So far, Jaina thought, Bakura was just not turning out well at all.

Upon getting there, they'd been attacked, which was not how you wanted to start things out when you were trying to get the planet to join the Galactic Alliance. And truth be told, Jaina didn't much care about the political details here. Bakura was going through some things with Prime Minister Cundertol being missing, and then mysteriously returning, and it would help them out to find out what happened to him, so Jaina would do that, thanks.

She was the one who went to the penitentiary to see the suspect. Leia was more suited for this sort of thing, as she actually had some skills in diplomacy, but Jaina didn't think this would be so bad. She had the instructions on how to get in, because walking in the front door wasn't an option... and tripped an alarm when she tried to follow them, which led to her spending half an hour on a roof across the street finding a new way in.

Which didn't so much work out, so Jaina climbed down the roof and decided to just walk right in. The secret to fitting in anywhere was to act like you belonged there, right?

The security spotlight hit her right in the face immediately, but Jaina kept walking right up until the security droids descended on her, stopping her not far from the door she needed to get to. "State your name and purpose here,"

"My name is Jaina Solo," she replied. "I'm here to speak with Malinza Thanas."

There was a pause as both droids checked their systems to find out if this was true. "No such visitation has been authorized," said one, raising a stun prod.

Jaina didn't even move her hand, just sent it spinning away from her with the Force. "Please don't threaten me," she said. "I really don't take too kindly to things like that."

And when the other droid began to sound an alarm, she quickly focused to fine the bit of circuitry that would cut the sound, and did so. This only brought more droids on her, and she kept her own annoyance at bay, repeating calmly, "I am here to speak with Malinza Thanas," she repeated, patiently and firmly. "Please let me through."

When the droid she'd spun spoke again, it was with the voice of a guard watching what was happening from inside. "I'm sorry, but we cannot allow visitors without authorization."

Jaina folded her arms and said, "Then I suggest you get it, because I'm not going anywhere until I've seen Malinza. And I have no intention of leaving quietly. I'll give you one minute to comply." And she counted, from one to sixty, no more, no less. It helped that she could hear footsteps running towards her, meaning that sixty seconds was good timing.

"I can't wait all night, you know," she said at sixty-one, and walked up to the door to give the specified code word.

There really wasn't any stopping her now. The droids weren't doing anything, and she was already in, walking down the hall with them following her, and the guards clearly getting more annoyed themselves by the sound of their voices. "This is a flagrant disregard for regulations! Whoever you are, I must insist that-"

"As I have already explained," she said, "my name is Jaina Solo, and I'd appreciate it if you could make up your minds as to whether you intend to assist me or arrest me. I really have no desire to fight you, but if you force my hand then I-"

"You can't expect to just walk in here and see any prisoner you like! Ever heard of protocol?"

"You ever heard of a diplomatic incident?" Jaina interrupted. "Because that's what you're going to get if I don't get to see Malinza Thanas."

There was another, longer pause now, and as the Bakuran guards finally caught up to stand behind the droids, as if waiting to see what she would do.

Which was ask, "Well? What's it to be?"

"Please wait where you are," said the guard voice. "An escort will arrive shortly."

*****

Jaina had never met Malinza Thanas, but she knew the name. Her mother had been a Bakuran Prime Minister allied with her parents and Luke, and had died not long after Luke had promised Malinza, then maybe four years old, that he'd keep her mom safe. Her father had passed away years earlier, so Luke and Mara took Malinza on as a sponsor daughter, keeping in touch and visiting a few times.

The girl sitting on the bunk in the cell now was about fifteen, with dark hair and mismatched eyes, the occasional bruise that tended to happen in captivity, and did not look one bit to be the terrorist leader people were making her out to be. She also did things like call him "Uncle Luke", which had made Jaina need to bite down a reaction that was something akin to back off, bitch because she really had no right to overreact to that.

"You know why I'm in here," Malinza said after a long while of silence.

Sitting beside her on the bunk, Jaina nodded. "You've been charged with kidnapping the Prime Minister."

"Actually, the official charge is disturbing the peace and conspiracy."

"Doesn't it amount to the same thing?"

Malinza shook her head. "The difference is an important one, actually."

"Why?" Jaina wondered. "Now that Cundertol has returned-"

"I had nothing to do with him," Malinza interrupted. "But the rest is true enough."

"What are you fighting for?" Jaina asked.

"That's the strange thing. A week ago, I wasn't fighting at all," she replied. "You've no idea what you've just stepped into. I tell you, it's crazy around here."

"In what way, Malinza?"

Malinza laughed, sitting back against the wall. "That I'd even think about telling you is probably the craziest thing of all. If anyone here is the enemy, it's you."

Jaina didn't say a thing. She personally wouldn't consider herself the girl's enemy, but she didn't know how Malinza saw her, exactly. Maybe she was. Either way, she decided to wait and see what Malinza would do, and she'd go from there.

Finally, the girl sighed. "Whatever. It's not as if I haven't tried to tell everyone here already."

"They don't believe you? "

"Why else do you think I'm in here?" She pointed up at the security camera. "I guess it couldn't hurt for them to hear it one more time. And who knows: they might even listen this time."

"And even if they don't," Jaina said, "you can be assured that I will."

"Okay," Malinza said, leaning forward again to begin her story. "About a month ago I was in charge of a cell of activists, capitalizing on my parents' reputations to get our message heard. There were sixteen of us in all. At first we just organized protests, spread the word-but it's grown much more over time. We called ourselves Freedom." She rolled her eyes. "It's lame, I know, but it gets the point across."

"And what point is that?"

"That we're tired of kowtowing to Imperial doctrines, of course. It's time for us to throw off our shackles and govern ourselves."

Jaina blinked. The Empire hadn't controlled Bakura since before she'd been born. "Imperial?"

"Not the Empire," Malinza explained. "The thing that took its place: the New Republic. Don't you know that nature abhors a vacuum? Especially a power vacuum. No sooner had we won our freedom than we held out our wrists to be shackled again. We offered ourselves up to the New Republic like pets begging for a scrap of affection. And that's all we got, too: scraps."

Wow. Jaina knew she'd had it pretty easy; she was the daughter and niece of war heroes, she was a Jedi in her own right, she was probably a bigger name in the military than she was comfortable admitting. It was always easy for the people in positions of power. They didn't really get a chance to see how the other side had it. just like the politicians not seeing that the war wasn't even close to over yet. Still, ouch.

Talking to Malinza a little more, Jaina was fairly convinced she had nothing to do with the kidnapping. Her organization wanted the New Republic off Bakura, but she wasn't the type to order murders and abductions to get what she wanted. She was just a kid, albeit a terrifyingly well-connected kid, who was being used by someone unknown.

When Jaina saw how late it really was, she had to say that it was time to go, to be answered with, ""But you haven't told me why you're here yet," Malinza protested.

Jaina smiled. "I'm just doing my job. You know what Jedi are like: we're always getting in the way."

"As well as always getting their way," Malinza said with a brief, half-meant smile. "I have to admit I would be glad to be out of here."

"I'll see what I can do about that," Jaina promised, pressing the call button to get out. "Maybe we can apply some pressure to get your hearing processed more quickly and-"

The door had opened onto an empty corridor. While there was no danger sense going off, her instincts were telling her this was wrong. "The guards said they'd escort me out of here," she said, stepping out and looking down the hall.
"But there's no one. Not even so much as a droid."

Malinza joined her in the hall, looking surprised that she was able to. And then she smiled broadly, exclaiming, "It's Vyram! It has to be!"

"Who?"

"He's one of Freedom's core members," Malinza said. "In fact, he's what you'd call the brains behind the group. If anyone could slice into the system and get me out of here, it would be him."

"I don't know, Malinza," Jaina said. "This doesn't feel right to me."

"That's easy for you to say. You get to walk out of here no matter what happens. I'm going for it."

Jaina grabbed Malinza's sleeve before she could get too far. "Wait! That's the wrong direction." This was not the way things were supposed to be going. This whole thing was turning out stranger, and now there was apparently a prison breakout happening in addition to the break-in. But she couldn't just let Malinza wander off into even more trouble "At least let me show you the way."

Malinza grinned at her. "I thought you'd never offer."


[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Dialogue from Force Heretic II: Refugee by Sean Williams and Shane Dix. I have nothing witty here.]