Secrets and Happy News
Major Nylah Jorgan let out a sigh of relief as she finally made her way through the hatch of the BT-7 Thunderclap, home to Special Forces Squad 326, better known by their code name, Havoc Squad. She leaned against the hatch for a moment and closed her eyes, her energy completely gone that she had tried to conserve through out the day. It had been one of those days that all she wanted to do was change out of her uniform and into some comfortable clothes to be able to relax and enjoy the quiet onboard ship while she could, while the rest of her squad members were out on maneuvers or other errands that had been needed to be put off until this point. She knew once the others returned, the silence would be gone, as would her chance to get some rest. As she passed the med bay, Nylah paused as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She stuck her head in, and smiled as she saw the team medic, Lt. Elara Dorne stocking their newest medical supplies.
"Knock knock." Nylah said softly.
Elara looked up at the voice, her own smile crossing her face. "Sir, I didn't hear you get back." She snapped into a crisp salute which Nylah waved away as she slipped onto one of the beds. She sat back and watched as the other woman restocked their supplies that they had just gotten. After the events they had just gone through on Corellia, Nylah hoped that they would not be needed any time soon. She was so ready for quiet time where Havoc Squad wasn't needed. Laying there watching Elara, Nylah was tempted to lay back and try and get a nap while it was quiet, but she decided to wait a little while, wanting to catch up with the other female on the squad.
"Don't worry about it, I just got back." The two women enjoyed a moment of peace and quiet that must have caused Nylah to doze off, because when she opened her eyes again, there was a blanket covering her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "I didn't mean to do that."
"Sir?" Elara asked, confused. Nylah opened her mouth to begin to reply, but was stopped at the sound of the hatch opening. She had a feeling she knew who it was, even before she heard his voice.
"Nylah, where are you?!" Man, he sounded pissed.
"Guess he talked to General Garza already." She murmured. She saw the look that Elara gave her right out of the corner of her eye. "In here, Aric." She called. Moments later, her second in command, and her husband, Captain Aric Jorgan came striding in the room, a data pad held firmly in one of his hands.
"What is this?" He demanded, thrusting the data pad out at her. "Don't you think you should have discussed this with me before you did something like this? It affects me as well!"
"I didn't have a choice." She told him calmly. "I had to make the decision quickly. I was only doing what is best for the squad." She defended herself.
"Yeah, well, your best isn't good enough this time." His words felt like a punch to her stomach, and she could not help the unintentional gasp that left her lips. She knew that Aric hadn't meant his words the way that they had come out, as they had been said in anger, frustration, and surprise, but they had bothered her all the same. She could see streaks of red flash across her vision, along with tears that had instantly filled her eyes. She had to get out of here as soon as possible, before she said or did something that she would end up regretting. But first thing was first.
Ever since the day that they had gotten married, Nylah had treasured the ring that Aric had slipped onto her finger when they had recited their vows to each other, making them one, but right now, she only wanted to hurt him like he had just hurt her. Moving herself off the med bed, she quickly pulled her ring off her finger and threw it at him, hearing it bounce off his chest and hit the deckplates with a crash as she made her way back toward the hatch and off the ship. She began pulling her armor off as she moved across the landing bay to make sure that she could not be tracked. The last thing she wanted was for him to come after her because she had forgotten about her armor cam and he had been able to find her.
For a few moments after Nylah stormed out, Elara and Jorgan looked at each other, wondering what had happened to cause their CO to blow up like she had. To Aric, the sight of his wife throwing her wedding ring back at him had caused red flags to begin blaring in his brain. His wife was one of the most levelheaded women he knew, her brain always ten steps ahead of the enemy, and was not one that was timid to speak her mind when someone was out of line, so for her to have the reaction she did, told him that something was wrong.
"Sir, if I may ask, what just happened?" Jorgan turned to look at the medic.
"I wish I knew." He told her truthfully with a sigh. He leaned down to pick up Nylah's ring from where it was laying on the deck plates, and Jorgan looked at it for a moment, before looking in the direction of the hatch. "What is wrong with her?"
"Sir?" He turned to look at Dorne again and handed her the data pad he had been clutching in his hand.
"The Major has turned command of the squad over to me and has taken herself off active duty, effective immediately. General Garza summoned me to the Senate Tower to congratulate me on the change. She was surprised when I questioned her about it. Apparently I was already supposed to know about it."
"Why would she do that, Sir?" Dorne asked him. He shook his head. They both knew that Nylah took her responsibilities as the commander of Havok Squad very seriously, so for her to pass off her duties to Jorgan was something puzzling.
"I wish I knew." He looked at the blonde. "Did she say anything to you before I got here?"
"No, sir." Dorne replied. "She fell asleep after only a few minutes on the med bed. I covered her with the blanket, and continued restocking our supplies."
Jorgan looked at the bed where Nylah had been laying, and he stepped forward as he saw what looked like a data pad sitting on the edge of the bed, peeking out from underneath the blanket still laying there. He picked it up. "Maybe this will tell us something," He said as he began reading through the information. Of course, this lasted only a few seconds as the reality of what he was reading sunk into his brain. He felt his mouth drop open in shock as he looked back up at Dorne, and then towards the hatch.
"Oh Ny." He said softly. He turned to look back at Dorne. "It appears that I have really done it now. The Major is pregnant. I am going to be a father."
Almost immediately, the two were set into motion to try and discover where the Major had gone off to, but right away, they found out it would not be as quick and easy as they had first thought. When they scanned for her comm and found it right outside the ship, they thought that maybe she had just stepped outside for air, but when Jorgan rushed outside the ship, he found just her armor and her comm lying on the ground. He let out a muffled curse and grabbed the items before boarding the ship once more. He was tempted to call back the other members of their squad to search for the Major, but then he thought to himself that he wanted to keep this as quiet as possible, and that Nylah would come back when she had cooled down. He knew that he would have a lot of making up to her to do after this to make up for his crass words and behavior. He just hoped that she'd forgive him.
As Nylah wandered around Courscant, her mind could not help but keep rehash the events of the day. She had been so excited to tell her husband her news, hoping he would be as happy as she had been once she had a chance to explain things to him, but that was not how things had happened. She couldn't believe that she had thrown her wedding ring at Aric. Of all the things she could have done, that was probably one of the worst. She didn't know how she could ever forgive herself for doing something like that to him. She only hoped that he would forgive her. She loved him so much and did not want to live the rest of her life without him. She was so deep in thought that she never heard the movement behind her until it was too late.
"Well, well, well boys, look at what we have here. Someone must be lost to just stroll into our territory like this." Nylah whirled around to see three or four Black Sun gang members approaching her, and her hand immediately dropped to where her sidearm should have been, cursing to herself when she felt nothing. How could she have wandered into Black Sun territory without being armed? She knew better than this, and yet she had allowed it to happen regardless. It was becoming obvious that Nylah would probably not get out of this situation without a fight, and it had been a long time since she had gone into a fight as poorly prepared as she was at the moment, but there was nothing she could do now. Taking a fighting stance, she waited for the gang members to attack her.
A couple of hours later, a bruised and limping Nylah finally made her way back to where her ship was docked and let out a sigh of relief at the welcoming sight of the ship that had been the first real home that she had known in quite a while. She wanted nothing more than to take a relaxing sonic shower and then hopefully curl up with her husband and get some sleep, letting the bruises from her fight against the gang members have a chance to heal, but as the hatch opened and she saw the anxious Cathar pacing around waiting for her, along with the other members of the squad, she knew that was probably not going to happen.
"Nylah!" She heard him yell in relief as he pulled her into his arms. She could not help but hiss in pain as he squeezed her bruised ribs. At the sound of her hiss, he pulled back and narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. "What happened to you?" She noticed the rest of the squad looking at her, and she grimaced as she began to move towards the med bay.
"Found myself somewhere I shouldn't have been without a proper weapon, and had to fight some thugs who thought they could take me." She settled on one of the beds as Dorne began to move around the small room, getting supplies to patch up Nylah. Her eyes of course, were on her husband who looked at the deck plates for a moment before looking back up to her. She was surprised when she saw guilt and remorse in his expressive cat-like eyes. She placed one of her fingers against his lips when he began to open them to say something. "I know. We'll talk later."
Much later that night, when the ship was quiet, Aric Jorgan looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms and thought about all the twists and turn his life had taken over the last decade, and let out a sigh of relief that he had not severely screwed things up. If anyone had told him he would not only be married, but that his wife would also be expecting their first child, he would have told them that they were delusional. A child. He looked down at Nylah, awe and amazement written all over his face. In a few short months, she would be bringing their child into the world. He just could not wrap his thoughts around it.
Tugging down the covers and shushing her softly when she whimpered in her sleep at the cool air rushing against her, he studied her body, looking for any signs of the growing life inside her. He smiled when he saw it; the slightest rounding of her belly where their child was nestled safely in her womb against the dangers of the universe. A change that he would have never guessed that was taking place by looking at her in her armor. He could not wait until the day came when he was finally able to hold their child in his arms and pass down all his knowledge. He gently set his hand on her belly, feeling her keen strength, but also now the softness of her impending motherhood. He felt a smile cross his face as he took in the changes to her body, and he was amazed at how beautiful that looked to him.
"Aric?" Nylah murmured sleepily.
"I'm here." He told her as he pulled the blankets back up over her body and pulled her against his side.
"Mmm love you," Was her sleepy response. "Sorry about earlier. Not thinking straight. Still want to be with you." Her eyebrows crunched over still closed eyes. "My ring, at you?" he noticed she began to run her thumb along her left ring finger as if looking for it and seemed to start to get worked up when she couldn't find it.
"Shhh," I have it." He told her, and grabbed her ring from the bedside table. When he looked back down at her, he noticed she had opened her eyes and was looking at him, her left hand raised expectantly. He kissed her ring finger before slipping her ring back where it belonged. Nylah smiled happily and wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes once more and slipping back into sleep.
As Aric looked down at the beautiful sleeping woman in his arms, his mind began to wander. How had he lived his life before she had come into his life? He hadn't. He had just been surviving. He had dedicated his life to a pattern that he never saw himself diverging from. It was true that before they had met, he had taken discrete lovers from time to time when the needs and urgings of his body had finally become too insistent to ignore. He was a man after all. But those had been nothing more than scratching a biological itch, and he had felt nothing for them, except for relief. But that had all changed once he had embraced love with Nylah. With her, there was nothing but love, and she challenged him every day, making him a better soldier, and a better man.
With a rueful shake of his head, he could still remember the first day he had met her back on Ord Mantell. He could remember his first glimpse of her as he walked into the room with the rest of the then Havoc Squad, and he had laid his eyes on the newest recruit. He had seen such a determination in her eyes to prove herself; an inner fire that had burned in her eyes, and still burned there even now. Even then, he had known that the newest member of Havoc Squad would become a formidable member of the squad, living up to the image that they were known for.
Of course, that was before the defection. After however, Nylah had shown the universe just what she was capable of, and Jorgan had been amazed every day at the depth of strength that Nylah had shown the universe, and it had been his honor to stand at her side and show the galaxy just what they were made of. He could only hope that they would be able to show their child that same amount of strength and courage.
A/N: I know there is more that wants to be said, but at the moment, I am at a loss. Will probably be updated sometime in the future when I decide what I want to say.