Subject: [OTL]: (alt. Betsy/Star Wars) Fanged Butterfly 2: Knightcross 60/? (PG-15) From: Phil Hartman Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:49:49 +0000 will1@earthling.net Fanged Butterfly Vol. 2: Knightcross Chapter 60 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Marvel's are Marvel's. LFL's are LFL's. Any original characters are mine. The rest belong to their owners/creators. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. WARNING: Violence, language, themes. ---------------------------------------------------- 40 ABY: The Winking Hutt, Undercity, Coruscant, Core Worlds: ---------------------------------------------------- It'd taken a week to get from Vjun to Coruscant in the shuttle Jacen and his new friends had stolen from Lumiya - the hyperdrive hadn't been the same after Gryph had sliced the security system, and caused a power surge. Worse, Mom and Dad hadn't been home - and Jacen's fear, that he was somehow in the future, seemed TRUE: Lumiya's database said it was 40 ABY, not 23 ABY. And Jacen Solo ... #That adult Jacen - he's a COLONEL. Not even a Jedi, really - and Uncle Luke and Aunt Mara have a son MY AGE? And they're fighting Corellians and some weird aliens?# Jacen thought, sipping water nervously as Gryph played sabaac and Zayne tried to get more info. For 4,000-year-old guys, his new friends were pretty quick on the uptake. Gryph kind of reminded Jacen of Lando - just hairier and only charming to lady Snivvians - and Zayne was really a nice guy - then Jacen looked up into a blaster, and gulped, as the person holding it - some guy with short brown hair - asked, "How can `Jacen Solo' be a teenager AND an adult in charge of planetary security? Unless one is a fake? Sith - or worse?" Then there was a pink flash of energy, and the FLOOR blew up - and someone in a leather duster grabbed Jacen by the scruff of his neck, and whispered, "C'mon, kid. "I heard `Sith,' and I'm looking for answers - oui?" Jacen yelled, "ZAYNE! GRYPH! RUN!!" - and then the guy who'd grabbed him pulled him away from the cantina, - as a bunch of black-uniformed security types filled the cantina ... and Jacen couldn't help but think that Jaina would've been able to fight HER way out of this mess. ------------------------------------------------------- "STANGIT!" Shevu barked - the kid had been human, but the presence of TWO Jacen Solos on Coruscant when the colonel was trying to rescue Tace and Allana was just too risky - as his backup ran into the bar ... and the guy with the weird eyes, whom Girdun had no genescan or identrecord on, had gotten away with the kid-Jacen. #The kid's a clone?# Shevu wondered - hoping he'd be OK - before turning to the other two unidentified sentients. "OK, you two - nobody wants to hurt anybody, so what's the story on you and the kid? Where'd you come from, and where are you going?" Shevu demanded. "Heh. Funny thing - I'm Marn Hierogryph, by the way - my friend Zayne and I were in stasis cells on Vjun when that kid, Jacen, freed us by accident. Well, actually there was this Sith cyborg who cut our cells' power cables with a lightwhip, but really, that's just a minor detail. I'm just a simple Snivvian, trying to make his way in the galaxy, with my Jedi comrades," the Snivvian said - and oddly, their names sounded familiar ... "Wait - SITH CYBORG?!" Lekauf yelled - they meant - ?! Then Shevu's comlink rang, and he growled, "Yes?" "Cap? Can we meet - someplace secure? It's about ... the colonel," a familiar voice - male, young, tenor - asked, worried. "BEN!? Thank the Force - it's been a WEEK, where WERE you!? Send me coordinates! - Lekauf, secure -" Shevu asked - Stangit. The Snivvian and the "Jedi" were GONE - "Hang on, Ben - THERE? OK," Shevu agreed - odd choice, but that location WAS public, and would complicate any ambushes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Ben finished transmitting the coordinates for the meet, then left the Jagi City shockball court - nobody expected GAG agents to meet in a Corellian neighborhood - to rendezvous with Captain Shevu. #I don't like sneaking around, but we can only trust ourselves,# Ben worried, pulling his hat lower - one of those weird "berets" some of the younger Hutts were making fashionable among other species, like human kids Ben's age - on his head. #I just wish we hadn't split up. The Force feels ... weird.# But Dad had his mission - talking to Chief Omas about Jacen being Sith - while Mom warned the Council, and Uncle Han and Aunt Leia went to meet with the Rogues and Wraiths about Tace and Allana. And Jag had stayed behind on Nirauan, to ask for help from the Chiss. Anakin and Tahiri were going to talk to Admiral Niathal - Anakin still had a lot of respect from the GA Navy after the Vong War, even if he'd quit when Jacen blew up that freighter on the Corellian picket line - and Aunt Betsy and Jaina were ... well, they were going to stop Jacen. Ben worried for all of them. #I miss him. Even with the Sith stuff and his messing with my memory - he only did it once, and it was to protect Tace and Allana. Jacen's NOT evil - I can't believe it, he was so nice to me for so long - just ... sick. Obsessed,# Ben tried to believe. He wiped his eyes, blinking - the World Brain sensed him, and he tried to shield, it couldn't be allowed to tell Jacen he was back - but it was weird; it was like there were TWO Jacens in the Force. And both were on Coruscant ... #A clone? A SKRULL - Tenel Ka commed Aunt Leia, said Zekk'd been replaced, maybe the Skrulls don't need to capture a victim -# Ben worried - he ran through the mental checklist of what to look for when looking for Skrulls, with sensors or the Force. But it wasn't a Skrull Ben was sensing - well, kind of, but he figured that was just Skrulls hiding. This was the dark side ... And it'd started after his family had left Nirauan ... "But that means - NO!! Cap, Ben. Scratch the meet at the shockball courts - I'm sending new coordinates, bring a squad, and HURRY!" Ben commed, panicking - he'd failed to follow his instincts ... He ran for a taxi, hoping his instincts were wrong. -------------------------------------------------------------- The Works: -------------------------------------------------------------- Jacen got off the speeder bike - he'd come alone, unarmed. Well, that the green-skinned, wrinkly-chinned motherkriffers knew, anyhow. They had the arrogance to be dressed and shifted to resemble Corellian swoop bike punks; Tace and Allana - human, afraid, Jacen could sense that through the Force, thanks to his "Skrull-sense" he'd honed, and trained Ben to use also - were standing in the middle of the mostly-male thugs, wearing black coveralls. One of them - appearing to be a tall, tattooed man about Jacen's age, with close-cropped blond hair and piercing blue eyes - met him halfway across the floor, snorting. "The mighty hunter of my kind comes for his whimpering brats," the Skrull taunted. "Yedi Jacen? YOU'RE my daddy?" Allana asked - and she wasn't afraid, she was almost happy - and Jacen smiled weakly at her ... Tace's eyes widened, and he yelled, "My dad's Tycho Celchu! An' my mom's Winter!" "HA! You were separated from your sister at birth, for your safety, boy. Of course, your sad father here couldn't pro -" the Skrull started to taunt again. That was when the Skrull `s head exploded - and Jacen's gut clenched, when FETT slipped out of the shadow, with his brat granddaughter, Mirta Gev. "Solo is OUR kill, Mandalorian scum!" another Skrull spat - but he and the rest of the aliens keeled, as Allana shrieked and Tace bravely pulled her behind him. Jacen spun around as two familiar - HUMAN, thankfully - Force presences appeared from the shadows - help had come. "Honestly, a simple wide-bore telepathic shockblast and these cretins fall over like tenpins?" Betsy sighed, sounding almost depressed ... but Jaina was the one holding Jacen's eyes. Cold. focused. A lightsaber in her left hand, a beskar-saber in her right. "Well, Sword of the Jetiise? You gonna finish what you said you would?" Fett asked - Jacen's gut clenched, at least Betsy grabbed Tace and Allana and got them out from among the Skrulls - then the aliens got up, and Jaina chose ... and acted. The Works suddenly ran green with blood. ----------------------------------------------------------- Betsy turned the twins' faces away from the carnage - Jaina was leaping, spinning, dodging morphed Skrull claws and fangs and other bizarre organs ... the children shouldn't see this. It wasn't all Jaina, though - Fett and Mirta were picking off Skrulls unlucky enough to be at the edges of the fight, and Jacen casually strangled, fried, or sliced the occasional Skrull - but by and large, Jaina was taking to the attack. And the Skrulls died, limbs flying in gouts of shapeshifter gore. #I knew she'd never lost her skill with blades, but ...# Betsy thought, admiring the mess even as she shielded the little ones' minds with a gentle illusion. She looked at them, amazed - Tace looked like holos of Jacen as a child, just with green eyes and buzzcut brown hair, while Allana had Tenel Ka's looks and a more innocent version of Jacen's curiosity and empathy in her eyes. "I'm Master Braddock, with the Jedi. I'll take you to your parents," Betsy promised, watching as Jacen ran over - but he wasn't attacking - and the Skrulls kept dying; even the Fett family were letting Jaina do what she did so well. ~I still don't trust you, you know. After you tampered with Ben's memories ... even to protect the children ... and those Sith eyes you had in that astral duel Ben described,~ Betsy sent, frowning. /I was a fool. Ben deserved to know ... now, anyway,/ Jacen noted - as a Skrull-head bounced past, and another Skrull tried to run, screaming, "SHE'S THE DEVIL INCARNATE!", but was Force-yanked back to Jaina's whirlwind of Skrull-death. ~I just hope you won't make a scene and try to force the twins to accept you as their father,~ Betsy sent, allowing Jacen to at least look at the twins' faces ... Jacen actually felt REMORSEFUL, and Tace asked - not defiant, now - "Mama said I was `dopted. Are ... are you ...?" "I only gave you up to protect you. Tycho and Winter ARE very good people ... I promise, I won't take you from them," Jacen said - and Tace and Allana beamed, they weren't scared of him. They did snuggle against Betsy when Fett walked over, but he held up a hand when Jacen glared, and the Mandalore said, "The kad'ikas are safe, Solo - I don't hurt kids. I came for you." Jacen tensed - and then there was that familiar Force-signature ... --------------------------------------------------------------- Jacen gasped - there was the older guy who claimed to be him - and JAINA. KILLING enemies all over, like she was Master Katarn - and Jaya's jaw dropped as she cut the last alien's head off and saw the younger Jacen, while the purple-haired woman in the corner with the older-Jacen gasped - "A *CLONE*?! Bloody HELL, Jacen, what the KRIFF were you thinking!? Palpatine antics are NOT going to help your case with the rest of your family!" the woman yelled - then she looked at the guy who'd grabbed Jacen in the cantina ... and laughed, setting down the kids she held, as the guy chuckled. "Small galaxy, ma cheri," he said, and he kissed the purple-haired lady's hand ... ?! "REMY! The others told me you came after Marie - Jaina Solo, Remy LeBeau, and - well. You're quite the surprise, young man. I'm Betsy Braddock ... and as strange as this sounds to me, we truly HAVE never met," the woman said, looking at Jacen. "I - I'm really a ... ?" Jacen asked his older self - who nodded. "I'm sorry. You were created as a replacement for me in case I was killed or compromised. Lumiya triggered your release early, and -" the older Jacen said - but then Jaina turned her lightsaber on and held it at his throat, feeling ... icy. Jaya, but ... tired and old. She smiled at the younger Jacen, kind of funny and sad, and asked, "You can sense me, huh?" "I ... I was gonna say we're twins, but ..." young-Jacen said - he figured it'd be better to separate himself from the ... original - as he looked at his ... template. "Jaina, if this is about Lumiya, I was stringing her along until I could figure out her plans. I had a vision on that asteroid where Ben and I traced the tassles - one where, if Lumiya was slain or captured, I ended up KILLING Luke. Maybe it was shavit, but if it was right - worse, if Luke went DARK -" older-Jacen said - "That's a CROCK, Jacen! You've been around Uncle Luke! WAS he dark when we rescued Ben from you - after you DUELED Ben astrally?! THAT'S being a GREAT Master!" Jaya yelled. "Not that I don't enjoy jetiise tearing each other apart, but the colonel needs to answer for my mama," the Mando girl growled - and then the Force shook, and Betsy snapped, "LATER. We need to go - something is coming. Let's get the twins to safety" --------------------------------------------------------------- Jedi Temple: High Council Chambers: --------------------------------------------------------------- Well, Mara was sure the Council weren't mindkriffed ANYMORE. She'd been genescanned, mindprobed and questioned for a good half-hour before even being let in the front door, and then two YVH droids were her escorts to the Council chambers ... and given Face Loran's news about events after the Skywalkers and Solos had vanished, Mara didn't blame her friends for caution. "Mara, I'm sorry - we had to be sure. After Winter was attacked and that false-Zekk almost took the Chume'da ... I hate admitting it, but Jacen was RIGHT. About the Skrulls, at least," Kenth Hamner said, waiting in the hall outside the chamber with her - the droids were gone, at least. Mara managed a smile for the Council's liasion with the Galactic Alliance government; Kenth had always had a realistic view. More importantly, he wasn't a Skrull - Ben had shown her how to sense the aliens in the Force, before they'd split up to warn their allies. "Jacen's not perfect. And once I warn the rest of the Council about his shavit - Cilghal! How's Winter?" Mara asked, watching the Mon Calamari Jedi healer walk up for the meeting. "Doing better. She's under heavy guard, and will require several bacta dunkings. I hope the others can find the little ones," Cilghal said - Tycho had entrusted the Jedi with Tace's identity, and Tenel Ka had asked for help finding Allana. The humans stood as the Council chamber doors opened, and Kyp Durron - mercifully, also not a Skrull, nor was Cilghal, and Mara felt embarrassed about her paranoia - waved them in. "Good to see you alive. And thinking for yourself ... Luke's not going to be very comfortable when he comes back," Durron warned. "Well, I get first crack at him if he kriffs up again. But I think I've got him trained enough not to even accidentally mindkriff the Order," Mara joked ... she swept the other Masters with a friendly look - Octa Ramis, Corran Horn, Tresina Lobi, Saba Sebatyne, and Kam and Tionne Solusar's holo-images - but then Mara caught Kyle Katarn's eye - and sensed - "He loves you," the uber-Jedi ... taunted? - before SHIFTING. Mara SNARLED, shouting, "SKRULL!" The Skrull in Katarn clothing stood, cackling maniacally, and BLASTED Corran Horn with Force-lightning, before firing off a Force-wave that threw the rest of the Council members present backwards. Mara, on the other hand, smiled just as wickedly, and let the Phoenix flare about her. ~DEFILER! SKRULL SCUM!~ the Phoenix Force shrieked, flaring about Mara, and the Katarn-Skrull almost looked impressed. But ... "Please, child. If I could replace your deadliest warrior, what chance do you, a neophyte wielder of that accursed bird, do to me?" the Skrull taunted - keeping up the lighting on Corran ... ? And somehow, Corran COULDN'T let off the energy building inside him - wheezed, his cells filling to burst. Then Mara realized what was going on, and yelled at Corran, "DISCHARGE IT! *NOW!!* HE'S TURNING YOU INTO A LIVING -" The Skrull just smirked - cutting the Force-lightning to Corran - and said: "BOOM." A microsecond later, the word became MUCH louder. ------------------------------------------------------------ Chief of State's Office: ------------------------------------------------------------ "Wait - Jacen's a SITH?" Cal Omas asked, watching Luke pace and look toward the Jedi Temple with obvious worry. "Or being influenced by one. I trust what Ben sensed from Jacen. I agree, we need to defend against Skrulls, but another leader for GAG would be wiser, don't you agree?" Luke said ... sounding so reasonable. Cal wanted to listen to a voice of reason. He wanted to not have to put up with Niathal's demands for a tighter fist around the Corellian system, with Jacen's demands for more scanners to dig out hidden Skrulls. He WANTED to trust Luke, and the Jedi Grand Master smiled. "Chief, I think shutting down the planetary shield would be wise." "Wait - WHAT?" Cal blurted - had LUKE SKYWALKER just said - ?! "Merely as a test of the shielding crews' reaction time, of course. After all, GAG has the Skrulls well in hand, and there's no enemy fleet nearby," Luke said ... so reasonably. Cal nodded; why not? He keyed in the request ... as Luke's eyes shifted, and his smile became a grin. ------------------------------------------------------------ "- we were on Earth, Aunt Betsy's homeworld, and my mom's - but that's not what's important, Jacen's being used by the Sith, and I think there's a Skrull IN MY FAMILY!" Ben finished blurting - he'd caught up with Shevu, Jori and a squad at the entrance to the COS' office ... and the dark sense in the Force was close. "The switch took place on Nirauan? The FELS are Skrulls? With their Chiss connections, wouldn't that be risky for the Skrulls? You said the Chiss hate Skrulls," Jori asked, while Ben pounded on Admiral Niathal's door. "Not the Fels. One of my family members - somebody important or well-liked enough to be worth switching places with," Ben said as the door opened - and Anakin and Tahiri peeked out, as Admiral Niathal said, "I trust there's a good reason for the interruption, Lieutenant? Your cousin and Knight Veila were talking about Colonel Solo's alleged Sithliness." Ben read her, then Ani and Tahiri in the Force - and beamed. "Not you guys - sorry, Admiral, ma'am, but I think -" Ben said - and then he felt sick. Because if they weren't dark ... Ben ran, for COS Omas' office - bursting in - Dad looked at him with WHITE EYES, his lightsaber lit, and Chief Omas grinned like a braintick victim, while strange fighter craft and landing craft filled Coruscant's skies. "Well. The heir. Fool boy - Solo was a useful pawn, as were you. Distracting the Jedi while we SITH prepared to INVADE," Dad - no, Ben couldn't believe it - taunted ... lifting his lightsaber over Omas ... "NO!" Ben screamed - lunging - No, please, NO, NOT *DAD* - ?! He STABBED his father through the chest, and the older Skywalker dropped his emerald blade, away from the mind-tricked Omas. Ben bawled, shutting off his lightsaber, as his dad crumpled. #I KILLED HIM - # The crying boy knelt by the still-gasping Luke - but a Force-mask faded from the dying Jedi's aura, and Ben gasped as he saw: DAD TURNED GREEN, WITH A WRINKLED CHIN AND POINTED EARS. "Wh - whu -" Omas stammered - but Ben surged with hope, and grabbed the wrist of the ... Luke-Skrull. "Heh - KAFF - well-struck, young Skywalker. We - AGHK - knew trying to switch with your father while you and that idiot Solo were crusading would be foolhardy. So, we - HRGK - switched with the CLONE ... and you have earned my warning: the Sith are coming," the Skrull panted, dying. "And my dad? My REAL dad?" Ben asked. "Very much alive, aboard - GAKG - Darth Krayt's flagship," the Skrull said ... then died. But not before pressing his comlink. Ben looked over his shoulder, as Jori and Captain Shevu watched, still stunned, and Anakin and Tahiri moved to hug Ben - "No. I'm OK. Guard Chief Omas and Admiral Niathal - Jori, get me a shuttle, OK?" Ben asked - Dad was ALIVE - but Ben felt - That was when the hallway filled with screams from the guards. -------------------------------------------------------------- Coruscant Atmosphere: -------------------------------------------------------------- "I AM *NOT* PLEASED!!!" Luke - the REAL Luke - hung shirtless, bleeding from several shallow cuts, amidst an Embrace of Pain; he'd been drugged on Nirauan after being buried underneath an avalanche of ysalamiri from a closet ... and he'd woken up facing a towering Sith Lord in yorik coral armor. Darth Krayt snarled, while his Chagrian aide - Wyyrlok, Luke had heard - glanced at the main viewer; the Fifth Fleet had arrived, and the Sith fleet was being interdicted, while Coruscant's inner shield blocked the Sith from landing troops. "'Darth Tantiss' - a SKRULL!? We were BETRAYED!" Krayt bellowed, and a woman in black leather - with Fel-like hair, Luke almost thought she was familiar - walked to Krayt's side. "Mah Lord, the loss of Tantiss is small, compared t' our current tactical situation. We must drop those shields, or we'll be caught between them and the Alliance's Fifth Fleet," the woman said, sounding ... Adumari-like? "The entire PLAN is kriffed, Darth Rogue. No doubt because the accursed SKRULL planned it!" Krayt bellowed - and alarms started - "M'Lord! Coruscant's outer shielding shell is active! We're trapped between the shield-spheres!" a junior Sith acolyte cried. Krayt, Rogue and Wyyrlok looked at each other ... and then the forward viewscreen filled with saucer-ships, of a design Luke had never seen before, as they opened fire. A Quarren Sith shouted, "IT'S A TRAP!" #Well, for you, maybe ... for me, an opportunity,# Luke thought - he FLEXED in the Force, breaking free of the Embrace, and called his lightsaber to his hand from Krayt's belt, as the Sith Lord snarled. Luke cut himself free and Force-pushed Sith guards back - he'd learned not to try and do everything himself, or to run the show. So he did the most reasonable thing - and ran, calling for help. ----------------------------------------------------------- Smuggler's End Starport, Galactic City East: ----------------------------------------------------------- Cloaked saucer-ships decloaked - and started exploding under the blasts from the Noghri in the Falcon's turrets. "That override code of yours better work, or we'll never get past the inner shield," Han warned Leia - she was on comms. Ben had called them about Luke, before the boy's comlink had cut out with the sounds of a fight, Jaina and Betsy were guarding Jacen - JACENS, apparently -and the twins, and Mara was busy with what she'd hastily called "a funny bar story in 20 years." That left the Solos, as usual, to pull Luke's shebs out of the fire, but at least the Rogues and Wraiths were flying with them. "It's open," Leia said - every ex-Chief of State had access to the emergency shield override algorithm - and she closed it behind them, as they entered space to see a blazing firefight. "Sithspawn! It's a furball!" one of the younger Rogues yelped - "Neg the chatter, Rogue Eleven. Falcon, we've got your backs. Go get Farmboy," Wedge Antilles said, and the X-Wings went to work, clearing a path. "That big ship with the overhanging bow - Luke's free, and aboard it," Leia said, pointing through the Sith fleet. "Your brother owes me how many now?" Han joked. "I could ask him to pay in carbonite," Leia shot back, and Han winced - she WAS worried. "Or maybe beers," Leia soothed, and Chewie chuckled - not again. "Just not that Schlitz shavit," Han grumbled, hitting the throttle. ------------------------------------------------------------- The Skrulls had landed. And abandoned sneaking - they were trying to SWARM their way into Chief Omas' office. Ben, Anakin and Tahiri were holding their own, bouncing Skrull blaster-shots back - the weapons were like GA blasters, at least - and the GAG guys had enough weapons to keep the shapeshifters back. But there were so MANY of them - even with the Force, Ben couldn't see how three Jedi and 20 GAG troopers could keep Omas and Admiral Niathal alive. He Force-called Anakin and Tahiri, who traded a Look. Tahiri pulled her coufee, and Anakin pulled his blaster, and they leapt among the Skrulls, as Ben and his GAG friends watched ... It wasn't even a fight. Ta - no, RIINA, Ben realized, he could sense Tahiri's Vong-self in the Force, her whole aura changed - was RAGING through the Skrulls, slicing with lightsaber and coufee, fighting dirty and loving it. And Anakin - he was just letting the Force guide him, blasting and slicing and Force-stomping Skrulls. Ben had never DREAMED Ani and `Ri were so - COOL. And then the Force rang out, and Ben grinned - Valin's team, who'd come back from Corellia with the Rogues, had arrived, Tesar Sebatyne, Tekli and Ganner Rhysode with them, flanking the Skrulls. "You're joking! It doesn't matter how many Jedi you bring - of whatever mongrel species - we are SKRULLS! You are DOOMED!" one of the green-skinned jerks spat - until Valin's group parted, and then Myri appeared, with a BIG repeating blaster and a bigger grin. "Kettch proposed! And he promised me I'd get to kick shebs on a lot of bad green people!" she giggled - Ben gasped - that meant -?! "WEDDING!!!" the Jedi cheered, but the Skrulls looked confused. "Who is this dreaded `Kettch' you solid-formed heathens celebrate?! Send him forth in single combat!" the Skrull commander sneered. Then Kettch walked forward from Valin's group ... and the Skrull SCREAMED: "EWOK - WITH A *FORK*?!" "YUB," Kettch said, licking his lips ... and he leapt at the chief Skrull. ----------------------------------------------------------------- About 100 or so floors below, at standard Coruscant ground height: ----------------------------------------------------------------- "You rescued them," Tenel Ka breathed, thanking Betsy and lifting Allana on her arm - they'd commed the Hapan embassy, and agreed to meet the Queen Mother halfway, to get the twins to safety fastest. Tace looked confused, and Betsy knelt beside him. "Tenel Ka ... gave birth to you," she tried to explain, as the little boy shyly walked to Tenel Ka's side, and Fett and Mirta watched. "You're my ..." Tace said, swallowing hard, but Tenel Ka smiled. "I know you know the Celchus as your parents. I promise, you will be returned to them - please, let us protect you for now?" the Queen Mother asked, and Tace beamed at her, then looked at the older Jacen. Jacen looked and felt ... wistful, deeply sad, and Betsy ALMOST felt sympathy for him - but he steeled himself, forced a smile, and said, "Ben and the others need us. We have to get Omas and Niathal out of the COS office, and to kill the Skrulls." Jaina raised an eyebrow. "Uh - OK. Even with Betsy and I, you're outnumbered about a few thousand to one? And don't YOU even THINK of tagging along - you stay with Tenel Ka and the twins," Jaina told the younger Jacen ... who blushed when he looked at the Queen Mother. "Yes, Jaya," the boy wisely said - Betsy gave the original Jacen a knowing glare, why couldn't HE be this reasonable? /Don't you start,/ Jacen-the-Elder snorted, before squinting at the horde of Skrulls fighting a mass of GAG and regular-GA soldiers before the COS' office. "We need a distraction," he said - and then the ground shook, and the younger Jacen grinned and pointed at ... well. THAT was different. ---------------------------------------------------------------- General Kl'arn hated distractions - so the tap on his leg drew a scowl. "WHO is tugging on my leg?" Kl'arn snarled, as he looked down ... at a Snivvian, he thought ... standing in front of a VERY. LARGE. BOX. "Mr. Skrull? A present from your soon-to-be vassals," the Snivvian said, and Kl'arn snorted - a smart non-Skrull? And MAMMALIAN? "You may be spared slavery, Snivvian, for your obesiance," Kl'arn approved, watching as a door in the box opened ... to admit a young human male with brown hair, holding a piece of meat? "He's accepted," the Snivvian said, and the human relaxed, dropping the meat. "Thank the Force," the young man said, running with the Snivvian. "WAIT! What IS this!?" Kl'arn yelled. "Rancorgram," the Snivvian said, and Kl'arn blinked - rancorgram? "GROWARRWRRR!" the ... rancor ... growled as the box opened. #Sl'G'urt must not love me anymore ...# Kl'arn groaned ... ------------------------------------------------------------------ "GO!" Jacen-the-Elder yelled, and he, Jaina, Betsy and the Fetts dodged screaming Skrulls as the GAG and GA regular troops routed the invaders. The Padawan - Zayne, Jacen-the-Younger had called him, and Gryph - met the Solos, Betsy and the Mandos at the entrance. Mirta got a funny look on her face, then stared at Gryph, who looked at her and sighed, "4,000 years, and Mandos are still around .." "Wait - a Snivvian who mastered a rancor?! You're - THE SNIVVIAN WITH NO FEAR!?" Mirta GASPED - OK, a panicked Mando was just ODD. "What?" Fett asked impatiently. "There's an apocryphal seventh line to the Resol'nare, the Mando code of conduct. It's a warning: `The Snivvian with No Fear Shall Summon Rancors, and All Mando'ade shall Respect Him or Perish,'" Mirta said, awed. "A legend, huh? Merchandising plans abound ..." Gryph chuckled. "You're immortalized. Oh, this is just too much," Zayne sighed. Betsy's gasp shattered the moment, as lightning danced across the sky, and she gasped, "The inner shield - !" It shattered, in a horrid crackling noise, and Skrull ships burst through the haze of anti-aircraft fire - but a charred, groaning Skrull fell from the sky, and Mara flew past in the Phoenix, blasting Skrull craft, while Ben, Anakin, Tahiri, and Valin's squad chased Skrulls out of the COS office. "You're OK! And Mom got the Katarn-Skrull - Dad's still trapped by the Sith, though," Ben worried after hugging Betsy. "First we have to survive, dearheart," Betsy said ... but then, Jaina squinted through the firefight, then pointed. Clawcraft filled the skies, ANNIHILATING Skrull ships. Jag had brought the Chiss. And they wanted Skrull blood. ------------------------------------------------------------ tbc ...