The TIE Defender dropped from the launch rack between the Ravelin's bow mandibles, spun round so that the cockpit was oriented upright relative to the larger ship above it, and accelerated towards Lothal.
Jaina flew with one gloved hands on the controls, the other toggling her scopes and comm. Trying to ignore what her brother and his girlfriend were doing in the back.
"Ravelin, this is Spur Two. Keep your scanners sharp for scar-heads, and comm me the moment you see anything that looks like it's powered by dovin basals."
A growl of Shyriiwook answered, a reassuring acknowledgement wrapped around the reluctant admission that she made a good Imperial.
"Copy that, Streak," she grinned.
Jaina squinted out at the planet in front of them. She'd never realised how ambivalent the geography of Lothal was before - were the areas of open water large lakes or small seas? And was that vast sweep of white in the high latitudes a wide expanse of snow or ice, or just a broad layer of cloud? The more she looked, the less sure she was about exactly where the solid ground ended - instead, the geography seemed to blur into ambiguity, distorting the lines that linked one place and another into complicated, circuitous routes.
Maybe her sense of caution had something to do with the fact that they were still about three years further back in time than they ought to be. She wasn't particularly sure they should be flying around so openly - the moment they made contact with anyone, they would be changing the sequence of events, in ways that would ripple outwards through spacetime from that point - but they needed to find out if the Yuuzhan Vong were already altering the timeline, and they had to look for the Yavin Turtle too.
I have my orders from the Grand Admiral himself...
A muffled noise from Anakin intruded on the comm in his ear, and his presence behind her seat flashed brighter in the Force, tangled up in Tahiri's. Was his girlfriend tickling him through his fight suit?
Jaina checked her scopes again, and looked out at the planet ahead of them, refusing to respond.
One thing she did feel strangely clear about was the certainty that the time-displaced versions of Jacen and Alema Rar they were trying to track down hadn't yet left any trace on Lothal. She wasn't entirely convinced they'd even arrived in the same timeline. And she wasn't sensing any of the subtle weirdness she'd learned to associate with Yuuzhan Vong activity, either.
That just left the local New Republic forces.
"I see them, Streak," she confirmed, as Lowie's voice alerted her to the pair of fast-moving, fighter-sized contacts breaking orbit towards her, drives and sensors and transponders blaring loudly, sharply-focused in the Force - a pair of New Republic E-wings, with IDs saying that they belonged to Phoenix Flight of the Lothal militia. Jaina had to fight the urge to shoot them down.
Not Vong.
"Attention, unidentified Imperial fighter." The E-wings were zooming up fast, and the voice on the com was terse and hostile. "State your reasons for this intrusion in New Republic space."
"Phoenix Five, this is TIE Defender Spur Two, with the Jedi Order." She wasn't going to deny that she was an Imperial officer, but a little evasion never hurt in a dance with Rebel snubs. "We're here to speak with General Syndulla."
"Uhh, is the Jedi Order flying around in Imperial light cruisers these days?"
"That's all right, Lieutenant," a female voice intruded on the comm, conjuring an image of a slender, olive-skinned Twi'lek woman wearing a lightweight flight jacket over an old pilot's coverall. "Jainey? Is that you?"
"Auntie Hé," Jaina smiled. "I've got Anakin and his girlfriend here to see you."
"Copy that, Spur Two." General Hera Syndulla had never been the most closely-involved of the Solo children's bewildering array of adopted uncles and aunts, but she was the only one who was a famous female fighter ace - and she had taken command of the comm channel with a combination of warrior confidence and cocky poise that still made the adult Jaina grin. "Come in on our beacon to the main spaceport, and I'll send a speeder to pick you up."
"Looking forward to it."
"You're okay with having a famous Rebel commander for a hold-parent?" her brother asked, his voice sounding oddly close on her comm earpiece.
She gestured a pretend punch towards the back of her cockpit. "I have you for a brother, and I manage that," she grinned.
Anakin would have answered back, but Tahiri grabbed him down on top of her, to focus on whatever they were doing. Jaina shook her head - or at least, she ticked her helmet - and flew on.