Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and
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intended.
Chapter Thirteen
Jaina's gaze and her attention, which had both been divided between Mara and Zekk, immediately refocused her full attention on what Mara was saying. "Where," she demanded, reacting instinctively, her hand already dropping down to her lightsaber.
Mara shook her head. "We don't know. So far Fel only picked up a few signs of them. We're going to have to isolate the children in a secure area and search for them."
"My pilots won't be able to sense the Vong in ooglith masquers, but they can help protect the children."
"Excellent," Mara added tightly as the two of them began jogging down corridors.
"Where's Ben," Jaina asked wanting to reassure herself about her cousin's safety.
"He's with Kam," Mara said quickly. "I commed Kam right after Fel told me. He's fine," she added firmly.
Jaina nodded, deciding even as she did that it was time for a subject change. She knew how much Mara hated not being there to protect Ben herself. "What about Callista?" She asked again, hating what she was saying even as the words flew out of her mouth. "If she can sense the Vong, she can take us right to them"
Mara hesitated for a split moment weighing the decision in her mind in seconds. Jaina knew exactly what she was thinking. Callista's trustworthiness was still in question, but if she could help them to ensure the safety of the children.. Well it was Mara's decision.
Mara looked directly into Jaina's eyes for a fraction of a heartbeat and then nodded, "Call her. Tell her to meet us at the entrance to the coreward sector. That's where Fel saw those readings. He and Kyp are meeting us there, too."
Jaina nodded and pulled out her comm. link. After two unsuccessful attempts to reach Callista, she let out a string of Huttese curses and then looked over at Mara. "Do you want me to try to find her," Jaina asked quickly, trying to stifle her growing frustrations. Delays like this were almost always costly. Ylesia had proven that, giving her a lesson that she wouldn't soon forget.
"No," Mara said quickly, "We'll just have to do this ourselves." She opened her mouth to continue speaking, but stopped as Jaina raised a hand in a sharp gesture for silence. Mara immediately stopped speaking and then heard the hurried footsteps that had alerted Jaina. Master and Knight both relaxed when they realized that the approaching people could be felt through the force.
Jaina pushed away from the wall she had been standing against and gestured quickly to the two hurried students. "What are you two doing," she snapped at Valin and Syal as she pulled them towards where she and Mara had been standing. "You two were supposed to be with Kam and the rest of the trainees."
Valin opened his mouth to reply, when Mara shot a silencing glare towards him. Now wasn't the time to here his reasons, however, good or bad they turned out to be.
"We have to get them back to Kam," she stated.
Jaina resisted the urge to say more words that would shock even these particular children, escorting them back would create even more delays. "I'll take them," Jaina said, hating to walk away from a fight, but knowing that it would be easier for her to do this than Mara. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to see Ben now, when there was so much more that she needed to focus on. "Kyp and Jag will be here in a minute. I'll catch up with you."
Mara thought clearly reluctant, nodded. Jaina turned to leave, but stopped quickly as Mar grabbed her wrist. "Jaina," she said seriously, "Be careful."
The warning was unlike Mara, but then again, at the moment she had more to lose than ever before. "I will," Jaina agreed quickly and hoped she wasn't lying. Then with Valin and Syal on her heels started racing through the corridors. She wove through them with ease, only slowing down once to pick Syal up piggy back style. The girl was heavy, but it was easier for Jaina's force enhanced muscles to carry her then it was for Syal to keep up with her demanding pace.
The moment she turned them over to a waiting Tionne, she was once again running through the corridors. This time though, she casually carried her blaster in her left fist and her unignited lightsaber in the other. She was almost a blur of energy as she flowed through rooms, searching each of them carefully as she passed through, making her way to where she could sense Mara.
Even as she searched visually she reached out to the force in an attempt to find the Vong through the force as Callista had been teaching them. She was so caught up in her search efforts, her attempts to sense the Vong, and hundreds of other possible tactical contingencies racing through her head, that she almost missed the whisper of displaced air as an amphistaff crashed down towards her head. Being caught almost off balance, and slightly startled, the only way for Jaina to avoid the blow was to crumple in an undignified heap on the floor. The moment she hit the deck, she rolled away from where she had landed, but not fast enough to avoid the line of fire that sliced down her arm and across her back.
Jaina bit back an exclamation of pain and sent a clumsy force shove out towards her attacker. She couldn't feel them through the force, but the shove provided her with enough of a reprieve to roll to her fee, igniting her lightsaber and bringing it up into guard position, just it time to catch the topaz blade crashing down at her.
She lashed out towards her attacker, launching a foot towards her enemy's midsection and using the force to turn her kick into a jump as the amphistaff whipped towards her other leg. The deadly chaos of arms, legs, and weaponry that resulted, ceased seconds later as the two women warily got to their feet on separate sides of the room.
Jaina had suspected almost from the beginning of the fight, who her attacker was. Now she knew for sure. "Callista," she snapped at the women.
The former Jedi Knight didn't respond and Jaina bided her time. Callista's initial attack had caught her off guard. She was prepared now, but she still had to be careful. Callista had more weapons than she did for the moment. Her blaster had been knocked away in the scuffle and Callista was neither stupid nor untrained. She was dangerous.
"I warned you," Callista stated boldly, "Your talents are wasted here with these people. You could be so much more. My Masters could show you things you can't even imagine." Callista started to circle her and Jaina let her.
She lazily drew her lightsaber through the air, deliberately slowing it down for Callista's benefit. Jaina ignored Callista's taunt. Instead she watched the other woman carefully but also let a disbelieving expression show on her face. "Was it worth so much to you, that loosing your powers made you want to destroy the Jedi. That's what the Vong want you know, not whatever they promised you." She smirked darkly, "And just know Callista that if you make it out of here alive, you won't be so lucky with the Vong. I can guarantee that."
Callista's face darkened for a moment, and Jaina thought her verbal jag had its target. Then Callista laughed, not a laugh of humor, but of pure darkness. Immediately, Jaina felt Callista's presence blossoming through the force. Her essence was pure dark power, rage. Its magnitude surprised even Jaina. She blinked only for a split second, but that was all Callista had been waiting for. The two women met in a slashing fury of deadly blades. Jaina worked furiously to keep Callista's weapons at bay. She was successful until Callista managed to slam a kick into her already injured back, sending her falling to the floor once more.
This time though Jaina managed to transform the fall into a roll. As she rose swiftly back to her feet this time, a vibroblade appeared in her hands, so fast that Callista didn't even see it until it was buried in her shoulder.
Callista let out a shriek of pain and fury, dropping the amphistaff, but letting of a burst of force lightening in retaliation. Jaina almost laughed. She dispelled it with ease. Kyp had shown her that trick ages ago. She resisted the temptation to throw some back at her and charge towards her, intent on taking advantage of Callista's injury.
She smirked as Callista's next burst of force lightening missed her entirely and then jerked around in horror as her danger sense blared. Danger not for her, but for Jag. She watched as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She saw the force lightening cascading towards Jag, but could do nothing to stop it. She tried to throw herself in front of him, but knew as she dove towards it that she wouldn't make it in time. She slammed into the floor as everything returned to its normal speed and Jag's screams of pain echoed throughout the large room.
For a moment, it was as if Callista had disappeared from the room. Without even making a conscious decision, Jaina was running to his side. "Jag," she demanded, shocked at the real fear she heard in her own voice.
He groaned and forced his own eyes open. Jaina was glad she knew that force lightening often affected people's nervous systems. Opening his eyes had probably been an incredible act of will on his part. Quickly she reached for her comm. link with one, using her other to gently stroke his forehead trying to reduce the pain he was feeling and begin the healing process even as she scanned the room for wherever Callista had disappeared to.
"Jade Skywalker," Mara's response was almost immediate. "Where are you, Jaina? Did Fel find you?"
Jaina skipped Mara's questions and filled her in on the necessities of the situation. "Callista attacked me," she blurted out quickly, "I'm in one of the large lecture areas and Jag's been hurt. Get up here now." She was waiting for Mara's response, when she saw Jag's eyes widen as he looked behind her. Her danger sense started screaming at the exact same moment. Jaina swung around, bringing her lightsaber up in front of her as she did so.
This time she did manage to catch several pieces of the force lightening Callista threw at them and dispelled the rest. This was enough. Callista shouldn't even have been allowed to do as much as she had. Jaina rushed forward towards Callista, careful to keep herself between Jag and Callista, just in case she decided to take another shot at him.
Callista laughed as Jaina charged, "I was right you know, Jaina," she gloated. "I told you he was worthless, beneath your notice. He can't even help you, much less protect you." She punctuated her comment with a lightsaber feint and then a high kick towards Jaina's head.
Jaina ignored the feint, caught Callista's leg and used the force as well as her own strength to slam Callista to the floor. That was the moment that Callista chose to use the force to begin ripping object off of the walls and send them flying towards Jaina and Jag. For a moment, Jaina was caught in the center of a storm of objects, her lightsaber flashing around her to deflect object after object. At the same time she used the force to push objects away from Jag. A sudden flurry of small objects almost distracted her as some of them managed to get through her guard and she almost missed the large chunk of durasteel that Callista was drawing down on top of Jag.
At the last moment, with it mere inches above Jag, Jaina managed to stop it, only to find Callista exerting more of her dark power on the object.
Tired as she was, Jaina still managed to begin pushing the durasteel away from Jag. Using, if nothing else, her sheer desperation to keep it from falling, she would not allow the man she loved to be crushed if there was any way she could prevent it. It was a constant struggle, a battle of wills. Evil Callista might be, but that didn't make any less powerful.
Jaina felt a surge of strength rush through her. It only took her a moment, to identify Mara as the source. She couldn't spare any concentration to send her aunt her thanks at the moment, but she would remember it later. For a second she wandered, what was taking them so long to get there and then realized that less than five minutes had passed, not nearly enough time for Mara and Kyp to get there.
She used the burst of energy that she had been given to double the amount of energy she was focusing on the durasteel. The sudden change in pressure managed to startle Callista just enough that she lost concentration, sending the durasteel slamming into her.
Jaina didn't even have time to be relieved before the whole station rocked under her feet. She heard the sound of a distant explosion even as she flew through the air. As she crashed into the unforgiving wall, she barely had time to register that the ceiling was collapsing and try to raise a protective force shield around both she and Jag before everything went dark.
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Chapter Thirteen
Jaina's gaze and her attention, which had both been divided between Mara and Zekk, immediately refocused her full attention on what Mara was saying. "Where," she demanded, reacting instinctively, her hand already dropping down to her lightsaber.
Mara shook her head. "We don't know. So far Fel only picked up a few signs of them. We're going to have to isolate the children in a secure area and search for them."
"My pilots won't be able to sense the Vong in ooglith masquers, but they can help protect the children."
"Excellent," Mara added tightly as the two of them began jogging down corridors.
"Where's Ben," Jaina asked wanting to reassure herself about her cousin's safety.
"He's with Kam," Mara said quickly. "I commed Kam right after Fel told me. He's fine," she added firmly.
Jaina nodded, deciding even as she did that it was time for a subject change. She knew how much Mara hated not being there to protect Ben herself. "What about Callista?" She asked again, hating what she was saying even as the words flew out of her mouth. "If she can sense the Vong, she can take us right to them"
Mara hesitated for a split moment weighing the decision in her mind in seconds. Jaina knew exactly what she was thinking. Callista's trustworthiness was still in question, but if she could help them to ensure the safety of the children.. Well it was Mara's decision.
Mara looked directly into Jaina's eyes for a fraction of a heartbeat and then nodded, "Call her. Tell her to meet us at the entrance to the coreward sector. That's where Fel saw those readings. He and Kyp are meeting us there, too."
Jaina nodded and pulled out her comm. link. After two unsuccessful attempts to reach Callista, she let out a string of Huttese curses and then looked over at Mara. "Do you want me to try to find her," Jaina asked quickly, trying to stifle her growing frustrations. Delays like this were almost always costly. Ylesia had proven that, giving her a lesson that she wouldn't soon forget.
"No," Mara said quickly, "We'll just have to do this ourselves." She opened her mouth to continue speaking, but stopped as Jaina raised a hand in a sharp gesture for silence. Mara immediately stopped speaking and then heard the hurried footsteps that had alerted Jaina. Master and Knight both relaxed when they realized that the approaching people could be felt through the force.
Jaina pushed away from the wall she had been standing against and gestured quickly to the two hurried students. "What are you two doing," she snapped at Valin and Syal as she pulled them towards where she and Mara had been standing. "You two were supposed to be with Kam and the rest of the trainees."
Valin opened his mouth to reply, when Mara shot a silencing glare towards him. Now wasn't the time to here his reasons, however, good or bad they turned out to be.
"We have to get them back to Kam," she stated.
Jaina resisted the urge to say more words that would shock even these particular children, escorting them back would create even more delays. "I'll take them," Jaina said, hating to walk away from a fight, but knowing that it would be easier for her to do this than Mara. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to see Ben now, when there was so much more that she needed to focus on. "Kyp and Jag will be here in a minute. I'll catch up with you."
Mara thought clearly reluctant, nodded. Jaina turned to leave, but stopped quickly as Mar grabbed her wrist. "Jaina," she said seriously, "Be careful."
The warning was unlike Mara, but then again, at the moment she had more to lose than ever before. "I will," Jaina agreed quickly and hoped she wasn't lying. Then with Valin and Syal on her heels started racing through the corridors. She wove through them with ease, only slowing down once to pick Syal up piggy back style. The girl was heavy, but it was easier for Jaina's force enhanced muscles to carry her then it was for Syal to keep up with her demanding pace.
The moment she turned them over to a waiting Tionne, she was once again running through the corridors. This time though, she casually carried her blaster in her left fist and her unignited lightsaber in the other. She was almost a blur of energy as she flowed through rooms, searching each of them carefully as she passed through, making her way to where she could sense Mara.
Even as she searched visually she reached out to the force in an attempt to find the Vong through the force as Callista had been teaching them. She was so caught up in her search efforts, her attempts to sense the Vong, and hundreds of other possible tactical contingencies racing through her head, that she almost missed the whisper of displaced air as an amphistaff crashed down towards her head. Being caught almost off balance, and slightly startled, the only way for Jaina to avoid the blow was to crumple in an undignified heap on the floor. The moment she hit the deck, she rolled away from where she had landed, but not fast enough to avoid the line of fire that sliced down her arm and across her back.
Jaina bit back an exclamation of pain and sent a clumsy force shove out towards her attacker. She couldn't feel them through the force, but the shove provided her with enough of a reprieve to roll to her fee, igniting her lightsaber and bringing it up into guard position, just it time to catch the topaz blade crashing down at her.
She lashed out towards her attacker, launching a foot towards her enemy's midsection and using the force to turn her kick into a jump as the amphistaff whipped towards her other leg. The deadly chaos of arms, legs, and weaponry that resulted, ceased seconds later as the two women warily got to their feet on separate sides of the room.
Jaina had suspected almost from the beginning of the fight, who her attacker was. Now she knew for sure. "Callista," she snapped at the women.
The former Jedi Knight didn't respond and Jaina bided her time. Callista's initial attack had caught her off guard. She was prepared now, but she still had to be careful. Callista had more weapons than she did for the moment. Her blaster had been knocked away in the scuffle and Callista was neither stupid nor untrained. She was dangerous.
"I warned you," Callista stated boldly, "Your talents are wasted here with these people. You could be so much more. My Masters could show you things you can't even imagine." Callista started to circle her and Jaina let her.
She lazily drew her lightsaber through the air, deliberately slowing it down for Callista's benefit. Jaina ignored Callista's taunt. Instead she watched the other woman carefully but also let a disbelieving expression show on her face. "Was it worth so much to you, that loosing your powers made you want to destroy the Jedi. That's what the Vong want you know, not whatever they promised you." She smirked darkly, "And just know Callista that if you make it out of here alive, you won't be so lucky with the Vong. I can guarantee that."
Callista's face darkened for a moment, and Jaina thought her verbal jag had its target. Then Callista laughed, not a laugh of humor, but of pure darkness. Immediately, Jaina felt Callista's presence blossoming through the force. Her essence was pure dark power, rage. Its magnitude surprised even Jaina. She blinked only for a split second, but that was all Callista had been waiting for. The two women met in a slashing fury of deadly blades. Jaina worked furiously to keep Callista's weapons at bay. She was successful until Callista managed to slam a kick into her already injured back, sending her falling to the floor once more.
This time though Jaina managed to transform the fall into a roll. As she rose swiftly back to her feet this time, a vibroblade appeared in her hands, so fast that Callista didn't even see it until it was buried in her shoulder.
Callista let out a shriek of pain and fury, dropping the amphistaff, but letting of a burst of force lightening in retaliation. Jaina almost laughed. She dispelled it with ease. Kyp had shown her that trick ages ago. She resisted the temptation to throw some back at her and charge towards her, intent on taking advantage of Callista's injury.
She smirked as Callista's next burst of force lightening missed her entirely and then jerked around in horror as her danger sense blared. Danger not for her, but for Jag. She watched as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She saw the force lightening cascading towards Jag, but could do nothing to stop it. She tried to throw herself in front of him, but knew as she dove towards it that she wouldn't make it in time. She slammed into the floor as everything returned to its normal speed and Jag's screams of pain echoed throughout the large room.
For a moment, it was as if Callista had disappeared from the room. Without even making a conscious decision, Jaina was running to his side. "Jag," she demanded, shocked at the real fear she heard in her own voice.
He groaned and forced his own eyes open. Jaina was glad she knew that force lightening often affected people's nervous systems. Opening his eyes had probably been an incredible act of will on his part. Quickly she reached for her comm. link with one, using her other to gently stroke his forehead trying to reduce the pain he was feeling and begin the healing process even as she scanned the room for wherever Callista had disappeared to.
"Jade Skywalker," Mara's response was almost immediate. "Where are you, Jaina? Did Fel find you?"
Jaina skipped Mara's questions and filled her in on the necessities of the situation. "Callista attacked me," she blurted out quickly, "I'm in one of the large lecture areas and Jag's been hurt. Get up here now." She was waiting for Mara's response, when she saw Jag's eyes widen as he looked behind her. Her danger sense started screaming at the exact same moment. Jaina swung around, bringing her lightsaber up in front of her as she did so.
This time she did manage to catch several pieces of the force lightening Callista threw at them and dispelled the rest. This was enough. Callista shouldn't even have been allowed to do as much as she had. Jaina rushed forward towards Callista, careful to keep herself between Jag and Callista, just in case she decided to take another shot at him.
Callista laughed as Jaina charged, "I was right you know, Jaina," she gloated. "I told you he was worthless, beneath your notice. He can't even help you, much less protect you." She punctuated her comment with a lightsaber feint and then a high kick towards Jaina's head.
Jaina ignored the feint, caught Callista's leg and used the force as well as her own strength to slam Callista to the floor. That was the moment that Callista chose to use the force to begin ripping object off of the walls and send them flying towards Jaina and Jag. For a moment, Jaina was caught in the center of a storm of objects, her lightsaber flashing around her to deflect object after object. At the same time she used the force to push objects away from Jag. A sudden flurry of small objects almost distracted her as some of them managed to get through her guard and she almost missed the large chunk of durasteel that Callista was drawing down on top of Jag.
At the last moment, with it mere inches above Jag, Jaina managed to stop it, only to find Callista exerting more of her dark power on the object.
Tired as she was, Jaina still managed to begin pushing the durasteel away from Jag. Using, if nothing else, her sheer desperation to keep it from falling, she would not allow the man she loved to be crushed if there was any way she could prevent it. It was a constant struggle, a battle of wills. Evil Callista might be, but that didn't make any less powerful.
Jaina felt a surge of strength rush through her. It only took her a moment, to identify Mara as the source. She couldn't spare any concentration to send her aunt her thanks at the moment, but she would remember it later. For a second she wandered, what was taking them so long to get there and then realized that less than five minutes had passed, not nearly enough time for Mara and Kyp to get there.
She used the burst of energy that she had been given to double the amount of energy she was focusing on the durasteel. The sudden change in pressure managed to startle Callista just enough that she lost concentration, sending the durasteel slamming into her.
Jaina didn't even have time to be relieved before the whole station rocked under her feet. She heard the sound of a distant explosion even as she flew through the air. As she crashed into the unforgiving wall, she barely had time to register that the ceiling was collapsing and try to raise a protective force shield around both she and Jag before everything went dark.
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