Chapter 2
The following mourning the strike team assembled to make all last minute preparations for their mission and to say their goodbyes to friends and family.
Han Solo was having an exceptionally difficult time letting his three children go off on such a dangerous trek without their father to watch over them like he did so often when they were little. He could still remember the days when he would pick up his kids and throw them over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as if it was yesterday. Han had never been one to express his emotions publicly, but watching his kids at this moment and realizing for the first time that they really had grown up was beginning to stir things up inside of him. He was very proud of the three of them for fighting for what they knew was right, but at the same time he was filled with a sense of dread that he might lose any or all of them, the way he had lost Chewbacca.
"Daddy, don't worry. We're going to be fine," Jaina spoke up as she came around behind her father and linked her arm through his.
"What makes you think I was worried?"
"I know you, Dad."
"Yeah you do," he sighed. "Jaina look, Anakin may be the leader of this crazy mission, but I want you to know he really looks up to you when it comes to decision making. He respects you and what you have been through more than you know, and I expect you to really support him and try to keep all of the drama between your brothers to a minimum. The last thing you guys are going to need is for your leader to be distracted by outside problems."
"Dad, that's easier said than done, but I'll try. Plus, I'm sure Anakin's new female fanclub will help to keep him in line and his confidence up.
"Yeah, well that's not the kind of confidence I meant. Anakin needs to focus on the mission, not the women. I really hope that's not going to be a problem for him."
"He is your son after all, but I think he will be ok. Anakin knows his place and what is and is not appropriate for a mission like this."
"I hope so. Looks like everybody is pretty much through packing up; go over to where your mom and brothers are and say bye to her and send the guys over here. May the Force be with you."
"Thanks Dad, I love you."
"Love you too, princess."
Tahiri walked into one of the guest cabins aboard Lando Calrisian's ship the Lady Luck, which the strike team was using for transportation during their carefully planned mission until they would be "captured" by the Vong. Jaina, Tenel Ka, and Eryl were her three roommates, all of whom were already getting settled by the time Tahiri had entered.
The four girls each chose a bed and a dresser to put their things in, not that they would be needing any of it after they were captured, but they still had to keep up appearances to make it look like they were planning on a long, comforting trip with a few good friends.
"So, do you think this is actually going to work?" questioned Eryl Besa, a short, red-haired woman of about nineteen.
"Of course it's going to work. We have to remain confident," spoke up Tahiri a bit defensively. "Anakin knows what he is doing."
"I have complete confidence in Anakin; it's the rest of the group that I'm worried about. We don't all even like each other, so how are we supposed to trust each other with our lives and the lives of those we care about?"
"That's just part of being a jedi. I might think that Alema Rar is a skanky slut whom is constantly throwing herself at my boyfriend, but I still trust her enough to be comfortable with her on this mission and to place my life and the lives all of the other jedi on this ship in her hands."
"All we have right now is our faith in each other," spoke up the Hapan princess, Tenel Ka. "That is enough for me if it means that we can put a stop to the terrible voxyn attacks."
Jaina jumped off her bed and walked towards Tenel Ka, making her small frame look even tinier next to her tall, willowy friend. "She's right. If we don't have faith then we don't have anything, and we need everything we can get."
Four days later
It was the day of the planned capture of the jedi strike team and everyone aboard the Lady Luck seemed extremely antsy. The whole team seemed tense and anxious, waiting for something to happen. They knew that today was the day, but they did not know when the takeover would take place.
Anakin seemed especially nervous, considering he was the one responsible for the entire group. They were looking up to him to make all of the right decisions; to lead them to victory. And although Anakin would never admit it to anyone, he was beginning to doubt whether he had it in him to be that kind of leader. After all, it was his fault that Chewbacca was killed, wasn't it? Not to make matters better, Anakin had been having some bad dreams lately about the mission and he was wondering if they might be more than just dreams. Visions, maybe? Over the last couple of mornings he had woken up with an incredible sense of dread. This only served to discourage him even more. Was he doing the right thing by leading his closest friends into extreme danger?
His revere was broken by Tahiri's loud exclamation of "Good morning" to the group at breakfast. Leave it to Tahiri to still be smiling and perky during even the bleakest of situations. The Vong had tried to squash everything that made Tahiri herself a back a year ago when they had kidnapped her on Yavin 4. For a while after Anakin had rescued her she seemed as if she would never be the same again, but she eventually began to heal with his help and was now almost completely back to her old, mile-a-minute talking-spree self.
Anakin began to glance around the table at the members of the strike team after everyone had taken a seat. To his left sat Tahiri, as usual, and next to her was red-haired Eryl Besa. On the other side of Eryl sat Raynar Thul, a blond young man around the age of his brother and sister who had gone to the academy at the same time as them. On his other side was the female Chandra-Fan, Tekli who was the healer of the group and had studied under the Jedi Knight, Cilghal. To Anakin's right sat the three Barabel hatchmates; the females, Bela and Krasov Hara, and the male Tesar Sebatyne. Directly across from Anakin was his sister Jaina and to her left sat Jacen. On Jacen's other side was his good friend, the beautiful copper-haired Tenel Ka Djo and to her left was the blue skinned Twi'lek dancer Alema Rar. To Jaina's right sat Zeek, a young man of about twenty with pale skin, startling green eyes, and shaggy jet black hair whom Jaina had dated on and off throughout her childhood. Next to Zeek was the towering form of Lowbacca, the wookie nephew of Chewbacca. The final two on that side of the table were the female Bith Ulaha Kore and the male Rodian Jovan Drark, both around nineteen. Sitting at the head of the table in his role as the mock leader of the group was the dashingly handsome Ganner Rhysode, the oldest and cockiest member of the strike team.
They were an odd group, but so far everyone seemed to be getting along fine, with the exception of a few odd glares he saw between Alema and Tahiri. For some reason it seemed like the two really did not like each other. Sometimes Anakin really did not understand girls; they both would be so nice to him and then in the next moment would be acting so nasty towards each other. He would have to ask Tahiri about that later.
"Today's the big day," siged Ganner as he began to eat his delicious breakfast made specially by the dinning crew on Lando's ship, "everybody ready?"
"About as ready as we'll ever be," spoke up Raynar hesitantly. He didn't originally want to come on this mission, but decided it was the right thing to do since his close friend Lusa was one of the last jedi killed by the voxyn. He still was depressed and a little unfocused because of her death, but was determined to make sure no one else had to meet the same unfortunate fate.
Anakin looked up from his meal and spoke, "We better be ready because as soon as we get up from this table, all talk about the plan and the mission will end. There's no telling when they will arrive, so we need to act like everything's normal; we suspect nothing, got it?"
He looked around the table to see everyone nod their heads. Tahiri reached up and took his hand in hers. "We will be fine. We've gone over the plan again and again. We are as prepared as we can get, and the more we worry about it, the worse it will be," she spoke with a confidence that she really didn't feel.
"She's right. We need to remain focused, spend some time today meditating and preparing ourselves," spoke Jaina. When Anakin reached out towards her, he felt a genuine sense of calm. He knew that she was ready for anything that came their way and he only wished that he could have her abundance of confidence in the mission.