The Jade Shadow- Tuesday
Jaina hadn't even gone home after her trip to Fandom. Instead after consulting with Natua on places Ship was likely to go, she'd taken her StealthX to meet up with Ben, Luke and Vestara on the Jade Shadow, where she'd dropped a bomb on them her first day there.
"You told her what?" Luke asked, eyes wide.
Jaina handed him the cup of caf she'd brought him from the kitchen area, where she'd just left Ben and Vestara in the same kind of shock. Then she took a seat in a chair opposite Luke. They were meeting in his quarters, where no sneaky Sith girls could overhear. "You heard me," she said.
"You want me to take a Sith, whose trustworthiness seems to depend on the time of day, the season, and the phases of whatever moons happen to be nearby, on a potentially dangerous mission to the Sith homeworld."
"That's about right, yes," Jaina replied, sipping her caf.
There was a lot she had to talk to him about. Tahiri's conviction and what that meant, for starters. Her conversation with Obi-wan, which was sure to break his brain... She'd just started with Vestara, mostly because she thought that would get the best reaction.
"Please give me a reason why you think this is a good idea in any way, shape or form."
"I'll give you more than one. First, it's because she's a Sith. She grew up with this, Luke. Like I grew up in a family of Jedi. Her culture is obsessed with its history, and she probably knows more about the ancient Sith, their technology, languages, and maybe even alchemy, than we do. If her own safety and life are on the line, she'll tell us what she thinks if we run across anything useful."
"Set a thief to catch a thief," Luke said, looking like he got it, but he wasn't happy about it.
"Something like that," she said, and smiled. "You know it always works when we send my dad out after people with shady reputations."
"Can't argue with success," he allowed.
"Two," Jaina continued, "Ship really does have a bond with her. That means if we get her near him, even if we can't find him, he'll be able to find her."
"Why does that thought not fill me with delight?" Luke asked dryly.
"It should. Even if he attacks, he'd be showing himself. And that's what we want, right?"
He sighed. "You make a persuasive argument."
"Jag must be rubbing off on me," Jaina said. "In all seriousness, though, Vestara Khai is a unique asset. We should make use of her."
"I'm still very, very leery of bringing her along with us. I think it's asking for trouble," Luke said, and then looked over at her. "She's Sith, Jaina. Not just a dabbler, not a victim, not a fallen Jedi. Born and raised in an entire community of Sith. I'm not convinced she'd not going to throw that aside and wholeheartedly join us, but I know Ben still thinks she can be redeemed."
"There are those who still think you can't be redeemed," Jaina pointed out. "Or Grandfather. Or Aunt Mara. Or Kyp Durron, or-"
Luke held up his hand. "Point made. But those were different."
"Were they? Or do you just want to think they're different because you're worried about your son getting hurt?"
He opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again as he really thought about that instead of immediately getting defensive. "I do worry about Ben. He's a strong young man. And wise- much wiser than I was at his age. And no, you don't have to agree with me," Luke added quickly, seeing Jaina going to make a smart remark. He'd known her long enough to know what a brat she was. "I don't think for a moment she'll bring him over to the dark side. But I think he might get hurt- physically and emotionally- because he wants this so badly. He cares for her, Jaina. I can feel it."
"Which means she can too, most likely. I don't want to get overly sentimental here, Uncle Luke, but don't underestimate the power of love," Jaina said, and she hated that phrasing, but whatever, it worked. "It's pulled two family members back from the dark side already. Ben may be sixteen, but he's not a fool. Maybe if he believes she's redeemable, it's because she is."
There was a looong moment of silence.
"All right," Luke said. "Vestara can come with us to Korriban. But we are going to be watching her every minute."
"Of course we will," Jaina nodded. "Drink your caf, it's getting cold."
[NFB,NFI, OOC okay! From Ascension by Christie Golden.]
"You told her what?" Luke asked, eyes wide.
Jaina handed him the cup of caf she'd brought him from the kitchen area, where she'd just left Ben and Vestara in the same kind of shock. Then she took a seat in a chair opposite Luke. They were meeting in his quarters, where no sneaky Sith girls could overhear. "You heard me," she said.
"You want me to take a Sith, whose trustworthiness seems to depend on the time of day, the season, and the phases of whatever moons happen to be nearby, on a potentially dangerous mission to the Sith homeworld."
"That's about right, yes," Jaina replied, sipping her caf.
There was a lot she had to talk to him about. Tahiri's conviction and what that meant, for starters. Her conversation with Obi-wan, which was sure to break his brain... She'd just started with Vestara, mostly because she thought that would get the best reaction.
"Please give me a reason why you think this is a good idea in any way, shape or form."
"I'll give you more than one. First, it's because she's a Sith. She grew up with this, Luke. Like I grew up in a family of Jedi. Her culture is obsessed with its history, and she probably knows more about the ancient Sith, their technology, languages, and maybe even alchemy, than we do. If her own safety and life are on the line, she'll tell us what she thinks if we run across anything useful."
"Set a thief to catch a thief," Luke said, looking like he got it, but he wasn't happy about it.
"Something like that," she said, and smiled. "You know it always works when we send my dad out after people with shady reputations."
"Can't argue with success," he allowed.
"Two," Jaina continued, "Ship really does have a bond with her. That means if we get her near him, even if we can't find him, he'll be able to find her."
"Why does that thought not fill me with delight?" Luke asked dryly.
"It should. Even if he attacks, he'd be showing himself. And that's what we want, right?"
He sighed. "You make a persuasive argument."
"Jag must be rubbing off on me," Jaina said. "In all seriousness, though, Vestara Khai is a unique asset. We should make use of her."
"I'm still very, very leery of bringing her along with us. I think it's asking for trouble," Luke said, and then looked over at her. "She's Sith, Jaina. Not just a dabbler, not a victim, not a fallen Jedi. Born and raised in an entire community of Sith. I'm not convinced she'd not going to throw that aside and wholeheartedly join us, but I know Ben still thinks she can be redeemed."
"There are those who still think you can't be redeemed," Jaina pointed out. "Or Grandfather. Or Aunt Mara. Or Kyp Durron, or-"
Luke held up his hand. "Point made. But those were different."
"Were they? Or do you just want to think they're different because you're worried about your son getting hurt?"
He opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again as he really thought about that instead of immediately getting defensive. "I do worry about Ben. He's a strong young man. And wise- much wiser than I was at his age. And no, you don't have to agree with me," Luke added quickly, seeing Jaina going to make a smart remark. He'd known her long enough to know what a brat she was. "I don't think for a moment she'll bring him over to the dark side. But I think he might get hurt- physically and emotionally- because he wants this so badly. He cares for her, Jaina. I can feel it."
"Which means she can too, most likely. I don't want to get overly sentimental here, Uncle Luke, but don't underestimate the power of love," Jaina said, and she hated that phrasing, but whatever, it worked. "It's pulled two family members back from the dark side already. Ben may be sixteen, but he's not a fool. Maybe if he believes she's redeemable, it's because she is."
There was a looong moment of silence.
"All right," Luke said. "Vestara can come with us to Korriban. But we are going to be watching her every minute."
"Of course we will," Jaina nodded. "Drink your caf, it's getting cold."
[NFB,NFI, OOC okay! From Ascension by Christie Golden.]