Jaina Solo Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
solo_sword) wrote2019-09-18 07:48 am
solo_sword) wrote2019-09-18 07:48 am
Bastion- Wednesday
So, it was done.
It hadn't been a great Council meeting. There'd been arguments, and Jaina had actually managed to keep her temper in check because overall this wasn't her decision to make, she was just the advocate for those whose decision is was.
Which, when she thought about it, wasn't that far off from what the Sword of the Jedi did anyway. Less stabby.
She'd called ahead with the very basics and let Tahiri tell the students, partly because it'd be hard to do it herself and because if this was what the kids really wanted, she didn't want to harsh this for them. Tahiri was the best person for that. And then Jaina made her way back to Bastion in what may or may not now be her stolen StealthX. Ultimately, she'd refused to give up the Jedi title. They were Jedi ships. Therefore, she was keeping her damn ship, come and take it from her.
When she got back to the hangar, she let Rowdy do his post-flight thing and hopped out, seeing Tahiri waiting for her. "Well," Jaina greeted her, "that could have gone better."
Tahiri pushed herself away from the supply crates she'd been leaning against and headed over to greet her.
"So more or less as expected, then?" Honestly, that phrase had covered such a wide range of experiences over the years that it left a lot of room for interpretation.
"Mostly. Harder than I expected," Jaina admitted. "They didn't see it coming at all."
Weird, how the Jedi would pull something terrible and then expect people to get over it.
Tahiri was a little bit surprised at how exasperated her responding sigh was. "Surely one of them, at least, must have suspected there would be blowback?"
That was a fairly sarcastic question, yes.
"Blowback, yes. This bad, no," Jaina said. "I really think they just thought we got through it like they thought we would, and that's what really matters." It'd reminded her a little of that moment where she realized there wouldn't be any bringing Jacen back; this was how it was going to be, it wasn't going to change, things weren't sustainable as they stood now, and she needed to be as done as everyone else was. "So this means no more funding, no more assistance, not that we got it when we needed it and I'm pretty sure we can negotiate something there once things blow over, but we're going to have to start figuring out logistics pretty quick."
"I figured as much, and I've been working on that while you've been gone." Tahiri pulled out a datapad and handed it over to her. "It's nowhere near complete, but it's a decent starting point."
She sighed. "It's all on us now. I knew it was going to be, but anticipating it was one thing. Actually being in that situation is -- I don't know how much you can really prepare for that. I won't lie, it's a little bit scary. But better we know that than pretend otherwise, I suppose."
"That's the difference between us. I got all that out of my system before the meeting," Jaina said, starting to look over the datapad. "I really shouldn't be surprised you did this."
Tahiri grinned at her. "I had to do something to keep myself occupied while you were gone. You know I hate waiting." She was much better at it these days than she had been when she was a teenager, but she'd never be completely over that particular aversion. "We'll need a name, though. Something that makes it clear we aren't the Jedi Order, but that we share the same philosophy."
Mostly, anyway. She couldn't help hoping they'd have the chance to re-examine some things.
"So along those lines, I was thinking we can call ourselves the Imperial Knights?"
Jaina had far more practice in knowing her future than she'd ever have wanted, and she never got used to those moments where it really clicked into place, even without her doing anything.
"Sounds about right," she said, looking up from the datapad. "You're the first- do you feel okay calling yourself an Imperial Knight?"
Especially since Tahiri had had so much trouble spotting herself into one group or another, Jaina wanted her to be comfortable with the name she was adopting.
"It's a mix of two things you wouldn't think should go together, but somehow do, isn't it?" Tahiri gave her a crooked little grin and chuckled. "It might just be perfect for me."
Jaina gave a little nod of approval, since… well, she was right. "I don't see the students having an issue with it. It's just close enough to be familiar while also being… unique to us out here."
"I think it feels right," Tahiri decided. "Not just for me, that is. For us, collectively. Our duty should be to the Empire, but not just for the sake of safeguarding it. Or, well, safeguarding it, but not just in a material way. If we make it clear that one of our foremost duties is to guard against the Emperor falling to the Dark Side, that should go at least some way toward reassuring people."
She looked a little bit sheepish. "I had a lot of thoughts while you were gone. There's a whole section on possible wardrobe options on that datapad, even."
It only just occurred to Jaina that she didn't actually need to take the lead on this. She'd been so worried about doing that when she didn't feel up to it, but she didn't need to. She'd figure out her role, but Tahiri seemed to have already figured out her own.
She found herself relaxing a little more with that realization, too. "Good. Any favorites?"
Tahiri seemed to realize it too; she was smiling and animated, apparently in her element. "I'm not exactly an expert tailor, so there may be some design flaws here, but I really like the idea of some kind of combat armor combined with a Jedi-type cloak. Practical, and there's some visual symbolism at work there, too."
Yeah, she'd really been thinking about this.
"I'm sure Jag would have some thoughts on that, too," Jaina mused. "He designed his own, incorporating beskar to deflect lightsabers."
Ah, memories.
"He is the Emperor," Tahiri said wryly. "If anyone gets a say in this, it really should be him."
"That's the part that's going to freak people out," Jaina noted. There'd be Comments if he had a tiny Jedi army under him as Head of State. As Emperor…
Of course, it figured, Jaina thought. She spent all that time complaining about people complaining about optics and here she was, thinking about it.
"The part where there are a bunch of highly trained Force users who answer to the Emperor?" Tahiri asked, her expression sharp as if she'd thought of this already. "That's why we need to make it clear that there's a bunch of highly trained Force users that the Emperor answers to as well. That part of our job is to make sure that he doesn't succumb to any Dark Side temptations, and to, well, handle it if he does."
Was that a little bit ruthless? Maybe, and it probably wasn't strictly okay by Jedi standards either, but they weren't the Jedi Order any more. Besides, Tahiri had long since accepted the validity of the Yuuzhan Vong part of herself, and the somewhat more pragmatic approach it gave her to a lot of things.
It was a little ruthless, but the Empress here had also had to assassinate her Sith brother who had been running the government. The pragmatic part of her totally got that. On the other hand, Jag wasn't a Force user and she knew her own dark side days were long behind her, but this was going to be about her children, and future generations she already regretted saddling with all of this.
It was probably a good thing she didn't know what had happened to her grandson in one universe.
"Well," Jaina said slowly, "that would also probably keep a lot more people from turning. If you serve the Force instead of any one person, there's a lot more accountability there."
"And that'll be important," Tahiri said, nodding. "Especially for us, I think."
She paused, glanced down at her feet, then looked back up at Jaina. "This is going to affect the twins pretty heavily in the long run," she said slowly. "Are you sure you're okay with them having some of the same experience you did growing up?"
She had faith that Jaina would figure out some way to at least mitigate the worst of it, given her own high-profile, high-pressure childhood, but this felt like something that needed to be said out loud, and not merely assumed.
"Hell, no, but that's been the case since they were born princes," Jaina said with a sigh. She spent a lot of time trying to juggle things to very specifically avoid giving them her childhood when they largely had her childhood. "There's a lot to figure out there. It'll probably be a lot of trial and error."
And a lot of "don't you dare turn to the dark side and have to be killed by your own people."
Would cautionary tales told by their sort-of-aunt from personal experience help there? Because Tahiri could definitely provide those.
"At least you won't be figuring it out on your own," was what she said, though. "You know I'll help however I can."
"I know," Jaina nodded. There were few things she could count on out here: Tahiri was definitely one of them. "One of a lot of things to figure out together now."
[NFB, NFI, ETC. Thanks toweetuskenraider for Imperial Knighting it up for me!]
It hadn't been a great Council meeting. There'd been arguments, and Jaina had actually managed to keep her temper in check because overall this wasn't her decision to make, she was just the advocate for those whose decision is was.
Which, when she thought about it, wasn't that far off from what the Sword of the Jedi did anyway. Less stabby.
She'd called ahead with the very basics and let Tahiri tell the students, partly because it'd be hard to do it herself and because if this was what the kids really wanted, she didn't want to harsh this for them. Tahiri was the best person for that. And then Jaina made her way back to Bastion in what may or may not now be her stolen StealthX. Ultimately, she'd refused to give up the Jedi title. They were Jedi ships. Therefore, she was keeping her damn ship, come and take it from her.
When she got back to the hangar, she let Rowdy do his post-flight thing and hopped out, seeing Tahiri waiting for her. "Well," Jaina greeted her, "that could have gone better."
Tahiri pushed herself away from the supply crates she'd been leaning against and headed over to greet her.
"So more or less as expected, then?" Honestly, that phrase had covered such a wide range of experiences over the years that it left a lot of room for interpretation.
"Mostly. Harder than I expected," Jaina admitted. "They didn't see it coming at all."
Weird, how the Jedi would pull something terrible and then expect people to get over it.
Tahiri was a little bit surprised at how exasperated her responding sigh was. "Surely one of them, at least, must have suspected there would be blowback?"
That was a fairly sarcastic question, yes.
"Blowback, yes. This bad, no," Jaina said. "I really think they just thought we got through it like they thought we would, and that's what really matters." It'd reminded her a little of that moment where she realized there wouldn't be any bringing Jacen back; this was how it was going to be, it wasn't going to change, things weren't sustainable as they stood now, and she needed to be as done as everyone else was. "So this means no more funding, no more assistance, not that we got it when we needed it and I'm pretty sure we can negotiate something there once things blow over, but we're going to have to start figuring out logistics pretty quick."
"I figured as much, and I've been working on that while you've been gone." Tahiri pulled out a datapad and handed it over to her. "It's nowhere near complete, but it's a decent starting point."
She sighed. "It's all on us now. I knew it was going to be, but anticipating it was one thing. Actually being in that situation is -- I don't know how much you can really prepare for that. I won't lie, it's a little bit scary. But better we know that than pretend otherwise, I suppose."
"That's the difference between us. I got all that out of my system before the meeting," Jaina said, starting to look over the datapad. "I really shouldn't be surprised you did this."
Tahiri grinned at her. "I had to do something to keep myself occupied while you were gone. You know I hate waiting." She was much better at it these days than she had been when she was a teenager, but she'd never be completely over that particular aversion. "We'll need a name, though. Something that makes it clear we aren't the Jedi Order, but that we share the same philosophy."
Mostly, anyway. She couldn't help hoping they'd have the chance to re-examine some things.
"So along those lines, I was thinking we can call ourselves the Imperial Knights?"
Jaina had far more practice in knowing her future than she'd ever have wanted, and she never got used to those moments where it really clicked into place, even without her doing anything.
"Sounds about right," she said, looking up from the datapad. "You're the first- do you feel okay calling yourself an Imperial Knight?"
Especially since Tahiri had had so much trouble spotting herself into one group or another, Jaina wanted her to be comfortable with the name she was adopting.
"It's a mix of two things you wouldn't think should go together, but somehow do, isn't it?" Tahiri gave her a crooked little grin and chuckled. "It might just be perfect for me."
Jaina gave a little nod of approval, since… well, she was right. "I don't see the students having an issue with it. It's just close enough to be familiar while also being… unique to us out here."
"I think it feels right," Tahiri decided. "Not just for me, that is. For us, collectively. Our duty should be to the Empire, but not just for the sake of safeguarding it. Or, well, safeguarding it, but not just in a material way. If we make it clear that one of our foremost duties is to guard against the Emperor falling to the Dark Side, that should go at least some way toward reassuring people."
She looked a little bit sheepish. "I had a lot of thoughts while you were gone. There's a whole section on possible wardrobe options on that datapad, even."
It only just occurred to Jaina that she didn't actually need to take the lead on this. She'd been so worried about doing that when she didn't feel up to it, but she didn't need to. She'd figure out her role, but Tahiri seemed to have already figured out her own.
She found herself relaxing a little more with that realization, too. "Good. Any favorites?"
Tahiri seemed to realize it too; she was smiling and animated, apparently in her element. "I'm not exactly an expert tailor, so there may be some design flaws here, but I really like the idea of some kind of combat armor combined with a Jedi-type cloak. Practical, and there's some visual symbolism at work there, too."
Yeah, she'd really been thinking about this.
"I'm sure Jag would have some thoughts on that, too," Jaina mused. "He designed his own, incorporating beskar to deflect lightsabers."
Ah, memories.
"He is the Emperor," Tahiri said wryly. "If anyone gets a say in this, it really should be him."
"That's the part that's going to freak people out," Jaina noted. There'd be Comments if he had a tiny Jedi army under him as Head of State. As Emperor…
Of course, it figured, Jaina thought. She spent all that time complaining about people complaining about optics and here she was, thinking about it.
"The part where there are a bunch of highly trained Force users who answer to the Emperor?" Tahiri asked, her expression sharp as if she'd thought of this already. "That's why we need to make it clear that there's a bunch of highly trained Force users that the Emperor answers to as well. That part of our job is to make sure that he doesn't succumb to any Dark Side temptations, and to, well, handle it if he does."
Was that a little bit ruthless? Maybe, and it probably wasn't strictly okay by Jedi standards either, but they weren't the Jedi Order any more. Besides, Tahiri had long since accepted the validity of the Yuuzhan Vong part of herself, and the somewhat more pragmatic approach it gave her to a lot of things.
It was a little ruthless, but the Empress here had also had to assassinate her Sith brother who had been running the government. The pragmatic part of her totally got that. On the other hand, Jag wasn't a Force user and she knew her own dark side days were long behind her, but this was going to be about her children, and future generations she already regretted saddling with all of this.
It was probably a good thing she didn't know what had happened to her grandson in one universe.
"Well," Jaina said slowly, "that would also probably keep a lot more people from turning. If you serve the Force instead of any one person, there's a lot more accountability there."
"And that'll be important," Tahiri said, nodding. "Especially for us, I think."
She paused, glanced down at her feet, then looked back up at Jaina. "This is going to affect the twins pretty heavily in the long run," she said slowly. "Are you sure you're okay with them having some of the same experience you did growing up?"
She had faith that Jaina would figure out some way to at least mitigate the worst of it, given her own high-profile, high-pressure childhood, but this felt like something that needed to be said out loud, and not merely assumed.
"Hell, no, but that's been the case since they were born princes," Jaina said with a sigh. She spent a lot of time trying to juggle things to very specifically avoid giving them her childhood when they largely had her childhood. "There's a lot to figure out there. It'll probably be a lot of trial and error."
And a lot of "don't you dare turn to the dark side and have to be killed by your own people."
Would cautionary tales told by their sort-of-aunt from personal experience help there? Because Tahiri could definitely provide those.
"At least you won't be figuring it out on your own," was what she said, though. "You know I'll help however I can."
"I know," Jaina nodded. There were few things she could count on out here: Tahiri was definitely one of them. "One of a lot of things to figure out together now."
[NFB, NFI, ETC. Thanks to
weetuskenraider for Imperial Knighting it up for me!]