momslilassassin | Camp Miranda [midnight Dathomir time]

The attack came later than Ben had anticipated--past midnight instead of at sunset--and with a lack of subtlety that spoke of a hurriedly thrown together plan.

But then, Ben reflected, lightsaber glowing as he stared down the cliffs into the forest as they prepared for a third salvo, how subtle could you be when you were attacking with rancors?

"It's unfolding like we thought," he commented to Ender, "no cohesion between the groups. I'm now accepting brilliant suggestions on how to fix that. We're down to half-strength."

Ender	"That last attack might have made half our point for us," Ender said. He glanced over at the Dathomiri. "I think they might actually listen if you made the point to their faces now. They need to realise their strengths can compliment each other."
Ben	Ben nodded. "I tried contacting the Jade Shadow, but communications are blocked." He tilted his head as he felt a twitch through the Force. "They're reforming," he said. "We don't have much time." They began walking toward Firen, the Raining Leaves rancor trainer. "How many of the rancors have been put out of commission?" Ben asked. "Maybe one." Ben whistled. "You're kidding." "The first time, five came against us and five returned to the forest. The second time eleven--all fresh--came against us and eleven returned to the forest." "Stang," Ben cursed as the cry of "Nightsister!" came up from the warriors on the cliffs. "Some sort of truce thing?" Ben guessed. The note, when it reached them, read: To the Sisters of the Raining Leaves: Kill, enslave or drive forth the men with you and we will have no further quarrel. Do not and you will die with them. So swear we all, The Sisters of the Night "That's useful," Ben commented dryly.
Ender	"It might be," Ender commented, softly, and mostly under his breath. Louder, he said, "I wonder what they're expecting to get."
Ben	Tasander had come over with Kaminne to read the letter. Kaminne snorted. "What's an elegant way to say 'No, and we hope you die in misery?'" Tasander shrugged. "My father used to say, 'May the stinging insects of a thousand worlds seek out your moist places.'" That ended up being the response that was sent. The Nightsisters replied with the most savage attack of rancors yet, one where Vestara managed to save Luke while Ben was engaged with his own rancor. "I still don't like her," Ben said sullenly to Ender.
Ender	"If it's any consolation, we don't know how much of it is actual kindness and how much of it is calculated," Ender offered. "Of course, that goes both ways."
Ben	Ben nodded. "Either way, she's not our most pressing issue at the moment." He swiped at his hair--the Nightsisters had employed gale-force winds in addition to eleven new, fresh rancors in the last attack. "Does this attack remind you of anything?" He was reminded of a space battle, but Ender was the clear expert on that here.
Ender	"A few things," Ender admitted. "It's like throwing a lot of tiny fighters at a few huge vessels, at the end of the day. Which has every chance of working, but only when everyone is working in tandem with each other. Like a Bugger fleet."
Ben	"Right," Ben said. "Instead we should be the capitol ship and they should be the fighters." He looked around. "Divide the clans into shielding, long-range weapons, specialized weapons...make them come to us, fight them back as united front."
Ender	"We don't need to be a capitol ship," Ender said, lightly. "We just need to have fighters who act like a squadron with a clear purpose. If you lock them all into the same 'ship', they lose the ability to respond quickly to changes on the battlefield." A pause. "But your suggestion is sound. We do need to group those fighters who have comparable skills; we don't have time to drill smaller groups of mixed fighters into working together right now. Just split each category into at least two squadrons, without discriminating based on clan. Make them work together while that's sensible, but give them the opportunity to split and cover more ground if we have to."
Ben	Ben nodded thoughtfully. "But leave it to their own people to decide when that is. We can't see the whole picture all the time, and I think Dad is going to take this fight to the Nightsisters personally. We can fight rancors all night if we can't take out the intelligence behind them." He pointed toward Kaminne and Tasander. "You want to tell them the plan? It's your camp, after all."
Ender	"If you'll debrief Luke," Ender said. He glanced Kaminne and Tasander's way. "Or the other way around."
Ben	"I'll talk to him," Ben said, nodding. "He might need Aunt Leia and me to help--I'm not sure if what he's planning is stuff he wants the Dathomiri to know we can do."
Ender	Ender gave him a curt nod. "Off you go, ensign," he said, and walked off towards the Dathomiri.
Ben	Luke and Ender and Ben's plans intermeshed easily and while the Dathomiri on the cliffs took out the rancors, Luke, Ben and Leia moved into the forest and concentrated on using the Force to track the Nightsisters individually and knock them out. With rocks, Ben noted wryly, because there were a lot of them handy. While the rancors attacked three more times during the night, by dawn it was clear that those on the cliffs were the victors. Tasander and Kaminne were married that morning and Camp Miranda became Camp Bright Sun. "Onto our next problem," a grubby, exhausted Ben said as he flopped next to Ender and helped himself to some breakfast. "Getting Vestara to come with us."
Ender	Ender shot him a glance. "You're planning to make her a hostage?" he checked. He wasn't surprised, exactly.
Ben	Ben made a little face--he didn't like that interpretation much. "I was thinking more that we convince her to come with us." Because his conversations with her had gone so well so far. "Or else I could walk into the Forest of Imminent Doom, she could hit me over the head with something and you could take her on attempted murder charges." There was the Skywalker planning in action.
Ender	Ender chuckled softly. "Not while I'm around," he said, "I expect a better standard in tactical planning, ensign Skywalker. Though I should probably relieve you of your rank now that Bright Sun has taken over." He looked back at the crowd. "You'd have to convince her that it's in her advantage to stick to us, rather than the Nightsisters," he said. "They're weakened now, but I don't think she's going to just prance into your custody unless she's convinced she can get one over on you eventually."
Ben	"I think her first goal is probably to deliver Luke Skywalker to her people," Ben said. "It explains what she did last night. And the Dathomiri, for all their stay-at-home...ness...I don't think there's a higher percentage of Force sensitives anywhere in the galaxy. This would go along way toward balancing the 'oh by the way, the entire rest of the strike team is dead' bad news she's going to have to deliver. Dad and a planet full of potential Sith apprentices."
Ender	"Then really, it's just a matter of time until she tries to sneak aboard," Ender said, lightly. "I think your dad should offer."
Ben	"'Hey, we want to find your homeworld anyway, want a lift?'" Ben replied. "Not sure she'll buy it."
Ender	"Making her a hostage," Ender clarified. "She'd buy that."
Ben	"If her friends show up, it's a strategy that might work," Ben said. "Assuming they aren't like general Sith who'd be all 'eh, kill her.'"
Ender	"Make it a bargain," Ender said, "Make it seem like her only way off this rock is if she lets us take her. She'll take it as her one shot at Luke, too." He glanced at Ben. "Because we need her to figure out who these Sith are." Which was the thing he actually did care about.
Ben	"It's not like she's stuck here due to a lack of a ship," Ben agreed, glancing around to see where Vestara was right now. "We'll need to watch her closely today. She's been here at least a week. It can't take her people that long to get here."
Ender	"Unless they've been here for a while, they're waiting for her signal, or they've decided to abandon her after all," Ender said. "Unless she's honest about her desire to stay here, but I sincerely doubt that." Not out of any innate distrust of the Sith - he'd just met the girl in question.
Ben	Ben snorted. "Sorry, but no one really wants to stay on Dathomir, and if they've abandoned her, that's an even better scenario for us."
Ender	"Either way, I think our success depends on making her think she's got more of a shot at getting an edge coming with us than staying here, waiting for the Sith."
Ben	"Any ideas of how to convince her of that?" Ben asked, reaching for Aunt Leia's datapad to check his messages. He cursed as he opened one from Jaina. "Mandos attacked the Jedi Temple."
Ender	I know, Ender didn't say. Oh, we knew that, Jane did say. Why are these people so slow? Do you think they ever get tired of lagging behind? "Daala?" he asked.
Ben	"Well it wasn't the Hidden One," Ben said dryly. "But really, Mandos? Is she trying to start a war?"
Ender	"Events are slipping out of her control, I wager," Ender said. "But that won't make her very popular. Did anyone get hurt?"
Ben	"None fatally," Ben said, "but I imagine Jaina whaled on some of the Mandos fairly efficiently." He tilted his head. "Where'd Vestara go?"
Ender	Ender snapped his eyes away from Ben towards where he'd last seen her-- "I don't know," he said, scanning the crowd. "If she's broken out--"
Ben	"We're in trouble," Ben concluded, closing his eyes. She'd hidden her Force presence. "Blast. Let's go find Dad. He can still track her through the blood bond."
Ender	Ender nodded, shoving the last of his breakfast aside and pushed up onto his feet. He didn't bother to say anything else; he'd kept half an eye on Luke anyway, and was now beelining that way.
Luke	Luke listened, frowning hard, as Ben and Ender explained their theory, then asked Luke to track Vestara down. "I'll go," Luke said. "You find Han and Leia and head to the spaceport. Amelia needs to be off the planet before the Sith arrive if it's at all possible."
Ender	Luke-- would probably be slightly more inclined towards subtlety than Ben was. And honestly, Ender himself wasn't so inclined to go after Vestara right now. "Right," he said, and shot Ben a brief glance. "Which means we need to get moving."
Ben	Ben wasn't so easily convinced. "Wait, you're going to send two of the three Jedi on this planet in the opposite direction of where the Sith went? That's dumb."
Luke	"We're protecting your cousin, who's eight years old," Luke said icily, "and who only has Artoo and Threepio for protection. And where exactly do you think Vestara thought to send her kin? I'm betting the spaceport."
Ender	Yes-- Amelia, who was on her own at the spaceport because her parents didn't think to take her along. Ender bit that comment back, though. "And Luke can look after himself right now," he said. "We're needed elsewhere, small fry; get moving."
Ben	Ben pursed his lips but nodded. In a few minutes, he, Ender and his aunt and uncle were hiking back through the forest heading for the spaceport as fast as they could. "I wish we had the speeder now," Han said. "I could call for the Shadow," Ben offered. "Getting it to dock in the forest could take some work, though."
Ender	"Not really an option," Ender said, keeping his feet moving. His mind was elsewhere - thinking about the Sith, and what they might be planning, and about the troubles back on Coruscant. "At least you've got the chance to pick up your morning hikes again."
Ben	And so they hiked, eating as they walked to save time. They were only a few kilometers from the spaceport when Ben spotted three lights in the sky that were definitely not from stars breaking through the atmosphere, veering away from the spaceport and heading toward a clearing they'd passed a half hour before. "Stang," he cursed. "I'll eat my boots if those aren't Sith."
Ender	Ender glanced up, narrowing his eyes. "Trouble," he said. Please, not again.
Ben	"Well, it's been a few hours," Ben commented, and just saying that made him a little exhausted. "We could still go straight to the spaceport."
Ender	That was almost surprising. Ender studied Ben's face for a moment. "Luke's best prepared to handle this one," he said.
Ben	"One Jedi Grand Master against three ships full of Sith and a planetful of Nightsisters," Ben said, blowing out a breath. "Right. He's got this." He wasn't being facetious either.
Ender	"Don't rule out the Dathomiri, either," Ender said. "Or Luke's judgement." At least as long as he wasn't recklessly tossing his son at fights that didn't need to be started-- but Ben's loyalty to his father was still strong, and Ender flow with it this time. He reached out to touch Ben's arm. "If he needs you, he'll call."
Ben	Ben nodded. "And we don't know how many ships might still be in space waiting either," he said, following Han and Leia as they raced toward the Falcon. It didn't mean he wasn't being crushed by guilt for leaving Luke. This was feeling like a repeat of how he'd ended up in Fandom--one Sith's influence had become too strong on him, so his father had taken him out of the equation.
Ender	And out of his own influence. Ender wondered if Luke ever realised what the consequences of that might be - but then he remembered about the young girl sitting alone on that ship, and knew he probably hadn't. Not really. He sped after Ben, choosing not to linger. But thinking: it was still August in Fandom. The new term hadn't started yet. If they made it out of here alive... well, he'd deal with that later.
Ben	They arrived at the Millennium Falcon, docked snugly beside the Jade Shadow, and the pain hit Ben like a vibroblade to the stomach. Han and Leia were more concerned about their adopted daughter. "Amelia?" Han called, charging up the ramp. "I've started pre-flight," a little voice replied and a dark-haired girl poked her head down to see the new arrivals. "Ben!" "Hey, squirt," Ben said, giving her a tight hug. "You didn't burn the planet down?" "Threepio wouldn't let me."
Ender	"That just means you have to try harder next time," Ender volunteered, smiling quietly. "Hi. Amelia, I presume." He was going to have to check in on Ben after this.
Ben	"That's me," she said. "Who are you?" "This is my friend Ender," Ben replied, finding a seat as Han flipped buttons and switches and sat in his pilot's chair like Ben had remembered his entire life. Han frowned when he saw what was waiting for them in the atmosphere. "Leia, I'm going to need you and Ben in the turrets, just in case I can't outrun these guys."
Ender	Ender frowned as well, squinting at the window. "How fast would you predict they are?" he asked. He'd done his research, but he didn't have enough experience with vessels like this, yet. He supposed now he wouldn't need it.
Han	"No idea, kid," Han said, firing up the engines. "I've flown against them exactly as many times as you have. But the Falcon has some tricks to her they've never seen."
Ender	Ender strapped himself in as fast as he could. "Got it," he said. "So how fast can we go?"
Han	"Ben never told you?" Han looked a little overdramatically hurt as they launched into the atmosphere. "What could possibly be more important to talk about?" He then launched into an elaborate description of how fast the Falcon could go--he could brag about his ship and pilot her simultaneously--as they broke into space and got a good look around. "A dozen more ships," Han said. "Better than the last time I was here where we got greeted by a crazy warlord in a Super Star Destroyer."
Ender	"And if you survived that," Ender said, his mind racing to place the ships in terms of three-dimensional space, "We're going to ace this one." It didn't take him more than a few seconds to plot the best course in his mind, and another second to indicate it out loud.
Han	Amelia looked impressed. "He's good, Daddy," she said, grinning at Ender from her seat across from him. "He's not bad," Han acknowledged, setting the course. "But I knew that too."
Ender	"Let's not congratulate ourselves until we're free and clear," Ender said. "If these guys spot us, it's all in the Jedi's hands."
Han	"Never let the Jedi hear you say that, kid," Han said with a little grin. "They think they're indispensable enough as it is. Besides, I have a few tricks they've never thought of. You don't need the Force to break a blockade."
Ender	"On that," Ender said, "We're completely on the same page." He decided that as far as people in Ben's universe went, he quite liked Han. "Let's get moving. I look forward to seeing this thing in action."
Han	Han beamed. "Then check your safety harness," he said. "This could get bumpy." He activated the comms. "Leia, Ben? Strap in. We're going to try to fly casual but if that doesn't work, light 'em up." In the back, Threepio moaned about how much he hated space travel. Since he'd been saying that for forty years now, Han ignored him.
Ender	Ender did check his safety harness, just to be sure. But he was sitting forward a moment later, concentrating on the positions of the various ships. Was this how his pilots had felt, facing an unknowable enemy in the darkness of space? Except there wouldn't be a voice whispering into his ear. He could learn something here.
Han	With the ease of many decades of practice, Han spun the Falcon through a series of maneuvers designed to make the ship look slower and closer to falling apart than it really was. He was banking on the Sith not being familiar with the legend of the ship. He aimed the Falcon at the nearest spot where they could safely make the jump to lightspeed and kept the Falcon level. "Now try to look harmless," Han muttered.
Ender	"Already on it," Ender said, dryly. Most people here weren't exactly familiar with the legend of Ender Wiggin, either.
Han	They'd gotten about halfway there before a voice speaking in an accent much like Vestara's--only male--came through the commlink. "Ship, identify yourself." Han gave Ender and Amelia a wink. "This is the--" he glanced at Amelia. "Naboo Duckling," she told him. He blinked. "Seriously?" "You told me to pick anything!" "--the Naboo Duckling," Han continued a little dryly, "and we were already cleared by ground control. Is there a problem?"
Ender	If Ben hadn't already let Ender in on a few things about Han's past, he would've guessed by now. He shot Amelia a gently amused look, and then turned towards the controls, listening intently.
Han	"We're not allowing any Dathomiri vessels to leave the planet right now," the voice replied. "Return to the spaceport immediately." "Well, as it says on our manifest, we're from Naboo," Han said, "and heading back there now after getting our hyperdrive repaired." There was a long pause, then the closest Sith ship fired at them. "They're not buying this," Han said. "We need you to get us about fifteen seconds, Leia and Ben of time and then we're home free." He shoved the throttle up, showing the Sith just how fast the ship was capable of going, which was much faster than a freighter its size and age should be capable of. "If I had a credit for every time we left a planet like this, I'd be able to buy a different, better planet," Han said.
Ender	"My advice," Ender said, eyes flying across the screen, identifying where the worst of the attack was coming from - but things were moving fast. From this point of view, there was little he could react to in time to accomplish anything. "Is 'stop ticking off all the locals'." His kingdom for a Command School battle interface.
Han	"If I had a credit for every time I heard that," Han said with a grin, "I could by the moon to go with the planet." A couple of shots bounced harmlessly off the shielding and Han glanced down at the instruments. "Shielding down to 108 percent," he told them, winking. This was Han's idea of fun. "Shifting port to get that one guy to back off," he told Leia, "then we'll punch it." "Hopefully the hyperdrive holds together," Ben said with a little grin to his voice. "Watch yourself, kid, or you'll be floating home," Han replied.
Ender	"Let's not. Ben's a flailer in null-grav," Ender snarked absently.
Han	Ben's "Hey!" was drowned out by Han's laughter. "You can stay," he said. "Punch it, Amelia." With a proud grin, she sent them into hyperspace. "Where are we going?" she asked. "Naboo," Han replied. "You inspired me. And Coruscant from there. People in the Temple will need to hear about the Sith."
Ender	"I suspect they'll have a whole new war to prepare," Ender said, and was glad Ben wasn't right here to sense his exhaustion about the whole matter. "Ben and I are going to have to decide what we're going to do next." Coruscant, Fandom. Ender didn't honestly care where - sooner or later he was going to leave anyway. Though with time running slower in Fandom-- there might be less marking time.
Han	"Luke didn't exactly leave explicit instructions," Han agreed easily, turning to face Ender now that they were safely in hyperspace. "Do you have a preference?"
Ender	"I'm going home a while from now, no matter where I go," he said. "What Ben wants to do with himself is a more pressing question."
Han	"Well, you've met Jedi," Han said with a sardonic smile. "If you say 'Sith', they'll hunt like a nexu."
Ender	Ender felt a brief flicker of surprise, though he should have known he'd get this reaction - Han was a non-Jedi amongst Jedi, and had been for a long time. "Problematically enough," he said, sounding just a little grim, "Yes." He glanced aside at Han, then up at the viewscreen again. He knew what he thought - that getting swept up in a Sith witch hunt wouldn't be the best thing for Ben. He just didn't think it was his decision to make, either. Unless he could coerce Ben into making it of his own free will. Considering how Ben had been down on Dathomir in the last few hours, it might not take as much effort as it usually would have.
Han	"Well, you know how Sith are: destroy them for all time and then another pops up two years later," Han replied. "We've been fighting the last of their kind since Vader."
Ender	"Yes," Ender said, mildly, "You'd almost be inclined to think that maybe that approach isn't working." He looked back towards Han. "I think some time on Naboo'll do us good," he said, "It'll be a while before the Jedi can move against the Sith no matter what we do, and Ben could use some downtime."
Han	"Well, if it weren't for their inclination to take over the galaxy while cackling evilly, I'd say live and let live," Han said with a shrug. "And if you don't mind me saying so, it looks like you both could use a break. The reports Ben's been sending out have been light on details but it doesn't exactly sound like the most restful six months ever."
Ender	I'm not very good with breaks, Ender didn't say. Instead, he snorted. "A vacation, then," he said. "Somewhere without rancors this time. I think Ben'll agree to that."
Han	"Well, if that's your only criteria, there's a whole lot of galaxy to choose from," Han said, grinning. "Oh, which reminds me. There's a baby nexu back by the sleeping quarters." Amelia wriggled proudly. "She's mine."
Ender	Ender blinked, then released a chuckle that was at least partly tension-relief. "Of course she is," he said. "You look like a nexu kind of girl."
Han	"We got her at the Animal Livestock Exchange and Exhibition after Mom had to kill her mother," Amelia explained. "Her name's Anji. I've trained her, but sometimes she get sick when we take off." "I'm not sure he needed to know that," Han said. "So yeah, four eyes, lots of teeth and just another member of the family."
Ender	"Fits right in," Ender concluded, taking off the safety harness and climbing on to his feet. "I'd love to hear about Anji later, Amelia," he added, "I have a most difficult task ahead of me."
Han	"Getting Ben to leave a gun turret?" Amelia asked. "Because if you ask her nicely, Anji will totally let you go to the refresher." Han smothered a snicker in the pilot's seat.
Ender	"'Talking sense into a Skywalker', was what I was going to say," Ender said, after a short beat, "No refreshers. Unless I have to shove his big head down one."
Ben	"Hey!" Ben voice came in over the comm system. "I heard that!"
Ender	"You were supposed to!" Ender called back, rolling his eyes.
Ben	"I'll make you bunk with Anji!" he threatened.
Ender	Ender shot Amelia a dry look. "I think he doesn't realise that Anji is your nexu," he said.
Ben	"She's not going to listen to Ben anyway," Amelia assured him, eyes twinkling. "Hey! I'm your favorite cousin!" "You're my only cousin, unless I can count Ender. I like him better." And then the comm went to static as Ben sputtered.
Ender	Ender sighed, but flashed her a quick smile. "I'm not a cousin," he said, "But I'd like to be a friend, if that's okay. Once I do finish shoving his head down the refresher."
Ben	"Just don't get it stuck there," Amelia advised. "It's only one we have and it's a long trip to Naboo." "Thank you," Ben huffed. "Uncle Han, are we--" "--in Anakin and Jacen's old room, yeah," he finished for him. "Try not to eat the entire food supply as you walk past it, okay?"