JDR - Welcome back! And thanks :) Fett is meant to be out of character...I believe that the Fett we see in "bounty hunter mode" isn't necessarily the same Fett who is out of bounty hunter mode. I did mention in my notes that I met Jeremy Bulloch and I decided to base the non-bounty hunter on my experience meeting him. Really nice guy. I also figure that since he's facing his mortality, he's likely going to be looking at past regrets (ie, not having a real family etc) and that can make people a bit more melancholic. Tenel Ka definitely has a future in my writing...more to come sooner or later :)
Chapter 17 – Trails' End
Krayt's complex on Umbara was an enormous villa overlooking the South Sea. A perpetually dark planet, little sunlight reached the surface of Umbara which resulted in an odd humanoid evolution among the Umbarans to be able to see into the ultraviolet spectrum. Deep within the Ghost Nebula, Umbara was opposed to visitors since the Clone Wars when the Republic invaded the planet. Unfortunately for them, like with so many other planets that had lost their independence, Lord Krayt's will was difficult to ignore.
He assumed control over the villa, liberating it from some senator who was more than willing to exchange it for his continued ability to breathe, and turned it into a private residence to escape to when he needed space, but also maintained an operations centre on the premises. He also, on rare occasions, invited members of his inner circle for discussion, training and ceremonies.
After his guests landed their ship on the small private landing pad several hundred metres north of the building, Zara escorted Jacen to the largest room in the villa. On the way there Jacen noted that virtually the entire building that he saw was undecorated, using only the beautiful wooden panelling to bring character to the hallways and rooms that he passed. Glowpanels had been added to the ceilings, casting just enough light in the hallways to let humans that were not gifted with the ability to see ultraviolet find their way through the building, but not enough that would harm the vision of any Umbarans who may enter the residence.
When they finally arrived at their destination, Krayt waited for them in meditation sitting on the ground with his back to them. Aside from Krayt himself, the room was empty save the various weapons, both ceremonial and functional, that lined the beautiful light brown wooden walls. The floor, in contrast, was made of a highly polished hardwood that, despite the lustre, looked to have been scratched and scuffed and repaired many times in its lifetime.
"Welcome back," Krayt's deep voice rumbled through the large room. "What have you learned about the Black Sun?"
"My Lord," Zara said. "We know who their leader is and how they rose to power."
"Excellent." Krayt stood up and turned around to face his operatives. "Who is it?"
Zara looked to Jacen and nodded, acknowledging that he should tell Lord Krayt their findings.
"Synergy Technology," Jacen said. "The CEO is using all those high-tech LinkCom gadgets that everyone is crazy about to spy on them. Electronic messages, calls, holonet browsing. They're even able to access pictures and videos stored on the devices remotely, and they can track people's movements on any holonet-connected planet using the navigation services. It's a perfect spy network – people spying on themselves without even realizing it."
"And they use this information for blackmail to further their interests," Krayt finished. "Ingenious."
"Yeah," Jacen said. "They're also stealing government and military secrets. So, I fulfilled my part of the bargain. I'm ready to go home now."
"You seem very assured of yourself, Solo," Krayt commented. "Our deal was for you to eliminate the Black Sun. You still have work to do."
"And you're hoping that if I go on a rampage through the Corporate Sector it would whet my appetite for the ways of the Sith," Jacen said. "Don't worry. I'll find my own way of dealing with them using my own resources."
"You are still at a disadvantage," Krayt said. "You're in my facility, and quite outnumbered."
"And you still want something from me," Jacen retorted. "Let's drop our cards right here and now. Are you willing to give me my freedom if I give you what you want?"
Jacen could feel the fear radiating off Zara as she watched the exchange between Jedi and Sith. Even though they had discussed Krayt's condition, openly questioning the aptitude of a Sith Lord was not often what one would expect to do if they wanted to live a long life.
"You have nothing I..."
"Liar," Jacen interrupted lazily.
"How dare..."
"You lied," Jacen said reasonably. "Therefore, I dare. Spit it out. Tell me what you want."
Krayt's heterochromatic eyes narrowed.
"Leave us, Zara."
"I told her."
Krayt shot a glare at Zara, sending a shiver down her spine, but turned his attention back to Jacen.
"You already knew?"
"Yeah," Jacen said. "I know exactly what's wrong with you. And we both know I'm the only person in the galaxy who can fix it. So what will it be, Krayt? Will you deal with a Jedi for help, or keep your pride and let your armour devour you?"
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
With the Jade Shadow tucked in a small valley north of the Krayt estate, Mara left Ami and Ben behind with very strict instructions to keep their presences as small as possible, keep an eye on the ship's passive sensors, and get the hell out of there if anyone found them. To Ami's displeasure, she hugged both of her children as if it might be the last time and whispered an apology to Ami, for all the good it would do.
With that behind her, she set off into the perpetual night of Umbara. One of the few Imperial planets she had never visited in her career as the Emperor's Hand, Mara found a slight fascination with the planet's terrain and ecology. Thanks to the Ghost Nebula, the surface of Umbara was almost completely dark even on the side facing the sun. It only became slightly less dark during the day, which allowed her barely enough light to see large objects that she might walk into. A waist high layer of fog seemed to cover everything in sight, making it necessary to use the Force to judge her footing.
Using the Force to guide her, she traversed the terrain easily, closing the three kilometre distance from the Jade Shadow to Krayt's compound in under ten minutes. As she approached it she sprinted up to the metre-high stone fence and crouched behind it, looking over it to assess the property in the dim light. She could make out a few small ships, including one that looked to be the same size and shape of the Fang, the ship that Ami had described as Jacen's. To her surprise, there seemed to be very little in terms of security patrols.
Mara vaulted herself over the wall and ran up to the Fang, sneaking up the boarding ramp silently and into the main passenger area which was separated from the cockpit by a half wall. Inside the cockpit, someone was accessing the navicomputer with her back toward Mara. Mara pulled two vibroknives from her leg sheaths and crept toward the person in the cockpit. Despite Mara's perfectly stealthy approach, the second she stepped into the cockpit the other person spun around and pointed the business end of a lightsaber hilt at her chest.
"Mara Jade. I thought you were supposed to be a lot better at this stuff."
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Despite a seemingly vast collection of highly skilled individuals to choose from, Eriana knew there was only one team among the Black Vornskrs that would be willing and able to pull off the high risk attempt to liberate Jacen from the clutches of Darth Krayt. What she did not know was how frakin' crazy they were.
"Lanos, please don't kill us!" Eriana shouted over the rumbling of ship as it descended into the atmosphere of Umbara. "This is not what I call an infiltration mission!"
Lanos merely laughed at his boss's show of weakness. As a Mandalorian commander leading a crew of crack Mandalorian commandos consisting of his son Parmis, a munitions expert named Trigger, a weapons expert named Blade, and a resident computer hacker named Squeak, Lanos well knew his team and ship's limitations.
"We need to look like a meteorite," Lanos said. "An uncontrolled entry will get us past their scans."
"And get us killed!" Eriana shouted back and pointed to one of the displays. "Shields are at thirty percent!"
"We'll be through in two seconds," Parmis reported from the pilot's station of the Squawking Mynock. "One...two."
The shaking of the ship from the friction of Umbara's mesosphere stopped and Eriana exhaled a breath of relief. She hardly noticed that she had been squeezing the crash webbing on her seat until she felt the pain of it digging into her hands. She forced herself to relax her grip and looked back out the main viewport.
"Please tell me that isn't the ground that we're rushing towards!"
"Relax and enjoy," Lanos interrupted. "We can't break until we're one kilometre away."
Eriana watched with wide eyes as the distance counter on the display in front of her ticked away, kilometres disappearing by the dozen each second. If there was one fear Eriana had above all else, it was being completely out of control of circumstances while her life was in danger. After about three seconds Parmis launched a barrage of proton torpedoes and flipped the ship over in a gut-wrenching spin, fired the engines to full, and somehow the explosion of the torpedoes combined with the extreme deceleration of the ship did not kill them. Eriana looked back at the display and saw that they were hovering about three metres above the surface with the cloaking device activated.
"What were those coordinates again?" Parmis asked as he calmly brought up a map of the planet on the HUD.
Eriana used a shaking hand to pull a sheet of flimsy out from behind her armour breastplate. She rattled off the coordinates extracted from the Obsidian class destroyer that had been reduced to scrap around Shumogi and somehow returned the flimsy back to the pocket.
"We'll make a Mandalorian out of you yet," Lanos complimented Eriana. "You held onto your lunch quite well."
"You're lucky I can use the Force," Eriana retorted, using it to calm her nerves. "Otherwise you'd be wearing my lunch."
"We're coming up on Krayt's compound," Parmis said, pointing to a small complex that seemed to be one of the few things dimly glowing on the horizon.
"Can you risk a fly-by?"
"With the cloak, nobody will see us, especially on this planet," Lanos replied.
"I'll jump out the boarding ramp," Eriana said and worked her way out of the crash webbing. "You guys find a safe place to hide. It shouldn't be too difficult on this planet. Wait for my signal before you come in."
Without waiting for an argument, Eriana retreated to the back of the Squawking Mynock and found Squeak suited up in his Mandalorian armour, sans helmet, waiting for her at the boarding ramp. She noticed that he looked pastier than she had remembered.
"You okay?"
Squeak looked at her as if she had four heads. "Ask me that when I haven't been put through...that."
"I didn't do much better," Eriana admitted. She helped Squeak strap himself against the wall beside the control panel for the boarding ramp and strapped a stealth repulsor pack onto her back. Squeak deactivated the lights and she grabbed onto one of the available handles as he opened the ramp. A strong gust of wind threatened to pull her out, but she used the Force to maintain her grip on the ship. She put her helmet on and cued the communicator.
"Tell me when to jump," Eriana said to Parmis.
Ten seconds later Eriana found herself plummeting toward the surface of Umbara for the second time, but this time she felt in control. After a few moments of enjoying the free fall, she activated the repulsor pack and floated softly to the ground, just north-east of the villa that Krayt had taken over. She discarded the repulsor and softly sprinted through the layer of mist covering the ground, leapt over the short wall protecting the compound, and landed crouched behind the boarding ramp of a small ship that had been landed so recently that the engines were still ticking as they cooled. She pulled her lightsabers from her leg holsters and entered the ship, quickly confirming that nobody else was in it. She proceeded to the cockpit where she sat down at the navicomputer. She took her helmet off, and using a data card that she had Squeak prepare before the mission, she was able to slice into the navicomputer and steal all of the data, plus install a tracking routine that would send out a sub-space pulse every time the ship dropped out of hyperspace which could be detected by the Black Vornskr communication network. As she worked on the computer she heard a slight noise behind her and glanced at the semi-reflective front viewport out of the corner of her eye. She recognized the red hair before anything else and smiled to herself. She casually reached up and activated the microphone in her ear knowing that it would automatically transmit back to the Mynock. Counting to five, she finally turned around with a lightsaber hilt at the ready, more for show than anything.
"Mara Jade. I thought you were supposed to be a lot better at this stuff."
"Eriana," Mara said in surprise. The vibroknives in her hands disappeared back into their sheaths on her legs, guided by the Force. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Nor I, you," Eriana admitted. "But it'll make things a lot easier. Is your ship nearby?"
"North of here in a valley," Mara said. "Data extraction?"
A soft chime came from the navicomputer and Eriana extracted her data card. She placed it into her pocket, picked up her helmet, and retreated to the back of the ship with Mara in tow.
"That and a homing signal," Eriana said. "If we can't extract him, we'll still be able to track him."
"Don't worry," Mara said dangerously. "He's coming with us."
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A seemingly simple decision to visit her daughter turned into a four hour hunt through the Fifth Fleet for Leia. She had been bounced between eight different starships in various stages of repair, the last of which finally acknowledged that Jaina was on board. Communication and coordination between the fleet seemed disorganized at best to Leia's trained eye, but she could not tell if it was due to the disarray that the fleet hardware was in, or if it was the leadership team.
Leia finally docked her shuttle with the old Nebulon-B frigate and was not greeted by anyone to open the airlock door for her. She entered the ship and wandered through it on her own, making her way to the bridge on memory from the layout of the medical ship that Luke had received his prosthetic hand half a lifetime ago. Mechanics and technicians passed by her, so engrossed in their discussions of their assigned repairs that she wondered if they even noticed her or anyone else around them.
Upon entering the bridge, Leia noticed that there were many people working to repair damage that looked like everything had been on fire or shorted out by an ion cannon blast fired at close range. Looking around she recognized a familiar pair of boots sticking out from under the central command console and she approached it.
"Can someone hand me a number two hydrospanner?" Jaina's muffled voice came out from under the console. Her hand appeared a second later, waving for the requested tool and Leia's mind went back twenty years to when Jaina was tinkering on whatever device she could get her hands on. With a smile, Leia used the Force to pass the tool along the floor from the tool box to her daughter's hand. "Oh! Hi, Mom. Give me a minute."
Leia waited patiently for Jaina to finish up her repair and wiggle her way out from under the console. To her surprise, Jaina was actually smiling as she scrambled to her feet.
"Hi Mom, give me a minute," Jaina said and she turned to the console and pressed the activation button. The display gave a short whine before flickering to light, and Jaina looked to a technician that Leia hadn't noticed on the other side of the console with a satisfied grin. "And that's how you replace a holo emitter without frying your eyebrows off."
Leia looked back to the technician and repressed the urge to snicker – the technician did appear to have lost the majority of his light brown eyebrows in a recent small fire. He replied with a small "Yes, Admiral," and disappeared to perform his duties elsewhere.
"I take it your first command is going well," Leia said now that she had her daughter's attention.
"Yeah, I can do just about whatever I want," Jaina admitted as she began collecting her tools. "They were having a problem installing the holo emitters so I thought I'd come and give them a hand. Next I have a sublight engine to overhaul, followed by a recalibration of the lateral sensor grid, and I need to check up on the team replacing the port torpedo launchers."
"Jaina, you're supposed to be leading the fleet, not doing repairs yourself," Leia said. "As admiral it is your responsibility to make sure everything is on track."
"I am doing that," Jaina said. "The fleet is overworked and underequipped. I asked Wedge for one shipyard but he's too busy putting parts together for Danni's stupid project. We've got one three-thousand year old ship that can manufacture parts at a Hutt's pace, and a fleet that's falling apart around us. Wedge isn't giving us the tools that we need, so I need everyone out here, including me, jury-rigging these ships back together."
Jaina hefted her toolbox and pushed past her mom out of the bridge, but Leia quickly caught up to her.
"Who is overseeing the work crews?" Leia asked.
"Erinn is keeping me informed of things, but I've got a Wookiee named Vryy doing the scheduling, and the Ol'Faithful's XO is running the parts manufacturing schedule," Jaina said without stopping. "There's no real admiraling to do. I spent an hour looking at ship reports and command crew profiles and they all told me one thing: we need more people fixing the ships and less people telling us how to. The fleet is in no shape to run drills, and half the ships have their engines cores or drives pulled for repairs. We're sitting ducks and we all know it."
"You're avoiding something," Leia said in a matter of fact tone.
Jaina rolled her eyes and finally turned to face her mom.
"I'm not avoiding her," Jaina said through clenched teeth. "I'm making a...strategic disengagement."
"You can't do that with your own personnel," Leia insisted, but Jaina shook her head and continued down the long hallway separating the front and back of the ship. Leia almost had to jog to keep up with her daughter's brisk pace.
"You'll have to face her eventually," Leia reminded her. "And I do have some experience with politics."
"Emriss is just jealous that I got the job," Jaina said. "And she thinks she knows how to run a fighter wing better than I do."
"Does she?"
"That's not the point!" Jaina exclaimed and turned around again, dropping her tool chest to the ground. She startled a group of passing mechanics that were carrying a sensor array between the four of them that sped up to get away from the angry Admiral, but Jaina hardly noticed them. "I'm the one calling the shots..."
"For the fleet," Leia interrupted Jaina's rant. "Not the fighter group. You need to give Emriss the chance to run things her way."
"The fighter group is part of the fleet," Jaina insisted. "She's operating a three-shift rotation. Eight hours a day. I want to push it down to a six hour rotation so the pilots stay fresh and don't pass out in the cockpit. It'll also give us a chance to create openings to train more fighter pilots and fill gaps in the fleet. I want to go to Wedge to show him that the Fifth fleet can be more than just a repair fleet - we can also do training."
"Then suggest it to her as an equal," Leia advised. "Don't demand it as a superior. She has as much authority over her people as you do over yours, but you need to look at her as a member of a team, not a cadet to order around. The more you make people feel like they are working with you, the they'll be willing to work for you."
Jaina picked up her tool box and continued her march down the long hallway. "You know, I was having a good day until you showed up. I actually felt like I was accomplishing something. It's bad enough that Wedge won't give me what I need to fix his ships..."
"Admiral Antillies is looking at a much bigger picture than you are," Leia reminded her. "With the rebellion starting, we have had to consider every strategic opportunity of using every available asset in this fleet. And you'll do well to remember that he could have thrown you in the brig for what you did. You owe him."
"Are you threatening me?" Jaina turned around again just as they reached the end of the hallway. "Do you even have any authority to be on this ship? I think you're not wearing proper safety gear to be on a work site and should probably leave."
Leia took a step closer to Jaina and gave her a penetrating glare that she reserved for only her shrewdest political rivals. Jaina held her glare, but Leia could sense cracks in her daughter's resolve.
"You're walking a fine line, Jaina," Leia reminded her. "I know what you were doing when Karrde's people picked you up on Iope. I know what happened with Danni. And I know all about the antics you've been pulling for the last few weeks. Maybe you should stop pushing people around and start looking at ways people can help you before you lose more than just your command, Admiral Solo."
Leia turned on her heel and walked away.
"Worry more about your welcome on my fleet," Jaina shouted after her. "Unless you're here with Wedge, you can just fly back to wherever you came from!"
Leia did not bother acknowledging the comment. She walked to her ship, and Jaina went back to work. Both mother and daughter parted ways, each thinking they had won.
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Eriana and Mara made their way around the outside of Krayt's compound checking through the windows to see if they could find Jacen. They were easily able to avoid detection using one of Mara's periscopes to check out the windows. The patrols were light, mostly depending on the remoteness of the facility and planet for safety, and were therefore easy to avoid. The two women had travelled almost three-quarters of the way around the building before they finally found what they were looking for. Standing in a large training room in front of Darth Krayt was Jacen, holding Krayt's glare with a classic Solo smirk on his face. Between them and Jacen was a heavily tattooed Twi'lek woman with hardly any clothes on and a lightsaber at her hip.
"What is your plan?" Eriana asked.
"I was going to go in there, kill Krayt, and beat the crap out of anyone who got in my way," Mara whispered back grimly. "Is your arm up for it?"
"The arm's healed enough to fight now," Eriana said, extending it to prove her range of motion. She activated her communicator. "But I have another idea. This is Bha'lir. Initiation operation: Fluffy Shield."
"Fluffy shield?"
"You'll see," Eriana smiled back. "Get ready. We'll only have a short window once they realize what is going on."
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Darth Krayt stared at Jacen Solo, their eyes locked in a battle of wills to see who would blink first. Despite being slightly shorter than the armoured Sith Lord, Jacen did not let the larger man intimidate him. He kept his eyes locked on the red and blue orbs and returned the glare of hate with one of mild amusement.
"Lord Krayt," a voice came from behind Jacen, which finally distracted the Sith Lord's gaze. "A large fleet just dropped into orbit and is attacking our command ship. Their strategy is unlike anything we've seen before!"
Krayt looked back at Jacen and narrowed his eyes. He pushed past the Jedi and left the room with the messenger.
"He will kill you if you push him too far," Zara finally broke the silence. "We should pursue Black Sun and wipe them out."
"I'm done with Krayt," Jacen said. "I'm sorry, Zara. I need to go."
Jacen looked over her shoulder and she followed his gaze to see two women entering the room through a window, both dressed in black, but one with red hair, the wearing a black helmet.
"I understand," Zara said slowly. "But I'll be killed if I let you go."
"Come with?"
"I have no place among the Jedi."
"Then we'd better make my escape look good," Jacen suggested with a smile. Zara returned the smile and turned to the two women.
"Intruders!" Zara shouted and ignited her lightsaber. She ran at Eriana ready to strike, but Eriana intercepted the attack with her twin gold blades with feigned laziness and planted a fast spinning side kick on the younger woman's chest, sending her sprawling. Mara's violet lightsaber was on in a flash and together the Jedi and Jensaarai attacked Zara with uncanny coordination, quickly overwhelming her defenses and striking her arm with a light blow. A strike from Mara gouged Zara's left leg, and Jacen sensed a killing slash coming from Eriana's left lightsaber. He ignited his own lightsaber and sprinted into the battle, rolling under Mara's attack that Zara feeblely tried to defend against, jumping over Eriana's right lightsaber as she drew it back, and intercepted her left lightsaber with his right hand blade.
Startled by Jacen's interception, Eriana lost focus long enough for Jacen to land and ignite his other lightsaber, intercepting Mara's attack and effectively shielded Zara from either of their attacks with his two blades and his body. He locked eyes with Eriana through the blackened visor of her helmet and smirked.
"Nobody hurts my girlfriend," Jacen growled. "Not even you."
The booming laugh behind Eriana and Mara caught them off guard, but the voice that followed sent shivers down their spines.
"Attachment is the downfall of every Jedi," Krayt said. "Finish them, and take your rightful place at my side, young Solo."
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A grunt of pain escaped through the comm, alerting Han that their mission had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. He turned around to look where he knew Boba Fett had been following him a second before to see a bright rod of red plasmic energy protruding sideways through the chest of the old bounty hunter, and an evil smile on a tattooed human Bogan Warrior that was holding Fett up for his final breaths.
"Han," Fett grunted painfully, the words echoing through Han's helmet as if there were no other sounds in the universe. "Finish this…for…family."
Fett slumped to the ground, and the Bogan warrior tossed aside the shell of the best bounty hunter of his generation.
Han could hear troops coming up behind him, and he suddenly knew that this would be his last stand, his last opportunity to fight for what was right, and his last chance to protect the ones he loved. He thought of Anakin, Jacen, Jaina, Luke, Mara, Ben, his grandchildren, Chewie, and, of course, Leia as he tossed his blaster rifle aside and pulled a device from his belt.
"Stop," Han said, holding out his hand toward the approaching Bogan Warrior. To his surprise, the man did stop. The Bogan laughed held out his lightsaber unthreateningly to the side.
"Do you think you can get still away from me?"
"No," Han said with a smile, removing his blue helmet and tossing it to the ground at the other man's feet. "I just wanted my last words."
"What's that, old man?"
Han flicked the trigger on the device in his hand. As one, two hundred modified seismic charges that had been placed throughout the shipyard and planted in key locations inside the massive Obsidian class destroyer lit up with a blue glow, just like the one remaining on Han's back. A thousand kilos of collapsium gas ignited, preparing to crack the mantle of the Bogan homeworld and shatter the shipyard and ships above.
The former smuggler and rogue, who, after a lifetime of doing the impossible, finally faced death for the last time with a cocky lopsided grin on his face knowing his end had arrived.
"I always shoot first, kid."
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A/N: This is the end of Part 2. Part 3 will continue...whenever I get around to finishing it...
