Petra Delling- The Jaina/Jag, and Jaina/Jacen will be coming a little
later. This update is mainly action!
Nike's Zero- I take it you liked it! ;) And yeah, I agree, it's not quite toasty in Florida. It was down into the upper 30's the other day!
Jaina reached through the Force towards her connection with Jacen, strengthening the ever present connection between them. She could hardly believe what she was sensing. Jacen was .....alive. It was almost a foreign concept. But with the knowledge that he was alive, there also came an abrupt realization. If she hadn't been searching specifically for Jacen through the Force, Jaina didn't think she would have recognized his unique presence in the Force. Her twin's mental presence was so unfamiliar to Jaina that she almost flinched back from his mental touch. His mind was completely unfamiliar.
The brother that she had grown up with, her other half, was gone. She could find no trace of that person in Jacen's mind. It wasn't like his memories were gone, he was simply different. It was so different in fact, that Jaina was almost having difficulties maintaining the connection between them.
"I know where he is," Jaina breathed quietly, almost in disbelief.
Mara looked at her niece sharply. "You have to make some decisions here, Jaina." Mara's voice was firm, but not unkind. She understood the stakes of the mission and everything that Jaina was dealing with, but she also trusted Jaina's abilities and her judgment. At the moment, however, support was all that Jaina needed, whether she would admit it or not.
"I know." Mara could already sense a change in Jaina. The shock that sensing her twin through the Force had given Jaina was already being pushed to the back of Jaina's mind so that she could examine the situation more clearly. "Mara," she said quickly and quietly, her brown eyes sparkling with a flash of an idea. "I have to go after Jacen." Jaina paused, and looked speculatively at her master, "You aren't going to like this," she said at last.
"You want to go after Jacen by yourself." Mara said blandly.
Jaina nodded, waiting for her former Master to comment.
"I'll take Callista and the rest of the strike team to retrieve the rest of the prisoners." She smiled tightly at her niece, "Be careful, Jaina."
Jaina accepted the warning with a grateful nod. She spotted Callista among her team members quickly.
Mara followed her gaze easily. "I can handle, Callista," she said grimly, "I've already proven that. Don't worry about me, Jaina," she said quietly, knowing without even having to sense Jaina's feelings through the Force, what her niece was worried about. Mara had her temper firmly under control, now, however. It had been years since she had lost control of her emotions in that way and she wasn't about to slip to the Dark side for the sake of vengeance against Callista. She would never be able to look her son in the eye again if she did. "Go, Jaina." She said firmly.
Mara turned away from her niece, and focused on the team that was now hers. Quickly she began issuing orders. "Brantur, bring up the rear." She turned a frosty glare on Callista. "You'll be leading us. Take the shortest route to the prisoners."
Callista didn't move or even react to what Mara had said. Instead she gazed laconically at Mara as the other members of the strike team quickly fell into their marching order. Her gray eyed stare was an open challenge. Make me.
Mara didn't hesitate, or repeat her command. The lightsaber that was already in her hand was ignited even as it began its sweep towards Callista's head. For a heart beat, the dark Jedi wasn't moving. Her eyes, her body language were all calling Mara's bluff and then Callista was sprawled in an ignominious heap on the ground. The trickle of blood where Mara's blade had grazed her neck was proof that Mara was not, in fact, bluffing. Callista had barely been able to move fast enough to avoid being decapitated,
Mara stared down at Callista, her lightsaber held in one hand. "You don't move; You die." Mara's simple statement sent chills down the spines of those listening. Callista simply picked herself up off of the ground and started walking. The look of amusement that had appeared on Callista's face at Mara's threat never left.
"Dorik Vong Pratte!"
The Yuuzhan Vong war cry caught Jaina off guard as the trio of warriors charged at her. She had managed to avoid confrontations until then, slipping through the compound as nothing more than a silent shadow. She hadn't really expected to reach Jacen unchallenged. Jaina could truly feel him now. The weight of his presence was looming large in her mind. She was so close.
The first warrior's amphistaff swung in an arc that would have bisected her. At the last moment, Jaina leaped, drawing on the Force to flip over his head until she landed between he and his companions. The moment she landed, she was met with a flurry of activity. Amphistaffs sliced through the air towards her and blurred into a tangle of chops, lunges and parries all around. Drawing on everything that Mara had taught her, Jaina carefully kept an awareness of where her attackers were at all times. Without the Force, a moment of inattention could get her killed in an instant.
The purple blade of her lightsaber sliced a thud bug in half and Jaina was barely able to bring it back around in time to intercept another amphistaff. The Vong warrior released an animalistic howl to the gods. As she half-turned to block another incoming blow, the first warrior hurled his amphistaff directly at her, like a spear. With her lightsaber tangled in a duel with another amphistaff there was no way that she could use it to knock the amphistaff hurling towards her out of the air.
A graceless, but powerful kick to the leg of the warrior that was using his amphistaff to block her lightsaber, sent him crashing to the ground. Jaina let herself collapse on top of the warrior. The amphistaff didn't quite miss her, but the blow wasn't fatal. Her fall was enough to make the amphistaff miss her head. The snake like head of the amphistaff, instead, buried itself sharply into the back of her shoulder blade. Jaina couldn't stifle her scream of pain. Her pain fogged mind barely even registered the amphistaff of the warrior that she had knocked to the ground as it resumed its mobile snake like form. It whipped towards Jaina with fangs visible, preparing to deliver a lethal bite. Its fangs were barely an inch from Jaina when it exploded. Jaina recognized the distinctive sound of charric fire as she fell unconscious.
Blaster fire charged the air around Mara as she rapidly blocked incoming thud buys. "Teara," she called quickly to Jaina's demolitions expert, "Thermal detonator, now."
The woman reacted quickly, pulling one off of her bandolier and lobbing it towards Mara. It changed direction in mid air and sailed towards the group of Vong that had them pinned down. With Force guided precision the detonator dropped at precisely the right location. Another second of concentration, on Mara's behalf, detonated the explosive in the midst of the Vong. The few remaining warriors were easily picked of by the other members of the strike team and as one they surged towards the heavily protected corridor that they had just secured.
Mara was the last to reach the relative safety, as she covered Brantur as the large being carried one of his teammates with him. She slid in behind the rest of her team, watching as Brantur lowered his injured wingmate to the floor. Mara couldn't quite remember his name, but she thought he was Twin Four. Twin Six, the team's medic quickly started attending to the injuries as best as it could.
Mara looked over at Callista. While the woman wasn't actually harming Mara's team, she certainly wasn't making any effort to help them. "Where do we go now, Callista," Mara demanded quickly, keeping a careful eye on the approaching Vong warriors. They didn't have time to linger there.
For once Callista didn't try to delay, she simply pointed. Mara quickly followed the line of Callista's gesture until she saw what Callista was pointing to. A large opening was blocked by a solid piece of....something. Unlike most of the things that passed for doors among the Yuuzhan Vong, this one wasn't transparent. Without wasting another moment in her assessment, Mara ran quickly towards the door and sank the blue blade of her lightsaber in until it was almost up to the handle. With effort she quickly carved out a small hole. To Mara's dismay, she realized that her lightsaber hadn't even penetrated the opposite side of the 'door.'
"Teara," she called a moment later. The woman appeared next to Mara quickly. After a quick look of assessment she began pulling explosives out of her bag without a word from Mara.
"The prisoners are in there."
Mara almost jumped and she barely managed to keep the shock off of her face. She hadn't even felt Callista approach her. When Callista chose to cut herself off from the Dark side, she was once again invisible through the Force. It did nothing to make Mara trust Callista more. Separating herself from the Dark side didn't mean that Callista's intentions were any less harmful or dangerous than they had before. It just allowed Callista to hide her feelings from Mara better. If anything the sudden change made Mara more suspicious and way. However, there was nothing that could be done about it at the moment. The prisoners were still their first priority, even if Callista betraying them to the Vong.
"Back!" Mara didn't resist as Teara quickly pushed her towards the corner where the rest of the strike team waited. Chunks of whatever substance the 'door' was made out of had barely hit the ground before the strike team was once again in motion, racing towards the opening.
Mara took a moment to shear off the head of an amphistaff thrown spear like towards her by the rapidly approaching group of Yuuzhan Vong warriors before she caught back up with the rest of her team. She fleetingly wished that there was some way that they could have gained entrance without destroying the 'door.' It would have been excellent to be able to shut the Vong out. Her team slowed slightly as they entered the cavernous room, glancing around carefully for any hidden warriors or traps.
All around the large open space, Mara saw the desolate faces of prisoners, beings of many races, ranks and walks of life, who barely looked up at the sudden intrusion.
"Be careful," Mara admonished her team, "but hurry. Once we free them we need to move." Heeding her own words, Mara quickly moved into the large room, making sure that Callista was in her sight and near her at all times as she began freeing prisoners.
As more people were freed from their restraints and the loud announcements from Mara and the other members of the strike team stating that they were there to rescue the prisoners began to sink in, the dazed being began to become more animated. With a matter of seconds a surge of beings were moving towards the exit.
Mara quickly scanned the area for those who were too weak or injured to walk, and conveyed them to a member of the strike team before she ventured deeper into the large room. After all of their effort in getting to the prisoners, Mara refused to leave any of them behind. A shadow in a darkened corner, a person curled in upon themselves, covered in grimy clothing, painfully knotted scars and Yuuzhan Vong, caught her attention. Mara was still several meters away from the being when her danger sense began to scream a warning.
Mara glanced around quickly, but she couldn't see any danger. Her first thought was: Callista, but the other woman seemed to once again not be doing anything. The next moment the ground was shaking beneath her feet.
Please leave a review. The author craves and adores feedback!
Nike's Zero- I take it you liked it! ;) And yeah, I agree, it's not quite toasty in Florida. It was down into the upper 30's the other day!
Jaina reached through the Force towards her connection with Jacen, strengthening the ever present connection between them. She could hardly believe what she was sensing. Jacen was .....alive. It was almost a foreign concept. But with the knowledge that he was alive, there also came an abrupt realization. If she hadn't been searching specifically for Jacen through the Force, Jaina didn't think she would have recognized his unique presence in the Force. Her twin's mental presence was so unfamiliar to Jaina that she almost flinched back from his mental touch. His mind was completely unfamiliar.
The brother that she had grown up with, her other half, was gone. She could find no trace of that person in Jacen's mind. It wasn't like his memories were gone, he was simply different. It was so different in fact, that Jaina was almost having difficulties maintaining the connection between them.
"I know where he is," Jaina breathed quietly, almost in disbelief.
Mara looked at her niece sharply. "You have to make some decisions here, Jaina." Mara's voice was firm, but not unkind. She understood the stakes of the mission and everything that Jaina was dealing with, but she also trusted Jaina's abilities and her judgment. At the moment, however, support was all that Jaina needed, whether she would admit it or not.
"I know." Mara could already sense a change in Jaina. The shock that sensing her twin through the Force had given Jaina was already being pushed to the back of Jaina's mind so that she could examine the situation more clearly. "Mara," she said quickly and quietly, her brown eyes sparkling with a flash of an idea. "I have to go after Jacen." Jaina paused, and looked speculatively at her master, "You aren't going to like this," she said at last.
"You want to go after Jacen by yourself." Mara said blandly.
Jaina nodded, waiting for her former Master to comment.
"I'll take Callista and the rest of the strike team to retrieve the rest of the prisoners." She smiled tightly at her niece, "Be careful, Jaina."
Jaina accepted the warning with a grateful nod. She spotted Callista among her team members quickly.
Mara followed her gaze easily. "I can handle, Callista," she said grimly, "I've already proven that. Don't worry about me, Jaina," she said quietly, knowing without even having to sense Jaina's feelings through the Force, what her niece was worried about. Mara had her temper firmly under control, now, however. It had been years since she had lost control of her emotions in that way and she wasn't about to slip to the Dark side for the sake of vengeance against Callista. She would never be able to look her son in the eye again if she did. "Go, Jaina." She said firmly.
Mara turned away from her niece, and focused on the team that was now hers. Quickly she began issuing orders. "Brantur, bring up the rear." She turned a frosty glare on Callista. "You'll be leading us. Take the shortest route to the prisoners."
Callista didn't move or even react to what Mara had said. Instead she gazed laconically at Mara as the other members of the strike team quickly fell into their marching order. Her gray eyed stare was an open challenge. Make me.
Mara didn't hesitate, or repeat her command. The lightsaber that was already in her hand was ignited even as it began its sweep towards Callista's head. For a heart beat, the dark Jedi wasn't moving. Her eyes, her body language were all calling Mara's bluff and then Callista was sprawled in an ignominious heap on the ground. The trickle of blood where Mara's blade had grazed her neck was proof that Mara was not, in fact, bluffing. Callista had barely been able to move fast enough to avoid being decapitated,
Mara stared down at Callista, her lightsaber held in one hand. "You don't move; You die." Mara's simple statement sent chills down the spines of those listening. Callista simply picked herself up off of the ground and started walking. The look of amusement that had appeared on Callista's face at Mara's threat never left.
"Dorik Vong Pratte!"
The Yuuzhan Vong war cry caught Jaina off guard as the trio of warriors charged at her. She had managed to avoid confrontations until then, slipping through the compound as nothing more than a silent shadow. She hadn't really expected to reach Jacen unchallenged. Jaina could truly feel him now. The weight of his presence was looming large in her mind. She was so close.
The first warrior's amphistaff swung in an arc that would have bisected her. At the last moment, Jaina leaped, drawing on the Force to flip over his head until she landed between he and his companions. The moment she landed, she was met with a flurry of activity. Amphistaffs sliced through the air towards her and blurred into a tangle of chops, lunges and parries all around. Drawing on everything that Mara had taught her, Jaina carefully kept an awareness of where her attackers were at all times. Without the Force, a moment of inattention could get her killed in an instant.
The purple blade of her lightsaber sliced a thud bug in half and Jaina was barely able to bring it back around in time to intercept another amphistaff. The Vong warrior released an animalistic howl to the gods. As she half-turned to block another incoming blow, the first warrior hurled his amphistaff directly at her, like a spear. With her lightsaber tangled in a duel with another amphistaff there was no way that she could use it to knock the amphistaff hurling towards her out of the air.
A graceless, but powerful kick to the leg of the warrior that was using his amphistaff to block her lightsaber, sent him crashing to the ground. Jaina let herself collapse on top of the warrior. The amphistaff didn't quite miss her, but the blow wasn't fatal. Her fall was enough to make the amphistaff miss her head. The snake like head of the amphistaff, instead, buried itself sharply into the back of her shoulder blade. Jaina couldn't stifle her scream of pain. Her pain fogged mind barely even registered the amphistaff of the warrior that she had knocked to the ground as it resumed its mobile snake like form. It whipped towards Jaina with fangs visible, preparing to deliver a lethal bite. Its fangs were barely an inch from Jaina when it exploded. Jaina recognized the distinctive sound of charric fire as she fell unconscious.
Blaster fire charged the air around Mara as she rapidly blocked incoming thud buys. "Teara," she called quickly to Jaina's demolitions expert, "Thermal detonator, now."
The woman reacted quickly, pulling one off of her bandolier and lobbing it towards Mara. It changed direction in mid air and sailed towards the group of Vong that had them pinned down. With Force guided precision the detonator dropped at precisely the right location. Another second of concentration, on Mara's behalf, detonated the explosive in the midst of the Vong. The few remaining warriors were easily picked of by the other members of the strike team and as one they surged towards the heavily protected corridor that they had just secured.
Mara was the last to reach the relative safety, as she covered Brantur as the large being carried one of his teammates with him. She slid in behind the rest of her team, watching as Brantur lowered his injured wingmate to the floor. Mara couldn't quite remember his name, but she thought he was Twin Four. Twin Six, the team's medic quickly started attending to the injuries as best as it could.
Mara looked over at Callista. While the woman wasn't actually harming Mara's team, she certainly wasn't making any effort to help them. "Where do we go now, Callista," Mara demanded quickly, keeping a careful eye on the approaching Vong warriors. They didn't have time to linger there.
For once Callista didn't try to delay, she simply pointed. Mara quickly followed the line of Callista's gesture until she saw what Callista was pointing to. A large opening was blocked by a solid piece of....something. Unlike most of the things that passed for doors among the Yuuzhan Vong, this one wasn't transparent. Without wasting another moment in her assessment, Mara ran quickly towards the door and sank the blue blade of her lightsaber in until it was almost up to the handle. With effort she quickly carved out a small hole. To Mara's dismay, she realized that her lightsaber hadn't even penetrated the opposite side of the 'door.'
"Teara," she called a moment later. The woman appeared next to Mara quickly. After a quick look of assessment she began pulling explosives out of her bag without a word from Mara.
"The prisoners are in there."
Mara almost jumped and she barely managed to keep the shock off of her face. She hadn't even felt Callista approach her. When Callista chose to cut herself off from the Dark side, she was once again invisible through the Force. It did nothing to make Mara trust Callista more. Separating herself from the Dark side didn't mean that Callista's intentions were any less harmful or dangerous than they had before. It just allowed Callista to hide her feelings from Mara better. If anything the sudden change made Mara more suspicious and way. However, there was nothing that could be done about it at the moment. The prisoners were still their first priority, even if Callista betraying them to the Vong.
"Back!" Mara didn't resist as Teara quickly pushed her towards the corner where the rest of the strike team waited. Chunks of whatever substance the 'door' was made out of had barely hit the ground before the strike team was once again in motion, racing towards the opening.
Mara took a moment to shear off the head of an amphistaff thrown spear like towards her by the rapidly approaching group of Yuuzhan Vong warriors before she caught back up with the rest of her team. She fleetingly wished that there was some way that they could have gained entrance without destroying the 'door.' It would have been excellent to be able to shut the Vong out. Her team slowed slightly as they entered the cavernous room, glancing around carefully for any hidden warriors or traps.
All around the large open space, Mara saw the desolate faces of prisoners, beings of many races, ranks and walks of life, who barely looked up at the sudden intrusion.
"Be careful," Mara admonished her team, "but hurry. Once we free them we need to move." Heeding her own words, Mara quickly moved into the large room, making sure that Callista was in her sight and near her at all times as she began freeing prisoners.
As more people were freed from their restraints and the loud announcements from Mara and the other members of the strike team stating that they were there to rescue the prisoners began to sink in, the dazed being began to become more animated. With a matter of seconds a surge of beings were moving towards the exit.
Mara quickly scanned the area for those who were too weak or injured to walk, and conveyed them to a member of the strike team before she ventured deeper into the large room. After all of their effort in getting to the prisoners, Mara refused to leave any of them behind. A shadow in a darkened corner, a person curled in upon themselves, covered in grimy clothing, painfully knotted scars and Yuuzhan Vong, caught her attention. Mara was still several meters away from the being when her danger sense began to scream a warning.
Mara glanced around quickly, but she couldn't see any danger. Her first thought was: Callista, but the other woman seemed to once again not be doing anything. The next moment the ground was shaking beneath her feet.
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