Jaina Solo watched the ships as they drew closer. There was one starship, light freighter class. Ideally, she would be crewed by at least four - pilot, copilot, navigator, and mechanic - but could easily be controlled by as few as two or even one. Two snub fighters, X-wings both, escorted her. Neither bore the markings of any squadron.
Her own XJ3-wing, developed during the recent war against the Yuuzhan Vong, was sitting in the shadow of one of the moons of Borleias where she could get a visual of the incoming ships before they could see here. Their scanners would pick up her signal in a few minutes, but as of now they were blind.
Her eyes drifted towards the starship, a sleek streamlined vessel. Her fingers twitched slightly, wanting to be at the helm in the pilot's chair. She knew that ship; she had flown it before. A faint beep on her console got her attention. She hit a switch on the comm, opening it up to the planet side frequency. "Solo here."
"Need I remind you that all incoming ships need to be identified and processed before they can land?"
"Sorry, General Antilles. I was distracted."
"Don't give me that. You're floating in the dead of space. There's nothing around to distract you. Go."
"Yes, sir." She hit the thrusters and opened of her comm, using her astromech to send the signal to the three ships. "As a formality, incoming ships please identify yourselves."
"This is the captain of the Jade Shadow speaking. Jaina, is this all the escort we get?"
"Sorry, Mara, but my people are flying drills on the night side of the planet. Wedge wants to see how well they can function without direction from me, just in case the worst happens."
"It won't. Can I land?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Go ahead..."
She followed the three ships to the coordinates ground control had supplied. She frowned slightly. One of the Shadow's engines wasn't working. The two X-wings bore black marks that could only be acquired in a space brawl. She reached out with the Force and recognized one of the ships as her brother. She patched a connection through to him. "Hey, Jacen, what the hell happened?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Someone started shooting at us when we were leaving Tatooine. They had a few freighters and some snub fighters. I think they thought we were following them."
"That's got a bad ring to it."
"Yeah, I know. Right before we went into hyperspace, I reached towards one of the starships with the Force and there was something...familiar about it. I don't know what it was."
"Hmm. I'll tell General Antilles to have someone look into it."
* * * * * * * *
Back groundside, Jaina bypassed the usual power down checklist. She'd do it later. The landing ramp was coming down from the Shadow just as she got there. Out came a woman in her early forties followed by a man about the same age and a boy about two. The child ran past his parents to his older cousin. Jaina knelt to pick him up and hug him. "Hi, Ben!"
"Jaya," he gurgled in typical toddler fashion. Jaina rolled her eyes at her uncle. "Haven't you taught him the real version of my name yet?" Luke Skywalker shrugged. "We tried. But we gave up."
"Gee, thanks. By the way, what's this about being attacked while leaving Tatooine?"
"Ah. Well, we were attacked."
"So Jacen told me. Any idea who did it?"
"Not the faintest idea."
She nodded and glanced over at the two snub fighters that had been flying escort. Walking towards her were Jacen and Zekk, a Jedi and a childhood friend of hers. They waved, and she waved back. "How goes life in a post-war military?" Zekk asked. "What purpose can you possibly serve?" Jaina narrowed her eyes slightly in annoyance, but said nothing to the jibe. Instead, she turned to Jacen and said, "General Antilles wants to talk to you. I took the liberty of telling him about your little hairball when we were landing."
"Me specifically?"
"You or Zekk. He said that the great Jedi Masters probably had more important things to do, but you don't."
"Whatever." The two left the hanger in the direction of Wedge's office. Jaina went back to her ship to finish going through the power down with Cappie, her astromech droid.
Her own XJ3-wing, developed during the recent war against the Yuuzhan Vong, was sitting in the shadow of one of the moons of Borleias where she could get a visual of the incoming ships before they could see here. Their scanners would pick up her signal in a few minutes, but as of now they were blind.
Her eyes drifted towards the starship, a sleek streamlined vessel. Her fingers twitched slightly, wanting to be at the helm in the pilot's chair. She knew that ship; she had flown it before. A faint beep on her console got her attention. She hit a switch on the comm, opening it up to the planet side frequency. "Solo here."
"Need I remind you that all incoming ships need to be identified and processed before they can land?"
"Sorry, General Antilles. I was distracted."
"Don't give me that. You're floating in the dead of space. There's nothing around to distract you. Go."
"Yes, sir." She hit the thrusters and opened of her comm, using her astromech to send the signal to the three ships. "As a formality, incoming ships please identify yourselves."
"This is the captain of the Jade Shadow speaking. Jaina, is this all the escort we get?"
"Sorry, Mara, but my people are flying drills on the night side of the planet. Wedge wants to see how well they can function without direction from me, just in case the worst happens."
"It won't. Can I land?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Go ahead..."
She followed the three ships to the coordinates ground control had supplied. She frowned slightly. One of the Shadow's engines wasn't working. The two X-wings bore black marks that could only be acquired in a space brawl. She reached out with the Force and recognized one of the ships as her brother. She patched a connection through to him. "Hey, Jacen, what the hell happened?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Someone started shooting at us when we were leaving Tatooine. They had a few freighters and some snub fighters. I think they thought we were following them."
"That's got a bad ring to it."
"Yeah, I know. Right before we went into hyperspace, I reached towards one of the starships with the Force and there was something...familiar about it. I don't know what it was."
"Hmm. I'll tell General Antilles to have someone look into it."
* * * * * * * *
Back groundside, Jaina bypassed the usual power down checklist. She'd do it later. The landing ramp was coming down from the Shadow just as she got there. Out came a woman in her early forties followed by a man about the same age and a boy about two. The child ran past his parents to his older cousin. Jaina knelt to pick him up and hug him. "Hi, Ben!"
"Jaya," he gurgled in typical toddler fashion. Jaina rolled her eyes at her uncle. "Haven't you taught him the real version of my name yet?" Luke Skywalker shrugged. "We tried. But we gave up."
"Gee, thanks. By the way, what's this about being attacked while leaving Tatooine?"
"Ah. Well, we were attacked."
"So Jacen told me. Any idea who did it?"
"Not the faintest idea."
She nodded and glanced over at the two snub fighters that had been flying escort. Walking towards her were Jacen and Zekk, a Jedi and a childhood friend of hers. They waved, and she waved back. "How goes life in a post-war military?" Zekk asked. "What purpose can you possibly serve?" Jaina narrowed her eyes slightly in annoyance, but said nothing to the jibe. Instead, she turned to Jacen and said, "General Antilles wants to talk to you. I took the liberty of telling him about your little hairball when we were landing."
"Me specifically?"
"You or Zekk. He said that the great Jedi Masters probably had more important things to do, but you don't."
"Whatever." The two left the hanger in the direction of Wedge's office. Jaina went back to her ship to finish going through the power down with Cappie, her astromech droid.