I Know Something About Pain You Don't

Tahiri had been to Coruscant three times since the war began, and every single one of those had been an infiltration mission. ( This time was no different. )

[OOC: NFI, NFB, OOC-okay, majorly tl;dr, and finished. Also kind of half-assed because the original got eaten. Stupid computer. Heavily summarized with bits of dialogue ganked from The Unifying Force by James Luceno, the last little bit by me, and Tahiri will be home tomorrow, yay. Seriously, that final battle is ridiculous.]

Two Jedi, encircled by thirty Yuuzhan Vong warriors moving toward them at a rapid rate -- it didn't take a Givin to know those were bad odds. "Remember, you're supposed to be training me," Tahiri said, turning to stand back-to-back with Corran. "What does the wise Jedi do in a situation like this?"

"The wise Jedi avoids situations like this," Corran said.

"Oh," Tahiri replied dryly. "I guess I don't know any wise Jedi, then. Very disillusioning."

"Right. And that's your lesson for the day-don't hang on to your illusions."

She felt for the power stud of her lightsaber. "I was hoping more for a crash course in 'how to kick butt when you're outnumbered thirty to two.'"

"Well, if you're going to be picky about what I teach . . ."

( Everything happened pretty quickly after that. )

[OOC: Yep, still NFI/NFB/OOC-okay. For the last time, adapted from The Final Prophecy by Greg Keyes. Yeah, I love that first bit way too much to put it behind a cut. Yes, Friday, shut up. I meant to hit post two hours ago.

. . . and now, straight on to The Unifying Force starting Sunday. I'm so sorry, but there was just no way to break them up.]

She was used to being pulled in two directions at once; she'd had to make the choice between her Jedi training and her life with her Tusken tribe seven years ago, she'd lived with Riina Kwaad's growing consciousness for months now, and she still had trouble with the whole concept of "moving on doesn't mean betraying Anakin." So -- used to it. That didn't mean she had to like the feeling. ( Which was why when Jacen came looking for her after dinner, Tahiri wasn't sure what to think. )

[OOC: NFI, NFB, OOC-okay, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, his acronyms are my acronyms too. Adapted, again, from Destiny's Way by Walter Jon Williams. Hey, I didn't have to make up this part either!]

This, Tahiri reflected as she adjusted her uniform for the fifth time, could be considered absolutely ridiculous. There was a lot that was absurd, actually: that she was in a New Republic military uniform (though insignia-free, since she wasn't actually part of the military) to begin with, that they let her get away without wearing regulation boots, that she was at this meeting in her new capacity as a squadron commander.

The cherry topping on the ice cream sundae of absurdity here was the fact that here she was, sitting in one of the leather armchairs in the Ralroost's conference room waiting for the strategic planning meeting to start, and her feet didn't touch the floor.

Seriously. Under less strict circumstances this would be hilarious.

( Tahiri had to revise that opinion fairly quickly, though, when Jacen took the seat next to her and gave her a smile, and she had to remind herself not to freeze up or move away. )

[OOC: NFB, NFI, OOC okay, insert gratuitous acronyms here. Adapted from (and dialogue taken from) the short story Ylesia by Walter Jon Williams, and WTF canon, WHY DO YOU HAVE A SEPARATE SHORT STORY SET BETWEEN TWO CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK?!?]

When Tahiri had gotten onto the shuttle to head back home, she'd known the first thing on the agenda, before heading to Kashyyyk to join up with Admiral Kre'fey's fleet, was going to be the ceremony on Mon Calamari. To that end she'd spent much of the trip from Fandom reading up on strategy and going over everything she'd learned in Flight and Flying and in her lessons with Jaina. (All things considered, it was probably a good thing that she had no idea there'd been a debate over whether Knighting her was going to be an express ticket to the dark side. She had enough issues with that.)

( What she hadn't been expecting was to be standing on stage in a huge auditorium, staring up at a giant holoprojection of Anakin. Every time Tahiri had ever imagined what it'd be like when she finally made Jedi Knight, she'd always thought she'd see him there; she just never thought it would be like this. )

[OOC: Part one of . . . several. NFB, NFI, OOC okay, we all know this dance, right? Adapted from Destiny's Way by Walter Jon Williams.]