Prologue

Ayja Laetras, a single human male in his mid-twenties, the direct heir to the Twin Star Transport fleet, sat on the small bed in his quarters on the Mon Calamari Cruiser Allegiance. He had just returned from a short vacation to Alakatha. He was the only surviving Jedi Knight from the pre-New Republic times. Snapping him out of his unconscious Jedi trance, his new mail message sounded. He opened it and began reading.


To:Commander Ayja Laetras, AyjaL@cruiserAllegiance.alliance.net


From:Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, Yavin 4, lukes@Y4.alliance.net


Message Body:


Hello, Ayja. Being the only person who knows you're a Jedi, you can figure out for yourself the validity of my requests. I am in desperate need of help here at the Academy. Tionne is providing some help, but a fully trained Jedi Master (you) would greatly help me in my duties here. So, I request that you get over here as quickly as possible and help me out.


Luke Skywalker


Ayja quickly typed up a reply.


To:Luke Skywalker, lukes@y4.alliance.net

From:Ayja Laetras, AyjaL@cruiserAllegiance.alliance.net


Message Body:

I'm on my way.


Ayja


Ayja ran toward the hangar and began the preflight checks as he dashed to the pilot's seat. The YT-2000 Reality was in top condition. It looked like a thickened version of the YT-1300, the basic version of the Millennium Falcon, but the cockpit was in the middle of the main hull and there were two bulges with turrets and living quarters on the middle of the hull, on the top and bottom.

"Reality to Allegiance control, requesting immediate take-off clearance," Ayja said quickly.

Alicia B'gati, fighter chief and one of Ayja's best friends, replied, "Leaving already? Clearance granted."

Ayja rolled his ship as it left the hangar, then pointed it at his hyperpoint. Three minutes later, the Reality accelerated into hyperspace.












Chapter I

Jungles of Yavin IV, 7:32 local time

A day and a half later, Jaina Solo crashed through the underbrush in the early morning on Yavin Four, running from not the Jedi Academy where she trained, not from her friends, Lowbacca the Wookie, his miniaturized translating droid, Em-Teedee, and Tenel Ka, the one-armed warrior princess from Dathromir, or her brother, Jacen. She ran from the feeling something was going to happen, sooner or later.

Lowie growled something, and Jaina yelled back, "Good idea. Let's head back now."

They began the last 2 kilometers of their run. Fifteen minutes later, they stood on the main landing area, breathing heavily. The whine of sublight engines announced the arrival of a starship.

"Who could that be? We weren't expecting anyone," Jacen said.

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka said. "We were not expecting anyone, as Jacen said."

"You weren't, but I was," Luke Skywalker said, striding out onto the pad. "You'll find him interesting, I can assure you."

"So what's he doing?" Jaina queried.

"You'll see, Jaina. You'll see."

The Reality began its descent to the pad, repulsors firing at the perfect time. It was obvious to Jaina that the pilot had years of practice and lots of skill.

As the ship touched down, the boarding ramp lowered. The young Jedi peered on in anticipation. They were greeted by a man in his mid twenties, who was of course, Ayja.

"Hello," he said, barely pausing as he strode up to Luke.

"This is Ayja Laetras, one of the only surviving Jedi. He volunteered to help me teach. Though I don't like to admit it, he has access to many techniques that were lost with time, plus those that are now available. The most amazing old technique is Light Side Lightning, which stuns or kills an enemy with no pain. The Light Side Lightning power come not from the hands but the eyes," Luke introduced.

The young Jedis' eyes widened.

"Really 'Fire in your eyes,'" Jacen commented.

Ayja chuckled.

"That's pretty good for Jacen," Jaina laughed.

Zekk walked out of the Great Temple, then stopped. "Who are you? Who's he?"

"So you don't have to go through the trouble of a probe," Jaina said, obviously thinking Zekk's reaction was funny, and just barely keeping control of herself, evident from the tears running down her face, "He's Ayja Laetras and he's come to help train us..." Here she lost control completely and fell to the ground, holding her sides.

"Did I miss something?" Zekk asked.

"I think, because I did too," Laetras replied.

"Mistress Jaina is laughing harder," Em Teedee said.

Lowie grunted something.

"Master Lowbacca would like to say he did not think one could laugh so hard, especially Mistress Jaina," Em Teedee translated.

Through all this, Jaina had started turning purple and motioning toward her throat.

Lowie woofed something.

"You're right! She's turning purple," Ayja said, looking down. "Jaina, calm down."

She still laughed, though not as hard. Ayja took a deep breath and relaxed. He let calm flow from the Force to himself to Jaina and back. She slowly stopped and took a few deep breaths.

"Thank you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I think someone tried to get me to do that. I felt a tug, something keeping me from control. Then, somebody tried to choke me through the Force. When Lowie noticed I was turning purple, he alerted you. The second you tried to calm me, it disappeared."

"Interesting. Maybe whatever tried that stunt was watching. But why?"

"When we defeated Brakiss and his Shadow Academy, he wasn't too happy. We know he escaped, and maybe this is another plot to get back at us," Jacen suggested.

"Another?" Ayja queried.

"He's stretching the truth a bit. This is the first thing that's happened," Jaina said.

Tenel Ka quirked an eyebrow at her. "An interesting observation, considering the trouble we have had with the Diversity Alliance."

"Ok. Related to Brakiss," Jaina replied.

"That's a small relief," Ayja said.

Five minutes later, Ayja stood in a large room near the top of the Great Temple. Jaina, Raynar Thul, Zekk, and two other trainees sat down on a few chairs.

"Welcome. I expected more, but hey, this is the first day," Ayja greeted the trainees. "The first thing I would like to show you is..." he disappeared in crackle of energy and reappeared on the other side of the room "...this."

"Wow," Raynar said, eyes wide.

"Well, I could show you something else..." he shimmered and reappeared on the other side of the room, but another image stayed on the other side of the room "...like this. Which one?"

Jaina, who was the most advanced trainee, said, "I'd like to try the teleport thing."

"Concentrate on the area of ground or air where you would like to be. Open yourself to the Force and picture yourself moving through the Force to that area."

Jaina relaxed for a second and reappeared-over top of the chairs, sideways, three feet in the air. Ayja caught her through the Force and set her down.

"Maybe you should have tried something shorter ...that technique takes an incredible amount of concentration," Ayja chuckled, eyeing the thirty-foot distance, as Jaina checked herself for bruises and looking a little bit embarrassed.

"It took me 5 years to master that. Hopefully you'll learn a bit faster," Ayja comforted.

"Phew," Jaina said, smiling a little bit.

Raynar relaxed himself and managed a ten-foot jump.

Jaina shrugged and did a fifteen foot jump. Zekk, smiling at the challenge made twenty feet. Ayja grinned, and jumped the entire sixty foot length of the room.

"No fair!" Zekk said. "You have more practice!"

Ayja shrugged, and began to relax for his trip back. He disappeared in a crackle of energy. Jaina, Zekk, and Raynar watched the area where Ayja would have to appear. And he didn't.

"Um, Jaina?" Zekk asked.

"Um, Zekk?" Jaina asked at exactly the same time. "Isn't Master Laetras supposed to be over there?" Jaina indicated the area with a nod. Then she screamed. Ayja appeared right behind her laughing hysterically. Zekk figured out what Ayja had done and joined in. Jaina turned around and glared daggers at Ayja.

"Well, it's something I wanted to show you," Ayja said.

Raynar looked on, slightly amused. He had been aware that Ayja had cloaked himself through the Force. He withheld that information, for reasons unknown to him.

For the next three hours, Ayja taught the young Jedi Knights by example, and with humor. By the end of that session, they all were in an thoroughly excellent mood.

"Next is lightsaber training...my way," Ayja said. "Jacen, Tenel Ka and Lowie will be joining us for this part of the training."

Until now, it hadn't dawned on the other Jedi that Ayja would be their teacher for most of the day.

Ayja continued. "They want to see what the most important part of my training is like, and then they will probably join. Now, let's go."

Ayja, Jaina, Zekk, and the three other trainees met up with Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowie in the main hangar, where, incidentally, the Reality was parked.

"Follow me, Ayja said to the trainees as he walked toward the exit of the main hangar.

Jaina looked at her twin in surprise. Jacen returned the look. Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow, and Lowie growled a question.

"Master Lowbacca would like to question where our current destination is," Em Teedee said, hovering beside Lowie.

"A small clearing I know of," Ayja replied.

Five minutes later, the young Jedi and Ayja were sitting on boulders outlining the clearing.

"I have a completely different style of fighting, and hopefully, you'll find it interesting. Would anybody like to spar?" Ayja said.

Tenel Ka slid silently off the rock she was sitting on and ignited her lightsaber's turquoise blade. Ayja, taking the challenge, jumped off his rock and pulled out a sky blue lightsaber, staying in a stance that was unknown to the young Knights. Tenel Ka moved forward and lunged, but Ayja slipped to the side with a speed and maneuverability that was surprising for his height and age. Now Ayja went on the offensive, hammering Tenel Ka's defenses from seemingly all directions, moving fluidly as if the lightsaber was part of him. Tenel Ka tried a jump over Ayja, but he used it as an opportunity to grab her lightsaber with the Force and deactivate it.

"Nice job," he said, tossing the deactivated saber.

"That's an interesting style, Master Laetras," Jaina said. "Could I try?"

"Why not? Come on down and we'll get started. Just open yourself and let the Force guide your movements," Ayja instructed.

Jaina ignited her violet lightsaber and Ayja activated his own. The blades clashed, throwing light over the other students. Ayja stayed on the defensive, blocking Jaina's blows. Then he switched to offensive at full strength, hammering at Jaina's defenses. Jaina blocked a long sweeping attack and flipped her lightsaber around. Ayja just barely blocked that and took offensive again. Jaina lunged at Ayja, but he was already behind her. She spun around and blocked Ayja's blow. Her hair whiplashed around into her face and blurred her vision for a second. Ayja lunged but Jaina spun out of the way. Ayja cloaked himself and appeared behind her. She took a jump backwards, and waited for Ayja's attack. He spun around in an attack that completely surprised Jaina. The next thing she knew, her lightsaber was in Ayja's hand, she was on her back, and Ayja was helping her up.

"What did you do?" Jaina asked.

"You let your guard down, so I took the opportunity," Ayja replied, handing the lightsaber back to Jaina.

Over the next four hours, Ayja fought every single one of the students twice and won all the spars, but they still had fun. Hard to believe, but true. He then gave each trainee some pointers on his style and some defensive techniques that would help the trainees individually, when fighting anyone using a regular style.

By this time, it was two o'clock in the afternoon, Yavin time, so lunch was overdue.

"OK, now we're two hours late for lunch, so we had better get going," Ayja said.

Lowie grunted his agreement.

"No arguments here," Jacen said.

Ayja led the way on the thin path through the Yavin jungles. Jaina slowed so she could talk to Tenel Ka.

"Hello, Jaina, my friend," Tenel Ka said.

"Hi," Jaina replied. "Tough training, huh?"

"Mentally and physically," Tenel Ka replied. "Still, it is exciting, and fun."

"So you're actually trying to have fun?" Jaina said, with a mock expression of surprise.

"Yes," Tenel Ka said, almost grinning

Five minutes later, Ayja was working in the kitchen, preparing a Correllian meal that all the students had asked for, a Wookie cheese and meat dish, and a Hapan salad for Tenel Ka. Ayja walked to the huge oven and pulled a very large dish of spicy cärreèn meat and took it to the main dining table. He walked back in to the kitchen and brought out Tenel Ka's salad, with an array of Hapan dressings.

Tenel Ka looked at Ayja in surprise. Jaina, Jacen and Raynar had the same expression after eating a small piece of cärreèn.

Lowie looked surprised at his dish.

"What?" Ayja said.

"So other than being a Jedi Master, you're also a culinary expert?" Jacen asked.

"These Hapan dressings are very rarely found prepared correctly out of the Hapes cluster," Tenel Ka said, taking a few bites of the salad.

Lowie barked in surprise.

"Master Lowbacca would like to inform you that a Wookie chef could not have prepared his meal better," Em Teedee said.

"Are you a chef?" Raynar questioned.

Jaina continued staring, and then said, "He must be..." then she picked up a few pieces of cärreèn, and began eating.

"It's one of my hobbies," Ayja explained, sitting down and taking some cärreèn.

"I see," Jacen said.

He grabbed some of Tenel Ka's salad before she could stop him. Tenel Ka gave a small smile to Ayja. Jacen's face turned sour. He sat there wincing. Then, amazing everyone, Tenel Ka laughed. Jaina and Jacen, after he spat the salad into his napkin, began to. Lowie started chuffing laughter, and Raynar burst into laughter as well. Ayja looked on, then smiled, then grinned, then began giggling, and then began some major laughing.

So when Luke entered the room and saw every trainee laughing, including Tenel Ka, his reaction was understandable:he dropped the datapads and papers he was carrying, his mouth wide open, which sent the trainees into renewed waves of laughter. Tenel Ka and Jaina had tears streaming down their faces. Lowie was chuffing and leaning back on the seat, and Ayja, Raynar, and Jacen were rolling on the floor laughing. Ayja slowly brought himself under control with a huge amount of Force calming. He calmed Lowie, then Raynar, and then Jacen. By now, Jaina and Tenel Ka were within their own control.

"How much did I miss?" Luke said.

"Tenel Ka laughing," Ayja replied. "A lot."

Twenty minutes later, Ayja was relaxing in the room he had been given. A knock at the door startled him. He sensed the person outside, noticing it was Jaina.

"Come in," he said.

"Hello, Master Laetras. Could you show me your ship?" Jaina asked.

"Yes, and unless I'm teaching you, please call me Ayja. And please pass that on to the rest of the students."

"Thank you, Ayja."

Ayja led Jaina toward the hangar. He walked right past the guards and stared at something on the outer hull of his ship. The boarding ramp lowered, and Ayja motioned Jaina on ahead of him. She walked forward into the ship and was greeted by a R2 unit. Ayja strode up beside Jaina.

"Hello, Deefour," Ayja said. "This is Jaina Solo, a student here."

Deefour bleeped a hello and trundled back to the access panel he had been working at.

"Would you like to see the cockpit? This is just a cargo bay," Ayja asked.

Jaina nodded, and Ayja walked up to a door that swooshed open. Jaina walked into the brightly lit living room area and noticed Ayja near the front of the room at a door. He pushed his hand onto a black screen and told Jaina to hurry up.

They both walked through the door into a cockpit so high tech that it amazed even Jaina. Ayja walked down to the pilot's station.

"Would you like to take her for a spin? By the way, 'she's' the Reality." he asked.

"Of course!" Jaina said excitedly. "If it wouldn't be any trouble."

"It's not. The copilot's station is behind me. Reality to Yavin Four control. Takeoff requested."

"Reality, Yavin 4, clearance granted."

Ayja powered up repulsors. He then twisted the power up for sublight engines. The Reality moved out of the Great Temple and shot into the upper atmosphere. He then flicked off the repulsors and put the Reality into orbit.

"I can't find the repulsor controls," Jaina said.

Ayja pointed to a section of the panel.

"It's a touchscreen," Ayja said softly. "And have you looked at the viewscreen?"

Jaina saw a very complex Heads Up Display, or HUD. It displayed velocity, trajectory, orbit, target, weapons, shields, and hull information.

"It's there so you don't have to look down during a battle. Would you like to see the rest of the ship?" Ayja said, enjoying Jaina's reaction.

He walked out of the cockpit and waited for Jaina. She couldn't take her eyes off the cockpit area, so she bumped into Ayja.

They walked into a lift that Ayja had been standing next to. It whooshed up and they walked out on the bedroom deck. Three small beds were nestled up against a wall, and a large bathroom sat off to their side.

"Why three?" Jaina asked.

"I get lots of visitors," Ayja replied simply. "In the lower bulge there's a cooking area and some dining tables. Now, how about we head to the engineering section?"

Jaina smiled happily. "How many more modifications are you tinkering with?"

"Targeting computers, repulsors, some with the star tracker."

"As in low synchronous orbit?"

"Yes. So, let's go."

"Ayja?" Jaina said, inspiration highlighting her voice, do you think I could spend the night up here? I could really help with what you want to do."

"I guess. Luke knows and trusts me," Ayja said. "So let's get to work, Jaina."

Ayja slid into a small access tunnel and motioned for Jaina to follow.

"Are you sure about this?" Jaina asked.

"It widens after a few meters."

Jaina followed Ayja into the tunnel and crawled the tunnel widened out into a room with access panels completely covering the walls and the power core in the middle of the room, glowing a brilliant green and casting it upon everything.

Jaina,bathed in green light, simply said, "Wow."

"It took a long time to integrate, but it's easy to get at stuff," Ayja explained. "I hope to patch my 13 targeting computers into one circuit today, and maybe tweak the repulsors. You can try to get the star tracker working."

"So it's more a computer job?" Jaina said, still awed at the engineering area.

"There will be some manual work, but yes, mostly computer work."

Ayja opened a large access panel labeled 'targeting computers,' pulled an integrated toolbox out, and found what he was looking for.

"Jaina, the star tracker is that panel over there," Ayja indicated with a nod.

He continued with his work and Jaina walked over to the panel Ayja had indicated.

Three hours later, Ayja had slid himself into an access tunnel to finish work on the targeting computers.

"Jaina?" he yelled.

Jaina, who had wedged herself into a very small access tunnel to connect some circuitry shouted in reply, "I'm sort of busy!"

"Deefour?" Ayja yelled to his droid. "Hand me the macrofuser, a hydrospanner, and a 50 cyberfuse."

The little R2 unit trundled over to a toolbox and brought the three things Ayja had requested. A few minutes later Ayja climbed out of the tunnel and headed up to the cockpit.

"Be right back!" he said over his shoulder to Jaina.

Ayja released some debris, locked the computers on to it and moved the dorsal gun to the position indicated by the computers. The blasts hit dead center. Ayja activated another function, released some more debris, and targeted it. Both the dorsal and ventral turrets rotated toward it and fired. He activated one last thing and set a tractor beam to pull in a piece of debris in on an attack vector. The dorsal turret rotated at it and fired. Five seconds later, 50 micrometeors bounced off the shielding.

Ayja crawled back and met Jaina coming toward the cockpit.

"Done," she said simply.

"About time for an evening meal?" Ayja queried.

"That's one thing I'm ready for," Jaina said, putting on one of the lopsided grins that trademarked the Solo family.

Thirty-five minutes later, Ayja had a meal prepared. The wonderful smell of mynock filled the ship. Well, roasted mynock.

Jaina sniffed at her food and exclaimed, "Ithorian saffron?!"

"I did a huge haul of seeds and herbivore life for them, and offered me fifty saffron plants. I put them in a greenhouse, and they grew," Ayja said.

Jaina took a bite of the mynock.

"Good?" Ayja questioned.

Jaina nodded enthusiastically. "Tomorrow could you cook instead of teach?"

Ayja laughed.

Three hours later, Ayja and Jaina had finished tinkering with the sublight engines and were thoroughly exhausted and were ready for some sleep. Jaina fell sleeping into bed and Ayja didn't fair much better. They didn't even awake to the only signs of a mysterious disaster.