Coruscant, Several Days Later (Wednesday Night Fandom Time)

[nonelikemesince]

Mom had been in the Hapan battle fleet at Fondor, a fact Anakin could confirm because he'd been able to sense her afterward. (Which was a relief.) He didn't envy her the task of trying to repair the damage to the New Republic's alliance with Hapes after this disaster, that was for sure, but he and Jacen had left the system before the cleanup even started.

Anakin stuck around the apartment long enough to pack a few things and take a long sanisteam, but with the door open he could hear yet another news anchor's voice droning on from the HoloNet well in the living room. He sighed; Jacen had had the news on just about nonstop since they left Centerpoint, and he was sick of it.

He couldn't help listening in anyway.

"Former head of the so-called Human League, Thrackan Sal-Solo is being credited with turning the tide at the Battle of Fondor. While scores of New Republic warships were destroyed in the Yuuzhan Vong's sneak attack on Fondor's orbital construction facilities, Sal-Solo's bold use of a hyperspace repulsor beam not only drove the invaders into retreat but destroyed a significant portion of their fleet.

"The repulsor beam was fired from Centerpoint Station, in the Coreliian system, which, ironically, was used eight years ago during Corellia's unsuccessful bid for independence from the New Republic. One of the many arrested for fomenting that crisis, Sal-Solo was released from prison to assist in re-arming the station, and there are unconfirmed reports that he was the only one willing to assume the risk of triggering the weapon against the enemy fleet."

Anakin scowled and jammed a balled-up tunic deeper into his bag.

"As to what's next for Sal-Solo or Centerpoint, that depends on whom you ask. With a vote of no confidence looming for Governor-General Marcha, Duchess of Mastigophorous, some feel that Sal-Solo will be recruited to head the newly formed Centerpoint Party, which advocates independence for the five worlds that comprise the Coreliian system. Centerpoint Station itself remains in the hands of the New Republic, but whether it will -- or indeed can -- be employed again as a long-range weapon depends largely on how successful Coruscant is at justifying the secondary destruction suffered at Fondor by the Hapan fleet."

At this point, he wanted to go back to Fandom. Maybe it was running away, but the anti-Jedi sentiment they'd encountered on Drall was only going to get worse from here on out and he wasn't sure he could deal with it.

"I'm all packed. You ever going to get tired of listening to reports about Corellia?" he asked, emerging into the family room to find Jacen perched on the arm of the couch in pretty much the same position he had been several hours ago. With a disgusted glare at the HoloNet broadcast he grumbled, "We turned Cousin Thrackan into a hero. What else needs to be said?"

"Cheer up," Jacen said, muting the broadcast. "At least this report didn't mention us by name."

"Well, that's something," Anakin muttered dryly. Whether or not a particular report bothered to mention that it had been two of the Solo kids, most of them were all too happy to go on about how there had been Jedi on board Centerpoint when it was fired. "Now all we have to do is hope that Dad doesn't hear about it."

"Since when does Dad care about the news? Besides, you're the one the HoloNet should be calling a hero."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "For what, enabling Centerpoint?"

"No, for not triggering it," Jacen replied. "That's what'll make Dad and Uncle Luke and anyone else who knows the full story proud of you."

"You still don't get it." Anakin knew Jacen was trying to make him feel better, even compliment him, but he couldn't listen to anything his brother said without second-guessing it any more. "I could have fired Centerpoint without hitting the Hapans. I would have known where to direct the repulsor beam, and precisely when to fire. I even knew that Glowpoint wasn't going to annihilate everyone in Hollowtown."

"Then why didn't you fire? What stopped you?"

Somehow, it was annoying that Jacen was so calm about asking the question. Anakin snorted and didn't bother to keep the scorn out of his voice. "You mean aside from your telling me not to?"

"You were that sure of yourself?" Jacen asked, sounding more concerned than dubious. To be honest, Anakin would have preferred the latter.

"Yeah, I was. And my actions would have been defensive. If someone is aiming a blaster at your ally, do you raise your lightsaber to prevent it, or do you do nothing because a Jedi isn't supposed to take aggressive action? I mean, where's the line, Jacen?" he asked, slashing a hand through the air for emphasis. "We're in a war for survival, and defense sometimes means having to eliminate the opposition."

"I don't know where the line is, and I promised myself on Ithor that I'd stop trying to look for it," Jacen answered. "I just think there has to be some other way of responding -- without having to raise a sword to deflect one raised against you."

Anakin hitched his bag up on his shoulder and turned to leave; he had a shuttle to catch. "Well, when you figure it out, I hope you'll let me in on it."

"Oh, I will, brother," he heard Jacen call after him. "You can count on that."

[OOC: You know the NFI/NFB/OOC-okay drill. This is the last thing tweaked from Agents of Chaos 2: Jedi Eclipse by James Luceno.