Alien Crossfire - Ch. 6

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Jacen watched the door-tongue. It was a glistening block of flesh, one which occasionally pulsed from a muscle twitch or something even more arcane. In the back of his mind, he could feel the pain, from his body, the white sitting there right behind his eyes, occupying a corner of his brain.

But it did not control him.

It did not affect him.

The door-tongue opened with a slushing sound, and Vergere hopped through. Her beak was opened wide in an approximation of a smile, her feather crest raised high atop her feather, reflecting a bright blue.

Oddly, he was happy to see her as well. "Hello, Vergere."

"Greetings, young Solo."

Suddenly the embrace dropped him to the ground, the sudden impact startling him. He stood, glancing down at the tentacles, his head moving upwards as they retreated back up into the ceiling. Jacen then turned his attention to his wrists, looking at the abraded flesh which he had not seen in a lifetime. Several lifetimes.

Finally, he turned his gaze back to Vergere, noticing the long curved hook she held in one hand.

"What’s that?"

Vergere tilted her head. "What’s what?"

Jacen squeezed the bridge of his nose, and looked again. She was holding nothing. He frowned, wondering if he was seeing things due to lack of sleep. "Nothing. I…I guess I’m just seeing things."

Vergere made a noncommittal noise, and hopped towards the doorway. "Come."

Though her voice was cheerful, there was no doubting that it was also the voice of command. "Why? Where am I going?"

"The dead have no concerns over such things. Stay, go. It matters little to me. Though you may not appreciate what happens if you stay."

"Is that a threat?"

She shook her head. "No, young Solo, I am not threatening you. Merely stating a fact. This room has served its purpose, and will now be…..well I guess digested is the closest thing in basic to what will happen. You do not wish to be in it when this happens."

Then she bounded from the room, and hesitantly, Jacen followed her. As he stepped through the door, he looked quickly at the two massive warriors stationed there, a frown quickly flickering over his features.

Vergere smiled at him. "Pay them no heed. They do not speak basic, nor do they have tizoworms. But they do want to kill you, so please do not give them a reason to."

Nodding his head, he stopped and looked back as the door-tongue closed behind him.

"What is wrong, young Solo?"

"I’m just leaving a lot of pain behind in that room is all."

He turned back to Vergere, and noticed that she stared at him with those blank, black, nearly soulless eyes. An instinctive shudder ran through him, and she spun around, once more bounding down the hallway in little short hops. After a moment more, he slowly followed.

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A dim reddish brown glow glinted off the non-reflective grey hull as it waited in the shadow of the system’s fifth planet. An orange-red planet, coated with a fine dust which was mainly ferric oxide. A dead planet settled firmly in a dead star system. It is a system so utterly unimportant that it lacks even a name, bearing just an Old Republic survey number as an identifier.

Jaina was settled in the pilot’s seat of the Jade Shadow; every system was powered down, all exterior lights darkened.

For all intents and purposes, the starship was as dead as the star system it found itself in.

She visually scanned for the arrival of the ship she was waiting on, and then turned to Artoo where he was plugged into the docking station designed for him.

"Anything yet Artoo?"

She received a mournful tone in reply, and then turned back to stare out the viewport.

Then she saw it, a flicker of pseudo-motion, barely visible at the limit of her eyesight. It was a passenger liner, falling into the system towards the star. She flipped a few switches, and pointed the passive sensors towards the massive starship, and then once more leaned back in her seat, waiting for the expected signal.

A few moments later, Tionne Solusar and her apprentice Nelani entered the cockpit. Jaina glanced back at the pair, and gave a brief nod of her head. Jaina watched as Nelani slipped into the co-pilot’s seat, and then turned her attention back towards the elfin Jedi.

"I’m hoping this is who we’re here to pick up. Sitting out here in the middle of nowhere is starting to make me nervous."

Tionne laughed a cheerful, musical sound. "Don’t worry Jaina; I’m sure you’ll be back in the thick of things before you know it."

Tionne squeezed Jaina’s shoulder, as the younger woman turned back to the viewport. Jaina listened to the soft tread of Tionne leaving the cockpit.

A half hour passed as silence reigned in the cockpit. Jaina kept her attention focused on the passenger liner. Sensor updates from Artoo displayed on the HUD, just beneath her line of sight, kept there by the display’s retinal trackers.

Nelani spoke up, startling Jaina as she had almost forgotten the younger girl was sitting behind her.

"Uhm, Jaina, I was wondering about something?"

Jaina frowned slightly, trying to remember if Nelani had said more than two sentences to her during the entire trip. Giving a slight, internal shrug, she looked over her shoulder towards the black-haired apprentice.

"What’s that?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me about Tahiri?"

The request shocked Jaina. "What?"

Nelani blushed, her cheeks turning a bright red. "Tahiri. I-I want to know what Tahiri was like."

Jaina watched the girl for a moment, her thoughts drifting back over what she knew about her. She realized it was not a whole lot; mainly that she appeared at the same time as Anakin return, and was immediately assigned to train under Tionne.

Twisting her seat around to fully face her, Jaina decided that it was time to rectify that lack of knowledge.

"Can I ask why you want to know about her?"

Nelani looked down at her hands, and then glanced towards the cockpit doorway, before looking once more to Jaina. Jaina was amazed as the girl’s blush deepened even more, her red cheeks shifting closer to crimson.

Then Nelani dropped her head, and mumbled something.

Jaina frowned, not quite certain she had understood correctly.

"I didn’t understand that."

She watched as the younger girl took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

"Your brother. I’m in love with him, but I worry that he won’t be able to get over Tahiri. That he won’t love me in return."

Jaina was taken aback, for as the girl was talking, her shields lowered slightly, and she could feel the confusion and worry coming off of her. Before Jaina could say anything in reply, Nelani began talking again.

"We were dueling the other day, and I told him I loved him. And he replied, ‘I know.’ What kind of reply is that?"

Jaina barked a laugh, but regretted it slightly, when she aw that the girl was nearly in tears. She reached out and grabbed her hand.

"First, the ‘I know’ thing is from my parents. When mom first told dad ‘I love you’ he replied, ‘I know.’ If my little brother told you that, then I’m certain he likes you, a whole bunch."

Nelani used her free hand to rub at her eyes, trying to keep from crying. "And what about Tahiri?"

Jaina smiled slightly. "I doubt anyone will ever replace Tahiri. But is replacing her what you really want to do? Be a carbon copy of his old girlfriend? Or would you rather he loves you for who you are?"

Jaina dropped her hand, and shrugged, turning back to the viewport. "The decision’s yours of course, but my suggestion is to just be you."

She could hear the slight sniffling, as Nelani attempted to regain control of her emotions. Once those had stopped, she glanced over her shoulder again, to notice that Nelani was staring off into space, lost in thought.

A warble from Artoo attracted her attention, and she perked up, noticing that they were receiving a transmission. She turned on the speakers.

"In-system Jedi. This is Num’arar, Alem’arar and one guest to be retrieved."

Jaina powered up the sublight engines, and swung the Jade Shadow out and around, heading towards the small dot of light which had just launched from the passenger liner. She glanced once more towards Nelani.

"Go tell Tionne that they’ve made contact, and then get down to the hold, to help them once we take them aboard."

The girl nodded her head sharply once and then bound out of her seat, rushing from the cockpit to carry out Jaina’s orders.

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Nelani was leaning against the rail, watching as the tractor beam pulled the escape pod into Jade Shadow’s hold. Even after everything that she had done in her short life, all the things that she had seen, first as a rebel on Lorrd, then as a Jedi hopeful, she was still amazed by the technology around her.

She did not understand how people could just so calmly accept, and never really notice, the devices and machines which made their lives so much easier, and so much more interesting.

A dull clang attracted her attention and she turned back to the hold, seeing the escape pod now resting on the floor. She quickly climbed down the ladder as the pod's hatch swung open. She smiled brightly at the two Twi'leks who climbed out. She glanced between them, trying to find distinguishing marks, but was unable to. A shuffle sounded and she glanced back towards the hatch as another person emerged. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise.

He appeared human, with a wry build and a slightly sloped forehead.

She recognized him from Garqi.

She pulled her saber, and its ignition cut through the still air. She raised its pure white blade, allowing it to hover centimeters from the Vong’s throat.

One of the twins stepped closer to the Yuuzhan Vong, pushing him back slightly, trying to impose herself between Nelani and him. "Be still. He is on our side."

Tionne’s voice sounded out from the railing above them. "What is going on here?"

Nelani did not look up; she just kept her gaze locked on the Yuuzhan Vong. "He’s one of them. A Vong. Anakin and I had a chat with him on Garqi."

Lu’ath leaned forward slightly, as if he was trying to get a closer look. After a moment he smiled. "You are the one who showed me to the Jeedai savior - the one who told us to rebel."

Then to Nelani’s surprise, he dropped to his knees. "Forgive me, Master Jeedai, for when we met, I did not realize that you too were a Jeedai."

One of the Twi’leks grabbed his arm, and lifted him up to a standing position. "Don’t go dropping to your knees every time you meet a Jedi.

Lu’ath gave a quick nod of his head to the Twi’lek. "Belek tiu, Num’arar. But the habits of my people are hard to forget."

The other Twi’lek slowly lowered Nelani’s sword arm, and Nelani absently shut off the blade, finally taking her eyes off the Yuuzhan Vong, to glance up at Tionne. When she did so she saw the same confusion and shock on her Master’s face as she herself felt.

Finally, Tionne spoke again, "Num’arar, won’t you introduce us?"

Num’arar gave a short bow. "Of course, Master Tionne, this is Lu’ath Raptoq. A Yuuzhan Vong who has joined us in our efforts at liberating conquered planets. He is in fact, the leader of a widespread insurgency among the Shamed Ones. Lu’ath, this is Jedi Master Tionne Solusar."

Lu’ath bowed at the waist, one hand, hitting against his breast, above his heart. "Ai'tanna Jeedai Tionne khotte Yun'o"

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