Jaina Solo Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
solo_sword) wrote2012-05-23 08:41 am
solo_sword) wrote2012-05-23 08:41 am
Coruscant- Wednesday Fandom time
It was strange being back at GA Starfighter Command, seeing as how the last time Jaina had been here, it'd been in uniform. Now she was just a civilian again, and it stung worse than she wanted to admit. But when Mara asked for her help in finding a pattern to Lumiya's movements, she couldn't exactly say no. Jaina knew how to work this kind of equipment before, but the last few weeks of working on the Alema strike team had made her really proficient. She was also learning something about patience with it, though Mara seemed to think it'd be easier to track one person in a very large universe. "You know, this always works on the crime holovids..."
"Might as well use the time efficiently," Jaina said, tapping in some more coordinates. "So let's add in Alema's last known whereabouts..."
"Well, there's no pattern there, either," Mara said, looking at the new display when it came up. "Do you think it's a case of Alema stalking Lumiya, looking for scraps from her table? Why do those two seem to hang out together?"
"They both need a lot of spare parts?"
Mara almost laughed. "That's not nice, Jaina."
Lumiya was half-cyborg by now, and Alema was missing a few pieces these days thanks to Leia. Jaina wasn't sure her flippant theory wasn't at least a little credible. "Seriously. They haven't got enough functioning parts to make one decent humanoid out of them."
"They're both good at hiding, whether by disguising their presence or erasing the memory of being seen," Mara went on. "Lumiya's broken her cover, and she's not stupid, so she wants to be seen."
This line of conversation brought to mind the one person that kept weighing on it these days. "Did you go to see Jacen?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"You want the truth, Jaina?"
That was never good. "Don't I always?"
"Lumiya's bending him somehow," Mara said, and immediately added, "Okay, no need to tell me I was the last person to notice this."
"I wasn't going to," said Jaina, but she was relieved to hear Mara say that. If she really had that truth in her head and hadn't gotten herself killed, maybe that part had been avoided. "Did you... mention that?"
"Yes. I thought it was time someone dropped a hint that we'd noticed our Jacen had turned into a monster." And while that phrasing made Jaina's stomach twist, she didn't expect what came next. "Forgive me for asking, but being his twin, have you never had this out with him?"
...Well now. Jaina blinkded at her. "I've tried. Since I first got wind that anything was up. It ended with a court-martial charge, remember?"
"I can't help thinking that you might have tried slugging him."
"Wait, suddenly he's my responsibility?" she demanded. "I'm the one who said he was going dark, way back."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Mara said, holding her hands up, but it was clear she wasn't sorry at all. She was mad about the whole situation, and for whatever reason, she'd decided to take it out on Jaina. "I just- Okay, none of my business."
"Spit it out, Mara."
"I just don't get how you can be so caught up in worrying whether you want Jag or Zekk when your own brother's going to pieces and taking others with him."
Jaina's jaw dropped. She'd had her fair share of insults thrown at her in her lifetime, but that was a doozy. "Whoa..."
"Sorry. I said it was none of my business."
"No, it's not," she said, more hurt than angry, which was a sign of how hard that had hit. "In fact, I've told them both to cut it out, because at this point, I don't have any other priorities. But you know what? I wish I could be distracted by personal issues, because I'm going nuts trying to understand why Jacen's doing what he's doing."
It was hard to tell whether any of that had registered. Mara only said, "Maybe it's time we all faced that. Together."
Jaina didn't answer, and went back to her work. With her head down, her face was hidden behind her hair, which was the way she wanted it. She had no idea what her expression would have said. It was so easy for Mara to say that. She hadn't spent half her life waiting for what was happening now, wanting to change it and completely failing at it. Mara had been the one insisting Ben was fine with Jacen even while everyone else was noticing the red flags. Jaina meant it, too; she wished she could be more worried about boys right now. There was a reason she'd ended things with Eric before this got started, and her reasons hadn't changed since then. And with Zekk and Jag fighting, she was too bothered and annoyed to tell two of the people who would most understand where she was coming from half of what she was thinking. And while she was all too happy to shut up and not talk about things, she knew how much she was isolating herself now.
And it sucked.
Mara didn't try to make amends, and Jaina would have ignored her if she had. The fight was momentarily forgotten anyhow when Luke stepped out of the turbolift with a bag in hand. "Change of plans," he said. "I'm going after Lumiya. Enough."
"No, you're not," Mara told him, speaking like this was part of an ongoing conversation Jaina hadn't been privy to the first half of. "You're too close to this. She's baiting you."
Luke dumped the bag on the desk, disrupting the holochart. He looked a little scary at the moment, which was explained somewhat when he gestured to the bag and explained, "Ben's boots."
"And the point is...?"
"Deposited at our apartment by Lumiya."
And that got Mara mad. Between her and Luke, it wasn't a fun thing to feel, and when Jaina Solo wanted to take a step back from your anger, that was saying something. "She's been into GAG HQ," Mara said, placing her hand on the boots. "Or Jacen's apartment. I don't know which idea I like less."
"I need to settle this with her," Luke said.
Jaina got the feeling this was not a discussion she should be seeing, but she didn't want to leave, either. "Uncle Luke, I'll stick my nose in here and say it's better if we go after Lumiya now, because she's clearly playing a game, and... I've never seen you angry like this before."
"Luke, the question to ask yourself is this," said Mara, pulling on her jacket. "What will you do when you catch her?"
"I know what I have to do," he said.
"And what was that conversation we had the other day, about being fit for the role? Me trained killer, you honest guardian of right?" she countered. "Here's the plan. You keep an eye on Jacen while I go after her."
"I'm coming, too," Jaina said without even thinking. She didn't want Mara going after Lumiya. She just didn't. She was mad at her, but that didn't mean she wanted to chance anything. Besides, considering her mission, she'd sure Jag would tell her to go along anyway. "I'd hate to miss Alema if she shows up."
Luke paused, calming a bit. "I know you're right. It doesn't feel right, but I know I shouldn't be going after her bent on vengeance, and I don't know what it's going to take to make me kill her. And nothing short of that makes sense now."
Mara hit the comm to hangar ground crew. "Stand by an X-wing, please," she said, and pulled on her gloves. "I'm going back, starting from the apartment, and tracking her from there. She wants to leave a nice trail? She's found just the right person to follow it."
"I should have gone straight after her, and then you wouldn't have talked me out of this," Luke replied.
"Jaina's dead right. You have too much history with Lumiya, and you're too stoked up. You have to kill cold."
"I hate it when you're right," he said, but managed a smile he probably didn't mean.
"There you go. We're off now. Keep tabs on Jacen. Go and have a concerned avuncular chat with him over caf if you have to. But be around in case that's where your ex is heading." Mara patted Luke's cheek and winked. "I might be going gray, farmboy, and I don't have her dramatic dress sense, but at least what I've got is all flesh and blood."
Mara and Jaina didn't say much on the way, partly because nerves were still rattled from before and partly because Mara was focusing on tracking Lumiya's Force sense. It led them to a completely unhelpful speeder park, leaving Mara muttering, "I didn't get stupid overnight. Don't insult me, tin-can."
"And what were you saying about Luke being too close to this?" Jaina said. "Deep breaths, Aunt Mara. Deep breaths."
"I'm psyching up. I find it helps. You use the Force your way, and I'll use it mine."
"Wow, am I calming you down now? That's a headline to save for the grandchildren."
Mara paced a ten-meter square of the area while Jaina watched. "She's taken off from here," Mara finally decided.
"Has she led us here to divert us from somewhere else on Coruscant?" Jaina asked. It was possible Lumiya was trying to make it look like she'd left so that she could hide right under their noses.
"She's got a narrow range of targets, Jaina. Ben or Jacen- or even Han and Leia, if she's teamed up with Alema. Your parents aren't on Coruscant, and if she's after Jacen, she must have had her chance to take him when she got into GAG HQ to grab Ben's boots," she said, squatting down to touch the permacrete. "If she's after Luke, she's passed up two chances now."
"So it's Ben."
"Ben's... away. He's not on Coruscant."
Jaina frowned at Mara, trying to figure that out. Especially since she didn't think Luke knew his son's whereabouts, then. She thought her parents had been bad about that.
"GAG business," Mara explained, seeing the frown. She stood. "Okay, if she wants me to follow her, I'll follow."
"Let's call in Zekk and Jag," Jaina said, "because I'm betting Alema's in town again, and-"
"No offense, Jaina, but I think it's me she wants. You go find Bug Girl."
That was the last thing Jaina wanted to do. She honestly didn't know if she was being paranoid or if she genuinely had a bad feeling about this, which was probably a big sign that she was overthinking things. What it came down to now was whether or not she could actually win this argument without wasting more time. And... she couldn't. "Okay," she said finally.
"It's just an old dark side feud," Mara told her. "Let's not allow her to divert both of us."
And with that, Mara headed to the X-wing she'd asked for earlier, and hopped inside. Jaina stood and watched as she took off, heading for Force knew where.
It was the last time she ever saw Mara.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Dialogue from Sacrifice by Karen Traviss, except for where I had to make things not stupid. It's really hard to with this book. Seriously, the logic is not logical. ]
"Might as well use the time efficiently," Jaina said, tapping in some more coordinates. "So let's add in Alema's last known whereabouts..."
"Well, there's no pattern there, either," Mara said, looking at the new display when it came up. "Do you think it's a case of Alema stalking Lumiya, looking for scraps from her table? Why do those two seem to hang out together?"
"They both need a lot of spare parts?"
Mara almost laughed. "That's not nice, Jaina."
Lumiya was half-cyborg by now, and Alema was missing a few pieces these days thanks to Leia. Jaina wasn't sure her flippant theory wasn't at least a little credible. "Seriously. They haven't got enough functioning parts to make one decent humanoid out of them."
"They're both good at hiding, whether by disguising their presence or erasing the memory of being seen," Mara went on. "Lumiya's broken her cover, and she's not stupid, so she wants to be seen."
This line of conversation brought to mind the one person that kept weighing on it these days. "Did you go to see Jacen?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"You want the truth, Jaina?"
That was never good. "Don't I always?"
"Lumiya's bending him somehow," Mara said, and immediately added, "Okay, no need to tell me I was the last person to notice this."
"I wasn't going to," said Jaina, but she was relieved to hear Mara say that. If she really had that truth in her head and hadn't gotten herself killed, maybe that part had been avoided. "Did you... mention that?"
"Yes. I thought it was time someone dropped a hint that we'd noticed our Jacen had turned into a monster." And while that phrasing made Jaina's stomach twist, she didn't expect what came next. "Forgive me for asking, but being his twin, have you never had this out with him?"
...Well now. Jaina blinkded at her. "I've tried. Since I first got wind that anything was up. It ended with a court-martial charge, remember?"
"I can't help thinking that you might have tried slugging him."
"Wait, suddenly he's my responsibility?" she demanded. "I'm the one who said he was going dark, way back."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Mara said, holding her hands up, but it was clear she wasn't sorry at all. She was mad about the whole situation, and for whatever reason, she'd decided to take it out on Jaina. "I just- Okay, none of my business."
"Spit it out, Mara."
"I just don't get how you can be so caught up in worrying whether you want Jag or Zekk when your own brother's going to pieces and taking others with him."
Jaina's jaw dropped. She'd had her fair share of insults thrown at her in her lifetime, but that was a doozy. "Whoa..."
"Sorry. I said it was none of my business."
"No, it's not," she said, more hurt than angry, which was a sign of how hard that had hit. "In fact, I've told them both to cut it out, because at this point, I don't have any other priorities. But you know what? I wish I could be distracted by personal issues, because I'm going nuts trying to understand why Jacen's doing what he's doing."
It was hard to tell whether any of that had registered. Mara only said, "Maybe it's time we all faced that. Together."
Jaina didn't answer, and went back to her work. With her head down, her face was hidden behind her hair, which was the way she wanted it. She had no idea what her expression would have said. It was so easy for Mara to say that. She hadn't spent half her life waiting for what was happening now, wanting to change it and completely failing at it. Mara had been the one insisting Ben was fine with Jacen even while everyone else was noticing the red flags. Jaina meant it, too; she wished she could be more worried about boys right now. There was a reason she'd ended things with Eric before this got started, and her reasons hadn't changed since then. And with Zekk and Jag fighting, she was too bothered and annoyed to tell two of the people who would most understand where she was coming from half of what she was thinking. And while she was all too happy to shut up and not talk about things, she knew how much she was isolating herself now.
And it sucked.
Mara didn't try to make amends, and Jaina would have ignored her if she had. The fight was momentarily forgotten anyhow when Luke stepped out of the turbolift with a bag in hand. "Change of plans," he said. "I'm going after Lumiya. Enough."
"No, you're not," Mara told him, speaking like this was part of an ongoing conversation Jaina hadn't been privy to the first half of. "You're too close to this. She's baiting you."
Luke dumped the bag on the desk, disrupting the holochart. He looked a little scary at the moment, which was explained somewhat when he gestured to the bag and explained, "Ben's boots."
"And the point is...?"
"Deposited at our apartment by Lumiya."
And that got Mara mad. Between her and Luke, it wasn't a fun thing to feel, and when Jaina Solo wanted to take a step back from your anger, that was saying something. "She's been into GAG HQ," Mara said, placing her hand on the boots. "Or Jacen's apartment. I don't know which idea I like less."
"I need to settle this with her," Luke said.
Jaina got the feeling this was not a discussion she should be seeing, but she didn't want to leave, either. "Uncle Luke, I'll stick my nose in here and say it's better if we go after Lumiya now, because she's clearly playing a game, and... I've never seen you angry like this before."
"Luke, the question to ask yourself is this," said Mara, pulling on her jacket. "What will you do when you catch her?"
"I know what I have to do," he said.
"And what was that conversation we had the other day, about being fit for the role? Me trained killer, you honest guardian of right?" she countered. "Here's the plan. You keep an eye on Jacen while I go after her."
"I'm coming, too," Jaina said without even thinking. She didn't want Mara going after Lumiya. She just didn't. She was mad at her, but that didn't mean she wanted to chance anything. Besides, considering her mission, she'd sure Jag would tell her to go along anyway. "I'd hate to miss Alema if she shows up."
Luke paused, calming a bit. "I know you're right. It doesn't feel right, but I know I shouldn't be going after her bent on vengeance, and I don't know what it's going to take to make me kill her. And nothing short of that makes sense now."
Mara hit the comm to hangar ground crew. "Stand by an X-wing, please," she said, and pulled on her gloves. "I'm going back, starting from the apartment, and tracking her from there. She wants to leave a nice trail? She's found just the right person to follow it."
"I should have gone straight after her, and then you wouldn't have talked me out of this," Luke replied.
"Jaina's dead right. You have too much history with Lumiya, and you're too stoked up. You have to kill cold."
"I hate it when you're right," he said, but managed a smile he probably didn't mean.
"There you go. We're off now. Keep tabs on Jacen. Go and have a concerned avuncular chat with him over caf if you have to. But be around in case that's where your ex is heading." Mara patted Luke's cheek and winked. "I might be going gray, farmboy, and I don't have her dramatic dress sense, but at least what I've got is all flesh and blood."
Mara and Jaina didn't say much on the way, partly because nerves were still rattled from before and partly because Mara was focusing on tracking Lumiya's Force sense. It led them to a completely unhelpful speeder park, leaving Mara muttering, "I didn't get stupid overnight. Don't insult me, tin-can."
"And what were you saying about Luke being too close to this?" Jaina said. "Deep breaths, Aunt Mara. Deep breaths."
"I'm psyching up. I find it helps. You use the Force your way, and I'll use it mine."
"Wow, am I calming you down now? That's a headline to save for the grandchildren."
Mara paced a ten-meter square of the area while Jaina watched. "She's taken off from here," Mara finally decided.
"Has she led us here to divert us from somewhere else on Coruscant?" Jaina asked. It was possible Lumiya was trying to make it look like she'd left so that she could hide right under their noses.
"She's got a narrow range of targets, Jaina. Ben or Jacen- or even Han and Leia, if she's teamed up with Alema. Your parents aren't on Coruscant, and if she's after Jacen, she must have had her chance to take him when she got into GAG HQ to grab Ben's boots," she said, squatting down to touch the permacrete. "If she's after Luke, she's passed up two chances now."
"So it's Ben."
"Ben's... away. He's not on Coruscant."
Jaina frowned at Mara, trying to figure that out. Especially since she didn't think Luke knew his son's whereabouts, then. She thought her parents had been bad about that.
"GAG business," Mara explained, seeing the frown. She stood. "Okay, if she wants me to follow her, I'll follow."
"Let's call in Zekk and Jag," Jaina said, "because I'm betting Alema's in town again, and-"
"No offense, Jaina, but I think it's me she wants. You go find Bug Girl."
That was the last thing Jaina wanted to do. She honestly didn't know if she was being paranoid or if she genuinely had a bad feeling about this, which was probably a big sign that she was overthinking things. What it came down to now was whether or not she could actually win this argument without wasting more time. And... she couldn't. "Okay," she said finally.
"It's just an old dark side feud," Mara told her. "Let's not allow her to divert both of us."
And with that, Mara headed to the X-wing she'd asked for earlier, and hopped inside. Jaina stood and watched as she took off, heading for Force knew where.
It was the last time she ever saw Mara.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Dialogue from Sacrifice by Karen Traviss, except for where I had to make things not stupid. It's really hard to with this book. Seriously, the logic is not logical. ]