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When the escape got hairier, it was surprisingly Tenel Ka who suggested that Jaina took over piloting the ship. Zekk, however, was putting up a fight. She ignored him, giving Ganner a quick crash course in how to fire so he could take over for her, and then got to her feet, saying, "Tenel Ka's right. Let me have her, Zekk."

He shook his head and said, "Forget it. You're in no condition for this."

She'd spent days trapped in a real life nightmare, she was filthy and bruised and there was still blood over one eye from where she'd cut her head open, and she took offense at that. Hands on her hips, she said, "Yeah? Everyone here could use a few days in a bacta tank, you included."

"That's not what I mean. No one could be expected to fly after losing... after what happened down there."

Jaina didn't know why it didn't occur to her immediately. No, that was untrue. She hadn't expected that one of her best friends since she was nine years old didn't trust her because no one would expect that. Fine. She could give him a reason not to trust her if he wanted it.

Calling on that newfound dark power she knew came far too easily, she sent the mental image Zekk's way so he would know exactly what she meant. "Get out of the seat, Zekk," she said coldly. "I don't want to fry the controls."

It took him a moment to get up, ripping off the cognition hood. He was disappointed in her, to say the least, and Jaina didn't care right now. She'd done worse things already, and she was honestly the best one to get them out of this.

She began issuing orders, making sure Ganner knew where to shoot and setting Lowbacca up on navigation since the ship's "brain" still confused her to no end, and nixing any argument about whether or not they should be heading to Coruscant. It wasn't till they entered hyperspace that any of them seemed to relax at all, and even then it wasn't much. They'd somehow managed to get away from Myrkr and the worldship, but it didn't feel like a victory, and even those that had survived weren't in the best shape. Jaina included herself in that thought, but didn't dwell on it.

When the others had cleared off the bridge for time alone, Zekk sat in the gunner's seat. "For a while, I thought we'd never see home again," he said, with a little wink and halfhearted grin. "Should have known better."

While Jaina accepted his unspoken apology, she felt they had to get a few things straight. She also wasn't issuing any apologies of her own. "Let's get this over with now, so we aren't tempted to break into discussion groups during the next crisis. You didn't want me to fly the ship because you don't trust me."

Zekk, stared at her, a little stunned by the bluntness. "Same old Jaina- subtle as a thermal detonator."

"If you really believed that I haven't changed, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Then let's not. This isn't the time."

"You're right. We should have settled this days ago- all of us. Maybe then we wouldn't have come apart down there."

"What do you mean?" There was definitely a note of caution to his voice.

"Oh, come on," said Jaina. "You were there. You heard Jacen obsessing over Anakin's motives and methods, trying to make him question himself at every step and turn. You saw what happens when Jedi stop focusing on what we're doing to quibble about how and why. It's like that old story about the millitile who could walk just fine until someone asked how he kept track of all those legs. Once he started thinking about it, he couldn't walk at all. Most likely he ended up as some hawk-bat's dinner."

Zekk looked at her incredulously. "Jaina, you can't blame Jacen for what happened to Anakin!"

"I don't," she said. Which wasn't true. And because it was Zekk, and he had been one of her best friends since she was a child, she added, "At least, not entirely."

"And you can't blame yourself for Jacen, either."

She didn't even dignify that with an answer. She didn't think she'd ever truly be able to deny it anyway.

*****

Jaina was plotting. Ideas had been forming in her head since they stole the Ksstarr, watching how the Vong reacted to it, to their other ships, and niggling little thoughts were unfolding into potential experiments. She was back at work. Their initial mission was technically over and she was creating the next, which was finding Jacen and hurting the Vong while they were at it.

After conferring with Lowbacca, she headed to the cockpit with the found villip and told Zekk, "I need your seat."

He stood without question, probably remembering that the last time she'd wanted his seat she'd just yanked the cognition hood from his head and taken it. But that was different. That was when they'd had to flee the newly-Vong-taken Coruscant- and wasn't that just the cap to the day- and she'd decided she could get them out alive. She'd had to do it then. Now she was playing.

She stroked the villip, and Zekk asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea? Can you talk and fly at the same time?"

With the helmet over her head, he couldn't see her expression, but her derisive sniff said it all.

"We don't know who will answer."

"True," Jaina conceded, "but chances are that'll be something worth knowing. The more we can learn about this ship, the better our chances for survival."

The outer layer of the villip peeled back, the tissue reforming itself into an image of the Yuuzhan Vong she was speaking to. She recognized the face. That was Tsavong Lah, the warmaster Jacen had made an enemy of on Duro, the one that had called for the heads of all the Jedi. Oh, this was gonna be fun.

"The sacrifice has been completed?" he demanded.

Jaina smiled back at him. "Not yet."

"You were to contact me when your duty was complete, Nom Anor, and not before. Pray you are not contacting me to report another failure."

She turned to the others with an excited smile. "Oh, this is too good. This is Nom Anor's ship! The villip must not be attuned to him, though, or you'd think Tsavong Lah would notice the difference."

"I don't know, Jaina," Ganner said. "You've definitely looked better."

"And you still look like a holovid hero. Where's the justice in that?" she teased.

She told them what Lowie had told her, what they thought the villip did, exactly, and she hadn't even finished explaining when Tsavong Lah finally asked, "Who is this?"

"Let's put it this way," Jaina said, refocusing her attention. "I'm contacting you to report another failure."

"This is not Nom Anor," he realized. "The villip is translating... The Jeedai!"

"Got it in one," she said, sure the others were questioning the wisdom of mocking this particular Vong.

"And this, I suppose," he said, "Is where you offer yourself in your brother's place."

"Why bother? I know you won't let Jacen go."

"That is true enough, but are you so sure of your motivations?" Tsavong Lah countered. "You are the lesser twin, the one who would fall in sacrifice. Perhaps it suits your purposes to keep your brother's sword far from your throat."

Duman Yaght had spoken to her of her place in a sacrifice, and Jacen the same, but till now she hadn't had enough of the pieces to understand fully. "We would fight each other?"

"Of course! That is how it is done."

It wouldn't happen and Jaina knew it. She'd never willingly fight her twin to the death. At the Shadow Academy they'd been forced to fight each other, tricked into thinking they were battling a holographic Vader. When they realized what was happening they'd refused to fight anymore. Four years later that still stuck with her. She still had the occasional nightmare about it.

She played into it. Told him she was willing to accept her destiny and that they wanted to be picked up. The villip went quiet, eventually reforming into the face of a Vong she didn't know.

"Harrar, a priest of Yun-Harla, the Trickster goddess," he said. "It will be my honor to preside over your sacrifice."

So courteous that her would-be executioner introduced himself and everything. "The honor is mine," said Jaina dryly. "And thanks for the suggestion. I'd been wondering what to call this rock. Trickster sounds just about right."

"That is not suitable," he said immediately. "It is not possible. There is more to naming a ship than you can possibly know."

"It requires a special affinity, a deep attunement. Is that one of the things I couldn't possibly know?"

Harrar's face twisted in fury. "Whatever paltry tricks you may have in mind will serve no purpose. The attunement has been transferred. My ability to speak to you indicates that my ship's yammosk is making contact with your dovin basal. Any minor control you have over the Ksstarr-"

"The Trickster," Jaina corrected easily.

"-will be superseded."

"You're establishing contact?"

"It is done."

She flipped the villip over, breaking contact. She was smiling. No one else was. "Before you say anything, let me explain," she said. "Lowbacca has been playing with the ship's sensors. We're receiving their signal, but blocking ours."

"You can't be sure of that," said Zekk. Oh, well, he hadn't trusted her in the first place.

"I'm sure," said Tahiri. "The Yuuzhan Vong ships manipulate gravity. That's how they move, shield, even navigate. I'm hooked up to this thing, I should know."

Grateful for the backup that she did, in fact, have some idea of what she was talking about, Jaina explained her theory on the Vong's recognition of a ship's gravitic signature, and how Lowie was scrambling the signal in order to test this. With the ship they were on. "That sounds feasible," said Ganner doubtfully. "But if you're wrong, the Yuuzhan Vong might follow us to Hapes. We'd be endangering a world- a system- that is in no shape to defend itself."

"They know we're headed there, which makes a Yuuzhan Vong attack on Hapes all but a foregone conclusion. They'll have to make a stand eventually." Of course Jaina could say this when Tenel Ka, a princess on Hapes who had raised objections about going there, had been sent on ahead in an escape pod to warn for their arrival.

"They?" Ganner continued. "Not we?"

"I've got someplace else to be. The rest of you are welcome to come or stay, as you choose."

"You're going after Jacen."

"Was there ever any doubt?"

"What's your goal, Jaina?" Zekk said, almost gently. "Obviously it's not survival. You really don't expect to rescue Jacen- not even you could be that.... optimistic. The way I see it, that leaves vengeance."

Damn straight, but she couldn't just come out and say that to them. "Which leads to the dark side. Spare me- I've heard all the arguments. Repeatedly," she said. "The way I see it, the Jedi have a responsibility to act. We don't have the luxury of a philosophical debate, It was the schism between Jacen and Anakin, their endless dithering over 'what a Jedi should be', that brought them both down."

"That's not fair," Tahiri whispered. "It's cruel."

Tahiri had continued to look and act worrisome and broken since Anakin's death, but Jaina didn't have time to feel bad about her argument. "Is it? Let's look at the facts: Anakin is dead, Jacen was captured. If the surviving Jedi continue to dither, we will be destroyed and the Vong will have won."

It took a moment, but Alema was the first to agree, followed by Ganner, then Tesar, and Tekli. Jaina turned to Zekk, hoping he'd agree, but he just said, "I'll be remaining on Hapes, or going where I am most needed."

It hurt to hear that, and she was of course angry about his decision not to stick with her, but she beat it down and nodded. And as soon as she felt him waver, she gave a little push with her own emotions and beliefs towards him, felt him tempted to cave, and if she could get him, she could get the others the same way...

The thought scared her a bit, and she pulled herself back under control. She pulled off the pilot's hood and tossed it to him. "I need some time alone."

She didn't know why, but she found herself heading to the small chamber where they'd been keeping Anakin's body. She'd avoided this so far, hadn't seen him since she'd killed someone in cold blood to get him back. Someone had cleaned him up since then, washed away the blood and grime, bandaged his wounds for appearances' sake. Okay a matter of hours ago he'd been alive, and now the figure before her wasn't really Anakin because Anakin didn't exist anymore.

She unthinkingly reached out to tousle his neat brown hair, a gesture she'd done often even when he was too tall for her to get away with it without looking stupid.

"Better," said Tekli from behind her. "That's always how it seemed to look."

Jaina did think it was weird that there was no outpouring of emotion from her. She thought she should have felt something. But it wasn't Anakin anymore, and she had to think ahead now to saving Jacen. "Thank you for what you've done here," she said. "I didn't want our mother to see him as he was."

And with that, she turned on her heel to leave. Deal and move on, just like always.

*****

A Hapan vessel ahead picked up Tenel Ka, but before they had a chance to do anything about it, what was left of the strike team felt the agony that was Jacen's death. Everyone except Jaina, that is.

She felt the emotions resonating from every other person around her, even the terrifying mix of grief and rage from Tenel Ka in her escape pod, but Jaina didn't feel a thing from Jacen himself. With their twin bond, she should have felt it worse. It took her a moment to realize what had actually happened, but all she needed was to look at the others and she knew.

She'd lost her brother and hadn't even had a chance to stop it. The person who had always been her other half was gone, just like that.

She'd lost both her brothers on the same day.

She felt numb. Nothing else. She didn't think, she didn't feel, she hardly even realized when Zekk gently ushered her from the pilot's seat to take over. And she only allowed a few moments before deciding she would not do this again, that she couldn't and didn't want to and this wasn't what they needed. She pushed away from the wall that had been supporting her and said, "Tenel Ka is still out there," she said, calmly. "We need to focus on her."

She knew they were all in disbelief that she was already saying that immediately after the loss of her twin, but she pushed aside their emotions, finding it much easier without them.

Ganner was the first to nod. "You got it. Let's hunt them down." That was all it took for the others to snap to it, getting into position.

As they neared the Hapan ship, and the Hornet Interceptors following it, Ganner swore and said, "What I wouldn't give for a good ion cannon right now. Something that would take out the controls, but not the ship."

"Force lightning," Jaina said immediately. It was fast becoming her new best friend.

"Oh, great," Tahiri muttered. "How Sith is that?"

It wasn't Sith, it was dark side. Jaina was understanding the difference better than ever now. "I'm serious," she said, and turned to Zekk. "We could do this. You graduated from the Shadow Academy. They must have taught you how."

Zekk pulled off the hood and looked at her in horror. Even Lowie, a fellow reluctant student there, was staring. Fire from the Hapan ship kept them from saying what they were thinking, though. She just rolled her eyes and said, "All right then, I've got another idea. Move over."

The Hapan ship that had picked up Tenel Ka was a pirate ship, which they only discovered after Jaina rammed the Trickster into the cargo transport to create her own docking area. She let Tenel Ka handle subduing the pirates herself, and thusly they would be getting to Hapes with prisoners that might make things a bit easier for them upon arrival.

At least if those New Republic ships ahead didn't blast them out of the sky before they got there. When Jaina saw them appear in view, she immediately toggled the comm to try and raise them. "This is Lieutenant Jaina Solo of Rogue Squadron, aboard the Yuuzhan Vong frigate Trickster. This ship is under New Republic control-"

"Relax, Trickster. We're here to see you safely down," said a familiar voice over the comm channel.

Perfect. "Kyp Durron. You might as well turn around right now," Jaina said. "I wouldn't follow you out of an ocean if I were drowning."

"Hear me out before you open fire. Your parents are on Hapes in the refugee center. I told the princess I'd bring you back. Now, you could send me back to Leia empty-handed, but we all know what path a vindictive spirit might take you down." He was joking, but he really had no idea.

"Don't use my family in another of your tricks," she snapped. "If they're really on Hapes at all."

"This is Colonel Jag Fel, Lieutenant Solo," said another voice, a bit less recognizable to her. "I have seen your mother on Hapes, and the request for an escort came directly to me from landing control. Kyp Durron is speaking the truth and flying under my command."

She was surprised he was here. Jag was the commander of the Chiss squadron who routinely killed her in the sim, much to her frustration. She'd worked with him plenty of times- though not in a while- and while she wouldn't call him a friend, he wasn't exactly not. Either way, he was a better option than Kyp. "Under your command?" she repeated. "Don't believe it. If Kyp can twist a Jedi's thoughts, he can make you think whatever he wants."

"Thanks for your concern," Jag said icily, "but I hope I'm not quite so weak-minded as that."

She should have known better than to batter his precious ego, but Kyp had done it to her. And she'd nearly done it to Zekk. But if he didn't want the help, fine. "Suit yourself. But while you're watching my back, keep an eye on your own."

Despite the rocky start, Jag and Kyp escorted the frigate down, but didn't land with them. Then it was off to the refugee center for arguments with Tahiri about leaving Anakin's body on the ship till Han and Leia got there. She finally let Tahiri win that one, and that meant that when her parents did arrive, Leia's relief at seeing her daughter was cut short at the sight of her youngest child's body being removed from the ship.

"We brought Anakin with us," said Jaina, figuring the time for hello was sort of gone. "Jacen we couldn't get to. I'm sorry."

Leia took a breath, pulling it together in her usual Leia way. She came forward to hug Jaina, saying, "Don't worry about Jacen. He might seem fragile at times, but he's a survivor."

Jaina's numbness broke with shock at the words, unable to believe what she was hearing. She looked at Han over her mother's shoulder, watched the truth dawn on his face, and hated the Vong even harder.

She pulled back, saying gently, "Mom, Jacen is gone. We all felt it."

Leia just shook her head. "He's still alive."

There really was nothing else to say. Obviously Leia was taking it differently than expected, but Jaina would allow her some time to grieve in her own way. If that included denial, so be it. She simply stepped aside to let her parents turn to Anakin.

Watching them should have been harder, but Jaina felt removed from it all again. If her father cried, she thought she would maybe lose it, but she didn't even thinking there would be any feeling to go along with it. It would simply be a reaction to someone else's.

"Was it hard?" Leia asked finally, tears still visible in her eyes.

"Anakin had fought until his last breath, sustaining what should have been multiple mortal injuries on top of mortal injuries. Jaina's denial of having any sense of diplomacy was proven to be a bold-faced lie when she said, "Let's just say he didn't make it easy on them."

Next.


[You so know how this goes, and yes I am trying to spam less. Yes, this is LESS. Dialogue taken from Dark Journey by Elaine Cunningham. Gee, wonder what the book's about by the title.]