First chap = disclaimers.

Thanks to Lynx who prodded me to write this next chapter. It actually turned out a touch longer than anticipated, so the scenes dealing with the others got pushed into the next chapter.

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Jaina shivered as she walked into the building that housed mother's apartment. The others were all gone. Ani was leading a rampage on the invading forces that had come from Callista. They had captured four Jedi so far and killed another ten. All in the four days since the attack on Ani's trial.

Leia had succeeded in rousing support for independent strike teams of fighters to swarm over the hidden bases that the rogue Jedi had established in Republic borders. Those bases had been conveniently hidden by paid off politicians who thought that they could benefit from a slight regime change.

It explained a great deal about the resistance of the Senate to go against Callista. All this time they had thought that it was disbelief about the return of General Ben Kenobi, only to find out that it was greed and stupidity. The mere thought made her sick.

On the other hand, Leia was happier than Jaina had seen her in years. Jaina finally realized that her mother was a warrior, just not the warrior that Luke was. Leia was a sneaky diplomat who would always be willing to heft a blaster or lightsaber for the right cause. Flushing out corrupt politicians was what the Force seemed to have in store for Princess Leia.

Apparently, the Force had babysitting in store for Jaina Solo. Being one of the best and the brightest pilots, she had been stationed to protect Coruscant. Callista's Jedi had proven that they could and would attack anywhere and any time. The Republic needed Rogue Squadron at home, so home they stayed.

Jaina stalked into the lift and punched in her mother's floor. Han, Chewie and Mara were out digging up information in places Jaina would rather not know about. Leia was working late on coordinating defense plans for the Republic, the Empire and Hapes. Bant was giving lecture to various militaries on how to fight a Jedi. Tenel Ka was at her home helping to orchestrate their defense tactics.

And, Ani… Ani was off doing Force knew what. He had borrowed the fastest ship he could pilot and taken off with a lightsaber and more restraining devices than a Hutt slave trader. Of the Jedi captured, he had caught three of the live ones and killed eight of the dead ones.

The other live one had surprisingly been Leia's prisoner. The Jedi, Garen, Jaina thought the name was, had sneaked up behind the Senator while she was getting a cup of tea. The Force apparently flowed very strongly through Leia when she was surprised. She had Force shoved the guy against the wall and proceeded to give him a concussion with her metal teapot.

With all of the activities of the other members of the family, Jaina was left to take care of Little Ben tonight. Unconsciously, she stared into the small mirror in the lift. Her hair was rumpled. Her flight suit stained from soup being spilled on it. She had been too tired to change out of her fatigues when she got off of her flight duty and had decided to eat lunch with it on. That had been a mistake.

Curling her lip in disgust, she got off of the lift and went to the door. Ben would no doubt be happy to spend time with her instead of his nanny droid and C3PO.

Her brow furrowed in concern as she reached the door. Something did not feel…right. The feeling of the darkside snaked out towards her. Instantly, she held her saber in her palm, but she did not ignite it.

She quietly reached out to the door panel and hit the manual button. A display panel emerged allowing her to key in a slow opening for the door. Instead of whooshing open, they parted only enough for her to slip through the crack and did so much quieter than normal.

As she entered the apartment, she realized that she was indeed correct in her warnings from the Force. The nanny droid had been cut in half. Threepio's speaker mouth had been welded shut and his legs hacked off. The flickering light in his eyes told Jaina that the droid was still operating on some level.

She hesitated as she heard a soft growl coming from one of the bedrooms. Ben's bedroom to be exact. She quickly and silently crept to the bedroom door.  A hole had been cut in the center of it showing that the four-year-old had tried to lock out the invader.

In the corner of the room, Ben Skywalker was curled around a bleeding Binks who was growling at a lone intruder. With a curse, the dark haired intruder flung his fist at the boy and dog, but it stopped in mid-air.

He cursed out loud and swung again. This time, his fist went a little further. Jaina could feel the Force swirling around in the tiny room. Ben's superior strength giving way quickly to the man's superior skill.

Gathering the Force, Jaina lunged through the small opening of the door. Her lightsaber swung in a graceful arc toward the invader. It was no surprise to her when her blade was met with his.

"Xanatos, I presume," Jaina spat as she danced away from the dark Jedi.

"You presume correctly. I see my reputation proceeds me."

"Only that you are sneaky and snaky, and the physical details, of course."

"Such compliments from such a lovely lady. Tell me, do you really like the stuffy Jedi? Do you truly wish to be around the cold and uncaring Jinn or his little puppy dog Kenobi?"

"General Kenobi didn't strike me as particularly puppy doggish."

"Oh, a bit defensive for the old one, eh? You do know what happened to his last girlfriend don't you? Poor Cerasi, he let her die because of his stolid ways. She loved him, and he used her."

"I don't believe you. Besides, even if what you tell me is true, that only affects me on a personal basis, not a professional one. I don't think that Kenobi or Jinn has ever been caught trying to kidnap a child. Your boss, on the other hand, has quite a bit of a reputation that you seem willing to carry on. I'd say you were the puppy dog."

Anger sparked in Xanatos' eyes and their fight began in earnest.

As Jaina backed out of the room she called in to Ben, "Ben, stay here! Don't come out. Try to get Aunty Leia on the comm.!"

"Aunty Leia? That stolid little politician? Like she'd be any help," Xanatos cackled.

"She caught one of you."

"Garen? Don't make me laugh. He was an uninspired padawan and an even more uninspired knight."

Jaina rolled to her left to avoid a blow, "Well her 'stolid' ways allowed me to see through your little speech on how horrible Kenobi was. I bet you thought I'd fall for your smooth talking."

Xanatos grinned and swung down at her lightsaber, igniting sparks that showered in the mostly dark room, "You wound me. I've been told I'm very good at my speeches."

"Yeah, well they were more than likely trying to get at your money. I can't imagine what other assets you might have. Jinn beats you on height and musculature, my grandfather beats you on wit, and I'd hate to break it to you, but Threepio over there beats you on looks."

A roar erupted from Xanatos as he lunged in past Jaina's guard to singe her tunic. As Jaina twisted and jumped over his head, she gauged her opponent. According to Bant, Xanatos had been Qui-Gon's apprentice before Obi-Wan. Given the man's saber abilities, Jaina could easily believe it.

Xanatos had Jinn's strong form with the light agility that Obi-Wan displayed. Fortunately, he also had an ego three times the size of Lando's. Provoking him into mistakes seemed the best course of action. Unfortunately, it also was a very dangerous course.

Jaina spun around holding her 'saber aloft, Xanatos predictably prepared for a block from above. With a sudden shift in her weight, Jaina struck out her left leg landing a solid blow on Xanato's thigh.

He growled in pain as he moved away, "A good move, but a little spoiled. I think you missed your intended target."

"Men! Sith, is that all you think about? There are perfectly good points to hit all over the human anatomy, but still you assume that girls only grab for the hair or the unmentionables."

"Stereotyping are we?" Xanatos taunted as he put the living room couch between them.

"No, venting," Jaina replied as she jumped over the couch to engage his blade again.

A flurry of blade strokes engaged, the bright beams illuminating the dark apartment with only a little help from the outside traffic. Jaina did not know how long they had been fighting, but she knew exactly when she made her mistake. Anakin had repeatedly chided her for over extending her leg when she stepped backwards. It was a small flaw, but a small flaw was all it took. Xanatos came from the same line of training that Anakin came from. It naturally followed that he would see the same flaw.

Xanatos took advantage of her mistake. His leg quickly shot out to swipe hers from underneath her body. She fell ungracefully backwards; her lightsaber rolled away.

Xanatos grinned as he pointed his blade directly at her throat, "An admirable fight. Too bad I'll have to part with your company so soon. I'd love to take you with me and enjoy each other, but my 'boss' wants the brat."

Jaina closed her eyes and immersed herself in the Force as she prepared for her death. As Xanatos pulled back to plunge his blade into her, she saw a golden flash off to her right. Threepio's upper half lay looking at her. Summoning what Force she could, Jaina called C3PO's torso to her.

With a vengeful twist, she clobbered Xanatos on the side of his head. The dark Jedi fell unconscious at her feet.

Sighing, Jaina collapsed down onto the floor to await her mother's return.