Chapter 23 - Exfiltration
It took Jaina about three days to realize that her lightsaber battery had been drained. For some strange reason when her mom had tossed it into the cell, Jaina did not feel the need to escape her prison cell and never turned her lightsaber on. As the days passed and the upcoming court marshal became closer to reality, sitting in the lonely cell with only her thoughts to keep her company finally scared her enough to begin plotting her escape. When she finally had her plan in place, she pressed the activation button on her lightsaber and was rewarded with a faint sizzling sound, but no blade.
"Great. Thanks, Mom," Jaina muttered, holding the lifeless hilt in her right hand. While she blamed her mom, she also knew there was no way she would've been allowed a live weapon while in prison. It was just easier to assign blame.
Between keeping her boredom at bay and trying to figure out how to execute her escape plan, Jaina spent several hours playing with her lightsaber, dismantling it into major components and looking for ways to recharge it. She knew her brother would have been able to charge it with the Force given his aptitude at controlling energy, but when she tried, she nearly blew up the power cell in her face. As a result of destroying the cell, she was reduced to fiddling with the lightsaber and preparing it for a new power cell for when she got out of prison. Assuming she ever got out.
After she had finished working on the lightsaber for the third time, she finally began to bug the guard.
"I promise I won't try to escape," Jaina intoned for the fourth time in as many minutes. "Let's just play a game of sabbacc."
The Toydarian guard cocked his head over to look at her with his giant bulbous eyes and grunted.
"Whatta you no understanda?" The Toydarian asked. "They putta me here to keep you in the jail. Yo mind tricks no worka on me, Jedi."
"I just want to play cards," Jaina insisted, privately annoyed by her foiled plan.
"I also very good at knowing when Jedi lie," her guard said and returned his attention to the console.
"You're just playing video games," Jaina said. "I'll tell Wedge."
"Admiral Antilles pay me to keepa you in that box. He don' care how I do it."
Jaina finally took a few steps back until she sat down on the bed. She stared at the bars for a moment of thought. They were made of durasteel, strong enough to take abuse from a Wookiee, and likely wired with alarms. She knew her sentencing was in a couple days and she had to get out. The thought of facing the inquiry panel drove her to look around one more time to see if anything could help her. Her eyes tracked to the side of the guard where a DL-88 was holstered.
"Hey, can you get me a glass of water?" Jaina asked. "I'm thirsty."
"Meal comes in two hours. Wait till then."
Jaina stood up and walked back to the bars. "I said, come give me a glass of water. This is prisoner abuse."
The Toydarian looked over his shoulder and stood up. His wings unfolded and started flapping, elevating him out of the chair and toward Jaina's cell.
"You wait two hours. What parta you mind tricks no work you no get, Jedi?"
"The part where I bash your head against the wall and steal your blaster?" Jaina asked.
"Wha...?"
The Toydarian flew toward the bars with Jaina's command of the Force and crumpled to the ground. She used the Force again to pull the DL-88 from the guard's holster and quickly dismantled it. A minute later she had the power pack installed in her lightsaber and she pressed the ignition button. The brilliant violet beam sprang from the hilt with a familiar hum and Jaina slashed through the cell bars.
An alarm sounded on her first slash and she bit back a curse before slicing through the bottom of the bars and stepping out. The blast doors sealing off the prison began to close, but Jaina used the Force to hold them in place while she cut through the main door.
After several minutes of running through the ship corridors and avoiding search parties, she slipped into an empty command substation and hacked her way into the tractor beam control relays. She initiated a ten minute silent delay for a class-one diagnostic subroutine that would disable the tractor beams for about an hour. Next, she double checked that the Falcon was still where it had been parked and changed the hanger bay access codes. Checking that the timer had 8 minutes left, she snuck out of the room and began running toward the Falcon again, careful to avoid search parties.
Tense minutes passed with the sound of her boots against the deck plating echoing off the walls as her heart pounded in her ears, adrenaline and the Force keeping her senses alert. She nearly missed the last turn before the hanger bay, turned a half second too late, took the blow of her momentum into the wall off her shoulder and bounced back a bit to continue her run. She reached the panel to open the door and punched in the code she had programmed in minutes before.
Red words flashed on the panel and Jaina looked down the corridor in either direction, biting back a curse. Thinking she punched in the wrong code she pressed the buttons again, this time watching carefully. The same message flashed on screen, but this time she read it.
Hanger bay pressure not matched. Entry denied.
"Nice try, Jaina," Wedge's voice came from the panel, startling her. "We opened the hanger bay to space moments after you broke out of your cell."
Jaina looked to her right. If she remembered correctly, there was an auxiliary starfighter hanger bay two levels up...
"In fact, we've just finished evacuating and opening all of the hanger bays," Wedge continued. "Feel free to try an escape pod if you'd like. It'll make collecting you a lot easier."
"I need to get out of here, Wedge," Jaina turned back to the console and pleaded. "Just let me go."
"You know I can't do that, Jaina," Wedge said sincerely. "You need us. I have security teams on their way to escort you back."
Three security force fields activated around Jaina, trapping her in position right in front of the hanger door. She could hear the clomping of armoured boots coming from all three directions around her and her heart rate jumped.
Jaina looked back at the console and the still blinking warning about the hanger bay pressure. Somehow the thought of her brother surviving on Ebaq 9 by using the Force to trap air came to mind. She reached into the Force and drew the air in the hallway away from the console and the door, creating a vacuum bubble around all of the door sensors. She used the Force to press in her code again, and this time the door quietly slid open.
Drawing air around her in a bubble, she ran into the hanger bay toward the Millennium Falcon. As soon as she entered it, the door slammed shut behind her, triggered by the air pressure sensors. Trying to ignore the twinkling stars and the deadly vacuum just past the edge of the open hanger bay door, she concentrated as hard as she could to maintain her air bubble and pushed it up against the Falcon's ventral man hatch when she reached it. She keyed her code in and the hatch opened, allowing her to climb into her ship. When the hatch closed beneath her feet, she dropped the air bubble and breathed in the stale air from the locked up ship.
Knowing that Wedge would be scrambling fighters soon, Jaina raced to the cockpit and ran through the quick start up routine her dad had created for situations like these. In a mere eleven point three eight seconds, the engines roared to life and Jaina sent power to the repulsor drive to lift the Falcon off the hanger floor. She spun it around and saw the bay door closing, but smiled as she reached for the throttle. Slamming it to full, the Falcon shot through the hanger bay with mere centimetres to spare.
Keeping the throttle red-lined, Jaina let the ship fly straight as she activated more systems. Part of the fast start up routine meant that only the sublight engines, manoeuvring thrusters and basic navigation systems were activated. She knew she did not need anything like life support or communications yet, but the hyperdrive and shields were second on her priority list. By the time she set them to warm up, she had twelve navigational hazards appear on her rear.
"Only one squadron, Wedge?" Jaina asked aloud to the empty ship as she powered up the combat sensor suite to take a better look at her pursuit. "I'm not that rusty."
The images of twelve X-wings faded in on the HUD, underscored by their relative speeds. Some quick math told Jaina that she had about twenty seconds before they were in firing range, and the navicomputer needed at least another minute.
"Oh, hell," Jaina said and reached for the hyperspace lever. "I'm screwed anyway."
Closing her eyes and letting the Force guide her left hand on the control stick, she pulled the leaver and launched the ship into hyperspace.
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
With one reactor obliterated, three others severely damaged, and an entire wing of Corellian starfighters attacking, very few of the crew members of the Tormentor had the time to care that a Mandalorian and Jensaarai were running through the ship carrying the unconscious and scorched body of their Bogan Warrior leader toward the little used hanger bays on the port side of the ship.
When Jacen and Eriana arrived at their hanger bay, the door automatically opened and all the lights were on, completely the contrary to how they had left it. Beside their cloaked ship was a ship that Jacen recognized – Fang.
"Here," Jacen said and passed the Chagrian back to Eriana. "Zara is here."
"Your wacky Twi'lek girlfriend that I almost killed?"
"That was an act for Krayt, y'know."
Jacen took his lightsbers out and they cautiously approached the Solo Quest together. The boarding ramp of Fang lowered with Zara standing on the end with her arms crossed.
"Looking for me?" Zara asked. "So very nice of you to visit."
"Well, I can't say I expected to see you here," Jacen said. "But I think we should all get off this ship rather quickly."
"I agree," Zara said and walked up to Jacen. Her lightsaber was still dangling from her belt unthreateningly and she had a melancholic smile on her face. Jacen felt absolutely no threat to her presence, so he returned his lightsabers to his belt. "I figured I should repay my debt."
"Oh?"
"You've saved my life twice," Zara said, her eyes pleading for understanding from him. "The least I can do is tell you that Krayt installed trackers in your lightsabers."
Jacen glanced down at his lightsaber hilts and shrugged. "I'll look into that."
"I think it's time for a new career path," Zara said, walking backwards to the edge of the boarding ramp. "Good bye, Jacen Solo. May the Force be with you."
With a faint smile, she ascended into the ship.
"That was weird," Eriana said, coming to Jacen's side. A tremor shook the ship, almost knocking them over. "Can we go now?"
"Yep!" Jacen said. He reached toward the Solo Quest and used the Force to deactivate the cloak and lower the boarding ramp. Together they boarded the ship and Jacen split off to the cockpit while Eriana went to the cargo bay to secure their prisoner. Jacen took off his helmet and settled into the pilot's chair, glancing over to see Zara waving at him from the cockpit of Fang. A second later Fang disappeared, and Jacen followed it out of the hanger.
"Jade Shadow, this is Solo Quest," Jacen announced. "Mission accomplished. What can we blow up now?"
At that moment the Obsidian-class destroyer jumped to hyperspace. Eriana stumbled into the cockpit as the ship shook from the hyperspace wake, but managed to make it to the sensor suite chair without falling down.
"Dammit!" Mara's voice came across the comm. "Solo Quest, fighter group, form up on me. This fight isn't over yet."
"Jacen, most of the Bogan fleet has withdrawn," Eriana said as she examined the displays in front of her. "There are maybe a hundred fighters and fifty disabled ships. Based on the debris field it looks like their losses are around eighty percent."
"Mara, Corran, please issue a surrender request to the Bogan fleet," Jacen responded. "They're withdrawing."
"Acknowledged," Corran replied. "Surrender request has been initiated, Quest. Please extend our thanks to the Black Vornskr fleet."
Jacen rested back in his chair and stared out at the giant shape of Centerpoint station in the distance. Even from hundreds of kilometres away he could see that it had sustained damaged with chunks of it floating free, but thankfully it was not destroyed.
"Jacen, Centerpoint is disabled," Eriana reported. He turned to look at her console where she had a schematic of the station called up, parts of it glowing red indicating damage. "It looks like the power distribution centre was hit. Everything is dark."
"There's no way they'll be able to get it working again," Jacen said. "Anyone who knows how to fix that technology was probably on the station."
Eriana activated the comm. "Corran, this is Bha'lir. Please inform the Corellian government to begin evacuations. The Corellian sector is no longer safe."
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
In the aftermath of the battle, the Black Vornskrs had been granted salvage rights to the wrecked ships in payment for their services. General Cooper's fleet, with Eriana's persuasion, agreed to stay around and run interference for any ships willing to evacuate the Corellian sector. Surprisingly, very few did.
"We would rather fight than leave our homes," Corran told Eriana in a private meeting with Aidel Saxan, prime minister of Corellia in a secure military facility over five hundred kilometres from the crater that once was Coronet. Aftershocks from the settling tectonic plates had hit several times since their arrival, but they had been assured the facility was safe. "You know how stubborn us Corellians can be."
"Krayt's going to attack," Eriana said with startling certainty. "Staying behind is suicide for any Jedi."
"Corellia is my home now," Corran said. "I'm not going anywhere. Who knows, maybe we can set a nice little trap that will kill that Sith bastard once and for all."
"If Krayt believes that the Corellian sector will be a pushover, he will be proven very wrong," Aidel continued. "We'll be ready for him."
"Will you repair Centerpoint?"
"We need to make the best use of all of our resources," Aidel said cryptically. "But we are still assessing the extent of the damage."
Eriana tossed Corran a data chip.
"Call it a gift from Wedge," Eriana said. "Hopefully it'll give Corellia a fighting chance. Just use it responsibly."
"How many were your losses, Ms Fostenon?" Aidel asked. "I admit, I was surprised to see a pirate fleet come to our defense."
"Under ten percent of my ships will need time in a shipyard," Eriana said. "Looks like closer to forty percent of yours were damaged or destroyed. With the salvage, we'll be able to bounce back quickly. You'd be surprised how many people are interested in becoming pirates these days."
"The pay must be pretty good," Corran remarked.
"Too good," Eriana admitted. "And that's what scares me."
"You are not what I expected of a pirate leader," Aidel said. "Why did you come to Corellia's defense?"
"Right now the Vornskrs are a powerful force to combat Krayt," Eriana narrowed her eyes. "But one day we will run out of Bogan targets to hit. On that day, I'm going to need to know the best way to take down the pirate organization I built. Testing them in battle will certainly help with that."
Aidel looked to the lightsabers on Eriana's hips and she seemed to arrive at some sort of revelation. "Those aren't trophies. You're a Jedi."
"She's no Jedi," Corran scoffed with a proud smile that neither woman quite understood. "But close enough."
"I'm an ally of some Jedi," Eriana said elusively and pulled something out of her pocket. "One you'll be able to contact when you need help. Just be warned: I have pirates to pay, and we aren't cheap."
"How will I contact you?"
Eriana tossed the object onto Aidel's desk and stopped it on its edge with the Force right in front of the other woman. The blue sapphire ring glittered in the sunlight filtering through the window.
"I'll have someone contact you to give you a communication module," Eriana said. "That ring is your membership to the Black Vornskrs, and your encryption code to contact us. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll need a favour from you."
[[[[#]]]]]]]]=(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Left behind on the Hunter IV, Ami had spent hours wandering the halls, memorizing the layout of the old Victory-II class Star Destroyer more to give herself something to do than to do anything productive. It surprised her how the Black Vornskr members reacted to her. Having been given a bronze ring that indicated she was a Major, virtually all of the people she ran into gave her a wide birth, wide smiles, and treated her with respect. She half expected that the rowdy pirates that laughed, joked and roughhoused with each other in the halls would make cat-calls and lewd remarks, but merely waking by was enough for them to let her pass without incident. Respect for superiors seemed deeply ingrained in the pirate fleet, including from the naked man who had been locked out of the shower by his friends. He was kind enough to cover his modesty and smile as she passed by. Ami winked at him, earning a blush in return, but continued her walk, only glancing back to check out his bare back side once he began hammering on the locked shower door again.
Ami's walk took her through virtually every back corridor around the ship until her curiosity of what was at the very tip of the triangular ship brought her to where the front weapons targeting substation was located. Five of the pirates were sitting on the deck plating outside the substation playing a card game, and Ami could sense something inside the room was slightly off.
"Who...?" Ami asked vaguely, looking toward the closed door.
Realizing her rank, all five technicians snapped to attention. The one wearing a tarnished silver ring spoke while the copper-ringed pirates remained diligently silent.
"Ma'am, my apologies," the silver-ring wearing woman said. "We were requested to leave the substation on the orders of the Colonel."
"Yes, and a...a good job of it that you're doing, too," Ami said with as much authority as she could muster without bursting into laughter. "As you were, Captain. I'll talk to...the Colonel."
As the Vornskrs settled back into their game, Ami opened the door and found the room lit only by the distant starlights and the semi-circular array of glowing consoles around the outside of the transparisteel walls. Sitting at the very front of the ship in his hoverchair looking out at the stars was Luke Skywalker. With her latent Force ability she could barely sense his tumultuous emotions.
"Dad?" Ami asked tentatively. She took another couple steps toward him and hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her slowly, his eyes vacant of expression. "Are you okay?"
Luke blinked slowly and turned back to look out at the stars. She watched in awkward silence as he continued to stare into space for another minute. Deciding he wanted to be left alone, she took a tentative step backwards. She made it to the door and was about to press the release when she heard him say something.
"Sorry?" Ami asked. "I couldn't hear you."
"She betrayed both of us," Luke repeated, turning his chair to face her. Their eyes locked from across the room and Ami found herself unable to turn away. "She never told me about you."
"Would it have mattered?" Ami asked. As much as she wanted to get to know her father, she was not impressed by him so far. "You've been as much an ass to me as she has."
Luke pushed the control stick on his chair forward and closed the distance between them until he was just over a metre away. "This has not been an easy time for me."
"Oh, and it's been a fragging picnic for me?" Ami retorted. "First I get thrown into jail by a Hutt, then my estranged mother blows said Hutt up with a thermal detonator and breaks me out of jail to force me to find my long lost cousin – who I never knew I had – to save my dad's life –who I also never met – meanwhile destroying my career prospects in the process. And, after helping save my dear old dad's life, he treats me like a piece of Bantha shavit."
"You think you have it rough?" Luke shrugged unapologetically and shook his head. "I had to break up the Jedi Order that I spent the last forty years building. Half my friends have been killed, my brother-in-law is dead, and my legs been rendered useless by a Yuuzhan Vong poison. Then I find out my wife has been lying to me for thirty years about a daughter I didn't know existed."
Ami and Luke's eyes finally met again and after a moment they both burst out laughing.
"We're cut from the same cloth, aren't we?" Ami said.
"Sure seems that way," Luke agreed. "I'm sorry. I let my emotions cloud my judgement."
"Everyone's pushed me away my entire life," Ami said with a shrug. "I'm used to it."
"You shouldn't have to be," Luke said. He reached toward her and took her hand in his, and they both smiled at each other. "You did nothing wrong."
"Can I buy my old man a drink?" Ami asked. "There's not much else to do on this boat."
"I'd like that," Luke sighed. "You look so much like..."
"Finish that sentence and you'll be wearing your drink," Amy snapped. "Let's find that bar before I walk you out an airlock."
Luke laughed and cued the door release with the Force. Together they went in search of a bar, finally having found what they both didn't know they had been looking for.
