The Legend of the Jedi Queen

31. Yavin IV

The two teenagers raced out into the hall, where Rey was on her commlink. She turned as she heard the footsteps.

"Tallis, you're—"

"We need to be on Yavin IV tomorrow," Tallis interrupted. "Something really bad is going to happen, and I need to be there."

"Slow down, what's going on?" Rey asked.

Nellith and Tallis quickly relayed what they knew. Rey sighed loudly, and turned to grab her commlink.

"Jaina, you're really not going to like this," Rey said. "We need a ship to Yavin IV, stat, and you're taking Nellith and Tallis."

Several curse words exploded from the commlink, including some new ones. Nellith mentally catalogued them as she waited for Jaina to finish her tirade.

"What is this for?" Jaina asked.

"They're going to have to fill you in during the ride," Rey said. "If you want to make it to Yavin IV before the next cycle, you need to leave within the next hour."

"Kriff, Rey, I'll do it," Jaina said.

The transmission ended, and Rey turned to the two teenagers.

"I'd suggest you get down to the Twin Suns fast," she said mildly. "She's not in a great mood. I'd also suggest you don't use any new vocabulary she might teach you."

By the time Nellith and Tallis had made it down to the hangar, Jaina had already refueled and fired up the Twin Suns.

"Get in," Jaina ordered. "This better be good, considering that I was sleeping!"

Nellith nodded rather meekly, Tallis much more confidently. The two scrambled into the cockpit, Nellith into the co-pilot's seat, and Tallis right behind her. It was only a few seconds before Jaina entered, and she slammed the button to close the loading ramp and stormed over to the pilot's seat. She pointed to Tallis.

"Start talking," Jaina ordered. She turned to the panel, and she and Nellith began takeoff procedure.

"We need to be at Yavin IV, where Andromeda Hux is going to summon Snoke's ghost," Tallis said.

"More Snoke? Joy," Jaina muttered. "How did you figure this one out, then?"

"He's been calling to me for a long time," Tallis said. "And after the incident with Nellith in the Sith tomb, I took whatever— I guess shred— of his spirit, and last night, I could feel it struggling to get to the rest of his ghost, where Hux is."

Jaina froze, then swiveled around to face Tallis. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I thought I could handle it— blood matters to the Sith," Tallis said.

"You're of Snoke's bloodline?" Jaina demanded.

"Aunt Jaina, we need to get to Yavin," Nellith said quietly.

Jaina held up a hand, and looked quite angry. "You didn't answer my question."

"Yes," Tallis said. "I don't know where he fits— but Mom always said he was an ancestor, too."

Jaina blinked. "How many Sith Lords are in your family?"

"More than I'd like to say," Tallis admitted, looking down at his hands.

Jaina gave a nod and a thousand-yard stare before swiveling back around to finish the takeoff procedure. The Twin Suns soared through the atmosphere of Uphatu, and into hyperspace seamlessly.

As soon as that happened, Jaina turned to Nellith.

"I want to make sure Kyp didn't leave some grenades in here— could you check the weapons' locker, please?"