Chapter Five – Targeted Control
The Suprosa touched down at Wraith Headquarters' docking bay maybe 20 minutes after she had departed the Temple hanger. But Adra knew all too well what kind of yelling could go on in twenty minutes...especially if Mace Windu was involved.
For the most part, the Jedi Master conveyed a quiet sense of having an intimate connection with the Force that never seemed to break off. But those who'd been in the Council chambers when Mace Windu was presiding on a disciplinary case would tell you differently; and they no-doubt would in a heartbeat. The Clone Wars era Jedi was not one that anyone liked to cross, even someone from the Skywalker/Solo line of things.
With a startled realization, Adra found herself standing next to her X- Wing. She shook her head, mentally scolding herself for her lack of attention. As many of the Masters she had been around had told her, if you didn't pay attention you would live a much shorter life. And, of course, you'd probably die a more embarrassing death.
Her thoughts pushed aside as Face's X-Wing landed on the bay. A smile flickered quickly across her face, and then just as quickly was replaced by her usual uncaring look. Adra eyes traveled from the X-Wing towards the entrance to the building, and then to the person exiting it. Gaeriel Captison might've been a politician, but she was also one of Adra's best friends.
Returning the mental greeting to the other, Adra allowed her attention to, once again, be claimed by Face. The pilot was angrily exiting his X-Wing, his droid whistling angrily and rushing off to congregate with the more agreeable R2 and R5 units. No doubt, Face had given the vaping droid a proper bawling out for Kell's bad judgment.
Nicola's and Bror's crafts landed a moment later, allowing the droid another escape from its obviously-pissed owner. Adra almost felt sorry for the thing; almost. It had, on numerous occasions, caused more trouble than it was worth, but all-in-all, Vape was a pretty agreeable little thing. The two Jedi got out of their crafts, Bror going around his A-Wing to inspect a spot on its underside, Nicola towards Adra.
"How'd it go?" Gaeriel's voice broke the stark silence that had settled restlessly over the hanger.
Kell and Cloud landed all but a second after the question met the air. The look Face wore turned from bad to worse quicker than Han Solo could fry an Imperial. Adra knew that Kell was going to be getting a second round.
As soon as the pilot's feet had touched the ground, Face was on him. "What the Sith did you think you were doing! You nearly got Wedge demoted; do you know what that would've done to this squad?!"
Kell stabbed for protests as quickly as his mind could grasp them, obviously unprepared for the onslaught. But he wasn't quick enough to blot Face's flow of words.
"It would've served you right if Mace Windu had yelled at you! You deserve every bit of it!" Face fumed in a rage all his own, then fell back on his earlier argument. It seemed that that was his greatest annoyance of the whole affair. "If Wedge had gotten a call from the Jedi Council concerning something one of his squadrons had done while on loan, what do you think his-"
Kell held up his hands in defeat, scooting out from the space between Face and his X-Wing. "All right, all right already! I get it! Calm down, would ya?! I've heard it enough!" And with that, Kell dragged Cloud off toward the building to have a little 'chat'.
Adra looked quietly over toward Gaeriel, a smile crossing her face once more. "Does that answer your question?"
Gaeriel nodded, stunned. "Yes, most definitely. Face, there are some messages for you in your office."
Face rounded at Gaeriel, now throwing his temper at the undeserving Jedi. "Great, really great! If they've got more bad news, there'll be some blaster bolts flying around."
A shocked look crossed Gaeriel's face as Face turned his yelling at her. Adra suppressed the urge to comfort her quiet friend; she never got in the way, unless you counted the fact that the Imp thought she was a hindrance merely because she was a Rebel pilot.
"No, actually. They're to do with X-Wing repairs..." Gaeriel's voice trailed off as Face continued fuming.
Nicola took that moment to take charge; just as Face opened his mouth, presumably to yell some more, the Jedi brought her knee up and foot out, catching Face sharply in the stomach. Face doubled over, the wind knocked out of him.
"You done, Poster Boy? Well, you're done now. First it was Adra over a tiny mistake that turned out to be irrelevant anyway, then it was Kell, though I can understand that as the rest of us would've loved to do the same. Only next time you decide to bawl someone out, do it someplace in private, where the rest of Coruscant's ears will be safe! So from now on, just shut the Vong up; I don't want to hear another negative remark from you for the rest of the week. If I do, you'll be in more pain then you're in right now."
Face nodded dimly and began a slow retreat toward Wraith headquarters. Nicola, however, turned to Adra.
"Now Adra," she began again, her voice totally changed from the moment before, "What's say you show me how to rewire a droid to the X-Wing. You can show me on Face's."
Adra smirked at her friend and then glanced over in time to see a half-panicked, half-resigned look on Face's face. A simple nod in answer to the inquiry sent her looking to his X-Wing.
"Sounds good. First things first though. We need to find that Sithing droid of his." Face looked truly panicked at that.
"Adra, don't rewire Vape...please?" his face pleaded silently, but a glare from Nicola sent him scurrying inside instead of persisting.
"He's probably run off with the other droids by now," Nicola said with an amused smile.
Adra nodded and went over to the group, calling Face's droid to her. The droid seemed to hesitate at the sound of a human voice calling, though looked much happier with his required compliance knowing that this human, at least, wouldn't be bawling him out over something that wasn't his fault.
* * * * *
Kell led Cloud hurriedly down the hallway towards a room, any room, to chat with his friend about this sudden revelation given by Mace Windu. So the bawling out hadn't been exactly enjoyable, but he'd learned something. After going down the hall a bit, Cloud wrenched his arms out of Kell's grip. Kell, caught off guard, decided to let his friend go without a fight. Rather than leaving Cloud to go off on his own whimsical devices, he followed him to the lounge where Cloud proceeded to slump in one of the chairs.
Looking over to his friend, Kell shook his head. The pilot looked more upset, more ruffled than Kell had ever seen him; not that he didn't have a perfectly good reason to be, Kell sympathized. Cloud at last looked up from staring into the chair opposite him and turned his gaze on Kell.
"Well? Are you going to bawl me out now?" Cloud's voice cut into the silence; defiant, as usual. Perhaps he was imagining it, but behind the defiant determination, Kell thought he heard a note of what might've been uncertainty...even panic.
"No, why would I bawl you out? I just wanted to ask you a few questions. Like why you didn't tell me you used to be a Jedi. How'd you get kicked out? Can you still do any of that Jedi stuff?" his voice was rather exited; Kell decided than rather to wait standing by the door, he'd take a seat. And he did, with very little flare or style.
Cloud looked at his friend, almost flabbergasted by the string of questions that had come out. Still, Kell had always been honest with him; he would be the same.
"I didn't tell you that I was released from the Temple because nearly everyone I've shared this detail with has ended up hating me, for one reason or another. I got kicked out because, apart from other things, I took Mace Windu's old lightsaber and turned it into something like a thermal detonator," here a smile flicked on his solemn face...ah, the memories, "As to still being able to do 'that Jedi stuff', yes I can do some. I wasn't around at the Temple long enough to learn anything past levitating stuff and using the Force to talk and whatever... But it's not something you can just turn on and off. You either can use the Force or you can't."
Kell's face told him that he had been right in thinking that he could be honest. A smile began to creep over his features, at last breaking into a grin. Kell, for all his enthusiasm, managed to keep sitting. Turning Mace Windu's lightsaber into a bomb? It was brilliant! He grinned slightly at the thought of it, then silently berated himself in the same breath that he hadn't thought of such a thing first.
* * * * *
Nicola looked over Adra's shoulder with interest as she removed the outer covering from one section of one of the X-Wing's engines. Their actions appeared completely normal, though the conversation humming between them way anything but.
Adra, I've got a better idea. Let's not actually blow this thing up...Let's just make Face fret about it until he comes and makes a fool of himself. Nicola's voice in the Force registered easily in Adra's mind.
Only a smile on her face registered to Nicola that her friend had gotten the message. Sounds good to me. This should be fun.
Adra directed the droid to come closer the X-Wing, fiddling with some of the wires as she went. Then she looked up and toward the window of Face's office where he stood, watching anxiously.
So Face, Adra's voice coolly echoed in Face's mind, causing him to start at the unexpected intrusion. Adra nearly laughed aloud at the look he made. Would you prefer something to remember it by, of can I just vape it?
A laugh managed to force itself through at the sight of Face running out of the building he had been so keen on getting to all of fifteen minutes earlier.
"Please Adra! In case you haven't noticed, the New Republic is a bit limited on supplies right now. I'll do anything!" Face's outburst was through by the time he skidded to a halt in front of the two Jedi.
Adra caught her friend's eye, grinning slightly. Nicola grinned back, forming her own ideas. Before Adra could respond, Nicola did it for her.
"Anything, Face?" At Face's unsure nod, she grinned. "Then you can take Adra on a date."
At the gaping look Face wore, Nicola smiled, as she knew she'd caught him off guard. Reading him easily through the Force, she grinned slightly as both unsure anxiety and panic rushed off him.
He finally seemed to find a way to answer. "I-if I have to..." Face grinned slightly at Adra.
Nicola looked over at Adra's face at it slowly got angrier and angrier before answering Face. "Yes Face, you have to." Nicola figured it was a good a time as ever, so she voiced her next bit, knowing Adra would undoubtedly want to murder her. "Besides, she's not nearly as mad as she appears to be."
* * * * *
YOU SITHSPAWNING PIECE OF BANTHA FODDER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! Adra's voice reverberated through the force, shocking Nicola.
Language Adra; what would your mother say? Nicola's reply, though concise, was not only a way to continue talking with Adra, but also to hide a bit of laughter that was rising in her.
She'd reprimand me and then give me ten better words to use. A smile began to cross Adra's face and she laughed very slightly. Then she looked over toward Face. Kell and Cloud were now standing next to him; they had undoubtedly come out during Nicola's and her discussion. "I'm sorry, did you want to put a word in?"
"Oh, but it was so fun not letting them talk!" Nicola's voice was full of a genuine laughter and sense of fun. Are you still going to kill me Adra?
Kell took that opportunity to pipe up that he had, in fact, something to say. "I told my sister about your little error on Cloud City." His grin made it very clear to her that he had not only told Tyria, but he had done so with a very dramatic fashion.
Adra looked over at her friend, smiling slightly. No, I don't think I'll kill you Nicola. She walked over towards Kell, putting a hand on his shoulder. Still smiling, she saw the slight fear rise in Kell's eyes as it turned from friendly into a sickeningly sweet smile that everyone recognized as fake. A second later, a green blade and constant hum of a lightsaber stationed under Kell's chin hit the air. "You're so nice Kell. I wish you hadn't."
* * * * *
Jaina smiled slightly at the scene unfolding before her. She was leaning against her X-Wing, the one that nobody seemed to have noticed landing, and was trying quite hard to not laugh. Finally, she shook her head at Kell's remarks and pushed off the smooth side of her X-Wing to go over to Kell and put a hand on his other shoulder. With a smile that many of the enemies she'd faced would've told you to retreat from- and quickly- she held Kell's shoulder in a lock.
"You know Kell, since you told Tyria, does that mean I get to tell Wedge that you nearly got him demoted?"
The look on Kell's face was enough. He gaped and turned as best he could to look at her, despite her grip. "You wouldn't!" His face made it quite clear that he was hoping, rather than expecting.
Jaina was about to respond when a figure exiting the Wraith building stopped her flow of words. Tyria had come out with a datapad and comm. headset on her head. Jaina loosened her grip very slightly on Kell, her interest sparked by Tyria Tainer's sudden appearance.
The hacker walked over to her brother, Adra and Jaina, not seeming to notice the green blade that was still firmly planted beneath her brother's chin. "Adra, I think I figured out what's wrong with the system we have. You see..."
And before Jaina knew what happened, Tyria had gone off into a long rant filled with extremely long and technical-sounding terms that she would need the Jedi Archives just to help her find how to spell them. No doubt Adra understood perfectly.
Her hunch proved right. Adra was nodding every now and then and by the end of it, a new understanding seemed to be etched on her face. Well, understanding, along with what appeared to be annoyance. Jaina watched in silence as Adra closed down her lightsaber and walked over to her fellow slicer and friend's side to look at the datapad. Shaking her head, she smiled very slightly.
"That's all it was? How annoying," Adra was looking as if she couldn't believe she had been such a blind idiot to not have noticed. Jaina herself was mentally shaking her head. Those two needed to have their own section in the Archives; they were just amazing when it came to computers.
"I assume you've already fixed it then?" Adra's voice cut across Jaina's thoughts, as she had been amusing the look on Mace Windu's face at the suggestion of putting Adra Tallon in the Archives.
At Tyria's nod, to which Jaina was again unsurprised, Adra took out her own datapad. After thumbing in a few things, she entered a pin and began editing in another thing to Wraith's systems.
"I promised I'd do this..." Jaina smiled smugly as Adra glared up at Face, as if it were his fault. "Sarcasm."