MistiWhitesun: Sorry! I hope it won't be after this!
Tim Knispel: The reason is I've got to separate them so I can add the chapters to ff.n (I'm new to this!).
Also, I haven't read any of the NJO books. Chewie's 'death' upset me greatly and I went through a depression because of it. I refuse to read the books because I'm afraid that I will go into another depression. The reason I'm writing this is because the Plot Bunny wouldn't let go! My beta on the JC Forums helped me with the NJO parts.
Thank you. I hope the rest does. I've written this for the past two years and my style has changed since then. Oddly enough, I edited this chapter before I posted it! :O (must put this verison on my website now. :O )
Chapter One: Doing It First, Asking Permission For It Later
The Admiral looked at his computer, studying a report on defensive shields. It was boring work, not what he expected when he took the job eleven years ago, but it was better than what he had been doing before: nothing. If he had the choice, he would not be here at all. He would be with the other half of his family, people he had never met. Sadly, he had no choice in the matter and he could not leave the family he had here.
The door buzzer went off and the admiral called, "Enter." The door opened and in stepped fourteen-year-old girl. Her thick, long brown hair was down making her face very small and shadowing her already dark brown eyes. She had light purple glasses (she called them eye-enhancers) on her face that fell a bit down her nose. She was very tall for her age, but her body was small and thin. She was wearing a white tunic with white cloth pants.
The girl walked up to the desk and stood at attention as if she had something important to say to the admiral.
He glanced up at the girl and then back to his report. He wondered why she was here; she had never entered his office before. He shut down his holoprojector and looked up at the young teen. "So, Ladora, what brings you here?" He asked casually.
Ladora looked at the man with very serious eyes. "Admiral, sir, I wish to speak with you on a highly important matter."
Hiding shock at her formal approach to him, he responded, "I see. What do you wish to speak with me about, Commander?"
She took a deep breath and let it out. He knew this routine. Whatever this was about, it was not good. "I wish to form a strike team."
The admiral was puzzled, but had a suspicion of what she was looking for. "A strike team? For what purpose?"
"To combat the Yuuzhan Vong."
He sighed. He knew it. Ladora had to pick something like that. "I am afraid I cannot authorize that. It is against the law, something you should know very well about."
"The Council would not have to know, sir."
"But they will find out, at sometime."
Ladora abandoned her formal stance and placed her hands on her hips. "I could have the file on it buried so deep that the Vong will be gone for years by the time the Council found it."
You're in Intelligence. Of course, you could bury the file, but that's not the point, he thought, but did not say that aloud. Instead, he asked, "And you're willing to take that risk?"
"Been in trouble before, can't see why I should stop now."
He leaned back in his chair, running his hand though his blond hair. What else could he do? "What would this team require, Ladora?" said the man, giving in.
At that, the girl brightened, a smile spreading across her face. She took out a datachip, leaned over and put it in the holoprojector. Ladora turned on the holo, displaying a person wearing silver clothes, gloves and boots. The person also wore a silver helmet that had three purple stripes on it, one on the top and two on the sides that reached to the back. The holo image had two blasters handing in holsters and a lightsaber hanging from a silver belt.
"This is the uniform I plan on using, so I'll use it as an example. The team will create their own outfits. There will be four members, including me, that will actively battle the Vong. Five others will be on hand for emergency. The active ones will have two blasters, two gauntlets that will include several chemicals and tools, and a lightsaber, which will be our primary weapon. The team's codename will be 'Shadow Jedi' and each of the members will have codenames. No one will find out," said Ladora.
The admiral looked at the holo and took in what Ladora said. She had planned this out and it might work. But 'might' was the keyword here. "Who is going to be the other members on this Shadow Jedi strike team?" he asked even though he thought he knew the answer.
"Ken will be my captain and second-in-command, Caiya will be last in command because she says it's not proper for her to lead unless Tygeris tells her she can, Lenny and Lusa are going to be healers, Chewie is going to be our mechanic, and Rene and Talon..." she shifted from one foot to another. "well, I haven't thought about what they will do, yet."
Just as I thought. And they know the risks and won't say anything, he thought. "Very well," he said, smiling just a bit, "do this, and, maybe, you can make a difference with the Vong."
"Thanks, Dad," said Ladora. She took the chip from the holo and turned to leave.
It was when she reached the door that something occurred to the admiral. Ladora had only mentioned eight members.... "Wait, Ladora, one more question." She stopped and turned. "Who is the ninth member?"
Ladora looked down at her feet. That was never a good sign. "He's in the med center. He was hurt. Badly."
"Who is it?"
She looked in the direction of their private med center, which was the last room down the hall. "He's most likely going to wake up soon. He might need someone there to..." she hesitated, "someone to talk to him, to tell him."
But those were no answers. The admiral put his hands on his desk and looked at her with his stern blue eyes. "Ladora, I repeat, who is your ninth member?"
Ladora gave him a long that told him she had purposely broken the law again. "Anakin Solo." She turned around, opened the door, and turned left toward the med center.
The man looked at the open door and then at his desk, unsure what his feelings were at the moment. That was Ladora; she did something and then asked permission or forgiveness later. There were times he was not sure what she was capable of anymore.
The admiral got up. Someone had to be there when Anakin Solo woke up. Someone had to tell him. To tell him that he could not go home.
Just for a warning, Anakin will go through much worse than this. ]:)
