VI
niiman
Jedi Temple
Hangar Bay Three
The City of Spires, Coruscant
Jaina crossed the hangar with long, almost urgent steps. While she had appreciated wearing traditional Jedi robes, she felt better back in her flight suit. She even had her blaster back, safely holstered by her side. Her dad would give her no end of grief if she accidentally left it behind in the past or some alternate timeline. She still wasn't sure which she had found herself within. What she did know was that there was a chance, a genuine chance, to prevent the rise of the Empire and her grandfather from becoming Darth Vader.
With nothing else to do until her grandfather returned, she headed to her StealthX. The astromech was comfortably docked in his hatch, handling basic maintenance until they could depart. A couple Jedi trained mechanics were giving her fighter a final inspection, though she would certainly triple check their work. From what little she had gathered, the Jedi of this era cared little for ship maintenance. Among the Jedi she knew, there was a greater deal of care given to their fighters. Perhaps it sprung from the era they had grown out of, but there were peculiar differences between this Order and the one she belonged to.
She wondered if what she noticed came from the sense of disconnect she felt from the Jedi around her. Perhaps there were reasons for their taboos and regulations, but Jaina found she much preferred the more human Order her uncle had established compared to the cloistered Order her grandfather had been raised in.
The only danger she could foresee was that her grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, would allow his fear to control him. How the other Jedi would handle him left her worried and feeling a touch of fear herself.
"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." Jaina had heard those words from Master Yoda following the revelation of Palpatine's true identity. His gaze had lingered on her, and she suspected the ancient Jedi Master had spoken those words to her grandfather as he had to Uncle Luke during his training on Dagobah.
She tried to reach out into the Force and find her grandfather. It did little good, for he felt uncertain and disconnected, as if every fiber of his being was being pulled apart at the seams. It was so unlike Jacen when he was sliding to the dark side that she couldn't help but ponder if her aborted descent while at Hapes better emulated the fall of their grandfather than her twin's transformation into Darth Caedus.
Jaina sighed at the bitter memories. Her trials with the dark side following her Anakin's death served as a grim reminder of how something so instinctive and natural could destroy good and talented Jedi. Her anger had nearly consumed her, had drawn her to the edge of falling.
I only need to think about what happened to Jacen when he allowed his fears about Tenel Ka and Allana to control him. He projected those fears onto the state of the galaxy and turned the dispute between Corellia and the GA into an all-out civil war.
"Master Windu," came the voice of her grandfather. Jaina turned, StealthX forgotten, and watched as he approached the master. Anakin glanced towards her, a look that was apologetic and fearful, so clouded by doubt that her heart nearly broke. A moment later, he broke their gaze and quietly told Mace Windu what the master had learned from her.
She watched them speak, and allowed her thoughts to drift into what her future could be like, had there been no Empire, no Darth Vader, no Death Star and destroyed Alderaan.
Would my parents have met? Would Jacen and I have been born? Would Uncle Luke and Aunt Mara have ever met and married? What of Ben and Anakin? Could that Vader-less, Empire-less galaxy defeat the Yuuzhan Vong? What of my friends, my Uncle Chewbacca, the other Jedi I know? Would Jacen have ever fallen to the dark side without Lumiya to guide him, without Vergere to corrupt him?
Would I have ever met Jag?
"Knight Solo?" She blinked, turning to a familiar Nautolan Jedi. "Master Windu has requested you join us."
"What for, Master Fisto?" Jaina asked, even as she reached out with the Force. She could feel her grandfather's frustration and its weaker reflection in Master Windu.
"To arrest the Chancellor."
Jaina nearly scoffed. Palpatine was the Sith Lord, the one responsible for devastation and destruction on a scale the Jedi present could not fathom. He was a monster who needed to be destroyed, not a man who could be arrested. He had to die, so that worlds like Naboo and Kashyyyk could have peaceful futures. So Alderaan could remain a shining beacon of peace and democracy in the galaxy, instead of being transfigured into a grim reminder of a tyrant's power.
"I doubt arresting him will work, but I will come with you," she said, glancing at one of the clone gunships that Master Windu and two other Jedi were boarding. Jaina turned back to Master Fisto. "The Grand Master of my time named me the Sword of the Jedi when I was knighted. I will do my duty, even as we march into a trap."
"It will be five against one," Master Fisto replied, as if any of them could handle Palpatine alone. "You are being brought along as a courtesy."
Jaina stopped herself from scowling before giving the master a curt nod. Master Fisto led the way to the gunship. She glanced back at her grandfather as she boarded. Anakin stared at her with conflicted, clouded blue eyes, the uncertainty and doubt in his heart pulsating in the Force for any and all to feel.
She smiled at him, and felt a trickle of relief in return. Anakin gave her a nod, and as the gunship departed the Temple, Jaina found a sense of certainty welling within. She was more certain now, with the threat of Palpatine looming over them, than when she faced Darth Caedus, who had once been her twin brother.
