Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money is being made and no infringement is
intended
________________________________________________________________________
Jaina stumbled towards the front of the freighter, clumsily rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she made her way towards the cockpit where she knew Kyp and Callista were waiting for her. Her mind wasn't sleep fuddled as she looked; if necessary she could be ready to fly in combat in a second, but for now, when she didn't have to be on alert, it was a comforting and familiar indulgence that reminded her of better more peaceful days in the past.
The four days it had taken them to travel from Chad to Mon Calamari hadn't been all that bad, although it had its moments. Kyp and Jaina had taken turns standing watch in the cockpit, neither knowing Callista well enough to trust her on her own. It had been an excellent opportunity to catch up on much needed sleep that both of them had taken full advantage of. Soon, though, they would be on Mon Calamari and the easy part of their mission would be over.
It wasn't just the professional and bureaucratic headaches that she disliked about this mission. It would be quite likely to have repercussions in Jaina's personal life as well, and there was always her growing dislike of Callista to contend with. Bringing Callista's abilities to the attention of the Jedi Council also meant bringing her to the attention of Luke Skywalker and by extension her aunt.
At the very least the atmosphere around them would be filled with tension and all actions by members of the Solo/Skywalker Clan towards Callista would be examined under microscope. It wasn't exactly the circumstance she had wanted to see her family under again, but there was nothing she could do about it now, except for warning them about the thermal detonator she was about to drop. She just hoped that would be enough.
Taking her customary seat beside Kyp in the copilot's chair when Callista vacated it for her, she glanced down at the readouts. "Ten minutes until reversion," she stated knowing he would already be aware of it.
Kyp nodded, "It is as the Goddess says," he quipped playfully.
Jaina groaned and rolled her eyes at him. "I wish you would drop that while we're not in public."
"As the Goddess desires," he continued with an innocent, deferential smile on his face.
Jaina's eyes glittered for a moment, most likely in anger, but then she just smiled sweetly at him. Both women could see the worried look that flickered over Kyp's face. "Be careful Kyp," she warned, "I think Aunt Mara said something about wanting to speak with you the next time you were on world."
Kyp grimace, "How did I manage to hurt or offend her favorite apprentice this time," he groaned.
"First of all, Durron," said Jaina with mock-anger, temporarily putting aside her worried thoughts, "I'm her only apprentice and second I'm not really sure what she wants to talk to you about."
Callista laughed, causing both of them to whirl to face her. She blinked at them when she realized she had drawn their attention and then said, "Oh I'm sorry. It's just that you two seem more like bickering little padawan- apprentices than a powerful Jedi Master and Jedi Knight."
Jaina rolled her eyes again, "You're one to talk," she remarked. "You hardly showcase the spirit of the Jedi. There's so much knowledge you denied the Jedi just because you were afraid."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Callista denied, her humor from moments ago gone, replaced with a quickly building fury.
"I know more than you think. I have more to fear than you ever will. You fear the dark side because of self-pity over the fact that you lost your powers. I fear the darkness because they killed my brothers and I can have the power necessary to destroy them all. I have more to fear than you ever will." Jaina took a deep breath, in an attempt to control her outburst. She hadn't meant to or wanted to lose it like that in front of Callista. It was best not to show weaknesses in front of enemies, but the absence of Jag was eating at her more than she had expected. "I know you have doubts about helping us," Jaina said partially calmer, but still slightly furious. "I don't care. Act like the Jedi Knight you were trained to be and help the galaxy for once."
The slight shudder running through the ship brought Jaina back to an awareness of her surroundings. She turned back to the viewport and realized that Kyp had just set the ship down on Mon Calamari's surface. The confrontation she had been dreading was now quickly approaching.
As a member of the Jedi Council, Kyp had the power to call a meeting. Using his power for the first time, it was already set as son as all the on world council members could get there. They had decided that it would be safer if they kept Callista's presence and significance a secret for the time being, but at the moment they were having trouble hammering out the rest of the details of the meeting.
"You should be the one to present this before the Council, Jaina," Kyp said totally serious. "I'll give you as much support as I can, but they would accept it better if I wasn't associated with it. We both know that, Great One," he added sensing her resistance to the idea.
"Not necessarily, Kyp," she said thoughtfully, "You are a Jedi Master of undeniable strength and skill. It's your ethics they don't always approve of." She sighed almost as frustrated as he was, "That shouldn't batter here, though. Several of the Jedi on the council are old enough to remember Callista enough to give what you say a fair hearing. You," she emphasized, "will be presenting this Kyp, that's all there is to it.
Kyp stared at Jaina. His friend and partner, whatever that meant, was a beautiful woman and he would readily admit to having been interested in her at one time, at least everyone but her father. However, at this moment he wasn't jealous of Jag Fel at all. In fact, the Chiss raised Colonel was welcome to her, if this was what she was like all the time. If Jaina had learned nothing else from Mara, it was how to be both scary and stubborn at the same time.
________________________________________________________________________
Callista paced the room where she was waiting, impatiently, watching Jaina and Kyp's intense discussion through the window. Jaina had been right earlier, when she rebuked her for being a coward. She hated that the young Jedi was right, but right now she almost didn't care. For the first time in over a decade, she was about to see the love of her all too long life.
Even on Chad, however, the news of Luke Skywalker's wedding had reached her. It had almost blown her away. She and Luke had, had a farewell of sorts at their last meeting, but she hadn't expected him to move on within a few years and to Mara Jade of all people. That woman had been one of the Emperor's most trusted servants, one of his loyal creatures, and now she had the audacity to play at being a Jedi Master.
If that woman was the quality of Jedi these days, well it was no wonder that the Vong were destroying them. Mara Jade couldn't command a third of the raw power that she had at one time possessed. No, the only way Mara Jade was seen as respectable was probably by using mind tricks taught her by the Emperor on Luke. It simply wasn't possible for a Jedi Master like Luke Skywalker to be involved with someone like her without something being wrong.
If nothing else, she would reveal Mara Jade for who she really was and in the end they would thank her for that.
________________________________________________________________________
Jaina stood in front of the door to her Aunt and Uncle's suite, feeling unaccountable nervous. She knew that her Uncle had already left for the council meeting. All she had to do was announce her presence and let the announcer droid let her in. Assuming of course, that Mara didn't already know she was out there; her aunt rarely missed anything. Allowing herself a snort of disgust at how she was acting, Jaina raised her hand to the panel beside the door and pushed the button that would activate the announcer droid.
She clasped her hands behind her back in the pose of a patient Jedi and blanked her face of the confusion in her thoughts, projecting a confidence she didn't feel. A second later the door hissed open to reveal her Aunt.
"Jaina," she said with a warm smile, glad to see her niece, "Come in."
"Thanks, Aunt Mara," said Jaina suddenly set more at ease than she had been moments ago, despite her nervousness. The two women embraced warmly as she entered. The last time they had seen one another was in the aftermath of Ebaq 9. Jaina especially hadn't been at her best.
"I didn't know you were back on Mon Calamari," Mara said with curiosity. Her original training had been of a more violent nature than simple intelligence gathering, but ten very interesting years with Talon Karrde had left her with the desire to know as much about everything as possible.
"I just got back," Jaina replied, "It's not the whole task force, just Kyp and me. Something very important came up."
"That had to be brought to the Council's immediate attention," Mara said, putting Luke's recent summons together with what Jaina had said.
"Of course." It would have been the perfect moment for Jaina to explain why she was there, but instead she quickly changed the subject to one she was certain Mara would respond to better. "How's Ben," she asked, "Can I see the latest Holos?"
Mara's face lit up, although there was a tiny part of her mind that was full of worry. "Of course," Mara replied, "We just got a new batch yesterday." She walked out of the room for a moment to retrieve them. When she walked back in she wasn't surprised to see the tension in Jaina's body language.
Her niece had set opinions about certain subjects and this was one of them. Without a word she sat the holos down on the floor next to Jaina and joined her with the ease of a woman twenty years younger.
Jaina flicked on the first one on and both had to laugh at the image it projected. Even at such a young age, the little boy was a perfect blend of his parents features. She glanced up at her Aunt, happy to see the smile on her face as she gazed at the picture of her son. She would hate to ruin Mara's mood, but she would have to tell her soon. They flipped through the rest of the holos and Jaina wondered, just for a moment, how many such holos her parents had of she and her brothers like this. It had to be dozens and dozens.
She grew more restless as they neared the end of the holos and she stood abruptly when they had finished viewing the last one. "Mara," she asked quietly knowing her request would sound abrupt and odd, but asked anyway, "Would you spar with me? I've been neglecting my training."
________________________________________________________________________
Five minutes later the two women stood in front of one another, stripped down to loosely flowing Jedi robes. Both of their lightsabers rested on a small ledge along the duracrete of the other side of the large open room where they stood. They had found a large abandoned warehouse, not far from where Mara was staying, but out of the way enough to guarantee privacy, the perfect place to spar.
Both women had adopted casual but watchful stances. This was not the first time by far that they had done something like this. One of the first things Mara had always taught her combat students was patience. In a fight with Mara it could take forever for a fight to begin, but that would also be the last break a student got during the fight. Patience had never been Jaina's strong suite, but she had always been one of Mara's best students.
It was a habit ingrained during her apprenticeship and flourishing with the cold and calculating style she had picked up during the war. Leaving her hands loose at her sides, Jaina waited. Everything inside her screamed to throw a punch at Mara or even dance around her a little, but she resisted. She had wanted to spar to dispel her nervous energy, but she wouldn't be reduced to the fidgeting of an apprentice.
Slowly her mind was clearing, clearing of Callista, of Jag and even of worry about how Mara would take her news. It all came down to focus, focus and discipline. She felt it before she even saw Mara's hand flash towards her head; Mara's lightsaber flying towards her through the air at the same time.
Jaina stepped easily back from Mara's blow and plucked her own lightsaber out of the air in a one handed grip at the same time as Mara reached her own. Jaina ignited it as she snapped her arm straight up, catching Mara's sweeping slash. They stood frozen exerting force on their blades, testing the other's strength and then as if a choreographed dance both women whirled away at the same time.
Jaina came back up quickly catching Mara's blade and then they were lost in a blur of blue and purple light. Blades whipped and slashed through the air, hissing and snapping when they connected. Their blades flicked thought the air with the precision of neurosurgeons with a laser scalpel. Finally Jaina succeeded in pushing Mara backwards and slightly off balance.
Easily Mara turned the fall into a roll and came back up onto her feet facing Jaina. "You've gotten better," she complemented her former apprentice.
"You've gotten stronger," replied Jaina returning the assessment even as they launched into another fast series of parries and slashes. Mara grimace at Jaina's vague reference to her illness, but didn't slow down or falter in the least.
Instead she tried a different tactic. She and Jaina rarely had these fights in silence, she ducked as Jaina's blade whizzed past her head and scissored her legs to kick the girls feet out from under her. They had in fact, had some of their deepest conversations like this.
"Are you going to tell me what was bothering you earlier," Mara asked even as she snapped her blade down to keep Jaina's blade from tangling with hers. She casually batted the girl's lightsaber aside and raised her own to a guard position to wait for Jaina's next attack and her answer.
The attack came first, but Mara could tell Jaina's whole heart wasn't in it. It was a classic falling slash from left to right that could hooking back up at one's opponent. It also had an equally classic parry. These weren't fighting tactics, they were training moves.
She responded to Jaina's actions and was about to rebuke her for not offering a challenge when Jana answered her question. "Kyp and I found a Jedi Kinght of the old order on Chad."
"Really," drawled Mara, batting Jaina's blade down and sweeping her leg into a kick designed to knock Jaina's lightsaber out of her hand.
Jaina's new was interesting, but not enough to warrant her behavior. "She was leading Chad's resistance," Jaina added as she used one hand to block Mara's blown and the other to keep a one handed grip on her lightsaber. The exertion was starting to take its toll; both of them were starting to sweat. It was a measure of their conditioning though, that neither of them was breathing hard.
"Anyone that's ever been heard of in the legends," Mara queried fishing for more information. Jaina was usually so much more blunt.
"She claims to feel the Vong through the force," Jaina side stepped her again both verbally and physically.
Mara stepped away from the fighting for a moment, "Sweet Sith," she breathed in wonder. But before she could ask more questions, Jaina had stepped forward again pressing the attack just as Mara had taught her.
Starting a complicated series of parries, Jaina added almost to quietly to hear, "Aunt Mara it's Callista."
Mara's blade slammed into Jaina's with much more force than necessary as it rose to parry her nieces. Her blows increased in speed and quantity, until it was all Jaina could do to keep up with Mara. However, that was the only acknowledgement Mara gave of what she had heard.
After a few moments of intense concentration on staying in one piece on Jaina's part and silence punctuated only by the slap of skin against skin or the crackle of blade against blade, Jaina began to wonder it Mara ha even heard her. Mara was slowly beginning to push her harder and harder until Jaina realized her back was against a wall, literally.
Carefully, uncertain of her Aunt's mental state and unable to spare the concentration to find out, she pushed Mara's blade down and then used the force to add extra height to the flip she performed, going over Mara's head.
"Mara," she practically demanded when she landed. Maybe sparring with Mara hadn't been her best plan of action.
"You were afraid to tell me, straight out," she accused her and Jaina realized there was nothing she could say to that. She hadn't been looking forward to it.
Stepping back, Jaina lowered her lightsaber, not even trying to deny what her Aunt had said. "I was the one who was responsible for bringing her here. I just wanted to tell you in person. If I didn't think she was important to the war, I would have gladly left her on that planet."
Marra nodded and lowered her own lightsaber, the outcome of the match no longer important any longer. The expression on her face morphed from the slightly hurt, but thoughtful look she had portrayed when she was speaking to Jaina into a grin of almost vicious predatory delight. "This is going to be so much fun," she said more to herself than Jaina as she deactivated her lightsaber, walked over to her neice's side and put her arm around her in a friendly embrace. "Did I ever tell you about the last time I saw Callista."
As they walked away though, Jaina had to wonder if Callista would find it funny or fun. Somehow she didn't think so.
________________________________________________________________________
To make the author's day, please review.
________________________________________________________________________
Jaina stumbled towards the front of the freighter, clumsily rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she made her way towards the cockpit where she knew Kyp and Callista were waiting for her. Her mind wasn't sleep fuddled as she looked; if necessary she could be ready to fly in combat in a second, but for now, when she didn't have to be on alert, it was a comforting and familiar indulgence that reminded her of better more peaceful days in the past.
The four days it had taken them to travel from Chad to Mon Calamari hadn't been all that bad, although it had its moments. Kyp and Jaina had taken turns standing watch in the cockpit, neither knowing Callista well enough to trust her on her own. It had been an excellent opportunity to catch up on much needed sleep that both of them had taken full advantage of. Soon, though, they would be on Mon Calamari and the easy part of their mission would be over.
It wasn't just the professional and bureaucratic headaches that she disliked about this mission. It would be quite likely to have repercussions in Jaina's personal life as well, and there was always her growing dislike of Callista to contend with. Bringing Callista's abilities to the attention of the Jedi Council also meant bringing her to the attention of Luke Skywalker and by extension her aunt.
At the very least the atmosphere around them would be filled with tension and all actions by members of the Solo/Skywalker Clan towards Callista would be examined under microscope. It wasn't exactly the circumstance she had wanted to see her family under again, but there was nothing she could do about it now, except for warning them about the thermal detonator she was about to drop. She just hoped that would be enough.
Taking her customary seat beside Kyp in the copilot's chair when Callista vacated it for her, she glanced down at the readouts. "Ten minutes until reversion," she stated knowing he would already be aware of it.
Kyp nodded, "It is as the Goddess says," he quipped playfully.
Jaina groaned and rolled her eyes at him. "I wish you would drop that while we're not in public."
"As the Goddess desires," he continued with an innocent, deferential smile on his face.
Jaina's eyes glittered for a moment, most likely in anger, but then she just smiled sweetly at him. Both women could see the worried look that flickered over Kyp's face. "Be careful Kyp," she warned, "I think Aunt Mara said something about wanting to speak with you the next time you were on world."
Kyp grimace, "How did I manage to hurt or offend her favorite apprentice this time," he groaned.
"First of all, Durron," said Jaina with mock-anger, temporarily putting aside her worried thoughts, "I'm her only apprentice and second I'm not really sure what she wants to talk to you about."
Callista laughed, causing both of them to whirl to face her. She blinked at them when she realized she had drawn their attention and then said, "Oh I'm sorry. It's just that you two seem more like bickering little padawan- apprentices than a powerful Jedi Master and Jedi Knight."
Jaina rolled her eyes again, "You're one to talk," she remarked. "You hardly showcase the spirit of the Jedi. There's so much knowledge you denied the Jedi just because you were afraid."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Callista denied, her humor from moments ago gone, replaced with a quickly building fury.
"I know more than you think. I have more to fear than you ever will. You fear the dark side because of self-pity over the fact that you lost your powers. I fear the darkness because they killed my brothers and I can have the power necessary to destroy them all. I have more to fear than you ever will." Jaina took a deep breath, in an attempt to control her outburst. She hadn't meant to or wanted to lose it like that in front of Callista. It was best not to show weaknesses in front of enemies, but the absence of Jag was eating at her more than she had expected. "I know you have doubts about helping us," Jaina said partially calmer, but still slightly furious. "I don't care. Act like the Jedi Knight you were trained to be and help the galaxy for once."
The slight shudder running through the ship brought Jaina back to an awareness of her surroundings. She turned back to the viewport and realized that Kyp had just set the ship down on Mon Calamari's surface. The confrontation she had been dreading was now quickly approaching.
As a member of the Jedi Council, Kyp had the power to call a meeting. Using his power for the first time, it was already set as son as all the on world council members could get there. They had decided that it would be safer if they kept Callista's presence and significance a secret for the time being, but at the moment they were having trouble hammering out the rest of the details of the meeting.
"You should be the one to present this before the Council, Jaina," Kyp said totally serious. "I'll give you as much support as I can, but they would accept it better if I wasn't associated with it. We both know that, Great One," he added sensing her resistance to the idea.
"Not necessarily, Kyp," she said thoughtfully, "You are a Jedi Master of undeniable strength and skill. It's your ethics they don't always approve of." She sighed almost as frustrated as he was, "That shouldn't batter here, though. Several of the Jedi on the council are old enough to remember Callista enough to give what you say a fair hearing. You," she emphasized, "will be presenting this Kyp, that's all there is to it.
Kyp stared at Jaina. His friend and partner, whatever that meant, was a beautiful woman and he would readily admit to having been interested in her at one time, at least everyone but her father. However, at this moment he wasn't jealous of Jag Fel at all. In fact, the Chiss raised Colonel was welcome to her, if this was what she was like all the time. If Jaina had learned nothing else from Mara, it was how to be both scary and stubborn at the same time.
________________________________________________________________________
Callista paced the room where she was waiting, impatiently, watching Jaina and Kyp's intense discussion through the window. Jaina had been right earlier, when she rebuked her for being a coward. She hated that the young Jedi was right, but right now she almost didn't care. For the first time in over a decade, she was about to see the love of her all too long life.
Even on Chad, however, the news of Luke Skywalker's wedding had reached her. It had almost blown her away. She and Luke had, had a farewell of sorts at their last meeting, but she hadn't expected him to move on within a few years and to Mara Jade of all people. That woman had been one of the Emperor's most trusted servants, one of his loyal creatures, and now she had the audacity to play at being a Jedi Master.
If that woman was the quality of Jedi these days, well it was no wonder that the Vong were destroying them. Mara Jade couldn't command a third of the raw power that she had at one time possessed. No, the only way Mara Jade was seen as respectable was probably by using mind tricks taught her by the Emperor on Luke. It simply wasn't possible for a Jedi Master like Luke Skywalker to be involved with someone like her without something being wrong.
If nothing else, she would reveal Mara Jade for who she really was and in the end they would thank her for that.
________________________________________________________________________
Jaina stood in front of the door to her Aunt and Uncle's suite, feeling unaccountable nervous. She knew that her Uncle had already left for the council meeting. All she had to do was announce her presence and let the announcer droid let her in. Assuming of course, that Mara didn't already know she was out there; her aunt rarely missed anything. Allowing herself a snort of disgust at how she was acting, Jaina raised her hand to the panel beside the door and pushed the button that would activate the announcer droid.
She clasped her hands behind her back in the pose of a patient Jedi and blanked her face of the confusion in her thoughts, projecting a confidence she didn't feel. A second later the door hissed open to reveal her Aunt.
"Jaina," she said with a warm smile, glad to see her niece, "Come in."
"Thanks, Aunt Mara," said Jaina suddenly set more at ease than she had been moments ago, despite her nervousness. The two women embraced warmly as she entered. The last time they had seen one another was in the aftermath of Ebaq 9. Jaina especially hadn't been at her best.
"I didn't know you were back on Mon Calamari," Mara said with curiosity. Her original training had been of a more violent nature than simple intelligence gathering, but ten very interesting years with Talon Karrde had left her with the desire to know as much about everything as possible.
"I just got back," Jaina replied, "It's not the whole task force, just Kyp and me. Something very important came up."
"That had to be brought to the Council's immediate attention," Mara said, putting Luke's recent summons together with what Jaina had said.
"Of course." It would have been the perfect moment for Jaina to explain why she was there, but instead she quickly changed the subject to one she was certain Mara would respond to better. "How's Ben," she asked, "Can I see the latest Holos?"
Mara's face lit up, although there was a tiny part of her mind that was full of worry. "Of course," Mara replied, "We just got a new batch yesterday." She walked out of the room for a moment to retrieve them. When she walked back in she wasn't surprised to see the tension in Jaina's body language.
Her niece had set opinions about certain subjects and this was one of them. Without a word she sat the holos down on the floor next to Jaina and joined her with the ease of a woman twenty years younger.
Jaina flicked on the first one on and both had to laugh at the image it projected. Even at such a young age, the little boy was a perfect blend of his parents features. She glanced up at her Aunt, happy to see the smile on her face as she gazed at the picture of her son. She would hate to ruin Mara's mood, but she would have to tell her soon. They flipped through the rest of the holos and Jaina wondered, just for a moment, how many such holos her parents had of she and her brothers like this. It had to be dozens and dozens.
She grew more restless as they neared the end of the holos and she stood abruptly when they had finished viewing the last one. "Mara," she asked quietly knowing her request would sound abrupt and odd, but asked anyway, "Would you spar with me? I've been neglecting my training."
________________________________________________________________________
Five minutes later the two women stood in front of one another, stripped down to loosely flowing Jedi robes. Both of their lightsabers rested on a small ledge along the duracrete of the other side of the large open room where they stood. They had found a large abandoned warehouse, not far from where Mara was staying, but out of the way enough to guarantee privacy, the perfect place to spar.
Both women had adopted casual but watchful stances. This was not the first time by far that they had done something like this. One of the first things Mara had always taught her combat students was patience. In a fight with Mara it could take forever for a fight to begin, but that would also be the last break a student got during the fight. Patience had never been Jaina's strong suite, but she had always been one of Mara's best students.
It was a habit ingrained during her apprenticeship and flourishing with the cold and calculating style she had picked up during the war. Leaving her hands loose at her sides, Jaina waited. Everything inside her screamed to throw a punch at Mara or even dance around her a little, but she resisted. She had wanted to spar to dispel her nervous energy, but she wouldn't be reduced to the fidgeting of an apprentice.
Slowly her mind was clearing, clearing of Callista, of Jag and even of worry about how Mara would take her news. It all came down to focus, focus and discipline. She felt it before she even saw Mara's hand flash towards her head; Mara's lightsaber flying towards her through the air at the same time.
Jaina stepped easily back from Mara's blow and plucked her own lightsaber out of the air in a one handed grip at the same time as Mara reached her own. Jaina ignited it as she snapped her arm straight up, catching Mara's sweeping slash. They stood frozen exerting force on their blades, testing the other's strength and then as if a choreographed dance both women whirled away at the same time.
Jaina came back up quickly catching Mara's blade and then they were lost in a blur of blue and purple light. Blades whipped and slashed through the air, hissing and snapping when they connected. Their blades flicked thought the air with the precision of neurosurgeons with a laser scalpel. Finally Jaina succeeded in pushing Mara backwards and slightly off balance.
Easily Mara turned the fall into a roll and came back up onto her feet facing Jaina. "You've gotten better," she complemented her former apprentice.
"You've gotten stronger," replied Jaina returning the assessment even as they launched into another fast series of parries and slashes. Mara grimace at Jaina's vague reference to her illness, but didn't slow down or falter in the least.
Instead she tried a different tactic. She and Jaina rarely had these fights in silence, she ducked as Jaina's blade whizzed past her head and scissored her legs to kick the girls feet out from under her. They had in fact, had some of their deepest conversations like this.
"Are you going to tell me what was bothering you earlier," Mara asked even as she snapped her blade down to keep Jaina's blade from tangling with hers. She casually batted the girl's lightsaber aside and raised her own to a guard position to wait for Jaina's next attack and her answer.
The attack came first, but Mara could tell Jaina's whole heart wasn't in it. It was a classic falling slash from left to right that could hooking back up at one's opponent. It also had an equally classic parry. These weren't fighting tactics, they were training moves.
She responded to Jaina's actions and was about to rebuke her for not offering a challenge when Jana answered her question. "Kyp and I found a Jedi Kinght of the old order on Chad."
"Really," drawled Mara, batting Jaina's blade down and sweeping her leg into a kick designed to knock Jaina's lightsaber out of her hand.
Jaina's new was interesting, but not enough to warrant her behavior. "She was leading Chad's resistance," Jaina added as she used one hand to block Mara's blown and the other to keep a one handed grip on her lightsaber. The exertion was starting to take its toll; both of them were starting to sweat. It was a measure of their conditioning though, that neither of them was breathing hard.
"Anyone that's ever been heard of in the legends," Mara queried fishing for more information. Jaina was usually so much more blunt.
"She claims to feel the Vong through the force," Jaina side stepped her again both verbally and physically.
Mara stepped away from the fighting for a moment, "Sweet Sith," she breathed in wonder. But before she could ask more questions, Jaina had stepped forward again pressing the attack just as Mara had taught her.
Starting a complicated series of parries, Jaina added almost to quietly to hear, "Aunt Mara it's Callista."
Mara's blade slammed into Jaina's with much more force than necessary as it rose to parry her nieces. Her blows increased in speed and quantity, until it was all Jaina could do to keep up with Mara. However, that was the only acknowledgement Mara gave of what she had heard.
After a few moments of intense concentration on staying in one piece on Jaina's part and silence punctuated only by the slap of skin against skin or the crackle of blade against blade, Jaina began to wonder it Mara ha even heard her. Mara was slowly beginning to push her harder and harder until Jaina realized her back was against a wall, literally.
Carefully, uncertain of her Aunt's mental state and unable to spare the concentration to find out, she pushed Mara's blade down and then used the force to add extra height to the flip she performed, going over Mara's head.
"Mara," she practically demanded when she landed. Maybe sparring with Mara hadn't been her best plan of action.
"You were afraid to tell me, straight out," she accused her and Jaina realized there was nothing she could say to that. She hadn't been looking forward to it.
Stepping back, Jaina lowered her lightsaber, not even trying to deny what her Aunt had said. "I was the one who was responsible for bringing her here. I just wanted to tell you in person. If I didn't think she was important to the war, I would have gladly left her on that planet."
Marra nodded and lowered her own lightsaber, the outcome of the match no longer important any longer. The expression on her face morphed from the slightly hurt, but thoughtful look she had portrayed when she was speaking to Jaina into a grin of almost vicious predatory delight. "This is going to be so much fun," she said more to herself than Jaina as she deactivated her lightsaber, walked over to her neice's side and put her arm around her in a friendly embrace. "Did I ever tell you about the last time I saw Callista."
As they walked away though, Jaina had to wonder if Callista would find it funny or fun. Somehow she didn't think so.
________________________________________________________________________
To make the author's day, please review.