Chapter 5
The next morning, the topic everyone was talking about was the event that occurred in the sky the previous night. No one had any clue as to what had caused it or what it even really was. For much of the day, the only news the Holonet had to report was of strange event.
"And no one still has any clue as to how the phenomenon occurred last night," the words appeared as a hologram in the Holonet transceiver with a human male voice describing the announcements. "Scientists are baffled as to what happened. Though the falling lights appeared as falling stars, meteors burning up in the atmosphere, there had not been any trace of any particles making contact with the ground or remaining residue in the atmosphere. The path of the falling objects were tracked to where they were estimated to hit, but instead of finding even the smallest trace of mineral samples, all scientists found were strangely colored blocks. The samples that were found were collected and are currently being experimented on, so as to possibly find the source of them.
Scientists are even more confused as to how the meteors might have even managed to penetrate Coruscant's planetary shield, which would have easily repelled the meteors from entering the atmosphere. And this just in, apparently it is not only above Coruscant lights were seen falling, but above many other planets as well, including Corellia, Yavin 4, Bespin, and Naboo. More information on this extraordinary event as it unfolds."
Leia sat in her chair and stared fixated at the text appearing in front of her. She had gone through her normal morning routine as always. She had just showered and went into the main room in her apartment to watch the news as she always did, and this announcement immediately appeared as soon as she turned the transceiver on.
She had not forgotten what had happened last night, and felt that someone, something, had been in the room last night. Even now she felt the presence of something in the room with, but she saw nothing. There was plenty of light in the room, from both the light fixtures and the giant window in the center of the wall that lead out toward a hundred story drop to the pavement, to see if anything was hiding from her. And when she reached out with the Force, she still felt nothing. Only emptiness.
Yet she could still not shake the feeling that something was watching her.
The doorbell rang, and Leia nearly jumped out of her chair. Han entered and went over to the door and opened it.
"Hi, Mom, hi, Dad." Jaina said with a smile as she entered the room and kissed her father on the cheek. Turning around, she saw Luke and Mara an adjacent room, and said hi to them as well, giving both of them a kiss as well. Then she went over to where her Mother was sitting and gave her a kiss as well.
"Jaina," Leia asked smiling, though still very surprised to see her daughter. "What are you doing here?" Jaina had been training as a Jedi on Yavin 4, but every now and again came back to Coruscant to visit her family. And with Luke and Mara both taking a break from training the Jedi, leaving the responsibility to some of the other recruits, Jaina thought it would be the best time as ever to have some time with her entire family.
"Oh, just popped in to say hi", she said, still smiling. Jaina had always been a very pretty child, and had become a very responsible young lady, which she got from her mother's side. She picked up her knack for tools and electronics from her father. "And after all I had heard what happened last night in the sky, though I didn't see it happen. And I got the message Dad sent me about the visitors he picked up." Jaina poked her head around the suite. "Are they here?"
"No," her father answered, still standing by the door. "They're in an apartment right down the hall, though, at the end. You should go say hello to them."
"Yeah, I think I will." Jaina responded, and began to head toward the door.
"Okay, Jaina." Han said, kissing his daughter goodbye. Leia said her goodbyes as well.
"Oh, but Jaina?" Leia said, with a look of concern on her face.
"Yes, Mom?"
"Be careful."
"Don't worry, Mom." Jaina said confidently. "What kind of Jedi would I be if I wasn't careful?"
Sora was also watching the news that morning, after having much trouble trying to figure it out. The droid, Threepio, had explained it to him the night before, but he did not feel like waking him up to find out how. Threepio and Artoo were still powered down, and Donald and Goofy were still asleep as well, though Donald had fallen out of his bed sometime during the night did not seem to bother to get back into bed again. Sora put the volume on low and turned on the transceiver just to catch the end of the morning news announcement about the celestial event in the sky last night.
"Oh no," Sora said quietly, not wanting to wake up the others. He sat in silence for a bit, thinking about the problem, when the door bell rang and he fell out of his seat.
"Waah!" He yelled, then instantly shut his mouth, hoping he did not wake up his roommates, especially the droids. He went over to the door and opened it, and saw a teenage girl with long brown hair.
"Yes?" Sora asked.
"Sora, right?" The girl asked, indicating him. Sora nodded his head. The girl smiled. "Good, my name is Jaina Solo. I believe you've already met my parents, Han and Leia?" Realizing who she was talking about, revelation dawned on Sora's face.
"Oh, yeah." He said, and stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Jaina." Jaina returned his handshake.
"Would you like to come in?" He asked her.
"No, but would you like to come out?" Jaina asked in response. "My Dad told me that this is the first time you've ever been to Coruscant, and I thought you might like a tour."
"Sure!" Sora said enthusiastically, always excited to see a new world.
And if the Heartless do come, Sora thought. It would probably be better outside where I can have lots of room to fight them.
"Great." Jaina said, and with Sora went out into the streets.
"Wow," Sora said in amazement to everything he saw. The first time he had seen this, after his Gummi ship had crashed, was when he first woke up and saw the crowd around him, and then later when he flew in the hovercar. But now, immersed in the sights and sounds of the city, he could not believe it. Everywhere he went, he saw and heard new things that astounded him.
"Yeah, Coruscant is a very magical place." Jaina said, walking beside him. "It has a lot of history."
"Yeah, I know," Sora said. "Your Dad told me about everything that happened, about the Republic and the Empire. But still, I have never seen a place like this before. I love it."
"Great." Jaina said smiling, and Sora smiled back.
They walked for hours, taking in all the sights. It amazed Jaina at how she had lived much of her life on Coruscant, in the duracrete jungle, and had never realized what a fantastic place it was. Seeing Sora's enthusiasm about every little thing really surprised Jaina, and made her appreciate her home even more.
They began walking back the apartment together, after having enough fun for one day. They had just rounded a corner, into one of the few desolate places on the surface of the city. Somehow, they had stumbled into a dark ally, where it seemed anything may appear and attack them. Suddenly Jaina stopped, feeling a strange presence behind her. Automatically, her hand reached for her lightsaber. Sora, seeing that his companion had stopped, turned and went back to her.
"Jaina, what is it?" Sora asked.
"Shhhh," she whispered. "There's something behind us. Do you see it?"
Sora, who was in front of Jaina, peered behind her and looked into the shadows. At first there appeared to be nothing, but then something materialized, seemingly out of the shadows on the ground. A small, hunched body sprouted from the ground. It had two small antennae, two pale yellow eyes, and was the color of night.
"A Heartless!" Sora said, drawing his Key Blade.
"A what?" Jaina asked, very confused.
"Stand back, Jaina!" Sora said, and rushed to the Heartless. Before Jaina could turn around, she heard Sora yell, and when she turned to face him, all she saw were black specks floating away from Sora and dissipating into nothingness.
Jaina was about to ask what happened, but before she could, more of the things appeared. They all came up out of the ground, surrounding Sora and Jaina. There had to have been at least forty Shadow Heartless there.
Jaina regrouped by Sora and drew her light saber, which illuminated the Heartless and made them seem even more frightening. They were flanked on all sides, and they had no where to go.
"Not good." Sora said.
