Disclaimer: I know I have one of these in this story somewhere. It applies
here too!
Author's note: I'LL BE POSTING DAILY ON THIS STORY FROM NOW ON!
Nike's Zero: Kyp's weird? How so? I'm not offended, I'm just curious. Do you think he's OOC?
Jaina Solo paced inside the conference room that the Insiders had effectively commandeered. Jag and Kyp were supposed to have met here to discuss their individual progress and to lock into place the final details of the mission plan. Uncharacteristically, both men were late. Jaina couldn't resist the urge to send a rush of impatient emotion towards Kyp through their Force bond. As a response, he locked her out of his mind with an abruptness that stopped her pacing in mid-step. Kyp rarely responded to her so harshly. The part of her mind that told her that no one, not even the only person who still might be her friend, could be trusted, insisted that she find out what exactly what Kyp was doing. She rejected the thought, but much slower than she might once have.
Her Force senses caught the familiar spark of a presence a moment later, and Jaina used the seconds of warning to summon an air of cool Jedi calm that her impatience belied. The door opened and Jag stepped stiffly inside. His posture was reserved and the usual aloofness, that he summoned when he was forced to deal with a person that he didn't particularly like or respect, appeared in his eyes.
"I apologize for my lateness, Colonel," he spoke stiffly. "I had to deal with a squadron matter."
Jaina nodded, while internally doubting that a squadron commanded by Jag Fel would ever have a 'matter' that would make him late. "Master Durron isn't here yet either," Jaina stated.
It was Jag's turn to nod. "Would you prefer to wait until Master Durron gets here to begin our final planning?"
Jaina shrugged and offered and alternate suggestion. "Yes, we should wait for Kyp before we do that. There are some changes that we need to take in to account now."
"Agreed," Jag said curtly.
Warily they moved to take seats at the conference table, sitting as far away from each other as they could while still being able to work together. Jag told Jaina about the extra munitions that he had managed to secure from a discreet supplier. Jaina responded with news of her own.
"I notified Mara of the situation," she said with a hint of defensiveness. "She understandably wanted to be a part of this mission."
"Excellent," Jag relied genuinely. He had always respected Mara Jade Skywalker as a person and a Jedi. Her presence as a part of the mission reassured him. She was an excellent ally in a fight and if anyone could handle Jaina, or curb her former apprentice's dangerous tendencies, it was Mara. "I assume that she'll want to be directly involved in Callista's part in the mission."
"Yes," Jaina said with a tight smile, "In fact, she's already here and she's already seen Callista."
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Jaina rested one hand against the side of her X-Wing giving it a cursory viewing as she waited for the Jade Shadow to land. Mara was supposed to be approaching the landing area at any moment. She had received clearance to land from Bastion Orbital Control about half an hour ago. Jaina took a step away from her X-Wing, widening her stance slightly as she waited, and then completed the typical Jedi posture by steepling her hands in front of her chest. Her impatience had been mostly supplanted by anxiousness. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had seen a member of her family. It had been at the least more than a year since she had seen Mara.
It wasn't all due to the war effort that her parents were involved in or her desire to avoid them, but instead a strange combination of both. She imagined that if she saw her parents now, that they would seem more like familiar strangers than the couple who had raised her. It was a thought that did not particularly please Jaina, but she was still resistant to the idea of approaching them.
The glint of sunlight on the metal alloy of a starship hull drew her attention from her thoughts and she focused instead on the way that the 'Shadow was making its descent. Jaina could tell, after barely a moment's observation that Mara was flying. Her pilot's mind was automatically analyzing the way that Mara was handling her beloved ship.
The 'Shadow moved in smooth controlled motions without constant maneuvering or minor adjustments. Mara had set up a flawless landing and was following it easily to its completion. The large shuttle touched the duracrete softly, gently, and without the slightest hint of a bounce. Jaina smiled. It was good to see that some things, like the fact that Mara was still one of the best pilots in the galaxy, never changed. The ship seemed to settle further onto the landing area, an illusion which Jaina knew was only created by the diminishing noises of the ship, as it powered down, and the final surge of released energy as the ship's shields dissipated.
Then the boarding ramp bean to lower and Jaina finally took a few steps forward. The ramp settled to the ground with a slight clunk, revealing Mara. Jaina's first glimpse of her aunt was momentarily disconcerting. Her mental picture of Mara clashed sharply with the woman standing in front of her. A few slight lines creased Mara's face and while remaining as fit as ever, Mara seemed to have lost the thin, gaunt look that had haunted her for so long during the beginning of the war. Any lingering trace of the effects of the Yuuzhan Vong disease that Mara had suffered was long gone, and she looked strong, healthy and content.
Jaina choked back a wave of irrational envy before it could escape the shields that she had habitually erected around her own mind. Jaina moved forward onto the ramp and Mara surprised her by wrapping her into a hug. Jaina couldn't remember the last time someone had touched her so freely. Her goddess façade was working well against the Vong. It was also even more effective at distancing her, both mentally and physically, from the people around her, than any other situation that she had been in before. She responded to the hug briefly and stepped back from Mara with a smile. "It's good to see you again, Aunt Mara," and Jaina genuinely meant it.
She had been glad to known that Mara was on her way, of course. Only an extremely foolish person wouldn't want a highly skilled Jedi Master like Mara present, but Jaina was surprised to find that she was also just glad to have her aunt there.
Mara, it seemed, was also taking a long look at Jaina. "I wasn't avoiding you, Jaina," she said with a hint of rebuke that Jaina immediately caught.
Jaina blinked. She had forgotten about how Mara refused to let her get by with anything or pretend something was as it was not. Jaina wasn't quite sure how to respond to that statement. She wasn't sure that she was ready to get into everything that had been happening to her yet. Her best option was to simply evade the question. "Is Uncle Luke with you?"
Mara noted Jaina's non response and her eyes seemed to bore through her former apprentice, but she didn't press the issue. "No," her expression grew grim, "Luke stayed with Ben," she explained quietly. "When it's possible, one of us tries to stay with Ben."
Jaina looked briefly uncomfortable, until she remembered the reason that Mara was actually there. "Would you like to go see Callista, now?" she asked, knowing that it was a purely rhetorical question.
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"Well, well, Mara Jade. We meet again." Even held down to a table with stun cuffs around her wrists and ankles and a ysalamiri alive and well in the frame that was hanging near Callista, she clearly hadn't gained the sense not to taunt Mara. Her smile was like poison. "How's your beautiful boy, Jade? Does he still cry out from his nightmares in terror?" Callista's voice was light and sing-songy as she taunted Mara. "Do his terrified screams haunt you because you know that you were too weak, too slow and too dumb to catch me before I took him from you? You don't deserve what you can't keep, Jade." Her smirk was victorious, "He has so much potential." If Jaina had held any doubts about Callista's sanity, her suspicions were now confirmed. Callista's voice was filled with the insanity of the Dark Side. "So much potential. He could be twisted... so easily; reformed into the purest Dark Lord. The brighter the light, the greater the potential for darkness." Her voice trembled with excitement, "He would rule the galaxy at my side."
Jaina didn't even try to stop Mara as the woman moved forward. Mara's hand was wrapped around Callista's throat tightly, squeezing her airways shut. Mara met the other woman's eyes in silence. The insane laughter vanished from Callista's eyes, replaced almost instantly by wild determination as she realized her helplessness. Her gray eyes found Jaina with a desperate plea for help. Jaina stared back impassively, her arms crossed casually over her chest.
"Help... me." Callista managed to choke out as she began to ineffectually writhe under Mara's grip.
"Why should I help you, Callista?" Jaina asked with a calculated air of indifference. "Why should I stop Mara? You haven't given us enough information to persuade me to intervene yet. Surely if you really escaped, you must know something about the planet's security. Give me useful information, and I'll persuade Mara to let go."
Callista made a horrible pained, grasping noise and Jaina saw Mara's hand tighten about Callista's neck. "Yes," the word was barely a hiss of air.
"Good," Jaina's smile was victorious now. She paused for a moment, watching as the panic grew in Callistas's eyes. Finally she spoke, "Mara." Her voice was calm, but the word held the slightest hint of warning.
Mara's hand snapped open and she steeped back. "You will never again touch my son, Callista. You won't live that long."
Callista gasped fro breath as Jaina watched impatiently. "Start talking," Jaina said coldly, "Now. Everything you say will be recorded." Her smile held an unfriendly promise, "Don't lie. I'll be back to ask you more questions."
Jaina touched Mara's arm briefly as she headed towards the door to the small room. Callista watched them go. Her laughter was the first recorded sound.
In silence Jaina and Mara walked into another isolated room. They stood without a word. Jaina glared over at Mara. Her voice was harsh, with warning and surprisingly a bit of fear. "Don't ever do that again, Mara."
"She threatened my son, Jaina. She should be dead." She paused, and her green eyes with cold and hard with anger as she returned Jaina's glare, "Don't ever try to tell me what to do again, Jaina. I am not one of your little soldiers."
Jaina stopped as she reached for the door to let herself out. She turned back to face her aunt. "You grew up around the Dark side, Mara. Palpatine and Vader were your teachers. You saw Kyp's fall and you warned Uncle Luke of the way that it was tainting the way that he used the Force, but you've never experienced it yourself." Jaina stepped back from the door, moving towards Mara. "You've never felt that rage, that power, or that seductive pull. It is so easy. Do not play with that power, no matter how much of a danger Callista is presenting herself as." Jaina's voice was flat. "Don't cross that line. What happened in there was dangerously close."
"I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that Ben is safe from Callista, and you will not stop me, Jaina."
"Ben doesn't need his mother to be a Sith," Jaina countered sharply.
"You have used the Dark Side, Jaina," Mara reminded her pointedly. "I can feel it around you. You're not consumed by it, yet."
Jaina frowned. "The future is always changing, Mara, but some things have been in motion for a long time. I'm telling you that the Dark Side is not worth the risk. You don't need it to protect Ben. He will be in far more danger if you give in to that temptation. The Dark Side will exact its price for the use of its power. Don't make Ben pay the price for an outburst of temper, even if Callista does deserve to die."
Mara's voice was challenging, "Why do you cling to it then, Jaina?" Her niece's candor surprised her.
"You survive, Mara. You always have. You have a child and husband now." Jaina's voice was emotionless. "For some of us, it's not so easy to survive. I do what I have to. The Dark side probably saved me from simply giving up after Myrkr, but now I pay the price."
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Jaina blinked pushing the memory of that earlier confrontation to the back of her mind. "Mara interrogated Callista for a moment," Jaina explained, picking up the thread of the conversation from where she had left off. "Callista agreed to provide us with more information." Jaina's expression twisted into a grimace, "It seemed to be in her best interest. All of the information that she gave us was recorded."
She handed Jag two more datapads. A cold shiver ran over her entire body, and she resisted the urge to jerk her hand back as if burned as her finger brushed up against one of his. "The first datapad," she explained quickly, "contains the information that Callista gave us. The second shows our revised plans."
Jag suddenly seemed very interested in the datapads that she had handed him. She watched him, waiting carefully for his opinion about the changes. A blush sprung up on his neck and began to quickly spread to his face and ears.
Jaina's jaw almost dropped in shock. She hadn't seen Jag blush before, not even on the very embarrassing occasion that Kam Solusar had caught them kissing in the halls of Shelter, and she couldn't think of anything blush worthy in the information that she had just given him. She looked down at her own datapad, still clutched in her hand, the hand that had brushed Jag's, searching for any possible answer.
Suddenly a barrage of images was assaulting her. Things that she had pushed to the back of her mind years ago, and then she realized why Jag was blushing. The Force, as it occasionally did, had chosen to give her direct access to what he was thinking. She almost immediately recognized the images as other times that she and Jag had spent alone in conference rooms together. In those days, working on missions hadn't been their first priority when they were alone in deserted conference rooms.
To her surprise, Jaina felt a hint of a real smile begin to form on her lips. "Jag," she started softly, wanting to say something, but unable to find the words to continue.
"Yes," Jag said coldly, and Jaina had to restrain herself from flinching.
She could feel the cool sheild of anger and fierce defensiveness fall over his mind again. Any chance that she might have had to speak to him was gone now. She shook her head slightly. "Nothing." This, she thought silently to herself, This is the price I pay for the Dark Side's influence on my life, Mara.
Reviews are loved!
Author's note: I'LL BE POSTING DAILY ON THIS STORY FROM NOW ON!
Nike's Zero: Kyp's weird? How so? I'm not offended, I'm just curious. Do you think he's OOC?
Jaina Solo paced inside the conference room that the Insiders had effectively commandeered. Jag and Kyp were supposed to have met here to discuss their individual progress and to lock into place the final details of the mission plan. Uncharacteristically, both men were late. Jaina couldn't resist the urge to send a rush of impatient emotion towards Kyp through their Force bond. As a response, he locked her out of his mind with an abruptness that stopped her pacing in mid-step. Kyp rarely responded to her so harshly. The part of her mind that told her that no one, not even the only person who still might be her friend, could be trusted, insisted that she find out what exactly what Kyp was doing. She rejected the thought, but much slower than she might once have.
Her Force senses caught the familiar spark of a presence a moment later, and Jaina used the seconds of warning to summon an air of cool Jedi calm that her impatience belied. The door opened and Jag stepped stiffly inside. His posture was reserved and the usual aloofness, that he summoned when he was forced to deal with a person that he didn't particularly like or respect, appeared in his eyes.
"I apologize for my lateness, Colonel," he spoke stiffly. "I had to deal with a squadron matter."
Jaina nodded, while internally doubting that a squadron commanded by Jag Fel would ever have a 'matter' that would make him late. "Master Durron isn't here yet either," Jaina stated.
It was Jag's turn to nod. "Would you prefer to wait until Master Durron gets here to begin our final planning?"
Jaina shrugged and offered and alternate suggestion. "Yes, we should wait for Kyp before we do that. There are some changes that we need to take in to account now."
"Agreed," Jag said curtly.
Warily they moved to take seats at the conference table, sitting as far away from each other as they could while still being able to work together. Jag told Jaina about the extra munitions that he had managed to secure from a discreet supplier. Jaina responded with news of her own.
"I notified Mara of the situation," she said with a hint of defensiveness. "She understandably wanted to be a part of this mission."
"Excellent," Jag relied genuinely. He had always respected Mara Jade Skywalker as a person and a Jedi. Her presence as a part of the mission reassured him. She was an excellent ally in a fight and if anyone could handle Jaina, or curb her former apprentice's dangerous tendencies, it was Mara. "I assume that she'll want to be directly involved in Callista's part in the mission."
"Yes," Jaina said with a tight smile, "In fact, she's already here and she's already seen Callista."
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Jaina rested one hand against the side of her X-Wing giving it a cursory viewing as she waited for the Jade Shadow to land. Mara was supposed to be approaching the landing area at any moment. She had received clearance to land from Bastion Orbital Control about half an hour ago. Jaina took a step away from her X-Wing, widening her stance slightly as she waited, and then completed the typical Jedi posture by steepling her hands in front of her chest. Her impatience had been mostly supplanted by anxiousness. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had seen a member of her family. It had been at the least more than a year since she had seen Mara.
It wasn't all due to the war effort that her parents were involved in or her desire to avoid them, but instead a strange combination of both. She imagined that if she saw her parents now, that they would seem more like familiar strangers than the couple who had raised her. It was a thought that did not particularly please Jaina, but she was still resistant to the idea of approaching them.
The glint of sunlight on the metal alloy of a starship hull drew her attention from her thoughts and she focused instead on the way that the 'Shadow was making its descent. Jaina could tell, after barely a moment's observation that Mara was flying. Her pilot's mind was automatically analyzing the way that Mara was handling her beloved ship.
The 'Shadow moved in smooth controlled motions without constant maneuvering or minor adjustments. Mara had set up a flawless landing and was following it easily to its completion. The large shuttle touched the duracrete softly, gently, and without the slightest hint of a bounce. Jaina smiled. It was good to see that some things, like the fact that Mara was still one of the best pilots in the galaxy, never changed. The ship seemed to settle further onto the landing area, an illusion which Jaina knew was only created by the diminishing noises of the ship, as it powered down, and the final surge of released energy as the ship's shields dissipated.
Then the boarding ramp bean to lower and Jaina finally took a few steps forward. The ramp settled to the ground with a slight clunk, revealing Mara. Jaina's first glimpse of her aunt was momentarily disconcerting. Her mental picture of Mara clashed sharply with the woman standing in front of her. A few slight lines creased Mara's face and while remaining as fit as ever, Mara seemed to have lost the thin, gaunt look that had haunted her for so long during the beginning of the war. Any lingering trace of the effects of the Yuuzhan Vong disease that Mara had suffered was long gone, and she looked strong, healthy and content.
Jaina choked back a wave of irrational envy before it could escape the shields that she had habitually erected around her own mind. Jaina moved forward onto the ramp and Mara surprised her by wrapping her into a hug. Jaina couldn't remember the last time someone had touched her so freely. Her goddess façade was working well against the Vong. It was also even more effective at distancing her, both mentally and physically, from the people around her, than any other situation that she had been in before. She responded to the hug briefly and stepped back from Mara with a smile. "It's good to see you again, Aunt Mara," and Jaina genuinely meant it.
She had been glad to known that Mara was on her way, of course. Only an extremely foolish person wouldn't want a highly skilled Jedi Master like Mara present, but Jaina was surprised to find that she was also just glad to have her aunt there.
Mara, it seemed, was also taking a long look at Jaina. "I wasn't avoiding you, Jaina," she said with a hint of rebuke that Jaina immediately caught.
Jaina blinked. She had forgotten about how Mara refused to let her get by with anything or pretend something was as it was not. Jaina wasn't quite sure how to respond to that statement. She wasn't sure that she was ready to get into everything that had been happening to her yet. Her best option was to simply evade the question. "Is Uncle Luke with you?"
Mara noted Jaina's non response and her eyes seemed to bore through her former apprentice, but she didn't press the issue. "No," her expression grew grim, "Luke stayed with Ben," she explained quietly. "When it's possible, one of us tries to stay with Ben."
Jaina looked briefly uncomfortable, until she remembered the reason that Mara was actually there. "Would you like to go see Callista, now?" she asked, knowing that it was a purely rhetorical question.
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"Well, well, Mara Jade. We meet again." Even held down to a table with stun cuffs around her wrists and ankles and a ysalamiri alive and well in the frame that was hanging near Callista, she clearly hadn't gained the sense not to taunt Mara. Her smile was like poison. "How's your beautiful boy, Jade? Does he still cry out from his nightmares in terror?" Callista's voice was light and sing-songy as she taunted Mara. "Do his terrified screams haunt you because you know that you were too weak, too slow and too dumb to catch me before I took him from you? You don't deserve what you can't keep, Jade." Her smirk was victorious, "He has so much potential." If Jaina had held any doubts about Callista's sanity, her suspicions were now confirmed. Callista's voice was filled with the insanity of the Dark Side. "So much potential. He could be twisted... so easily; reformed into the purest Dark Lord. The brighter the light, the greater the potential for darkness." Her voice trembled with excitement, "He would rule the galaxy at my side."
Jaina didn't even try to stop Mara as the woman moved forward. Mara's hand was wrapped around Callista's throat tightly, squeezing her airways shut. Mara met the other woman's eyes in silence. The insane laughter vanished from Callista's eyes, replaced almost instantly by wild determination as she realized her helplessness. Her gray eyes found Jaina with a desperate plea for help. Jaina stared back impassively, her arms crossed casually over her chest.
"Help... me." Callista managed to choke out as she began to ineffectually writhe under Mara's grip.
"Why should I help you, Callista?" Jaina asked with a calculated air of indifference. "Why should I stop Mara? You haven't given us enough information to persuade me to intervene yet. Surely if you really escaped, you must know something about the planet's security. Give me useful information, and I'll persuade Mara to let go."
Callista made a horrible pained, grasping noise and Jaina saw Mara's hand tighten about Callista's neck. "Yes," the word was barely a hiss of air.
"Good," Jaina's smile was victorious now. She paused for a moment, watching as the panic grew in Callistas's eyes. Finally she spoke, "Mara." Her voice was calm, but the word held the slightest hint of warning.
Mara's hand snapped open and she steeped back. "You will never again touch my son, Callista. You won't live that long."
Callista gasped fro breath as Jaina watched impatiently. "Start talking," Jaina said coldly, "Now. Everything you say will be recorded." Her smile held an unfriendly promise, "Don't lie. I'll be back to ask you more questions."
Jaina touched Mara's arm briefly as she headed towards the door to the small room. Callista watched them go. Her laughter was the first recorded sound.
In silence Jaina and Mara walked into another isolated room. They stood without a word. Jaina glared over at Mara. Her voice was harsh, with warning and surprisingly a bit of fear. "Don't ever do that again, Mara."
"She threatened my son, Jaina. She should be dead." She paused, and her green eyes with cold and hard with anger as she returned Jaina's glare, "Don't ever try to tell me what to do again, Jaina. I am not one of your little soldiers."
Jaina stopped as she reached for the door to let herself out. She turned back to face her aunt. "You grew up around the Dark side, Mara. Palpatine and Vader were your teachers. You saw Kyp's fall and you warned Uncle Luke of the way that it was tainting the way that he used the Force, but you've never experienced it yourself." Jaina stepped back from the door, moving towards Mara. "You've never felt that rage, that power, or that seductive pull. It is so easy. Do not play with that power, no matter how much of a danger Callista is presenting herself as." Jaina's voice was flat. "Don't cross that line. What happened in there was dangerously close."
"I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that Ben is safe from Callista, and you will not stop me, Jaina."
"Ben doesn't need his mother to be a Sith," Jaina countered sharply.
"You have used the Dark Side, Jaina," Mara reminded her pointedly. "I can feel it around you. You're not consumed by it, yet."
Jaina frowned. "The future is always changing, Mara, but some things have been in motion for a long time. I'm telling you that the Dark Side is not worth the risk. You don't need it to protect Ben. He will be in far more danger if you give in to that temptation. The Dark Side will exact its price for the use of its power. Don't make Ben pay the price for an outburst of temper, even if Callista does deserve to die."
Mara's voice was challenging, "Why do you cling to it then, Jaina?" Her niece's candor surprised her.
"You survive, Mara. You always have. You have a child and husband now." Jaina's voice was emotionless. "For some of us, it's not so easy to survive. I do what I have to. The Dark side probably saved me from simply giving up after Myrkr, but now I pay the price."
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Jaina blinked pushing the memory of that earlier confrontation to the back of her mind. "Mara interrogated Callista for a moment," Jaina explained, picking up the thread of the conversation from where she had left off. "Callista agreed to provide us with more information." Jaina's expression twisted into a grimace, "It seemed to be in her best interest. All of the information that she gave us was recorded."
She handed Jag two more datapads. A cold shiver ran over her entire body, and she resisted the urge to jerk her hand back as if burned as her finger brushed up against one of his. "The first datapad," she explained quickly, "contains the information that Callista gave us. The second shows our revised plans."
Jag suddenly seemed very interested in the datapads that she had handed him. She watched him, waiting carefully for his opinion about the changes. A blush sprung up on his neck and began to quickly spread to his face and ears.
Jaina's jaw almost dropped in shock. She hadn't seen Jag blush before, not even on the very embarrassing occasion that Kam Solusar had caught them kissing in the halls of Shelter, and she couldn't think of anything blush worthy in the information that she had just given him. She looked down at her own datapad, still clutched in her hand, the hand that had brushed Jag's, searching for any possible answer.
Suddenly a barrage of images was assaulting her. Things that she had pushed to the back of her mind years ago, and then she realized why Jag was blushing. The Force, as it occasionally did, had chosen to give her direct access to what he was thinking. She almost immediately recognized the images as other times that she and Jag had spent alone in conference rooms together. In those days, working on missions hadn't been their first priority when they were alone in deserted conference rooms.
To her surprise, Jaina felt a hint of a real smile begin to form on her lips. "Jag," she started softly, wanting to say something, but unable to find the words to continue.
"Yes," Jag said coldly, and Jaina had to restrain herself from flinching.
She could feel the cool sheild of anger and fierce defensiveness fall over his mind again. Any chance that she might have had to speak to him was gone now. She shook her head slightly. "Nothing." This, she thought silently to herself, This is the price I pay for the Dark Side's influence on my life, Mara.
Reviews are loved!