Chapter 3
As soon as the transport jumped into hyperspace, Cordell groaned. "Aw, man! We missed the rest of the battle!"
Jyo finished readjusting his glasses to normal vision and sighed, "I can't believe you wanted to stay in a war zone."
"Come on Jyo, think about it. We've been cooped up in the Maw Installation for most of our lives. That was the most action we've ever seen!"
"You're right, Cordell!" Zeek agreed. "Good point."
Jyo and Denz looked at each other and rolled their eyes. The two older young Jedi shrugged their shoulders and said in unison, "Kids."
"Kids!" Zeek and Cordell exclaimed. "We're not that much younger than you guys," Zeek demanded.
Denz and Jyo just chuckled.
"My, my, my!" Tahiri said suddenly. "If this is true, perhaps you should mature some more before you are allowed to construct your lightsabers."
"Aahh!" All four young Jedi jumped back with surprise. They had forgotten that she was there.
"No! No!" Denz said quickly. "We're all old enough, and responsible enough to have lightsabers! Heh, heh."
"I suppose. But only if you promise to stop instigating one another."
"We promise."
"And don't let what other people say disturb you. Remember anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering."
"Yes, Tahiri."
"Good. See that you don't make any more trouble for the rest of the trip," Tahiri said as she walked away.
"Sorry about that guys," Denz apologized to Zeek and Cordell.
"No problem. We shouldn't have let it bother us," Cordell responded.
"So, what are we going to do for the rest of the trip?" Jyo wondered.
"Well if we had lightsabers, we could practice," Cordell said wistfully.
"Gee, but we don't have lightsabers do we?" Denz said annoyed.
"We could always play vid games in the lounge," Jyo suggested.
"Well, it's something to do even if that's all we ever did in our spare time at the Installation," Denz consented. "Let's go."
The four trudged off toward the game room.
Jaina jumped from the cockpit of her X-Wing to the floor of the starboard hanger bay inside the Errant Venture. She watched as the last few pilots in the Sun and Stars squadron set down in their respective spaces. Kyp and Ben were already finished with their power down check and walked over to stand on either side of her. The P.A. system suddenly blared to life: "ATTENTION, ALL PERSONNEL. YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TO PREPARE FOR THE JUMP TO HYPERSPACE. I REPEAT. IN 5 MINUTES WE WILL MAKE OUR JUMP TO THE CORE WORLDS."
"Let's go," Ben said. "My quarters are the closest."
Two minutes later they were inside Ben's room. It was a simple cabin with nothing but the basics: a bed, refresher, and a small view port facing starboard. "You guys want something to drink?" Ben asked as he opened his small refrigerator unit.
"I'll take one," Kyp said and caught the bottled water Ben tossed him.
"No thanks," Jaina declined. "But I would like to freshen up. Do you mind?"
"Go right ahead."
"Thanks," she said as she entered the refresher and closed the door.
Kyp took a gulp of his water. "So, how many kills did you get today?"
"Eleven."
"Not bad. Jaina got a total of sixteen, and I snagged twelve myself."
"Together it sounds like just the three of us took out a couple squadrons."
"Well if it were up to Jaina, she'd be the only one out there, so she could have all the fun."
"You know me so well," Jaina said as she stepped out of the refresher, drying off her face with a towel.
"You tend to know an awful lot about someone after being married to them for fifteen years," Kyp grinned.
"ONE MINUTE TO JUMP," the P.A. announced.
"I can't wait to get back to the Jedi Academy," Ben said. "I wonder if my dad will be there."
"You can bet Jacen will be. He and Tenel-Ka pretty much run the Academy themselves now."
Kyp finished off his drink and tossed it in the disposal unit. "If I know Luke and Mara, they're probably on some planet fighting off Vong just to keep busy," he chuckled. "They hardly seem to have aged a day since the Vong invasion. I mean besides the way they look on the outside."
The P.A. announced the 30-second mark.
Ben didn't hear it. He was searching for his parents through the Force to see if he could get an idea of their location.
There they are, he thought. Ben found his parents on what he thought was Dantooine, a tropical paradise planet. It felt as though Luke and Mara were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Which can mean only one thing, Ben thought. They're doing something dangerous. He smiled to himself. Suddenly, Ben felt a flicker of worry and unbelief from his parents, and then ... he lost the connection as the Errant Venture made its jump to hyperspace.
"Hmmm."
"What is it Ben?" Jaina asked. "Aunt Mara and Uncle Luke are okay, aren't they?"
"They seemed worried about something, but were safe for the moment."
Jaina's comlink beeped suddenly, "Go ahead," she said into the speaker.
"This is General Jag Fel. Please report to my office for a new assignment."
"Ben and Kyp as well?" Jaina queried.
"Yes. I'll see you in ten minutes." The comlink clicked off.
"What do you suppose the new assignment is?" Kyp wondered.
Jaina shrugged, "Beats me, but we'll know soon enough."
In exactly ten minutes, the trio was standing outside General Fel's office. Jaina knocked and they were admitted.
"Lieutenant Solo Durron reporting, General," Jaina said with a salute.
"At ease, Jaina," Jag said. General Jag Fel was son to Baron Fel, former leader of the Imperial Remnant until it and the New Republic decided to join forces. Jag was just slightly shorter than Kyp with the same jet-black hair but worn in a short, military style crew cut. His piercing blue eyes could give even the toughest soldier a chill when they disobeyed orders. "Are you ready for your next mission?" He asked.
"You know I'm always ready for anything, sir."
Jag raised an eyebrow, "Yes, I do. And Jaina, you don't have to be so formal."
"Sorry, old habits die hard. So where are you sending us now?"
"We've had some reports on several planets about a possible new threat."
"New threat?" Kyp echoed.
"Yes. Our agents on Dathomir, Kashyyyk, Ord Mantell, Dantooine, and Myrkyr have reported seeing humans using Yuuzhan Vong weapons and reeking havoc on the locals."
Ben's lip twitched when Jag mentioned Dantooine.
Noticing this, Jag questioned it, "Something wrong Lieutenant Skywalker?"
"Well, General, just before we jumped into hyperspace, I was searching for my father through the Force and located him on Dantooine. He felt distressed about something."
"Interesting," Jag said as he rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "Well, as luck would have it, Dantooine is exactly where you three were going to be sent to investigate the occurrences."
"All right!" Ben exclaimed.
"Um, Jag."
"Yes, Kyp."
"I'm sure you've already thought of this, but what if the 'humans' were just Vong wearing ooglith masquers?" Kyp questioned.
The Vong grew ooglith masquers. They were creatures that, when worn, could make the wearer look like any known species.
Jag nodded, "You're right, Kyp, I had thought of that possibility; and disproved it by having a Jedi in each group of agents. When they searched for a Force presence, they always found one."
"Looks like I'll be seeing Mom and Dad for sure now!" Ben said with a smile.
"How long until we reach Dantooine?" Jaina asked.
"Approximately five hours," Jag replied. "I'm assuming this means that you accept the mission."
Jaina scoffed, "As if there was any doubt."
Jag raised an eyebrow, "Indeed. You are dismissed."
The three left General Fel's office and decided to get something to eat in the dining hall, but their thoughts were far from food as they sat down at a table with their plates of roasted womprat.
"... the Vong have used mind control on humans before," Ben was saying, "but they were usually just used as workers, not as weapons."
"And speaking of weapons. Since when can a human control a Vong weapon like an amphistaff?" Kyp wondered.
Amphistaffs were the hand-to-hand combat weapon used by the Yuuzhan Vong. A snake-like creature also grown by the Yuuzhan Vong, an amphistaff's body cannot be pierced or cut by even a lightsaber. An amphistaff has multiple functions, such as the ability to go limp and be used like a whip, or become rigid like a sword or spear. It is also able to bite an enemy and inject venom into their veins.
"I don't know how they're doing it," Ben said, "but it must be pretty bad if it can worry my dad."
"But we don't know that these humans are what Uncle Luke was worried about," Jaina argued.
"Come on, Jaina. You and I both know my dad well enough to know that not a lot can get to him, and that this is just the sort of thing that could."