Title: Changing Course
Chapter: Chapter Four
Author: bactaqueen
Author's e-mail:
Category: New Jedi Order, Alternate Universe
Keywords: Kyp Durron, Jaina Solo, NJO
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: New Jedi Order up to Rebel Stand
Summary: Jaina Solo had a tough road back from the Dark Side after the death of her brother. In the process, according to canon, she earned Colonel Fel. But what if she hadn't? What if Kyp Durron was her redemption?
Disclaimer: "Star Wars" copyright George Lucas. Characters copyright respective owners. No profit is being made and no infringement is intended. Characters and situations inspired by the Enemy Lines duology, written by Aaron Allston, and in some cases, the situations have been modified for the purposes of this story. Again, here, no profit is being made and no infringement is intended.
Changing Course: Chapter Four
The following morning, after nine good hours in a real bed, Jaina was standing in bay thirty-eight, slot eleven. She watched as the Raider's Prize was refueled. It was early enough that the only other activity-aside from their pre-flight preparations-was that of the mechanics repairing one of the base's regular ships. Apparently, it had come just a little too close to one of the black holes.
Jaina closed her arms over her chest and eyed the Hapan freighter. It was disc-shaped and fairly battered. It looked as if it had been commissioned sometime during the Rebellion and needed to be retired. But like some stubborn old generals Jaina could name, it refused to be scrapped. She smiled faintly. It really wasn't much of a prize any more.
A sound off to her right caught her attention. Curious, she turned. There, moving on repulsors, was the X-wing Kyp had borrowed from the Jedi base. Jaina felt a slight twinge of envy. She'd have loved to have her X-wing.
Unfortunately, it-and her droid-were lost. The last time she'd seen either was back at the last Jedi stronghold, just before the strike team had headed off to the worldship.
The droids had finished refueling the freighter and now moved to the X-wing. Kyp's once-new XJ6 was so much debris in the battlefield above Hapes. This one wasn't as new and shiny as his had been, but it was well-maintained.
Jaina started the walk-around inspection of the Prize. As she trailed fingertips along the deep maroon hull, she probed at the complex tangle of emotions that surrounded Kyp in her mind.
He'd been something of a little brother to her father, but she did not see him as an uncle. Which, she supposed wryly, was probably a good thing. She'd always respected him to a certain extent-he was the most powerful Jedi in the order, whether she wanted to admit it or not, and he knew how to use his abilities. Add that to the swiftness of his rise to Master, his above-average piloting skills, and his obvious interest in her, and Kyp Durron was definitely a fascinating package.
Jaina couldn't remember ever not knowing Kyp. She'd been nearly three before he'd entered the picture, but her memory was spotty for the first few years of her life anyway. For a long time, he'd just been part of the background: an older Jedi, close friend of the family, and one more impossible personality to live up to.
On Dubrillion, just before Chewbacca died, it had occurred to her that Kyp could mean something more to many people. She'd seen the way Anakin looked at him, felt the way Jacen regarded him. Jaina had put off making up her mind; at that point, she wasn't willing to give a lot of thought to change. At sixteen, she'd assumed that life would always be the same.
Jaina's smile was bitter as she rounded the stern. She'd been wrong on so many levels.
Her mission to find Kyp had changed her and changed their relationship tangibly. At first, it had been simple-or so she thought. They'd gone from being Han's friend and Han's daughter to being equals, something that was close to friendship. Even now, though, Jaina wasn't sure how much of that was real and how much of that had been Kyp's influence.
She halted, and faced the engines. As she stared into the exhaust system, she considered what happened afterward. She'd felt betrayed, taken advantage of. She'd had to cope with genocide-something she still had to come to terms with.
Jaina knew that it had been the beginning of a long, slow spiral into darkness. She could see that now. When Kyp had betrayed her, her response had been to harden, inside and out. It was just easier to push people away, to do her job and not get personally attached. Her personal attachment made her vulnerable.
Absently, she reached into one of the engine mounts and tweaked a loose bolt. Jaina found it too loose, and searched about for a wrench to tighten it.
But what else did she feel for Kyp? A certain kinship, now. A different kind of respect that stemmed from the sharing of similar experiences. And there was also that tickly feeling low in her belly when he gave her that smile...
Jaina wrenched her finger along with the bolt and cried out in surprise more than pain. She jerked her hand out and dropped the wrench into one of the pockets on her flight suit, then lifted her finger to her mouth.
'That's what you get for thinking about Kyp Durron, girl.'
She scowled. Five minutes of peace without her subconscious telling her off. That was all she wanted. Was that too much?
Guffawing Wookiee laughter broke through her thoughts, and Jaina turned to find the ginger-furred Jedi laughing at her. She scowled again.
"I'd like to see you get your furry paws into that space," she said, gesturing with her injured hand.
Lowie wanted to know what she was doing with her hand in the engine in the first place?
"Loose bolt," she answered, and shrugged. "The engine housing is welded to the frame, but what if it shook free during hyperspace travel?"
He conceded her point, then glanced around. He wanted to know if she was ready.
"Almost." Jaina noted the duffel at his feet and gestured to the boarding ramp. "Stow your gear. I'll finish the external check, if you want to do pre-flight...?"
One affirmative woof and the retreating figure of a lanky, twenty-three-year-old Jedi Knight was all the answer she needed.
Jaina turned back to the engines to finish her check. The last thing she needed was to flame out during a jump transition and kill herself and her copilot. She used Force-amplified vision to scan the engine block and found nothing dangerous or out of the ordinary. That was good. She found herself praising the last owner of the Raider's Prize. Unlike some ships she'd flown, it was in excellent condition. Like some of those generals she knew...
She placed a palm on the hull and let her gaze rake over the ship. The maroon color really wasn't so bad, she decided. As she examined the hull plating, a grin blossomed on her face and she had a new appreciation for Queen Mother Tenel Ka's sense of humor.
There was the symbol of the Ni'Korish-the Jedi-hating faction that Tenel Ka's grandmother had founded during the Clone Wars-high up on the hull. It was Jaina's assumption that the ship had been seized in a raid on the pirates and confiscated. The government of Hapes had renamed the vessel accordingly, and had commissioned it for official use. Probably as a way to root out Ni'Korish loyalists, or on pirate raids.
Jaina shook her head, and made a mental note to thank Tenel Ka the next time they spoke.
A blast of psychic energy filled the docking bay and demanded the attention of all those present who could give it. Jaina turned to see Kyp Durron enter the hangar like he owned the place. She gave a mental sigh. It would seem that Kyp was back to his usual arrogant self. And he was coming straight at her.
She caught herself wondering why he'd bothered to get all dressed up for four days in the tiny cockpit of a snubfighter before she realized that he wasn't dressed up, it was just the effect. Beneath the flowing black cloak shot through with silver threads, he wore a plain flight suit, not quite black, not quite gray. His dark hair was still damp from a recent shower. He flashed her that smile that made her stomach clench, and her hand twitched. It wanted to slap him again.
"Good morning, Apprentice."
To hide her discomfiture, she rolled her eyes. To resist the urge to slap him, she folded her arms over her chest. "In a good mood this morning, aren't you?"
"I had nice dreams." The wink he sent her made her face feel hot for some reason she couldn't place.
"Laser brains," she grumbled under her breath.
"I heard that." Kyp glanced around and ran a hand through his hair. "Looks like we're almost ready to go."
Jaina nodded. "Almost. Your droid is around here somewhere, by the way. He seems worried about something."
Kyp chuckled. "As long as he isn't getting philosophical, I think we'll be fine."
"You hope." She looked up at the boarding ramp of the Prize, then back at Kyp. "We'll be ready in a few minutes. Lowie's running through pre-flight now."
As if to prove her point, the freighter lifted three meters off the deck on repulsors and then set back down.
Kyp looked thoughtful for a moment, then he grinned again. "I guess I'll have to hurry to beat you."
Jaina began to turn away, to board the freighter. "I've got the best copilot in the galaxy. You'll have to beat him."
In the cockpit, Lowbacca was running through the pre-flight checklist when he felt Kyp enter the docking bay. The Jedi Master had a presence that was hard to miss; he stood out like a Wookiee in an Ewok village.
Lowie spared a glance out the view port in time to see the human stalking across the deck toward Jaina. He shifted his gaze to center on his friend. He was worried about her-he could feel her turmoil in the Force, and no longer was she the bright, burning nova of energy that she had been when they'd met for the first time on Yavin 4. Instead, she seemed to have collapsed in on herself, compressing into something as hard and cool as a Corusca gem. Even her scent had changed: Jaina smelled like a hunter now.
But the Dark Side energy that had tainted her on the worldship and Hapes had receded to the edges of her white presence. That was a good thing. She was still hurting, but that pain had dulled slightly. And whatever he felt about Master Durron, Lowie knew that he was a big part of the reason for Jaina's improvement.
He didn't like her decision to apprentice herself to Kyp, and he didn't have to. But as a friend, he did have to respect it. As Chewbacca's nephew, he could even to some extent keep her safe. He intended to.
On Hapes, she'd called in the Life Debt. Lowbacca wasn't going to let her get away with taking advantage of his honor like that. He'd known what she was doing then and he hadn't been able to do anything about it; now he could.
Lowbacca watched the exchange between the human Jedi. He'd seen meetings like this before. Kyp said something, and his eye twitched. Jaina's cheeks changed color. Lowie watched, and tried to remember where he'd seen it before.
Then he remembered. He'd spent the last five years or so in the constant company of humans and had learned to read their non-verbal communication pretty well. Jaina was his friend, and he knew her better than he knew other humans. The reactions she was having to whatever it was Kyp Durron said were similar to the reactions Colonel Jagged Fel had had to some of the things Jaina had said.
He narrowed his eyes and stared more intently at the two Jedi. Human attraction wasn't something he pretended to understand, but he knew how to recognize it. He'd seen it back at the Academy between Jacen and Tenel Ka, even between Jaina and Zekk. On Hapes, the attraction between Jaina and Colonel Fel had been so strong, he'd been able to smell it. And now, Lowbacca was witnessing a different kind of attraction between his friend and her new Master. What it meant, he didn't know. But it felt dangerous.
Lowie grunted softly and flicked a few switches that activated the repulsor jets. The Hapan freighter lifted off the deck satisfactorily, so he set the ship back down. Jaina was an adult by human standards, and she'd proven that she was capable of taking care of herself. So he'd let her take care of herself. But he'd be there, standing right behind her, in case she needed to fall back.
Happy with his decision, he tested the navicomp and ran a quick check on the engines. He tested shipboard systems. He checked their supplies. The screens all came back green. He felt the growing glow of satisfaction of a well-kept ship, and found himself wondering about the limits of the engines.
"I know what you're thinking."
Lowie glanced up to find Jaina in the hatchway. She smiled and continued, "The answer is: You'll get your chance to find out. We're flying through the Pit just for the hell of it."
She slid into the pilot's chair. "I figure we'll jump to just outside the Cron Drift, then across to the Pyria system." She punched a few buttons on the navicomp console and displayed their course for him to see. "We only come out once, in the Inner Rim. We'll cut through Vong space, no problem."
Lowbacca growled that she was the pilot.
Jaina grinned. "You want to fly the Pit?"
He grinned and growled an affirmative.
Jaina chuckled as she raised the boarding ramp. "This is going to be fun."
Jaina flew the Maw and took one of the mapped routes. She and Lowie didn't sink into an empathic link for the flight, or for the Pit. Once they were clear of the Maw, Jaina turned primary control over to her copilot and took the time between the cluster of black holes and the asteroid field to relax. Once they were in the Pit, however, Jaina's pilot training wouldn't let her rest.
By the time the freighter and its X-wing companion had made it safely to open space, Jaina was exhausted. And hungry. So, too, was Lowie, and she knew that Kyp had to be anxious for hyperspace so he could get some rest.
As Lowie was entering the coordinates for the first leg of the journey and Jaina was watching the scans, the comm unit crackled to life.
"Good flying, Prize. Kind of nice to see what she can do from this angle."
Lowie grumbled an answer and Jaina shot him a puzzled look.
"What did he say?" Kyp asked.
Jaina shook her head though it was a voice-only link. "It doesn't make sense."
"Oh."
Finished, Lowie growled readiness. Jaina nodded at him, then reached for the control lever.
"May the Force be with you, Kyp. See you at the rendezvous!"
Pinpoints turned into star lines and coalesced, forming a tunnel of white-blue light. Pilot locked down the controls as copilot set the alarms, and then the pair of lanky brunets unbuckled themselves from their crash webbing and rose.
Lowie growled a question.
Jaina chuckled and started out of the cockpit. "Yes, I am, actually. Breakfast was what, eleven hours ago?" She sighed as she stepped into the galley. "What do you want?"
[Bantha steaks,] he said. He edged past her.
She nodded, then began pushing buttons on the bulkhead-mounted food synthesizer. "Good idea. I'm getting sick of stew, anyway."
The meals popped out of the slot on the synthesizer, and Jaina handed the larger one with the still-bleeding meat to the Wookiee. She was well aware of a Wookiee's appetite, but she knew that Lowie would have no problem with simple tripled human fare.
She followed him through the hatchway, to the gaming table and slid into the booth. When they were both settled, she commented on what she'd been feeling from the young Wookiee all day.
"You have something on your mind," she said, leaving no room for argument. "About me and Kyp."
Lowbacca stared at her for several long moments, his amber eyes sympathetic. Then, voice quiet, he began. He asked if she was all right.
Jaina pushed the food around on her plate and avoided her friend's worried eyes. "No. I don't know if I ever was, if I ever will be. But I'm better than I was when you left Hapes."
He nodded slowly and told her he could see that. But he wanted to know, what she really Kyp's apprentice?
She sighed and dropped her fork. She'd known this question would come; it had surfaced on Hapes, of course it would everywhere else.
"I've done some terrible things since Anakin and Jacen died," she began quietly. "I've hurt a lot of people, and I've made a lot of mistakes. Kyp understands those mistakes, maybe even better than I do."
[What about Mara?]
"Mara loves me. So does Uncle Luke. And I know that they'd both try to save me, but they have their own problems." Jaina paused to munch on a bite of bantha steak and collect her thoughts. She went on softly, "They'd try, but in the end, they wouldn't be able to understand. Kyp does. He's made the same mistakes. He'll know how to help." Jaina looked up, and Lowie was surprised-and pleased-by the fire in her eyes. "I fell, Lowie. I fell a long way into the dark, and I played with the Dark Side, and I shouldn't have."
Lowbacca stiffened at her admission even as Jaina sank back. Her eyes drifted closed, and the tone of her voice changed.
"It was such a rush of power," she breathed. "But it hurt people around me, and I'm sorry for that." Her eyes came open, and she gave a helpless little shrug. "There's not much I can do about it. He pulled me up. He brought me this far. And he's promised to help me through it. Maybe I'm helping him." There was almost a hopeful note in her voice.
Lowie grumbled something about the worth of Kyp Durron's promises.
Jaina's laugh was bitter. "I need to believe in something, Lowie."
He hesitated, then ventured a comment. Master Skywalker was no stranger to the Dark Side...
Jaina shook her head, suddenly sure of herself. "No. It has to be Kyp. I know it does-I can feel it."
Taken aback, Lowbacca could only nod. After a moment, he offered a solemn growl.
Jaina's eyes widened. "I couldn't ask you to do that. It was wrong of me to call it in, and I can't tell you how badly I regret them dying. I don't even know if I can ask you to forgive me."
Lowie gestured dismissively with one massive paw and told her that those Wookiee technicians had known the risks, but had believed in her enough to take them. There was no reason for him to forgive her. It was a good idea, playing Goddess and using the enemy's faith against them.
Jaina blinked. "You think so?"
Lowie inclined his head. He did. He rumbled the formal phrases that conferred the Life Debt to her. Then he quirked the Wookiee version of a lopsided grin. Who better than a Wookiee to protect a Goddess?
"And who better still than a friend?" She gave him a warm smile. "Lowbacca, I accept. On one condition: at the end of this war, the Debt is paid. In full."
Lowie growled dubiously. Jaina shook her head.
"It is not dishonor. You've given us so much..."
He could see that he'd insulted her honor, so he bowed his head. She took it as acceptance and seemed satisfied.
"But still friends?"
Still friends, he assured her.