Great news. Great, great news. No, I didn't save a bunch of money on my starship insurance by switching to Geico, and no, Lady Catherine did not just invite me to dine with her. (Inside joke for those of you who have seen the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie)
The great news is...I have my files back. And you all know what that means. I CAN POST THE SEQUEL! YEEEEEEHHAAAAA! (all reviewers do a happy dance) Finally! How, you might wonder? Well, I just took Super Tinfoil Man Part 2's advice. JK! But let's quickly finish this interlude so we can start the sequel. Only expect a few more chapters of this one, cause I know how anxious you are to start the sequel! But mind you, they'll be long chapters.
CONGRATS! Goes to Adame shmi Skywalker Vader, ILUVZIM, Super Tinfoil Man Part 2, and Pip B. for guessing the right answer! She used the Human Torch's powers to make herself hotter! DING DING DING! You win... FREE lightsabers! He he he... And for the rest of you... Jix plushies!
Adame shmi Skywalker Vader: Thanks so much for reviewing! Glad you liked that stuff I put in there. Can't wait for third X-Men movie!
JediMan: You have a point about the teacher... I'll try to make it more realistic if I ever have something like that again. Thanks so much for reviewing! And you're right too, she did use her powers! You get a lightsaber, too!
ILUVZIM: Thank you so much for your review! Yeah, that part in Fantastic Four is funny. Yes, Vader needs to learn to keep his comlink on...
RavenRulzRF: Close, but no cigar! Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing! Hope you like this chapter!
Jinn Twins: He he he... (gulps nervously) well then, I'm updating now, so don't send the bunnies after me! EEK! Do that to Maul in the sequel. I'm sure he'd love that. (Grins) Yes, you can't go wrong with high powered blasters!
Jessica-Angel-Skywalker: Yes, she is. Thanks for reviewing, hope you like this chapter!
Super Tinfoil Man Part 2: He he, yes, she did use Torch's powers. Suspicious Mara will be in the sequel... Which will be coming up soon! A cliffhanger is a great idea...
Pip B. Ah, my faithful reviewer! Yes, you did get it right! You get an A! Thanks so much for reviewing!
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Elena found Jix watching the holo news in a conference room, eating a bantha burger and fries. "Hey, Jix," she said as he stood up, "You don't know how good it is to see you!" she gave him a big hug.
"You too, Elena," Jix replied warmly, "You seem to get bigger every time I see you!"
Elena rolled her eyes, but couldn't resist smiling.
"So tell me why you called me here to your humble abode," Jix said, sitting back down. "What's the big news?"
"Well," Elena said, pulling a chair out for herself, "I'm kinda having a little problem…"
Jix raised his eyebrows. "Little problem?"
"…Yeah, you know, the little insignificant problem, the one where some highly trained assassin is trying to um, you know, kill me?" Elena answered.
This got Jix's attention. "Someone's trying to kill you?" he exploded, lunging up from his seat.
Elena promptly snatched his collar and shoved him back into his seat. "Yes, now calm down before I am forced to hold you at blaster point," she berated him.
Jix slowly relaxed, breathing hard. "All right," he said, trying to calm himself down. "Let's start with the basics. When did these attacks begin, precisely?" he strode over to a panel and typed what Elena told him.
"Four days ago, when I left for a meeting at the academy."
"How often a day?"
"Usually once, two days ago it was twice, though. Very hard, aggressive attacks."
"Any suspects?"
"No, I can never see my attacker. Whoever he or she is, they're very good at hiding themselves."
Jix sighed, mumbling to himself. "Well, there are lots of people who would want to kill you," he muttered, "I mean, there's Xizor, Emperor's Hands, the Rebels, major crime leaders…"
Elena frowned in thought. "I have no idea," she admitted, shaking her head.
There was a pause. "Well kiddo, it looks like there's only one thing to do," Jix said, walking towards her.
"What?"
He threw down a gun on the table in front of her. "When the protective Dad's away, the daughter and the agent kill the people trying to murder her," he continued dryly.
Elena grinned, her hand slowly closing over the blaster.
"Let's get 'em, Skyler," Jix added. "We'll show 'em what we've got."
She stood up and put the blaster in her hand, saying, "You got it."
---
"OK, so we gotta remain cool, here," Jix was saying as they entered the weapons room. "We'll think that they can try to kill you, but then we'll turn around and surprise them with an attack of our own. But we have to remain low profile, make sure that they can't ambush us."
Elena nodded, strapping a hidden mini detonator to her leg. "And what if they do manage to ambush us?" she asked, grunting as she pulled it up.
Jix looked at her pointedly. "They won't," he replied determinedly.
Elena couldn't help but roll her eyes at Jix's egotistical mannerisms. "OK, Mr. Know It All," she muttered, rising to her feet.
Jix shot her a look; she just returned an innocent and endearing smile. They left the weapons room after being well stocked, and luckily it was the last school day for her. They decided to have some dinner out in some bantha burger joint, somewhere where Vader never would have gone. As they ate their food, Jix and Elena took the time to catch up and see if anyone was watching or tailing them.
"So, I never actually heard the story of how you got together with Uncle Dee," Jix remarked thoughtfully. "How did it happen?"
Elena shifted, not really wanting to bring up of how she had been a slave to Prince Xizor. "Um, it's a long story…" she frowned, dipping her fries in a sauce.
Jix leaned back. "I've got time," he answered casually.
It appeared that he would not be deterred, so she sighed shortly, ran her fingers through her hair and began. "Well, it was about four years ago. I was thirteen, and was a slave for Prince Xizor."
Jix's jaw dropped. "No kidding!" he said in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know," she replied. "Anyways, one day, when the palace kids were tormenting me, I was thrown into the room where Dad and Xizor were talking. I tried to defend myself against the bullies, but of course Xizor didn't believe me and began to choke me, right in front of Dad. Dad stopped him by Force choking him, and I guess he somehow figured out from there that I was Force sensitive."
Jix leaned in. "What happened next? When did he find out that you were his daughter?"
Elena gave him an annoyed look. "I was getting to that," she answered. "Moving on, I was working on a speeder the next day or whenever, and he showed up. We started talking about ships and stuff, and finally I told him who I was. He knew then that I was his daughter, so he told me, and the morning after, we left. That's about it."
Jix whistled. "Wow, you've got one heck of a life, kid," he said.
"Tell me about it," she muttered, idly stirring her drink. Before she could say anything else, her senses began to tingle, and she became aware of a familiar scent. She sniffed, causing Jix to stare at her, confused.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "A baby in here have an 'accident'?" he grinned.
She shook her head. "No," she answered, "Something… something's not right. There's a familiar presence in here. I can sense it."
"Looks like you're smelling to me," Jix remarked.
Elena stopped and stared at him, wide-eyed. Although she suspected that he had no idea why she was smelling, she realized that she was giving a part of her powers away. IN. PUBLIC.
"Uh…I...uh…" she fumbled for words. "I just smelled something odd, but I guess it's gone now."
Jix raised an eyebrow. "Elena, what's going on? Whose presence can you 'sense'?"
"Someone who's familiar," she whispered. "I think it might be…him!"
"Who?" Jix hissed, reaching for his hidden blaster pistol.
Elena narrowed her eyes in concentration. "My attacker." She slowly reached into her belt, feeling her two blasters. She had always been more comfortable with two weapons. Two lightsabers, two blasters.
"What does he look like? Where is he?" Jix questioned, trying not to look too suspicious.
"I think he's on the far side of the restaurant… he might be watching me," Elena muttered. "He's very dangerous, so we have to be very cautious."
Jix nodded shortly. "Understood. All right. Here's what we'll do. On the count of three, we get up, slowly and naturally, mind you, walk out of the restaurant. If he tails us, we turn around and shoot. Got it?"
"Right then," Elena agreed.
The pair slowly got up, leaving the credits on the table where the waitress could see them. Trying not to look too obvious, they walked out of the restaurant, with Elena casting one quick glance at the suspicious character. She definitely recognized him. His face was covered, but his countenance and his aura was certainly familiar.
"Don't turn around," Jix muttered as they strode out to their speeder.
Suddenly, she had a thought. "What if he put a detonator on our speeder?" she hissed.
Jix frowned. "We'll have to double check it before we get inside, then," was his reply.
Taking out a detonator tracer, Jix walked around the speeder, moving the tracer all along the speeder's sides, back, front, and top. "Negative," he said with some relief. "Let's go."
Elena and he jumped into the speeder, and he started the engine.
"GET DOWN!" Elena shrieked suddenly, causing Jix to duck his head immediately.
Instantly a volley of blaster fire began to come at them, hitting the speeder and near to their heads. In the midst of the confusion, Jix somehow managed to grab the controls and zoom out of the lot, the assassin still shooting at them.
As she was down, Elena heard a strange and hostile voice in her head, goading her.
So, the little girl couldn't stand a few shots, a cruel and unfamiliar voice chuckled evilly.
Who are you? She demanded, anger getting a hold of her.
There was a pause. You really don't know, do you? My poor little ignorant princess. He laughed before ending the link.
Once they were in the air and safe, Elena sat up, panting and wide-eyed. "It was him," she said, "I know it was."
"Whoever he is, he sure his blunt with his methods," Jix added, angry at himself for not being more prepared.
Elena shot a glance at him. "Don't worry, we'll get him," she reassured her friend.
"I sure hope so," he muttered.
After a few minutes, Elena noticed a store that sold explosives, detonators, and other things of that sort. "Jix, pull over," she ordered, "I think we should prepare ourselves. This guy's Force sensitive."
Jix stared at her. "Oh, that makes everything so much easier," he retorted sarcastically, pulling into the lot.
Elena didn't reply but hopped out and darted into the store. Once inside, she looked around, observing the surroundings. It was dark, loud, and filled with people such as smugglers, mercenaries, and others of a less than savory nature.
"Well, who 'ave we got 'ere?" one alien jeered, leering at her.
She glared at him so furiously that he immediately shut his mouth, looking rather taken aback.
"None of your concern," she snapped, walking towards the counter. Jix appeared behind her.
He said to the dealer: "Hey look, we need a pack of detonators, the best you got, some thermal charges, and a few minis."
The dealer looked at both of them. "And for the lady?" he asked, staring at her curiously.
"Uh, I'm with him," she replied, nodding towards Jix.
The dealer frowned. "A young girl like yerself shouldn't be hanging around with people like him," he said, glancing at Jix with a look of disdain. "I'm sure you could do better."
Elena blushed. "Well," she stammered, "It's not like that. I'm not exactly… you see…"
"It's a long story," Jix interrupted. "So could you mind your own blasted business and get our order?" he glared at the man.
"Whatever you say," the dealer muttered, going behind a box of detonators.
Elena leaned against the counter as she and Jix waited for the man to be finished with her order.
"Nice blasters you got there, sister," a voice said on her other side.
She turned to see a fairly tall man with longer brown hair looking down at her. He was wearing a dark blue jacket, black vest, white shirt, dark blue pants, and boots. A blaster hung at his belt, and on his other side was a Wookiee.
"Hi, I'm Elena Skywalker," she said, sticking out her hand.
The man looked fairly amused while he shook it. "Han Solo of the Millennium Falcon," he replied in a friendly tone. "This here is Chewie, my co. pilot." He nodded to the Wookiee, who roared a greeting.
"Nice to meet you, too, Chewie," Elena grinned.
Han observed her. "So what's a girl like you doing in a place like this? Out to get someone?"
She nodded. "Yeah, there's this guy who's trying to kill me," she replied rather nonchalantly. "So we gotta stock ourselves up."
"Wrenga Jixton," Jix said, coming up beside her. "I'm an Imperial agent looking out for Elena."
Han looked confused for a moment. "Why?" he asked, bewildered. "Is she someone important or something? The daughter of a Moff?"
Chewie roared something, causing Elena to redden. She could understand Wookiee because she had taught herself the language when had been younger, in Xizor's palace. The fact that she also had a photographic memory helped too.
Han listened to Chewie, his jaw dropping as he whisked around back to face Elena and Jix. "You… you're… you're the kid of Darth Vader?" he managed to get out.
"One in the same," she muttered in return.
Han shook his head in disbelief. "Who are you running from, then?" he questioned.
"We actually have no clue," Jix answered, placing some credits on the counter. "That's why we're trying to figure it out."
"Well being Vader's daughter, you've probably got a lot of enemies," Han added reasonably.
Elena rolled her eyes. "Duh… but this guy is Force sensitive, so he's not just any assassin trying to kill me. And he somehow knew that all my allies were away just this week, when he decided to strike."
Chewie whined, feeling sorry for her.
"Thanks," Elena replied, patting the Wookiee's arm. "I'm sure I'll be fine. You two take care of yourselves, okay?" she walked out of the store with Jix, a package of mini detonators under her arm.
Han watched her leave. "I never expected his kid to be or look like that," he told Chewie. "I wonder if we'll ever see her again."
Chewie barked a reply.
"And what on earth does 'Force sensitive' mean, anyways?" Han asked him, frowning in confusion.
AH HA! (Laughs hysterically) I SO GOT YOU! I PUT HAN AND CHEWIE IN HERE AS A BIG SURPRISE! Hope you liked it, cause I sure did! Maybe if you review, I'll put more surprises in! There is no Star Wars without Han. Hope you enjoyed that chapter!