MARTIAL ARTS
Bearing the moniker "Sword of the Jedi" there is no doubt that Jaina Solo was A master swords-woman and duelist. However, much of the examination of her martial skill will actually be focused on A attempt to peg her preferred Form of Lightsaber combat down. Described as being the "Equal in combat to any of the other new Jedi order members" (Although I doubt that this applies to her uncle) Jaina Solo was A nearly unparalleled warrior for her day, holding her own against masses of Yuuzhan Vong, slaying there Warmaster, outclassing Alema Rar, fighting her fallen brother on even ground and being A major player in battle against the Lost tribe of the Sith, etc. Although it is A comparatively little known feat, I believe the best demonstration of Jaina's skill with the blade was when she engaged three Sith at once atop A Dark side nexus: despite being at A severe disadvantage due to the location, Jaina defeated the Sith with Constantine ease. Although extremely aggressive, especially for A Jedi, Jaina Solo rarely suffered defensive laps'es and was almost as viable in this area as she was on the offense. Finally, an apt description for Jaina's fighting style was as A "Force of nature, river of chaos, etc" and she was known to be something of A Mace Windu hero worshiper. All things considered, I think it is A fare assumption to make that Jaina was A master of Form seven, Vappad. Although I doubt she could have learned the Form in it's complete state from holocrons, she likely could use it's move-set and practices: For example, I do not think she could create the super conductive Dark Side loop Mace did, but I do think that Jaina at least came close to emulating his fighting style, in all probability creating A brand new and personalized Form. To be fare however, neither Wollf Myth or Troy Denning agree with me on this.
Darth Traya (Or I you prefer, Kriea) was primarily A Jedi Counselor and later Force wielding Sith lord. That being said, perspective martial challengers underestimate her skills in this area at there own risk. Unlike her opponent, it is completely confirmed which of the seven classical Jedi Lightsaber combat styles Traya prefers. First off is Soresu, the defensively orientated third Form. Since she was at A major disadvantage in traditional Lightsaber combat (Hence why she only has one hand) Traya's favorite tactic was to hide behind A telekineticly created shield of three Lightsabers. This was, obviously, A defensive move most likely inspired by Soresu. Form 2, Makashi, most likely came into play in one on one combat and, being the Form with the greatest emphasis in this regard, Traya's later forced practice of one handed fighting. Finally, Form one, Shi Cho, most likely came into play as the base Traya built her other Forms on, as she was certainly no martial arts enthusiast. All this being said, Traya was primarily A academic practitioner of the blade. despite apparently being limited to the above three Forms, Darth Traya could give accurate descriptions of all seven forms and there move sets. Her pedigree as A sword instructor was unquestionable, with Revan, Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus and the Jedi Exile all being former students of hers. That being said, it is my personal belief that all of her students eventually overcame her both in terms of pure power and especially skill with in the dueling arena: Darth Sion sliced off her hand and it was the Jedi Exile, Meetra Surik who eventually killed the mad Darth Traya herself. It is, of course, just my opinion, but I also believe her use of Force drain on the three masters on Dantooine was out of an unwillingness to engage the three noted Lightsaber masters in A blade, or at least not all at once.
As if A sword battle between A instructor and the Sword of the Jedi would ever be much of A contest. To be fare, Traya is no weakling or pushover and could hold her own, but Jaina did not earn her moniker by just "not being A weakling". Although Traya's use of three blades might surprise Jaina at first, it would not stagger her and the Jedi warrior would quickly recover, as she is not only A veteran of the Yuuzahn Vong war (Which had unorthodox weaponry Traya's trio of blades can't hope to compete with) but has capable engaged multiple opponents and dual wielders before. Once she gets past Traya's blade barrier and forces her to resort to A standard blade, engages the extremist on even ground with traditional equipment, Traya can't hope to last more than A minute, maybe two. Although I highly doubt this battle will be decided by pure martial might alone, if it is, than chalk up another victory for the Sword of the Jedi. I give Jaina Solo the edge in Lightsaber dueling.
FORCE POWERS
When examining the Skywalker lineage, it becomes apparent that the natural strength in the Force imparted upon members of this family line degrades over time. In an infinities Universe where he embraced his true nature Anakin easily curbstomped both Palpatine and Yoda with the Force during the Clone wars. Luke on the other hand, had to train his entire life until he reached (As of Fate of the Jedi) the power level necessary to replicate this feat. Decades later you have Cade Skywalker who, although certainly A powerful warrior, isn't going to be curb stomping Yoda OR Palpatince any time so. The reason for bringing this up is to point out that, since she is only one generation removed from the chosen one, Jaina Solo is more than likely an EXTREMELY powerful natural Force wielder. As they aren't really combat applicable, Jaina's considerable telepathic abilities will mostly ne glossed over here. When just five years of age, Jaina used an extremely precise demonstration of telekinesis to manipulate air molecules. Although the magnitude behind her telekinetic powers was nothing to write home about, Jaina's preciseness and subtle uses were impressive indeed, especially when it came to piloting, particularly guiding missiles to their targets.Unlike most Jedi, Jaina was capable of Force lightning, her unique black energy at the very least disabling multiple Yuuzhan Vong. Although she lacked his esoteric abilities gained by his wide ranging travels, Jaina still managed to evade and survive her Sith Lord brothers considerably powerful Force attacks. Instructed by her uncle, Jaina was capable of using the rare Shatterpoint ability, allowing her to find the faults in objects, although she could not use it on other warriors. Jaina was also shown to be able to "break" even the strongest Force grip applied to her. She has also been described as absorbing energy attacks. In the end, Jaina lived up to her's family reputation, as she was A powerful Force user.
Darth Traya, beyond the shadow of A doubt, was an absolute Master of the Force. Due to the wide variation of the many powers at her command, I will only be focusing on her abilities that would actually be used in one on one combat: Thus, things like her telepathic and stealth skills will not come into play here. Now, the best place to begin is most likely telekinesis. To put it simply, she was A juggernaut in this area, commonly breaking through others Force shields, strangling them, throwing them around and, in general, ragdolling even Jedi Masters. However, to my knowledge, she has never shown the ability to use this in suture with her bladework. Unlike most Force sensitives, Traya did not see things in terms of black and white: instead she saw the Force itself as A twisted deity, leading to her plotting to destroy it. Although this cemented her as insane, it also allowed her to use both traditionally Dark and Light powers: As such, she was skilled in both powers like energy absorption and ones like Sith lightning. Speaking of lightning, Traya strangely enough did not demonstrate the same amount of power with this skill as other top tier Force users, never doing anything beyond disabling A droid. And now for the element in the room: Whatever power she used to kill the three Jedi masters on Dantooine. A powerful demonstration of Force drain, There is no known defense against this ability. However, she only did this ONCE, and never used it in the heat of A pitched duel, even against someone like Darth Sion who would have been completely incapable of defending himself. This leads me to believe that she is either unwilling or incapable of using this ability in standard situations, and as such I doubt it will play A part in this battle, although it should be noted that if Traya does use it, Jaina will at the very least be incapacitated if not outright killed. Darth Traya also had considerable skill with Shatterpoint, although her use of it was restrained to predicting the future, not defeating her enemies.
Strangely enough, these two are actually very comparable Force users. telepathic powers and the level of telekinetic refinement are the same across the board, as is there respective abilities with energy absorption and Shatter-points. Although Traya defiantly has more sheer telekinetic magnitude, Jaina has survived her brothers similarly powerful attacks and, ironically, has more power behind her Force lightning. Since her Force grip can be broken by Jaina, the only true advantage Traya can claim in the Force is with Force drain. In this respect, Traya (And Darth Nihilus) can be compared to the difference in Vodo Siosk Bass and Nomi Sunrider with Force sever. The master may have pioneered the ability and instructed the younger practitioner, but the student would go on to pretty much completely outclass there Master with the power (Hmm, Nomi Sunrider vs Darth Nihilus. I'll look into that). This being said, Jaina still has no viable defense against the power and I do not believe she has enough raw strength in the Force to power through it. However, I do not believe that Traya just uses this power against any random attacker: the one time she was seen using this ability, it was against three master duelist Jedi. Since Jaina can match Traya's telepathic powers, I do not think the Sith lady would be able to tell her opposite is A big enough threat to break out this trump card, and I think we can all agree that the power is to labor intensive to use in the midst of A full blown duel. In the end, these two are comparable Force users, but more along the lines of Mace Windu and Yoda then Obi-wan kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. If they stand in the open and square off A distance away from each other, the advantage is clear. However the likelihood, in either match up, of this happening is slim at best. The more Guardian esquire warrior will instead close the distance and force the Consular to resort to there more mundane powers, where they are near equals. I am guessing A majority of people disagree with me here, but I declare both women equals with the Force.
PHYSICAL SKILLS
As of the novel Crucible, Jaina Solo is A Human Female approximately 36 years of age. Still in the prime of life for her species, Jaina took part in rigors Jedi training and battlefield situations, leading to her being in prime condition. Her reaction time and reflexes were such that she was considered the greatest star-fighter ace of her day. Despite her slim build, Jaina still soldered through injuries that would have outright killed lesser beings. Her greatest asset, however, was her considerable speed, which allowed her to keep pace with Darth Caedus, More impressively, she was outright faster than Aleema Rar, could outrun Blaster bolts and could even dodge Sith lightning. And I do not mean dodge the caster of duck around the attack, I mean she can literally go fast enough to completely outpace the dangerous torrents of Force energy.
If you want proof of how reliant she was on the Force, I point you to the fact that Darth Traya literally went blind from sheer disuse of her eyes. That being said, the reason for this in the first place is because her advanced Force sight and senses were actually better than physical sight. A Female Human born A long time before 3951 BBY, Darth Traya was, in appearance at least, A frail woman of considerable age. And, although she did survive A brutal star-ship crash landing, this is A view that is at least mostly accurate: Traya was swift and agile if she wanted to be, but this was A rare occurrence. Due to ticking off Darth Sion, Traya also only has one hand, the other being completely severed. Basically, Traya is the scaled down insane Sith version of Grand-master Yoda.
In total, there is A very short list of people I would not give the physical advantage to over Darth Traya: needles to say, Jaina Solo is not one of them. Although her strength and agility is no greater than most trained Force sensitives (And even if it wasn't, she would still be better in these regrades than Traya), her speed is considerably more, to put it mildly. Although the fact that Traya proved to be faster than Darth Sion, A powerful warrior in his own right, does mean she won't be speed-blitzed here, I have no doubts about who is the faster and overall more physically viable woman. I give the physical skills advantage to Jaina Solo.
WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
The Sword of the Jedi's sword was A standard Jedi Lightsaber, with no known inherent advantages or disadvantages beyond her familiarity with her own handiwork. The blade, depending on what source or artwork you believe, was either A purple lavender or A sapphire blue. Like all New Order Jedi, Jaina Solo freely used A Blaster and was an expert Marks-woman. Jaina was also A skilled pilot and mechanic.
As previously mentioned, Darth Traya's weapon of choice was A trio of violet bladed Lightsabers, welded with an extremely advanced demonstration of telekinesis. Although it is not confirmed to my knowledge, I also believe Traya was in possession of at least A few other Lightsaber, used as back. Traya was also skilled, if less so, with A single blade. Her blades fluctuate from purple to green to red.
Jaina has never been witnessed using her Ligthsaber and Blaster at the same time, and if Traya is at all skilled at blast deflection this weapon will at best serve as A distraction. Although I do think Jaina would be capable of combating Traya's trio of blades, it can not be denied that this armament has just as much shock value as A Saber-staff. Although I do not know the labor intensity of telekineticly manipulating all of her blades around, I would have to think that if certifiably distracted or pressed the blades would stop functioning and she would have to resort to traditional tactics. Still, If you remember that Traya sill has at least three blades to Jaina's one, then the equipment edge here is clear. In case you don't get it, I give Darth Traya the edge as far as weapons go.
THE VERDICT
Visually, I believe this battle would play out like the short engagement between Darth Traya and the masters on Dantooine, as well as the duel between Luke and Vader in episode six and Anakin and Dooku in episode two. To set up this battle, lets say it takes place in the Hoth rebel base, so as not to provide either warrior with home field advantage. Jaina Solo would begin by igniting her Lightsaber and charging the older woman. However, she would find herself caught in A powerful Force grip and slammed back into A wall. Traya sneers at her young challenger as she telekinetic rag-dolls the young Master. Grabbing Jaina's throat, Traya raises her in the air and begins to choke her out, but she suddenly fells her grip break and Jaina falls to the ground, landing on her feet: Yes, Darth Traya could rag-doll Jaina, but the problem is she could would get back up. Sensing her enemy posses A much greater threat then she first thought, Traya gathers all her energy and blasts Jaina...or so she thinks. The deadly energy collides with bare ground, and seconds later Traya fells A powerful kick to her face that knocks her back and unbalances her. The woman glare at each other while panting heavily: Traya's nose is broken but Jaina's right shoulder and ribs are sore from the telekinetic beating. Recalling her Lightsaber to her hand (It having been knocked out of her hand earlier) Jaina leaps and strikes down at the elder woman, but her blade is blocked by A floating lavender weapon. Soon it is joined by its twins and Jaina desperately falls back defensively as Traya remains in place and launches her blades forwards, driving Jaina back. The Jedi barely manages to dodge several near lethal hits and realizes she must change the battlefield or she will fall. As such, she manages to send A blast of Lightning at Traya, forcing her to bloke and break her connection to the whirling blades. Slicing the three blades to pieces with A single move, Jaina again moves in, although more cautiously. She now knows her opponents strength int eh Force and doesn't plan on exposing herself to it. Drawing A fourth and final blade, Traya slowly gathers her energy lost from the failed Force drain, all the while keeping Jaina at bay and taunting the Jedi. Although she is not as impulsive as her Grandfather, I do think that Traya would eventually manage to insult and taunt Jaina enough that, with A cry of rage, she would leap forwards and begin pressing the attack. This proves to be A very bad idea, as Traya has completely regained her strength at this point. Although she doesn't recognize Jaina's fighting style, she knows more than enough about personal combat to exploit it's weaknesses. Repeatedly slashing at her legs, Traya draws Jaina's defense down, before blade-locking her. In one moment, while holding her blade in place through the Force, Traya outstretches her hand and grabs Jaina's face, unleashing energy from her fingertips. Jaina howls in pain and stumbles back, grabbing at her scarred face and singed hair as Traya slowly advances. Through pain induced tears, Jaina manages to draw her pistol as she continuities to back up and fires right at Traya's head. However, the Older woman lazily deflects the shot right back. The Sword of the Jedi isn't quiet fast enough and Jaina doubles over in pain as the bolt pierces her in the gut. The young Jedi's cry's of pain become gurgles as Traya plunges her blade into her chest, slicing through her flesh like A knife through butter. Traya withdraws the blade and watches with satisfaction as the limp figure of her once mighty opponent collapses to the ground: Non-moving. Non-Breathing. Nonliving.
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