{{ urbania's void - chapter 04
...general musings (day ten / +10)
My name is Jacen Solo. I'm a twenty-three year old Jedi Knight and General, born and raised in the upper levels of Coruscant. Both my mother and father are alive and well, although my father is getting a bit cranky in his recent years. They're both still as enjoyable as ever and I love to spend time with them. My sister and I have grown closer since the war ended... I thought I had lost pieces of her during the battles. But I found out she was still the same old Jaina after we sat and talked all night one evening. Parts of our minds linger in the past and we find ourselves acting like the old Solo twins. Mischievous and adventurous... one of the reasons we both wanted in on this mission. I like deciding what's right in matters. I have high morals. I don't drink alcohol much at all. I like lightsabers and I like the Force, but only if they're used right. People tend to get on my good side unless they act like idiots. I'm in love. I've never had sex. Haven't had the time, the energy, but I’ve had the chance. Like I said before, the high moral ground I sit atop has let thoughts like that shatter. I like telling jokes. They're still as silly and childish as they were before but they make me think of simpler times... better times. I guess you could call me a good person. And I guess you could say that I have nothing in common with my disguise.
Jacen Solo awoke to a silent room and checking his chrono, it told him that it was still the middle of the night. He had been dreaming about Tenel Ka again. Not the twisted visions he had been having two months before all of this started; but pleasant normal dreams. Flashbacks to the Academy and making her smile... things like that always seemed to raise his spirits.
Well, that's one thing I have in common with Serasai.
They both wanted Tenel Ka. But obviously for different reasons.
Curling up on his side, Jacen pulled the linen sheets that were spread out on his bed up to his neck as he shut his eyes. Usually, it wasn't hard for him to drift back to sleep after waking up. But for some reason, sleep wouldn't take him now. It was like sleep was rejecting him for unknown reasons. A heavy sigh filled the room. His mind wandered from Tenel Ka to the mission at hand.
While visiting Hapes for the events surrounding the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong, Jacen Solo had realized that he truly loved Tenel Ka. All of his years he fumbled with the idea of pursuing a relationship with her, but he never had the nerve to put one into motion. They were both very busy people and Jacen didn't want to seem like too much of a distraction or an interference. When he finally told her how he felt, his duties as a General had torn him away from her.
Everyone had to go back and get briefed on what had happened. It wasn't anything huge, like a new galactic threat or the Empire fading into its old ways...
But a message from long-lost Raynar Thul.
"--- Thul. --- hostage on the Urbania ---- years and I finally --- chance ---send a message. --- Please help. --- hope this --- you. Thank ---"
It was a fairly disturbing message; the visuals were quite good, albeit a tad scratchy. The audio cut out many times, but the receiving end got the main idea of it and prepared to launch a small, covert rescue mission for Raynar Thul, whom everyone thought had died. He had a memorial in the strike team grove and all the Jedi on the team had thought they felt him die. But the message was too real and too tangible to just let it slide. And they would definitely question him when they brought him back.
If they brought him back.
Each person that was being sent was briefed alone with Master Luke Skywalker, for the basics, Wedge Antilles, for the intelligence skills and the Jedi Scientist Danni Quee, for the Mindmap lessons.
They didn't know who else was being sent on the mission but themselves. They found out who they were teamed up with the day they left and each group left at different times of the day, on different days and went to different planets before locating the Urbania and finding their ways there.
Jacen had remembered being briefed by Danni in the small dimly lit room. She had a case of many different Mindmaps with her and she told him the basics about them. How they would change hair color, eye color, skin tone, possibly the voice tone and create the illusion of changing small aspects of the users visage.
"You're going to have to change your hairstyle yourself. And remember, you're going to act like who you pick out too."
Danni held out two small square cases towards him, across the table. "Pick one. Your partner is going to get stuck with the other one."
"Do you know who my partner is?"
"I do know."
"Who?"
"I'm not telling. You'll find out. Patience, Jacen. Patience."
Jacen sighed and stared down to the tiny circular devices held in the cases. He placed his finger on one and moved it back and forth between the two, before settling on the one in Danni's right hand. She handed it over to him; neither of them knowing how much pain that little device would cause him in the future.
Jacen remembered the warning his Uncle Luke had given him.
"Don't stay open to the Force. Close yourself off. You don't know who is out there. And you don't know who will use your presence against you. You're in disguise anyways... and I don't think your Mindmap has the Force." Luke smiled at the last comment as he clapped his nephew on the shoulder.
Jacen remembered saying his goodbyes to his sister.
"Good luck, Jasa." She knew he was going. He was the one of the strongest Jedi and one of the most in-depth thinkers. Jacen had hugged her and brushed her cheek with a light kiss before turning to go off to his room to pack.
The General bolted upright in his bed. He officially couldn't sleep and his usual habit during insomnia attacks couldn't be done. He couldn't meditate properly because the Force was off limits, as Uncle Luke instructed. Jacen stumbled out of bed and over to his door, where he pushed the button and stepped out into the main living area. Along one wall of the apartment, was the kitchen area and the front door and along the other wall, which was curved, was the entrance to Jacen's room, the entrance to Zekk's, the living area and the refresher. Everything along the curved wall had access to a balcony. Jacen found it odd that the refresher had a balcony and huge glass doors, but he passed it off after realizing he could just close the curtains.
He would go get a drink of water. It was something to do and he did seem a bit ----
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Jacen stopped his trek to the kitchen area and turned his head towards the front door. It was the middle of the night, who could be knocking on the door? Stepping lightly over to it, he hit the unlock button, then the release button and it slid open, Jacen steeling himself for whatever waited behind it.
Nothing.
He stuck his head out and looked up and down the hallway. It was dark and empty, save the datapad sitting in front of the door. Jacen leaned down and scooped it up in his hand, quickly reentering the room and letting the door shut behind him. He switched it on and read the message that lit the screen up.
"Nature boy. I know this is you reading this message. We have been watching you and we know where you are and what you are doing. You know us, do not worry. We will meet you at the Vina Lidrina exactly 25 days from now and tell you what we have found, what we have done and how we found you. But for now, I have left something in the side compartment for you.
Little Sister almost went into shock at what I have left you in this datapad. We heard a knock on the door of our place, opened it and found a corpse outside with this on it. We thought you should see it. We do not know what to do with it, or why it was left for us, or how whoever gave it to us got it.
But we shall discuss it in 25 days.
Stay safe,
tail one..."
Tesar?
Jacen slid open the side compartment of the datapad and found a small case. Inside, a small circular device.
A Mindmap.
Jacen had left Kaidin's Mindmap on his nightstand and this one would go beside it, but not after he found out what it looked like and what it was all about. Solo crept to the refresher and stepped inside, walking straight towards the mirror. Trusting the message from Tesar, Jacen slid the Mindmap into his eye and waited.
Twitching, Jacen felt thoughts draining into his brain, slamming into his mind. His hands clutched at the edge of the sink as he stared down into the empty basin, clenching his jaw shut. He felt pain; he felt a sense of familiarity. The entrance of the Mindmap halted and left Jacen breathless. He tilted his head up from the sink to look into the reflective surface.
Ocean blue eyes widened at the sight staring back at him. His thoughts swirled and melded with each other.
Strike team, Tahiri, Myrkr, Mom, Dad, Jaina, Jacen, Ikrit, deathdeathdeath.
"Anakin..." Anakin's voice escaped his throat as he said his own name. "No!"
And quickly pinching his nose, the device fell onto the floor, shattering the silence with an echoing cling. Jacen fell to his knees and drew in deep breaths, the floor's cold surface causing him to shiver. Moments passed.
Jacen scooped the Mindmap up in his hand and stalked to his room with it, dropping it on his nightstand alongside of the Kaidin Serasai piece. He suddenly felt very worn out and tired and he definitely had to talk to Zekk about this in the morning. Collapsing into his bed, he shut his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep, wondering if it had all been a dream.
Anakin. Why Anakin? Who the kriff could've made such a thing?
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