and his non-Jedi mentor. "Strap yourselves in."
Obi-Wan and Palpatine were quick to follow his orders, using the limited crash webbing on the bridge to ensure they wouldn't be thrown around.
"Open all hatches," he commanded. "Extend all flaps and drag fins."
Obi-Wan nodded from his spot to Anakin's left, turning his attention to the consoles before him. There was some shuddering as systems activated and panels moved.
Artoo beeped, reporting that the drag fins were already gathering heat as Anakin angled the cruiser towards the city-planet below. Everything was fine for a few seconds. That was when an explosion shook the Invisible Hand. They were tossed forward into their crash webbing as the ship began to groan.
It was Artoo, making a whoops sound with his limited verbalization of Binary that alerted Anakin to what had happened.
"We lost something."
Obi-Wan glanced about the consoles before him, then said, "Not to worry. We are still flying half a ship."
Anakin blinked as he realized something unusual was happening. Instead of accelerating as they passed out of orbit and started towards the surface of Coruscant, they were slowing. He glanced out the viewports and spotted a small, dark shape moving in tandem with them. Throwing off his crash webbing and scrambling to his feet, he hurried over to the transparisteel panel and peered out.
Flying alongside the broken cruiser was the Trickster's Sword. The snubfighter's S-foils were closed into a shape he recognized. Narrowing his eyes, he used the Force to peer through two sheets of transparisteel and the distance between them. The woman wore a black flight suit, along with helmet and flight gear. The arm nearest the Invisible Hand was stretched out towards them, straining as she guided the Force to aid in slowing their descent.
"What is it?" asked the Chancellor, looking around. "I noticed we decelerated."
Anakin returned his seat, not looking back at Palpatine as he returned to piloting. "We have help from a mysterious Jedi who helped us reach this ship, Chancellor. She's assisting with our descent."
"Is she now," said Obi-Wan, glancing over. The bridge shook, flames burning across the transparisteel panels, clouding their view of the city world below. Even with assistance from their fellow Jedi, there was no preventing the burn from their reentry. "We just entered the atmosphere."
Anakin nodded. "Grab that," he said, gesturing to one of the controls before Obi-Wan. "Keep us level."
He didn't watch what Obi-Wan did, instead focusing upon his own station and the guidance towards the landing site chosen. The cruiser remained on course, following the precise angle necessary to land and skid to the end without going over. The Trickster's Sword, flying beside them, must have picked up on his intention, or her fighter was advanced enough to detect the guidance he had inputted.
They had just punched through an upper level of clouds when Obi-Wan said, "Steady." Five percent of the cruiser's hull was lost, breaking away and burning up in the atmosphere. Whatever had become of the rear half was something that he had to put out of his mind. They were fortunate that Coruscant Weather Control could exert enough specialized chemicals in the upper atmosphere to deal with the fragments from the battle that might break through the already crippled planetary shields.
Artoo whistled, plugged into the Invisible Hand's systems from his spot to Anakin's right.
"Careful there, Artoo," Anakin warned. He appreciated the astromech's assistance, but there was a reason he preferred not to rely upon guidance from droids. If he were to claim to be the best pilot in the galaxy, then he should be able to land half a cruiser on a strip with only targeted guidance aiding his steering.
"Fire ships have formed around us," Obi-Wan added. "Five on the left and five on the right."
One of them sent a message via HoloNet to the bridge. "We'll escort you down."
Another minute of guided falling passed before the front half of the Invisible Hand touched down. They continued forward, enough momentum still present to cross a mile of specially tooled duracrete before finally coming to a stop. They all fell forward into the crash webbing holding them back.
"Another happy landing," remarked Obi-Wan, running a hand through his auburn hair.
Anakin shook his head at Obi-Wan's comment. He gazed out into the distance, at the Coruscanti skyline. The Trickster's Sword had broken away, wings collapsed into a single line. Four ion engines burned bright crimson as she veered right, heading into Republic City, the beating heart of Coruscant and the Galactic Republic at large.
Senate District
Republic City, Coruscant
Jaina scowled at the blinking comlink to her right. For a few minutes, Coruscant Security Forces—the CSF—had been demanding her attention. Her X-wing was obvious in the light of day, a black streak of war racing across the aerial avenues and boulevards of Coruscant. Traffic swerved around her, despite the fact she charted her course to pass between lanes. The S-foils were locked tightly and she had deactivated the four guns on her wings. She'd rather not need to fight her way towards where the Force was drawing her, but she would do what she needed to.
The brilliant will of the Force, despite being plagued by the curtain of the dark side, was drawing her towards a familiar place. Over the decades, the Senate Building had been the beating heart of galactic civilization. First it was that of the Old Republic, and then the Imperial Senate before it was dissolved in the days before the first Death Star was destroyed. After Rogue Squadron led the New Republic's efforts to liberate the renamed Imperial Center, the Senate had been reformed, returning to the building they had once met in. That lasted up to the Fall of Coruscant, yet the structure survived conquest. The Yuuzhan Vong remade it into the Well of the World Brain, the place from where the dhuryam, the proverbial world brain, controlled the planet's Vong life forms. It was restored following the Galactic Alliance's retaking of the planet at the war's conclusion, though it had never gleamed in her lifetime as it did now.
Jaina wished she could know why the Force was drawing her in that direction other than to face down the Sith Lord her grandfather had finally destroyed over the forest moon of Endor.
The Force ended up guiding her not to the Senate proper, but to the domed administrative structure a kilometer away. She brought her X-wing into a small, personal hangar near one of the lower landing levels. Jaina found it occupied, with a personal shuttle unloading a group of four humanoids escorted by a pair of stormtroopers, their armor colored red in several places.
She hesitated, a hand on her flight stick and feet near the ethereal rudders. It would be simple to turn around and take flight, but something held her.
Or, Jaina realized as she scanned the beings disembarking, a someone. Among the four staring at her fighter was a woman she nearly mistook for her mother. She was tall with a beautiful face and brown hair done up in side buns. Her dress was plain for a senator, though the large bump at her midsection made her pregnancy blatant and clear.
That…that can't be, Jaina thought, despite the fact flying through a wound in the Force had placed her into the same battle as her grandfather and his Jedi teacher. But when she reflected upon the Force, it became clear who the woman was.
She nosed her X-wing forward and deployed the landing struts twenty meters away from the people watching her. The clone troopers raised their rifles, the same E-11 BlasTech model used by the stormtroopers her parents and Uncle Luke had faced during the Rebellion.
She powered off her fighter's engines, then the repulsorlifts. Once everything was cold, she comm'd her astromech. "Lock her up nice and tight until I get back." Jaina opened the canopy and with practiced ease, jumped down. The Force softened her landing to the point she was able to walk forward immediately.
The two clones, along with a broad shouldered man with dark skin and a patch over his left eye, kept their weapons focused upon her. He was vaguely familiar from a history holo, though Jaina would be hard pressed to place a name to his face.
"Hold your fire," the woman commanded. The clones were quick to follow her orders, unlike the man. His mouth opened to protest, but she held up a hand before he could speak. "Trust me on this, Captain. You've served me well these past years, but I have a feeling about this woman."
"As you command," the captain conceded before shooting Jaina a one eyed glare. He lowered his blaster, a silvery device of the Old Republic, but didn't holster it.
The senator turned back to Jaina. The Jedi clenched her jaw upon meeting eyes too much like her own. Jaina had gotten used to hearing about how much she resembled her mother, but it appeared the resemblance went back another generation. She stopped, a few meters between them, and removed her flight helmet.
Once her face was revealed, Jaina was met by a shocked gasp and wide, doe brown eyes.
"How…?" her grandmother whispered, a hand raised to cover her mouth. The dark skinned captain had taken a step back, his visible eye so wide the whites appeared to encroach upon the dark irises. Even the clones reacted, rifles lowering slightly as they glanced between the two women.
"My name is Jaina Solo," she began, "and I am a Jedi Knight."
"No Jedi I've ever heard of," the captain stated. He scanned her, head to boots. "Don't look like one either."
"It is a good thing that Master Windu will be present to welcome the Chancellor back," said Padmé Amidala, holding up a hand. "He can sort out her situation."
"You're more interested in seeing if Master Skywalker is present," the captain said knowingly. "He's bound to be the big hero of the rescue operation. He is the Man Without Fear."
Jaina could sense anxiety coming from Padmé, rippling through her despite her calm exterior. It had come from the mention of her grandfather, yet some of it had also come from the mentions of the Jedi Master and Palpatine. She wasn't happy about the sense of admiration her grandmother had for the Sith Lord who had destroyed Anakin Skywalker, the Republic, and the old Jedi Order, but they were from the same world. Chances was the Skywalker-Solo family only existed because Palpatine had incidentally drawn Anakin and Padmé together.
And if she was honest with herself, she didn't know what to do, now that she was on Coruscant. Perhaps once she had some time to meditate and learn what she could of the old Jedi Order, she could make her decision about moving forward. With few options, Jaina nodded and said, "I appreciate your assistance."
"I still don't like this," the captain grumbled. "If she's a Jedi, then there has to be a reason she came here."
"I can think of one," Padmé said, her hands briefly crossing her belly. Her captain scowled at the reminder, while the other sentient—a Gungan in fancy crimson robes—looked on curiously. The fourth humanoid wasn't alive, but a droid. A very familiar droid, covered in a familiar sheen of goldium plating.
"Threepio?" Jaina whispered, astonished. It had been a shock to learn Artoo had been her grandfather's, but to know the protocol droid that had been around throughout her life had been her grandmother's was a surprise.
"You know Threepio?" asked Padmé picking up on Jaina's error. She looked between the droid and Jaina, intelligent brown eyes trying to put together fragments of a puzzle.
"It's a long story," she replied, glancing at the suspicious captain, the faceless troopers, and the Gungan. "Perhaps I can visit once my business with the Jedi Council is finished."
"Then tomorrow," Padmé replied with the tone of one deeply accustomed to working with the Council. Jaina smiled, if only to hide her ignorance. Too much about the Jedi of this time, before Palpatine and the Empire, was still lost to the Order. Even discovering and convincing Master K'Kruhk to join the new Order had not been enough to fill those gaps.
Especially after the Vong War and what Jacen did afterward.
Her mood soured, thinking of her fallen twin. Jaina shook her head, chasing away the thoughts. She had to keep thoughts and feelings from the future a secret. She couldn't know what it might do, let alone what effect it would have upon the future. She could very well erase her own existence and doom the galaxy to fall before the Yuuzhan Vong.
"I'm afraid I must relieve you of your weapons, Jedi," the captain stated. He ignored his charge's glare and held out a hand. "Either I take them or one of the clones."
Jaina nodded, unclipping her lightsaber. She handed it over with a glower. The last time it was outside of her possession, during her duel with Darth Caedus.
"The blaster as well."
That he didn't comment on how odd of a choice it was relieved Jaina. Even so, she drew the DL-44 heavy blaster pistol gifted to her by her father when she decided to accept Jag's offer to join him in the Remnant.
"Take good care of it, captain," Jaina said. "It's a family heirloom."
"If you say so," he said, frowning at her with confusion.
They headed to a nearby stairwell. When they reached it, Padmé introduced the captain of her guard—Gregor Typho—before turning her attention to the alien present.
The Gungan, Jar-Jar Binks, introduced himself with a large bow, his thick accent still present but worn down enough by life on Coruscant to be understandable. He mentioned how a Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, had saved his life. When Jaina glanced at the others, unfamiliar with the name, Padmé said, "Master Qui-Gon taught Master Kenobi, and was the one who brought Anakin into the Jedi Order."
Jaina nodded, accepting the story. Her uncle had found plenty of Force-sensitives and recruited them. From troubled Kyp Durron to former Imp Kyle Katarn and even fellow ex-Rogue Corran Horn, Luke had built up a new Jedi Order with those who had experienced the darkness of the Empire and wished to restore some light to the galaxy.
She wondered how strict the Order of this time would be. After all, this was a Jedi Order that had defended the Old Republic for a thousand generations, or so Ben Kenobi told her Uncle Luke.
They climbed the stairs until they reached a tall colonnade. There they found a dozen plus sentients gathered, standing upon a wide crimson rug that led deeper into the building. While most were senators dressed in finery, there was a tall man in Jedi robes among them. He had dark skin and his head was shaven bald. She could feel him in the Force, strong and controlled. He straightened before turning to face them. Their gazes met, and she knew instantly that he was Master Windu.
"Senator Amidala," he greeted, turning to Padmé first. He gave her a polite bow, even as his dark gaze flickered to Jaina. She felt him reach out to her with the Force. She neither met the ethereal touch nor did she retreat from it. "Care to introduce your companion?"
"Of course, Master Jedi," she said with a faint smile. "This here is Jedi Knight Jaina Solo. She arrived in the same hangar I landed at, piloting a black starfighter."
Master Windu raised an eyebrow. "You must be the same pilot who assisted our fleet during the battle in orbit. You have our thanks, assisting Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker with their mission."
"It was an honor to fly with them," she replied. Her gaze shifted around. "Are we interrupting something?"
The roar of repulsorlifts bringing a small craft down to land answered her question. They all turned as a long shuttle, purple panels upon the top with several windows and white panels around the base, settled twenty meters away. Men in navy blue armor and robes approached the descending entry ramp as Chancellor Palpatine, the Sith Lord who would rule the Empire with an iron fist, emerged into the Coruscanti day. He wore a robe of similar color to his guards that stretched from his feet up to his neck, and with sleeves that descended to his wrists. He nodded to the guards before approaching with a jovial smile.
Jaina had to force down her emotions, else hatred bubble in her gut. She had seen the holos of the Emperor, and she wondered when the dark side would disfigure him.
Her grandfather stepped out as well, followed by an astromech who had to be Artoo-Detoo, the droid who had brought her mother's plea to Luke Skywalker and helped bring about the end of the Empire. He paused at the base, turning back to speak with Ben Kenobi.
The Chancellor nodded and smiled as he joined his political peers before approaching Master Windu. His gaze met hers, and she recoiled within, seeking to make herself small in the Force as Jacen and Ben Skywalker had been capable of. She had never learned that trick, devised by Vergere, Jacen's teacher during his time as a captive of the Yuuzhan Vong.
"Chancellor Palpatine," the Jedi Master began, seemingly unaware of whom he was truly speaking with. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, thanks to your two Jedi Knights," the Sith Lord said. "They killed Count Dooku, but General Grievous has escaped once again."
"General Grievous will run and hide as he always does. He's a coward."
"But with Count Dooku dead, he is the leader of the Droid Army. And I assure you, the Senate will vote to continue the war as long as Grievous is alive."
"Then the Jedi Council will make finding Grievous our highest priority." He gestured to Jaina, who tensed at meeting Palpatine's cool gaze. She could just feel the cold touch of the dark side around him, though the shroud over Coruscant was too thick to tell with certainty. "She provided aid to Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker."
The Chancellor smiled. "You have my thanks as well. That was very impressive, slowing down the broken cruiser as we entered the atmosphere."
Jaina nodded, resisting the urge to take up her lightsaber. "Only performing my duty, sir."
"May you continue to do so," he replied for the sake of appearances. Jaina could feel a trace of something approaching confusion coming from Palpatine, though she doubted it would last long. The Chancellor turned back to Master Windu. "Let us be off, Master Jedi."
The Jedi Master nodded, stepping aside as he held out an arm for Palpatine. Jaina took a few steps back and watched as the congregation followed the two. She glanced to her grandfather and watched as he spoke with a man she'd only seen in holos: Bail Organa, her mother's adoptive father. They spoke briefly before Anakin gave him a small bow and turned back around.
Jaina slipped out of view, standing behind one of the thick pillars. She listened as footsteps approached, and then suddenly stopped as clothes touched and ruffled. If she were to guess, an illicit reunion was occurring on the far side, and she knew exactly who they were. For a moment she considered listening in, but she had a good idea of what they would speak of. Her grandmother was obviously pregnant, and with the end of the Clones Wars fast approaching, her mother and uncle would be born soon.
She spotted Captain Typho off to the side. Jaina strode up to him and with a wide, Corellian smile said, "I would like my weapons back."
He glared, but didn't have a reason to deny her request with his charge busy elsewhere. Slowly, with grim authority, he returned her lightsaber and her DL-44. Jaina clipped her saber to her belt, then spun her blaster around her finger a few times before slamming it home into the holster at her hip.
The captain was unimpressed, crossing his arms.
"I believe I will see you soon. Perhaps tomorrow or the day after," Jaina said. She took a couple of steps back, gave him a soft bow, and said, "May the Force be with you, and with Senator Amidala."
"And with you, Master Jedi," Captain Typho replied. "Where will you go now?"
Jaina turned away, staring out into the Coruscanti skyline. She felt uneasy about where she needed to go next, but the Force was clear on the matter. "The Jedi Temple. I do need to check in with the Council."
The captain hummed with understanding.
She departed shortly after, heading back to the staircase taken up from the lower hangar. Jaina glanced back at her grandparents, embraced in the shadow of a great pillar, and smiled. She would see them soon enough, but there were matters that had to be dealt with first.
The clone troopers at the Jedi Temple didn't have someone with a cool head holding their leash, as had the pair she encountered upon landing at the Senate administrative building. Barely a minute out of her cockpit, stun cuffs were slapped around her wrists and she was relieved of her two weapons. The one who took her lightsaber was quick to head over to a Jedi and hand it over. The robed Rodian took her weapon before turning to a female human by his side. They gave her a look as they spoke, then departed to speak with someone else.
Jace whirled and screeched as a technician tried to force open the canopy of her StealthX, which was sealed tighter than the interdiction fields at the Second Battle of Bilbringi.
"Move," one of the clones demanded. She stiffened, recognizing the voice. Jaina had heard that the clones used in the war were based upon a Mandalorian bounty hunter, but she hadn't realized they were related to Boba Fett. Another clone shoved her and she started forward. Two more clones formed up with them, taking the lead as the two who had cuffed her took up the rear. While none of their blasters were pointed at her yet, she didn't doubt they'd fire on her if they thought she was a threat. Thus, she went along, even as she resisted falling into awe as she stared at the Jedi Temple of the Old Republic, untarnished by the Empire.
While the hangar she had landed in was plain durasteel, the corridors and interiors of the ancient structure were anything but. Ancient marble and sandstone, likely quarried on Core Worlds or in the ages before all of Coruscant was made into a city, covered everything. Carpets and rugs from a thousand systems were spread out everywhere, absorbing any sound as younglings and apprentices chased each other and knights paced the halls. They passed through one section where the walls fell away to reveal an expansive meditation chamber, great pillars akin to those at the administrative building holding up the ceiling almost a hundred meters above.
The clones ended up escorting her into a pristine white medical center, where several healers tended to Jedi of all ages. Jaina glanced around, making mental notes to share with the Jedi healers of her own time. Cligal and Tekli would appreciate any insight into the operations from before the Empire.
Assuming I make it back.
"Can I help you?" asked a robed man. He was a swarthy-colored human who glanced between Jaina and the four clones around her. "I wasn't informed of a prisoner."
"Medical scan and blood test," one of the clones demanded. "Once you finish, we will escort her out."
The Jedi nodded, turning to Jaina. "It'll be easier if the cuffs are taken off."
"I'm afraid we cannot do that. She arrived in an unidentified starfighter."
"I helped out Masters Kenobi and Skywalker," Jaina protested, turning to the Jedi healer. "Ask Master Windu about the pilot of the Trickster's Sword. He'll confirm that was me."
The healer turned to the clones. "Could one of you contact Master Windu while the other contacts Master Fisto? I should be able to run most of the tests while she remains under watch. I have plenty injured from the invasion and most of what I will need to do can be done without her present."
One of the clones stepped away and activated a comlink. The blue-colored hologram of a Nautolan Jedi appeared. Thick green tendrils hung from his head, arranged like a dreadlock hairdo. "Master Fisto. We have a prisoner in the healing chamber nearest the eastern hangar. May we remove her stun cuffs during a medical check?"
Master Fisto nodded. "Inform me which cell you place the prisoner in once you're finished. The Council will wish to keep tabs on her."
"Understood, Master Jedi."
They led Jaina away while the fourth clone continued speaking with Master Windu.
The healer gestured to a small white bench. Jaina waited for the stun cuffs to be removed before sitting down. He came forward with an unfamiliar device. "I'll need you to remove your gloves."
She nodded, aware of medical procedures in her own time. They would take her blood sample, and Jaina hoped they wouldn't run a genome scan. The other tests they had in the time of the Old Republic were unknown to her, since measures had changed under both the Empire and the New Republic. That final set was retained under the Galactic Alliance, though if her stay with Jag continued for much longer, she might need to undergo a few Imperial tests.
A small device with silver coloring was pressed against her wrist, stinging her as micro-needles punctured her skin and drew blood. Jaina grimaced as the device beeped, and more so when the healer turned to a nearby monitor.
"Those levels…" he murmured. Jaina looked past him and frowned. There were several counters visible, but only one was unfamiliar to her. She'd never heard of Midi-Chlorians, and she had to guess that the reading was unusually high, given the Jedi's reaction.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
The healer flinched, turning around to her. "Nothing you need to be concerned about," he said quickly. She frowned, calling out his lie. He blanched, turning to one of the clone troopers still with her. "You can take her away. I have everything I need."
The trooper hesitated, but followed through with the healer's command. The stun cuffs were slapped around her wrists once more. They escorted her out of the medical bay, the other troopers forming back up around her, and led Jaina deep into the Jedi Temple. There weren't any lifts taken down, even if she heard the sound of repulsorlifts several times during their descent.
Finally they brought her to a plain cell door. Jaina was forced into the room. She shivered upon feeling the cold wash of a Force-deadening field. It was unlikely they had ysalamiri in the Temple, but there were often technological responses to biological weapons. Before she could turn around and protest her treatment, the cell door was closed and she was left alone with nothing better to do than to meditate.
