Chapter Eleven - Saber Squadron

The Malacia landed outside Saber Headquarters, hardly twenty minutes after Jaina's red alert had been sounded. Though she knew the squad leader as Jaina Solo, her fellow Council member, she supposed she had to deal with knowing her as the Yuuzhan Vong Goddess Yun-Harla for days like these. Oh well. She climbed down from her cockpit, giving her craft a once-over before turning to the red-brown building opposite. Saber base. To some it looked like a random building that the New Republic had placed there, but to those who were on the squadron, it was as close a home as many had. Well, it was that case with other squads and their bases at least. But what with 11 of 12- and the one was an exception Jaina willingly made- Jedi on the squadron roster, one wouldn't find it hard to believe that most made their homes in the Temple. Again, however, the squad leader was an exception. She was more focused on Naboo- namely Theed Palace where her cousin was currently the Nubian Queen.

Her eyes randomly roamed around the bay, noting that no one else had docked yet. Her suspicions seemed confirmed by the lack of crafts stationed around her- well, unless you counted Anakin Skywalker's TIE fighter that he'd somehow, miraculously, managed to keep from destruction after his Vader days, and also his X-Wing. But, those weren't really oddities at Saber base. They were nearly always there. He had too much fun in his sithing Sekotian ship to worry about where he left his other crafts, even if they did attract a lot of odd remarks that the squad didn't need. However, Anakin Skywalker never seemed to realize in full that because Jaina Solo was Goddess Yun-Harla, she had enough attention fixed on her without his helping it. TIE fighters on New Republic soil never led to anything good, or so most people were concerned.

About to step into the building, an odd ringing sound pressed itself into the air. Speaking of the Sith, she thought absently to herself, here he comes now. Off in the distance she could see an X-Wing yielding to the far-superior speed of a green colored craft. The Jabitha was hard to miss at the best of times, let alone when the 70-year-old mad man who owned it decided to let all of Coruscant's ears and eyes have a look at her. The Sekot ship seemed to double in speed as it approached the base, but then, just as quickly, it slowed. Thracia could tell that the reduction in speed wouldn't be enough to land by the time the craft made it to the building. Henceforth, she wasn't surprised when Anakin sent the ship into a vertical dive. The Skywalkers and Solos would always have that insane gene in them, and if anyone had any doubt as to which family member all of them inherited from, they wouldn't for long.

In the next instant, Anakin Skywalker was out of the green-scaled ship, patting the thing's hull fondly. While she herself was a pilot, Thracia would never be able to understand what made him love ships so much. Not that it was really worth anyone's efforts to try. Anakin Skywalker, with his through-the-roof midichlorian level, was one of the mysteries of the universe that even Mace Windu and Yoda couldn't figure out. Both had long given up trying. And, while Mace had that ability to be able to yell for days without loosing his voice, it was common knowledge that after he yelled at Anakin Skywalker, he would take far less occupants in the Council chamber the next day. And all that was if Anakin didn't yell too much in return. If he did actually get worked up enough to give Mace some of his own, Force have mercy on the ears that listened in. Mace usually took about two Jedi the next day, if that.

Thracia nodded to Anakin as he looked over at her, though she could tell that he had far more interest in talking with the person who had just landed the X-Wing he'd passed. Anakin Solo was up in the cockpit. That would explain a lot of things. The X-Wing had been landed next to Anakin Skywalker's Chosen One. It came as hardly a surprise when, having received his X-Wing as a gift from his grandfather, Anakin Solo had named his Chosen One II. It was common knowledge that the Anakins were very much alike, which was almost a shame. To the Council's relief, however, Anakin Solo didn't have nearly the same temper as his grandfather before him.

Before Anakin Solo got out of his X-Wing, Anakin Skywalker had walked over to where Thracia was standing. He nodded to her by way of greeting, watching his grandson.

"Hello Thracia. How's Mace holding up?" His words passed off as a joke between the two, though more so to Anakin than herself.

"As well as can be expected after having to yell at you. I think this is the closest I've ever seen him to having his voice lost," she returned. To her mind, it was a funny prospect, but she let none of it show on her face. In spite of the fact that she wouldn't mind rooting Anakin on, she couldn't let him think it was okay for him to yell back at the guidance the Council was trying to give him.

Anakin Solo chose that moment to come over to them, his boyish face a grinning wreck. "Well, I still say I'd love to be the one flying her into battle."

"And I still say that you won't be. That's my job," was his grandfather's reply.

Thracia merely shook her head, leading the way down the hall to Jaina's office and Saber's main conference room.

* * * * *

Jaina glared after her grandfather's speeding ship; this was certainly no time for him to be goofing off. But he always thought it was a good time to have fun, whether it really was or not. A whistling bleep from Sparky made her laugh at the droid's disapproval of the Sekot ship's speedy debut, leaving her nodding in agreement.

The Trickster touched down a moment later, Jaina herself hopping out. Her helmet was tossed roughly back into the cockpit, and as a reward for her actions, Sparky whistled another disapproving note.

"Oh hush you," was her all-but-annoyed reply. The Jedi pilot walked over to the door, and hit the release. The doorway opened, allowing her access to the hall. As she started to walk down it, the sounds of the pressure release sealing once more met her ears. She glanced over her shoulder just once, in double-checking Sparky wasn't going to try anything, and instead saw Twin Suns and Mica Alvarez land. Then Jaina turned back to the hallway. Walking into her office-slash-conference room, she nodded to Thracia, a fellow Council member, and then glared over at her grandfather. Under normal circumstances, she would be asking him a sithload of technical questions about the Jabitha, but being a military officer was just slightly more important right now.

"Skywalker, that was unnecessary under the current circumstances. You're not taking that thing into battle," she said as she passed where he and her brother were sitting. Mica had walked into the office in the middle of Jaina's sentence, though she was doing a very good job of hiding the laughter that Jaina felt on her mind.

Her brother, however, was laughing up a storm at his grandfather. As he finally seemed to get some control over what he was saying, he grinned at their grandfather, patting him on the shoulder in mock sympathy. As if to add insult to injury, he said, "Must stink to be placed under your granddaughter. Thankfully she wasn't around enough when I was younger for me to think of her as my annoying elder sister."

Then he looked over at Jaina, flashing a wary grin which she nodded to. Her brother's words might not be the exact truth, but she'd let them pass for now. She had, in fact, been around when he was younger. It was their parents that were somewhat lacking that that department. But if it made him happy to think of her not as an annoying old sister, then it worked for her.

The entry of one Kyle Katarn caused her to stuff her thoughts away for a later time. Hearing his words as he passed her brother and grandfather, she silently thanked Piggy's and Sharr's extensive 'Goddesses don't smile at mortals!!' lessons.

"I'm not going to say a word," was all that Kyle needed to say. It was enough to send both Anakins into fits of laughter and it was all Jaina could do to not join in. Thankfully, Astarta, Jaina's twic, walked in that moment, defusing the situation a bit. She went to her traditional spot next to Jaina.

"Alana Ynrer says to make sure that your pilots double check their ships before taking off. She doesn't want to have to pick up any more EV pilots than she has to."

Jaina merely nodded in a reply to the serious Dathomir. That was one of her unconscious goals: make Astarta laugh or smile within the next 5 years. Before Jaina could offer a reply, the three Jedi Barabel hatchmates walked into the room, their hisses punctuating the stiff air. In spite of the emotion they appeared to be expressing, it was common knowledge that it was a form of expressing amusement and nothing else. The three nodded to Jaina as they took their seats.

It was Tesar who spoke, saying, "We are here Stickz; Tails One, Two and Three." Jaina nodded to Tesar, and in turn the rest of the Barabel hatchmates.

"Always good to know," was her calm reply. Jysella's entering of the room, however, was anything but calm. The Corellian pilot hurried into the room so fast, with her head down to read a datapad, that she collided head-long into Mica's back. A startled noise escaped both ex-smugglers, and then Jysella quickly apologized.

"Oops! Sorry Mica, I wasn't looking."

Kyp Durron, in his usual fashion, was the last squad member in the room. Jaina hardly glanced up at her other wingmate and partner, even if he wasn't technically called the first of the two. She saw him give one of his obnoxious smiles to Jysella, and was almost pleased to see the glare he got as a return. Then Jysella looked down once more as Kyp took a seat. Jaina, however, continued reading her datapad.

After a moment, she looked up again. Her eyes flashed around the room, now that it was complete, and then she cleared her throat.

"Wedge has sent you all instructions. But I should have you know that we're going to be off the ground with Vanguard-" she saw several pilots glance over at their wingmates with a hint of a smile in their eye- "right after Comet beings their assault. Meaning you all have enough time to check over your X-Wings and inform either myself or Alana that there's a problem. Make sure you refuel. Oh, and nobody shoot at the Advanced TIE."

Here, she glared at her brother and grandfather. Up to that point , she had just been fulfilling her normal 'make sure you do, and make sure you don't' list that was a required thing so that she couldn't be blamed for an error later on if she assumed her squad knew the drill. Which they did. However, she didn't want to argue that against three angry generals. Then she continued on with her 'speech'.

"Anakin- my brother- is going to be flying that sithing thing. The green Sekot ship that's going to be in there is, as we all know, Saber Twelve- my grandfather Anakin. Don't gun at it, even if it can heal itself, though I'd hardly think I need to tell you all this. But if that ship can't get over it's wounds, it'll die and then we'll have a very mad Anakin Skywalker after our heads," she paused once more to glare at her grandfather in particular, then looked around at the entire group. "Check your instructions, sign in with your flight leaders and make sure your wingmate doesn't have anything they've overlooked on their crafts. I don't need to have a squad fall flat on it's face because of a sithing weapons malfunction." With that, she dismissed them all, glaring after the Anakins as they walked out.