Star Wars: Return of the Sith

20: Change of Plans

By Nanaki

On the Hydian Way, Approaching the Denon System

Rayna was lost in thought, watching the swirling colors of hyperspace race by the bedroom window. After getting back aboard the Sword of Justice on Commenor, most of the girls had opted to get some more sleep. The beds in all four guest rooms had been pretty crowded, so Rayna had ended up on the floor. But with some extra blankets from the closet, and some of her new clothes to use as a pillow, it hadn't been too bad. By now, nearly everyone was awake again. Normally, the girls didn't have a whole lot to talk to each other about. Today though, between visiting a new planet, trying new foods, seeing two alleged Sith Lords in person, and being in a massive space battle, there was a lot more conversation than usual, especially once they had gotten comfortable with the idea that no one was about to come around and yell at them all to shut up.

Two of the girls in Rayna's group of friends had used part of their two hundred credits to buy cheap datapads, and they were all taking turns surfing the HoloNet. Rayna had expected that any second, Tenn or Joona would show up and tell them they were supposed to be getting clothes ONLY, but no one had seemed to mind. In fact, Tenn had just left the credcard at the register and gone off to do who knew what. The girls had expected that the datapads wouldn't be able to get a HoloNet signal while they were in hyperspace, but apparently Jerin's ship was set up with some kind of signal generator, so it was a great way to pass the time.

Only two of the five had had HoloNet access at home on Ryloth, and both of those two now realized that strict parental controls had been in place, because these datapads clearly didn't have any. You really could buy anything you could imagine over the HoloNet, from weapons and drugs that were illegal almost everywhere, all the way up to slaves, if you were so inclined. Oh, and the pornography was breathtaking. The girls weren't shocked by the content; they had experienced most of it personally over the last few months, after all. But the sheer volume of it was mind-boggling. "For crying out loud," Nina had grumbled, "Don't the men of this galaxy EVER get tired of sex?" The other four had all turned toward her in unison, with raised eyebrows. "Right, stupid question. Never mind."

"Only when they're having it." Rayna had replied, a bit late, but it still earned a chuckle from everyone. Now, Rayna was leaning back against the bed, waiting for it to be her turn to use a datapad again, contemplating what the small slice of hyperspace she could see out the window represented. It meant that they were now thousands of light years away from the site of their suffering, and getting farther away at a rate of about 1,200 light years per hour, if her math was right. Rayna was afraid that she was about to wake up back in the brothel, and find that this had all been a dream. If not though, then her life was also improving by the hour, as she was well-rested, well-fed, and under the protection of someone who didn't hesitate to kick some butt when it was necessary. Plus, for once, she actually wasn't cold.

No sooner had that thought entered her mind than she felt goose bumps spread all over her body, her arms especially. Suddenly, something seemed to be telling her that something wasn't right. She stood up and went to the window, but the colors of hyperspace didn't appear to have changed at all. Still, there was a nagging feeling in her mind. "Rayna, what's up?" Mika looked up at her.

"I feel... cold." Rayna couldn't quite put what she was feeling into words.

"Rayna, you're always cold." Nina said, not looking up from the datapad.

"No, not literally." Rayna frowned. "I think... we're in danger."

Nina shrugged. "If we are, Jerin will take care of it. He always does. So far, anyway."

"I hope so." Rayna went back to looking out the window. "I hope it's that simple."

.

Jerin was boredly staring out the cockpit window, contemplating challenging Arfive to a game of sabacc, even though the droid was sure to win. He had turned his own datapad over to Denan, at Denan's insistence that he was "useless without one". Then Denan had asked if he had something newer, and had seemed both amused and disappointed when Jerin didn't.

They had made great time down the Quellor Run, and had gotten onto the Hydian Way at Exodeen without incident. So far there was no sign of their enemies, and Jerin was wondering if he'd done more damage to both Seco and Korgo's Star Destroyer than he'd realized. There was no way that he'd seen the last of either, he was sure of that much, but he was beginning to hope that he'd actually be able to deposit the girls on Eriadu before he had to fight again.

Most of the doors in the ship's main corridor were open, and the sounds of a dozen conversations drifted up to the cockpit. Jerin had gotten used to his ship being very quiet almost all the time, but this wasn't an unwelcome change, he decided. In fact, he was going to be sorry to see the girls go so soon. It was for the best, though. The younger ones needed to get back to school, the older ones needed to figure out what they were going to do with their lives, and they undoubtedly all needed professional counseling for quite a while.

Suddenly, a chill ran down Jerin's spine, and he sat upright in the pilot's seat. There was nothing obviously wrong, yet he felt very uneasy. A second later, Tenn came hurrying up to the cockpit. "Jerin, we need to-"

"I know. I felt it too." He said quickly. "Arfive, drop us out of hyperspace. Now." The Justice reverted to realspace less than two seconds later. "Full stop." Jerin added. "All right, let's see just where we are..." He started tapping on his navicomputer controls. "Coming up on the Denon system. Right where the Hydian Way and the Corellian Run meet up." That wasn't literally true. Having two of the busiest hyperlanes in the galaxy actually intersect would be idiotic, after all. But the Corellian Run passed directly underneath the Hydian Way, less than ten light years distant.

"If someone was going to set an ambush for us, that would be a great spot." Tenn said slowly, also looking at the navicomputer.

"But how... How could they have gotten here ahead of us? How could they know we would come this way?" Jerin frowned.

"I don't know. Unless... the Force sent one of them a vision." Tenn guessed.

"No, I refuse to believe the Force would help those two out that much." Jerin declared. "Something else has to be going on here."

"Hey guys!" Denan came hurrying toward the cockpit, his eyes glued to the datapad in his hand. "We need to- Oh." He stopped as he saw they had already left hyperspace. "You did already. Anyway, the Republic has set up a checkpoint up ahead. They're boarding every ship heading rimward on the Hydian and the Corellian Run, conducting a search."

"A search for what?" Jerin wondered.

"That, I haven't been able to find out yet. But here's a holo from one of the ships waiting in line to be boarded." He handed the datapad over to Jerin.

"Wow, they're not messing around." Jerin raised his eyebrows. The holo showed not just the few light cruisers he'd been expecting, but three Star Defenders, and two interdictor cruisers as well. "See the customized command tower on this one?" He held the datapad out for Tenn and Denan to see. "That one's the Dodonna. It's the flagship of the Republic 5th Fleet."

"So..." Tenn frowned at the image for a second before continuing. "Why did the Force send us a warning about the Republic 5th Fleet? Why would they be dangerous to us?"

"The Force sent you a warning?" Denan didn't sound skeptical, just worried.

"Yeah, we both felt it." Jerin confirmed. "Normally, I'd say there's no way that checkpoint is meant for us, but I can't deny what I felt in the Force. Plus, the timing is pretty suspicious as well."

"So what do we do? Go around it?" Tenn wondered.

"Yep, that's exactly what we'll do." Jerin turned back to the navicomputer. "Right here, we're less than fifty light years from the Corellian Run. We'll jump down to it, then jump back up to the Hydian well beyond the checkpoint. If someone is watching us and finds our first jump suspicious, we can escape down the Corellian Run."

Arfive tweedled a quick warning to Jerin, which he read on the cockpit diplay: 'Sensors are picking up an object moving away from us rapidly.'

"Moving away from us?" Jerin quickly turned to the sensor readings. "What is anything doing here outside of hyperspace? There's nothing here."

Another quick series of beeps: 'It appears to be a long range probe.'

"Oh, kark. They're scouting their perimeter." Jerin turned to the navicomputer again. "Arfive, jump us down to the Corellian Run like I was talking about. Right away." Instantly, Arfive started interfacing with the navicomputer in order to make the hyperspace jump. However, since they weren't traveling on an established hyperlane, scans still had to be done to make sure their intended route was safe, and this wasn't an instantaneous process, even for a short jump.

Denan had dropped into the cramped seat behind Jerin and Arfive, still rapidly tapping away at the datapad. Now, he suddenly looked up. "Uh, guys? Sounds like they're looking for us." No sooner had he spoken than a capital ship emerged from hyperspace directly in front of them. It was an interdictor, clearly an older model to judge from the large, round bulges in its hull, but that didn't mean the mass shadows it generated were any easier to escape.

"Pretty much what I figured." Jerin said in a very tired tone of voice. Tenn and Denan weren't sure whether he was responding to Denan's statement or the ship appearing. Probably both at once.

An authoritative voice suddenly intruded into the cockpit. "Attention, Marauder class ship, stay where you are and prepare to be boarded. If you are the Sword of Justice, which your transponder signal is indicating, don't even think about trying to escape."

Jerin took a moment to shrug theatrically before responding. "You've got the Sword of Justice here. Can I ask what this is regarding?"

"Thirty eight counts of kidnapping, as if you didn't know. Including the daughter of a Jedi Master, not that that makes the other thirty seven counts lesser crimes. On top of the ruckus you caused at the station above Brentaal IV and above Kuat." But Jerin wasn't really listening to the last part.

Jerin covered his pilot's microphone with his hand and turned to Tenn. "The daughter of a Jedi Master? I actually didn't know that, though I should've guessed." She looked a little embarrassed, but didn't say anything. Jerin's mind quickly ran down a list of likely candidates. There were plenty of Twi'lek Jedi Knights, but the rank of Master was a much more exclusive club. There were only two Twi'lek Masters, and one was almost certainly too old to have a daughter Tenn's age. "It must be Alaric Vao, right?"

"Well, yes. But can we please focus on the situation at hand?" Tenn gestured at the cockpit window with both hands.

"That would be the pragmatic thing to do." Jerin nodded, and took his hand away from the microphone. "All right interdictor, let's look at this with some actual logic. Exactly how would someone KIDNAP the daughter of a Jedi Master? And keep her captive with thirty seven others at the same time?"

"We know you have Force powers as well, Jerin Danar. I assume that's who I'm talking to." The captain of the interdictor responded.

"Wow. I WISH I was that powerful." Jerin replied. "Look, I'll make a long story short here. You guys are being manipulated by Seco and Negian. Likely Korgo the Hutt as well, but definitely those first two."

"What? This has nothing to do with two self-styled Sith Lords." The captain responded disdainfully.

"Well of course they hid their role in it. That's what Sith do." Jerin was aware, even as he said it, that he probably sounded like a paranoid lunatic. "Look, call up Republic Intelligence and ask them where they got their information on this one. I give you my word I won't move my ship until you do."

"As if you could escape us anway." The captain responded smugly.

"Oh? If you know what I did at Kuat, then you should know I can get away from you whenever I feel like it." Jerin replied, equally smug. Just then, a hulking Star Defender emerged from hyperspace right next to the interdictor. "Oh, come on!" Jerin couldn't stop himself from exclaiming.

"Yes, let's see how long your S-thread boosters last against our X-Wings." The interdictor captain gloated. Even as he was speaking, squadrons of X-Wings were swarming out of the Star Defender's hangar, and based on what Jerin's sensors were showing, it looked like this Star Defender was carrying the maximum one hundred forty four fighters.

The time for talking was over. Jerin spun the ship around and started heading away from the capital ships as fast as he could go. Blasting Hutt thugs out of space was one thing, but there was no way he was about to open fire on Republic X-Wings. These pilots had no idea they were unwittingly doing Seco's dirty work. How HAD the Sith managed to arrange this, anyway? Oh well, that was a question for later.

A few of the X-Wings were taking shots at him, but not many, as they were still too far away to be effective. Jerin was pleased to see that the Justice's sublight engines were faster than the fighters', but not by much. It would be a while before he could deploy an S-thread booster and have time to use it before one of the X-Wings took it out. Long enough that reinforcements would probably arrive before he could. There had to be something else he could do. And there was, he realized. "Arfive, can we use an S-thread booster while we're carrying it in our own tractor beam?"

Arfive whistled a quick response: 'Can we? Yes. Should we? Absolutely not. The hyperspace calculations are based on the idea that the S-thread booster isn't moving.'

"Well, what if we turn off the tractor beam right before we make the jump? Then it won't be moving very much."

Arfive's reply sounded more encouraging: 'That would help. I should be able to make it work that way.'

"All right then, deploy an S-thread booster, then lock onto it with the tractor beam." Arfive did just that, then Jerin took control of the tractor beam, deftly moving the booster forward until the body of the Justice was shielding it from the X-Wings. Jerin could see it, dimly, out the cockpit window. A cylindrical object, about the size of a small speeder. The X-Wings were still taking a few desperate shots as the Justice pulled farther ahead of them, but they didn't come close to connecting. "We ready, Arfive?" Jerin asked calmly. "All right then, let's go."

Just as when they had escaped from Kuat, the colors of hyperspace filled the cockpit windows for just a fraction of a second. But now, the two Republic capital ships and swarms of starfighters had disappeared. Without any further prompting from Jerin, Arfive then set them on course to the Corellian Run, the stars ahead now stretching into long lines of light before the Justice leapt back into hyperspace. Jerin let out a small sigh as he slumped back in his seat. Two S-thread boosters gone in two days. This was getting to be a very expensive habit.

Down the hall, sounds of conversation that had died down when they dropped out of hyperspace came back up to full volume again, as the girls apparently assumed that hyperspace meant safety. He hoped they were right. He could feel that both Tenn and Denan expected him to say something, but he didn't feel like it quite yet. With the Justice's powerful hyperdrive, they would be at the Corellian Run in just a few minutes, and he was content to keep quiet until then.

Soon enough, they reverted to realspace again, and Jerin quickly looked around, expecting to see either some sleek, black, Sith-style ships, or else more Star Defenders waiting for him, but there was nothing. "Arfive, I assume we've come out on the rimward side of the Republic checkpoint?"

Arfive's response sounded a bit scolding: 'You didn't tell me to bring us to the rimward side.'

"Arfive!" Jerin started to scold back, but Arfive interrupted him.

'But I assumed that's what you wanted, since we were heading toward the Rim already. Do we head back up to the Hydian Way from here?'

Jerin thought about that for a second. "No. I don't know if the Force sent our enemies a vision, or if Negian sensed which way we were going and made a lucky guess, but either way, it doesn't seem wise to keep going the way we were going. No, take us down the Corellian Run."

'Final destination?' Arfive tweedled.

"I don't know." Jerin admitted. "For now, let's say Ryloth."

'That will take a long time, even in this ship.' Arfive pointed out.

"That's the idea." Jerin nodded. "I need time to come up with a new plan." Arfive beeped a quick agreement, then the Justice went to light speed once again. Now Jerin turned to face Tenn, who looked like she'd been expecting it. "All right, you're putting me in an awkward position here."

"How so?" She asked, but didn't sound combative.

"Seco and Negian have demonstrated clearly that they're willing to use any tool at their disposal to get their hands on you. But if you weren't on board, I doubt they'd be willing to waste any time trying to help Korgo get his hands on the rest of the girls. If things keep going this way, a situation may come up where I'm forced to choose between rescuing you or saving all the others." Now, Jerin let out a long sigh. "And, if that situation does come up, barring some compelling evidence to the contrary, I'm going to choose saving the others."

"That IS the correct choice." Tenn responded calmly. "But I know what you're driving at here. You want to know what that compelling evidence to the contrary would be. After everything you've done for all of us, you do deserve to know, I admit." She bit her thumbnail for a second, seeming to think it over. "At this point, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just... painful. And embarrassing."

"Well..." A weak smile appeared on Jerin's face. "That seems to be the theme for people's pasts on this ship, so you fit right in."

To his surprise, Tenn actually laughed at that. It was the first time he'd heard her laugh, and he had to admit, it was a lovely sound. "True enough. I suppose I should just start at the beginning..."

.

"Just out of curiousity, did we have a Plan B?" - Preed, Titan AE

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(Character Name Origins #6: Denan Zahn

Denan was unconsciously named after a mobile suit from Gundam F-91, in that I didn't realize it was a mobile suit name when I settled on "Denan" for him. Once I did realize, I found it odd that my brain had picked the Denan'zon, which is the F-91 equivalent of a Zaku. Then again, it does sound more dignified than "Vigna Ghina" or "Rafflesia". (My inner fifth grader still chuckles at the phrase "Cecily's Vigna Ghina" whenever I watch that movie.) I changed the awkward looking "Denan'zon" to Denan Zahn in honor of Timothy Zahn, who... You know what? If I have to explain who Timothy Zahn is, I'm not sure what we're all doing here. Anyway, with all the times I've referenced a Gundam series in my notes, you're probably guessing that I'm a big Gundam fan, and you would be right. Even if the older series all pale in comparison to Gundam Seed, I still have a soft spot for them. Now, I've been looking forward to writing the next several chapters for years now, so look for another installment soon.)