Chapter 3
"Hey, This is great!" Jaina said looking at all the different kinds of ships. She started to point out all the different ships and naming them to her brothers.
"I can't believe Dad let us go!" Jacen whispered to Jaina. She nodded and looked at the senator.
"What starship are we going to get, Senator?" Jaina asked eyeing the new X-wings. She saw her uncle get into one. He was in an orange flight suit and he looked like the boy her mother had shown her from a holo-picture. It's was the time of the Rebellion when she had taken it. She remembered seeing her uncle's hair cut. It was awful! Her mother and her laughed about all night. Now her uncle was clean cut.
"You will have a choice of a X-wing, A-wing, or a Y-wing. I would choose now, we have a battle to get to. Your father has asked to have extra shields on your ships, but all we can give is the protection of the other star pilots. You must stay near them. I have given order to kept you three safe." The senator said leading them to their ships. Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin already knew what ship they would get. Jaina hopped into the X-wing and put on her helmet. Excitement and nervousness ran through her veins. She looked over to the A-wing, which her twin brother had gotten. He gave her a thumb up and a grin that mimicked her father's. They both looked over to the Y-wing to see if their younger brother had gotten in all right. He gave them a nod and looked at his controls. Suddenly their uncle's voice came over the communications system.
"You three stay near me at all times. Use the Force and reflexes. You're all good pilots and Jedi. May the Force be with you all." Luke said. He had an uneasy feeling about this.
******
Han watched his children get into the starfighters. He closed his eyes and his heart ached. // Please let them come out of this. // Safety for his family always came first and now he is putting his own children out into battle. They're barely teenagers, not even close to being adults and he was putting them out there. Luke had promised him that he would do his best out there to protect his niece and nephews. Leia came in and sat in the co-pilot seat. She watched Han for a moment, then touched his shoulder, and kissed him on the cheek.
"Luke will take care of them, and we'll be out there too." Leia said, but something was tugging at the back of her mind. "We can get them out of there, you know. They haven't lifted off yet."
Han thought for a moment. If he told his children to get out of those ships just before the go, he would lose their trust. Han did trust them, all of them. Jaina and Jacen promised to watch out for Anakin and Luke promised to watch out for all three. Plus, they promised to stay near the Falcon. "No." Leia looked at him surprised. She nodded and looked at the controls. She looked back up to see her children lift off with their uncle into battle.
******
Excitement ran through all of the Solo children. They watched as the clouds rushed past them. They followed their uncle into space and saw the battle that was raging on. Jaina felt sudden fear in her youngest brother. Through the Force she soothed him and tried to calm him down. He sent out thanks and Jaina could tell that he was a little bit more relaxed. Over the comlink, Luke told them to stay near and then their father said the same thing. Jaina looked behind her and saw the Falcon coming towards them. It rushed past them and Jaina sent out a reassuring message to her mom.
Jacen couldn't believe that he was out here. He looked over to Jaina, who was looking down at the controls. He watched as his uncle led them to the warships. He saw his father ship rush past him and he felt his parents worry. He knew his father was a wreck right now because all of them were out here. His mother gave him a kiss before he left and had almost started to cry. He didn't want to leave like This, but they needed help.
Anakin felt something tugging at him. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't think it was going to be good. Fear was starting to fill him. He tried to brush it aside, just like the way his uncle had taught him at the Academy, but it didn't seem to work. He felt a calm, soothing message from Jaina. It calmed him to sense his sister's presents and calmness. He reached out to the Force and said thanks. He saw his father's ship roar past them and he called out to his mother. She gave him some encouragement and her love. He followed his siblings and uncle to the battle ahead.
******
Han saw all three of his children as he rushed past them. He felt vulnerable having them out here. If anything happened to them… Han cut off the thought. He roared towards the mothership and started to fire. It seemed like thousands of TIE, Headhunters, and Uglies came out, swarming towards the starfighters. Han's fear caught up with him and he started to fire at anything that came anywhere near his children. Leia ran up to the top gun well and started shooting.
"I hope they'll be alright. Luke, please take care of them." Han prayed.
******
The Solo children soared into battle with their uncle. The ships came at them full force. It was almost overwhelming. Actually to them, it was. It took all they knew of the Force and training to keep up. They flew in formation. Anakin in the middle and Jaina and Jacen were flanking his sides. Their uncle was in front of them, behind them, or to the side, depending where they needed him. The battle begun.
******
"Hey R2! Fix that!" Jaina yelled back to her uncle's droid. Her uncled had insisted that Jaina took it on her X-wing. R2-D2 beeped back something and it showed up on the screen.
"I'm working on it!" Jaina yelled back answering R2. Jaina knew her uncle loved the little droid and probably felt weird without him. Two TIE fighters came straight for them. Their twin ion engines screaming. Jaina held her ground, or air, and came in to protect her younger brother. The shots came in hard. It rocked Jaina vigorously and she almost went spinning. She heard her uncle call out to her. She calmed herself and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she saw even more fighters coming at them. She felt her brothers' fears and felt fear herself. // How are we suppose to handle this? // Fear started to cloud all three Solo children's minds. Luke felt this and went to his niece and nephew's mind to calm them. Jaina and Jacen felt this and eased up. Anakin, on-the-other-hand, was still scared. Jaina and Jacen sent him soothing thoughts and encouragement to help. Anakin noticed it and felt better. He looked over to Jacen and gave a nod and then to Jaina and gave her a small smile. More and more fighters came and the little armada that was out for Munto Codru was getting smaller and smaller. Jaina looked over to her twin and gave him a worried look. In a few moments, he came over the communication system.
"Hey, want to hear a joke?" Jaina heard her uncle chuckle and saw her younger brother shaking his head in amusement.
"Sure." Jaina said then braced herself for the worst. She dodged an Ugly and shot down a TIE.
"How many nights does Uncle Luke need to meditate?" Jacen said then blasted a Headhunter out of the sky. He moved out of formation then came back again.
"How many?" Jaina asked with humor in her voice. Her uncle was shaking his head.
"I'll tell you when we get back together." Jacen promised.
Jaina knew what her brother was doing. He was making a promise that he'd be coming back. Jaina didn't know that he had communications open to their parents too. Jaina was looking over to Jacen. She had a bad feeling about something. She looked back down to her controls and saw that her shields were coming down.
"R2! Get my shields back up to full. I need some torpedoes ready too." R2 replied with various beeps and hoots. "Great R2! Did you get the torpedoes ready?" More beeps. "Alright. Thanks."
Jaina aimed at the mothership and fired. Two proton torpedoes roared towards it. A brave or stupid TIE rammed itself to one and the other hit the mothership and fire occurred on the haul. Jaina gave out a victory yell, but the battle was far from over.
******
Han and Leia fought hard against the, what seemed like thousands, fighters. The blasts rocked the ship and sparks flew everywhere. C-3PO yelled and complained about everything. Han was about to get up and turn the droid off, but then he saw Jaina coming in to protect Anakin. Blasts hit her ship and she started to spin. Fear pulled at Han's heart. Then he saw Luke come in and help. Leia came down and looked at Han, who had a scared face on. She looked out and saw Jaina trying to control her ship. Leia called out to Luke, but he was already helping. Jaina was able to control her ship and return to the formation they had made. They battled the TIE, Headhunters, and Uglies worrying about their children. It was distracting to try to fight and look after them at the same time. Then they heard Jacen come over the communication system. He asked Jaina if she wanted to hear the joke. She accepted and he told the joke. Then he said he would tell her the ending of it when they got back together. Leia and Han knew that Jacen was making a promise to them that they would come back.
******
More and more fighters came. The Solo children along with their uncle and the rest of the small armada were working as fast as they could. It was getting harder and harder. Jaina watched as the leader of the armada was blown apart, then another on the other side of her. Fear started to come up again, but she forced it down. Jacen did the same. Again her youngest brother's fear didn't. Four TIE fighters came towards them and five more a little bit behind them. Jaina could tell her youngest brother was trying to put down his fear. Blast fire was everywhere. Jaina heard R2 scream and then nothing. She groaned. She brought down two fighters, but more came. More blast fire came and she couldn't handle it. She looked at her younger brother as he pulled away. He was heading towards the planet. Jaina turned to follow him, then *it* happened.
******
Jacen flew past the debris of the leader of their group. Fear came up again. He felt it from his siblings, then he felt Jaina push hers down. He followed her example and did the same. Jacen still felt fear from his brother. He was still trying to push his down, but he couldn't. He was too afraid. The TIE fighters came in a full force. Blast fire was everywhere. Suddenly he heard R2 scream over the communication system and then a groan from Jaina. He took down a TIE then saw his brother turn back towards the planet with his sister tailing after him. Jacen turned around to follow, then *it* happened.
*******
Han and Leia worked at the controls and fought their way back to their children. Luke was flying around them, protecting them. They were so close to them when a blast hit Anakin.
"Anakin!" Jaina and Jacen screamed at once. All they heard was his terrified scream for help. Then more blast fire came and hit Jaina and Jacen.
"I'm hit!" Jaina cried out. Leia screamed out her children's names. Han was living in a nightmare. All three children, hit, and crashing done to the planet below. Fear, anger, sadness crossed his mind and heart.
"Pull up!" He cried out to his children. He was racing as fast as his ship could go. "Pull up!"
"Luke! Help them!" Leia cried out, crying. But Luke couldn't get away from the 5 TIE fighters, 2 Headhunters, and an Ugly. He cried out for his niece and nephews, but he couldn't get away. Leia watched as all three children entered the atmosphere of Munto Codru.
******
"Anakin!" Jaina and Jacen cried out, fearing for their brother's life. Then both Jaina and Jacen's ships where hit.
"I'm hit!" Jaina cried out, but still fearing now for both her brothers. Their ships were heading towards Munto Codru, fast. Jaina knew this was it. She pushed down her fear and felt her twin do the same. // We have to save Anakin. We promised. // Jaina said to her brother through their link. // O.K., what do we do? // Jacen asked. // We'll have to stop his ship from crashing. We have to give into the Force and let it guide him down to a safe landing. The only bad thing is, we won't be able to control our ships. // She thought to her brother. // Alright, let's do it, a promise is a promise. // With that they gave into the Force fully. Through the Force they joined to become stronger. Before it was too late, they sent a message to their mother and uncle telling them that they loved them and that Anakin was going to be fine. Also to tell their father they loved him very much and that they were going to miss them. Closing their eyes the focused on Anakin's twisting ship, not noticing they were spinning and heading fast towards the planet's ground.
******
Anakin screamed when his ship was hit and now heading towards the planet. He looked back to see that his brother and sister had followed him. Suddenly he heard Jaina scream that she was hit and he looked back to his brother, who was also hit. They started to plunge towards the planet. He was spinning and it was a blur of blue and green. Then he felt his ship begin to slow down and the spinning was coming to a stop. He looked to both sides of him and saw that Jacen and Jaina were still spinning. He cried out to them, and then he knew what was happening. Jaina and Jacen are helping him land, but sacrificing themselves. Then he remembered the promise the twins had made to their parents.
"We'll take care of Anakin, we promise!"
Tears came down Anakin's face. He screamed and screamed for them. Then he heard their voices, "Anakin, tell Mom, Dad, and Uncle Luke we love them." Jaina said to him through the Force, then he heard Jacen, "And take care of my animals…and yourself. We made a promise you'd be O.K., so tell Dad and Mom we kept it!" Anakin felt his ship skim across the trees and slowed to a stop, while his brother and sister's ships violently crashed into the dark forest.
TBC