Jaina Solo Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
solo_sword) wrote2019-07-07 04:38 pm
solo_sword) wrote2019-07-07 04:38 pm
The Fountain Palace- Hapes- Sunday
Jaina's visits to Hapes tended to be unofficial. She'd mostly gotten used to political life, which meant that she'd learned how to get around it. She had family on Hapes, but she was Empress and therefore people would try to make it into a thing when they knew she was coming, which also made things a little weird given the Empire under Jag and Hapes under Tenel aka weren't always on the best of terms.
But she had a niece to see and a friend she was still repairing a relationship with, so on the way back from a mission with Bhixen, Jaina decided to show up with little warning for a day or two. As long as Tenel Ka was fine with it and they could keep things under the radar (translation: "not annoying") that was what was important.
If her presence had been announced, things probably would have gone very differently.
At the time, she was in one of the training rooms at the palace, watching Bhixen try to show Allana the basics with a practice lightsaber‍. It was hard to get through his own arrogance a lot of the time, and this could have gone badly, with him becoming irritated at a twelve-year-old for not being up to what he thought her level should be. Instead he seemed to take it as a challenge, making sure she had her grips and swings correct before anything else. He got to show off by showing her what to do. That was something to remember, Jaina decided.
"You're picking this up quickly," Bhixen told her, bringing his saber in for a block against her thrust.
"I am," Allana said matter-of-factly. It didn't sound like bravada, she just knew when she did something well. "When do I get a real one?"
"When your mother won't kill me for it," Jaina said from where she was watching.
"I'm almost the same age she was when she got one," Allana said, brow furrowing in concentration. Arguing and fighting took some focus.
Jaina wasn't going to point out that that particular experience hadn't gone well. It had less to do with Tenel Ka, who'd lost her arm in practice, and more to do with the fact that that time involved Allana's father, who she still wouldn't talk about willingly. Jaina had made it clear that whenever she was ready, Allana could come to her with any questions she had about Jacen from the person who'd known him best- mostly- but she hadn't taken her up on that. So Jaina left her alone, content to let the girl come to that point in her own time.
If she ever did. Conversations like "let me tell you why you don't rush your lightsaber build" might bring that up sooner than she wanted.
Before she could come up with an answer to that, she felt that tingling at the back of her neck, and dropped the whole conversation. "Shut it down," she ordered, and they both disengaged the practice sabers, Bhixen unclipping his real one from his belt.
"What is it?" he asked, frowning.
She knew who it was. She'd done this before. "Remember last time we tangled with some Sith, all the things I yelled at you about?"
Bhixen grimaced, but nodded.
"Prove you learned something," she said.
"Sith? In here?" Allana asked. She didn't look scared, though Jaina knew she was. Everything about Allana's current situation had to do with the Lost Tribe knowing who she was and wanting to prevent a prophecy about her from coming to pass; they were here for her.
"It'll be fine. I do this professionally," Jaina assured her, and looked to her apprentice. "I'm going to get her out. Offplanet if I have to. I want you to link up with Zekk. Tenel Ka will have her people around, I'm not sure how equipped they are to deal with Sith, but Zekk can handle it."
"They're better equipped than you'd think," Allana interjected, which was not surprising, and also reassuring.
"You don't want help with the princess?" Bhixen asked. He might've looked a little hopeful that he might get to help there.
"We can get by undetected, I haven't shown you that yet," Jaina told him. "Get there, throw them off our trail if you can. We'll be in touch when it's safe. Be careful, be smart."
He nodded and took off running towards the door, and Jaina turned to Allana. "You remember how to mask your Force presence?"
Allana nodded, even if she didn't look particularly happy about it. Maybe it was the situation, maybe because this was a Jacen-taught skill, but a moment later she blinked out of the Force, and Jaina hoped that didn't worry Tenel Ka too much.
The last time Jaina had been under siege by the Lost Tribe, she'd been with two Masters and almost died after a full day of fighting, and it was hard not to think about that right now.
But this time, she was the Master, and she had a kid to protect, so she was pretty sure she had this.
"You know the way out?" Jaina asked.
Allana nodded. "You'll have to do the fighting, though. You have the lightsaber."
"Great. Then we each have our job."
Allana was quick, not running, but she understood the urgency of the situation. They were almost silent as they made their way through eerily-quiet halls, even while Jaina felt that pressure of danger building in the back of her head. She didn't speak until Allana had led them through to a hidden door that led into tunnels underneath the palace, almost definitely built for this exact purpose. Palpatine had built them into the palace on Coruscant, they definitely had some built into the one on Bastion, of course they would have them here. Hapes might not have a lot of Sith attacks, but they were no stranger to assassination attempts.
"Maybe we will have to work on that once this is over," Jaina murmured once she figured they'd gotten far enough. "Not sure how much it'll help with that Jedi Queen phobia."
"I don't think I care," Allana murmured back, lifting her chin in a way that Jaina had seen Leia do countless times when challenged. It was a habit she had herself, actually. "They don't want a Jedi queen, too bad. I'm what they get. They might as well get used to it."
"And this is why this is only the beginning of your problems," Jaina said, smiling regardless.
Allana paused, and said, "They're going to find us down here, aren't they?"
"Yeah." There was no use in lying. Allana had a danger sense, too, and she was too smart to lie to about something like that. "It'll be okay."
"Well," she said slowly, "at least if I get to see you fight I can finally see what Jag brags about."
Jaina frowned at her. "Jag brags about me?"
"A lot."
It was really nice to hear that even now, but she still said, "Ugh. Now there's pressure."
Though when the first small group of Sith did find them an annoyingly short time into making their way towards wherever the exit was, Jaina was ready for them. She dispatched them fairly easily, even catching one's Force lightning with her hand and redirecting it, which was something she hadn't realized she could do. Otherwise it felt like fairly routine fighting of bad guys.
"Did that live up to the bragging?" Jaina wondered, waving Allana on to keep going.
"It was good. I'd rather not see it with a bigger group of them," Allana answered.
The next time would be harder, with a bigger group.
The time after that would be the last obstacle to saving a princess today.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay if you're into that sort of thing. Apparently I'm finally doing this thing.]
But she had a niece to see and a friend she was still repairing a relationship with, so on the way back from a mission with Bhixen, Jaina decided to show up with little warning for a day or two. As long as Tenel Ka was fine with it and they could keep things under the radar (translation: "not annoying") that was what was important.
If her presence had been announced, things probably would have gone very differently.
At the time, she was in one of the training rooms at the palace, watching Bhixen try to show Allana the basics with a practice lightsaber‍. It was hard to get through his own arrogance a lot of the time, and this could have gone badly, with him becoming irritated at a twelve-year-old for not being up to what he thought her level should be. Instead he seemed to take it as a challenge, making sure she had her grips and swings correct before anything else. He got to show off by showing her what to do. That was something to remember, Jaina decided.
"You're picking this up quickly," Bhixen told her, bringing his saber in for a block against her thrust.
"I am," Allana said matter-of-factly. It didn't sound like bravada, she just knew when she did something well. "When do I get a real one?"
"When your mother won't kill me for it," Jaina said from where she was watching.
"I'm almost the same age she was when she got one," Allana said, brow furrowing in concentration. Arguing and fighting took some focus.
Jaina wasn't going to point out that that particular experience hadn't gone well. It had less to do with Tenel Ka, who'd lost her arm in practice, and more to do with the fact that that time involved Allana's father, who she still wouldn't talk about willingly. Jaina had made it clear that whenever she was ready, Allana could come to her with any questions she had about Jacen from the person who'd known him best- mostly- but she hadn't taken her up on that. So Jaina left her alone, content to let the girl come to that point in her own time.
If she ever did. Conversations like "let me tell you why you don't rush your lightsaber build" might bring that up sooner than she wanted.
Before she could come up with an answer to that, she felt that tingling at the back of her neck, and dropped the whole conversation. "Shut it down," she ordered, and they both disengaged the practice sabers, Bhixen unclipping his real one from his belt.
"What is it?" he asked, frowning.
She knew who it was. She'd done this before. "Remember last time we tangled with some Sith, all the things I yelled at you about?"
Bhixen grimaced, but nodded.
"Prove you learned something," she said.
"Sith? In here?" Allana asked. She didn't look scared, though Jaina knew she was. Everything about Allana's current situation had to do with the Lost Tribe knowing who she was and wanting to prevent a prophecy about her from coming to pass; they were here for her.
"It'll be fine. I do this professionally," Jaina assured her, and looked to her apprentice. "I'm going to get her out. Offplanet if I have to. I want you to link up with Zekk. Tenel Ka will have her people around, I'm not sure how equipped they are to deal with Sith, but Zekk can handle it."
"They're better equipped than you'd think," Allana interjected, which was not surprising, and also reassuring.
"You don't want help with the princess?" Bhixen asked. He might've looked a little hopeful that he might get to help there.
"We can get by undetected, I haven't shown you that yet," Jaina told him. "Get there, throw them off our trail if you can. We'll be in touch when it's safe. Be careful, be smart."
He nodded and took off running towards the door, and Jaina turned to Allana. "You remember how to mask your Force presence?"
Allana nodded, even if she didn't look particularly happy about it. Maybe it was the situation, maybe because this was a Jacen-taught skill, but a moment later she blinked out of the Force, and Jaina hoped that didn't worry Tenel Ka too much.
The last time Jaina had been under siege by the Lost Tribe, she'd been with two Masters and almost died after a full day of fighting, and it was hard not to think about that right now.
But this time, she was the Master, and she had a kid to protect, so she was pretty sure she had this.
"You know the way out?" Jaina asked.
Allana nodded. "You'll have to do the fighting, though. You have the lightsaber."
"Great. Then we each have our job."
Allana was quick, not running, but she understood the urgency of the situation. They were almost silent as they made their way through eerily-quiet halls, even while Jaina felt that pressure of danger building in the back of her head. She didn't speak until Allana had led them through to a hidden door that led into tunnels underneath the palace, almost definitely built for this exact purpose. Palpatine had built them into the palace on Coruscant, they definitely had some built into the one on Bastion, of course they would have them here. Hapes might not have a lot of Sith attacks, but they were no stranger to assassination attempts.
"Maybe we will have to work on that once this is over," Jaina murmured once she figured they'd gotten far enough. "Not sure how much it'll help with that Jedi Queen phobia."
"I don't think I care," Allana murmured back, lifting her chin in a way that Jaina had seen Leia do countless times when challenged. It was a habit she had herself, actually. "They don't want a Jedi queen, too bad. I'm what they get. They might as well get used to it."
"And this is why this is only the beginning of your problems," Jaina said, smiling regardless.
Allana paused, and said, "They're going to find us down here, aren't they?"
"Yeah." There was no use in lying. Allana had a danger sense, too, and she was too smart to lie to about something like that. "It'll be okay."
"Well," she said slowly, "at least if I get to see you fight I can finally see what Jag brags about."
Jaina frowned at her. "Jag brags about me?"
"A lot."
It was really nice to hear that even now, but she still said, "Ugh. Now there's pressure."
Though when the first small group of Sith did find them an annoyingly short time into making their way towards wherever the exit was, Jaina was ready for them. She dispatched them fairly easily, even catching one's Force lightning with her hand and redirecting it, which was something she hadn't realized she could do. Otherwise it felt like fairly routine fighting of bad guys.
"Did that live up to the bragging?" Jaina wondered, waving Allana on to keep going.
"It was good. I'd rather not see it with a bigger group of them," Allana answered.
The next time would be harder, with a bigger group.
The time after that would be the last obstacle to saving a princess today.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay if you're into that sort of thing. Apparently I'm finally doing this thing.]