Chapter 7
Bothawui Orbit
Syal took a barrage of laser fire and her astromech screeched as her shields went down. She pulled the injured ship level and immediately saw her mistake as she picked up another Rogue Squadron X-wing.
"Kriff!" she cursed and after the tail didn't shoot she instantly banked the ship and pulled it into a series of evasive maneuvers her dad had taught her. "We lost that one Zippers."
Then the R-9 began to squeal again and she looked down at her sensors. "Sithspit, don't they ever give up?" She tried to pull into another dive but her ship was becoming sluggish and didn't respond as well as it had when she escaped the last possible attack. Suddenly, she looked down at her sensor display wide-eyed as the X-wing that seemed to come out of nowhere had a lock on her and she was shieldless. "Oh, no. Zippers get out of here," she nearly screamed as she hit the ejector. Syal closed her eyes and prayed that she would be able to clear the blast zone and wouldn't be impaled by expanding debris and shrapnel.
She cleared the ship as it began to explode from the laser blast that hit it when she suddenly noticed that the expanding ball of what had been her X-wing seemed to be moving in the other direction and away from her. However, she wasn't aware of anything else as she lost consciousness.
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"Valin! No!" Jaina screamed over the comm and through the Force. She knew the type of guilt that went with shooting at a loved one. She had been forced to do that same thing six years before. However, she quickly forgot the sorrow of a love gone terribly wrong as she reached out into the Force with an invisible grasp to catch the exploding ship and to pull it away from the ejecting pilot.
"Jaina?" Both Valin's and Zekk's voices came over at the same time then Valin realizing who he must have shot let out a shattering cry drowning out anything Zekk may have said, "Syal!!?"
Jaina let go of the fireball that had been Syal Antilles' X-wing and reached out into the Force again to find Syal floating in her ejector seat. She was unconscious but she was otherwise unharmed. Then she felt Valin's profound despair, "Valin, she's okay. You hear me? Syal is okay. She cleared the blast and is going to be alright."
Valin's voice was detached and lifeless, "I almost killed her, Jaina. I almost killed her."
Suddenly, she realized Valin was in worse shape to fight than she was as she took aim and at a Corellian fighter and fired. "Lead?"
Zekk, having sensed Jaina's thoughts and feelings through their bond, came over the comm saying, "Yes, Sticks, you're right. Nine. Get back to base. You're relived of duty. Do you copy?"
Valin never responsed.
Zekk then called, "Ten?"
"Yes, Lead, Ten here," the voice of Allia Judday came over in answer.
"Ten, you are to escort Nine back to the Mon Mothma, understand?"
A click resounded and then Valin's protest, "Colonel I'm fine. I'm upset but I'm okay. I don't intend to leave this battle. I won't let anything happen to her while she is out here."
Jaina felt Zekk reach out to the younger man through the meld and finally he said, "Alright, Nine. Ten is your wing."
After Jaina went through a portside banking turn to avoid being vaped, she took out another fighter this time a Corellian fighter from another squadron. Then she said, "Lead, permission to remain in the fight. I'm fine now."
She felt Zekk's loving touch and his concern and she sent her reassurance back along with her love. Softly he said, "As long as you're sure, Sticks."
"I'm fine, Zekk," she repeated forcefully, forgoing all pretense of military propriety. "Come on, we have a battle to win."
Hangar Mon Mothma
Valin sat his X-wing down on the flight deck and felt as if his heart had been shattered into a million pieces. He had stayed with Syal until her area was no longer in danger. He knew now he would be in for it from the higher ups. Well, he thought, it didn't matter. This was the last time he'd be forced to shoot at the woman he loved.
He pulled his helmet off and popped the canopy then he despairingly stood up. He watched as Allia unwittingly mimicked his actions and wondered what he was going to say to her. She had stayed with him and together they protected Syal's unconscious exposed form from possible injury from both sides, as well as helped fight any of the enemy as they got to close. He owed her but he couldn't help but speculate why she had, especially after they had been ordered to move from that position, not once but three times before the Corellian rescue ships began to scour the area for EV pilots.
Valin climbed down the ladder and moved over to where she had just dismounted her ladder. Coming up behind her, he cleared his throat and rubbed his stubbly jaw. "Allia, I—emm—I want to thank you for what you did out there, but you shouldn't have."
She slowly turned and he was surprised at the spike of emotion he felt from her. Her grey eyes seemed to be afire with a sudden grief. "You don't need to thank me, Val," she quietly said and quickly moved away. Valin looked around as he watched the rest of the returning ships from the completed battle. The Mon Mothma was beginning to limp away from the outer edges of the orbit of the planet the GA had just lost. Other skirmishes were still ongoing but the GA had lost.
He was puzzled by her response and followed her. Laying his hand on her upper arm, he said as she turned to meet his gaze again, "Yes, I do. You went beyond the call of duty and you most likely will be called on the carpet because of it. You defied an order."
Allia glanced down at Valin's hand and then said, "I stayed because I know what it's like to think that you may have killed someone you love." Valin was shocked by the pain that shown through her watery eyes as she looked up at him again, "My fiancé was Corellian also and was a member of CorSec. We would have been married last year after he finished his last bit of training. He was a fighter pilot but wanted to be an investigative officer." She then moved away from Valin but she continued to speak, "I was among the Aleph squad called Gray Squadron. Syal, or as I knew her then, Lysa Dunter and I flew together during the First Battle of Tralus."
Valin came up behind her and quietly finished for her, "Your fiancé was killed during the battle."
She turned and Valin saw the tears slide down her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped her face with the backs of her hands before nodding and saying, "Yes. Of course, I don't know for sure if it was me who killed him, but I was in that battle and in the end Raife was dead."
Valin understood her pain all too well, and despite the curious audience they were incurring, he took her into his arms and hugged her. "I'm so sorry, Allia. This war is a terrible thing. Families fighting families and friends fighting friends. I can only hope that it is all worth the sacrifice."
She pulled out of his embrace and looked up at him, "What do you mean?"
He looked around and then after a moment he said, "I hope that what we are fighting for is really worth it." Then he met her eyes, "I'm Corellian, did you know that?"
She absently nodded and then he went on, "My grandfather still supports Corellia although he hasn't gotten involved in the war—yet. My mother is trying to stay neutral through this all, mainly because my father supports the GA whole heartedly as a Member of the Jedi Council. My sister also supports the GA. She and my mother have gotten into more than one political debate because of the war."
There was an uneasy silence between them as Valin continued to watch the scurrying pilots and techs. However, he knew she was studying his impassive face. Finally, she asked, "And what do you feel."
He met her eyes again and realized he wasn't sure how he felt. What was right and what was wrong? He honestly didn't know anymore. But he knew trying to kill the woman he loved was not right. Did he really support the GA or was he fighting for the same reason his mother was staying with his father on Coruscant, because that was what was expected of him? What did he feel for Corellia? He had always considered himself Corellian but he never really lived there. Yavin 4 and then Ossus was more home to him than any where else. However, he had to admit the more he thought of it, he found himself thinking he was fighting on the wrong side. But those thoughts could be considered treason. Was he really ready to cross that line?
Realizing Allia was still waiting for an answer he replied honestly, "I don't really know any more."
"Valin," he turned at the call of his name from Jaina.
He swallowed and knew what was coming. "Yes, Major."
She looked from him to Allia and then related, "Valin, you and Lieutenant Judday are summened to Conferrence Room B143."
Valin met his friend's brown eyes and slowly nodded, "Yes, Sir."
Allia saluted Jaina and then moved on in the direction of the lift. Valin turned to follow her when Jaina's voice stopped him, "Valin, you know Zekk and I would have done the same thing."
He looked back at her, "Yeah. I know. Thanks Jaina, you probably saved her life by pulling the blast away from her."
Jaina nodded and moved to stand beside him. Slipping her arm around his waist she smiled, "She's my friend too. I had to do everything possible to save her."
Before they reached the trubolift that Allia had already boarded, Valin stopped and gazed into her eyes, "Jay, do you ever think we—" Suddenly he looked away and quickly covered, "Oh, never mind."
She stared at her young friend. She had known Valin all his life. They had been at the Accademy together and he and her brother Anakin, Sannah and Tahiri Velia had all been good friends. She shook her head and pensively continued for him, "Do I ever think we'er fighting for the wrong reasons?" His surprise was an easy read for her through the Force. "Yes." Was her simple whispered response to his unfinished question as she moved away and headed into the lift. Leaving a very confused Valin to contemplate what she was saying as he too entered the lift car that would take him to his supperiors and to his destiny.
Conference Room B143, Mon Mothma
"Lt. Colonel, Lieutenant Horn and Lieutenant Judday both disobeyed a direct order, not only from you but from General Mazzi. I realize that Rogue Squadron has always walked the slippery edge of insubordination, but this time your squad has crossed that line one too many times."
Zekk stood at attention as the Mon Calamari Admiral Cheb, Fifth Fleet Commander continued with his tirade concerning Zekk's lack of disciplinary control over the squadron he inherited when Jaina was demoted. Zekk couldn't help but wonder if those in power promoted him into her position as some cruel joke. Nearly everyone knew about their relationship and they didn't keep it a secret even before. Of course, they weren't as close then as they were now, but even then they were Jedi partners, former Joiners and lovers.
"Do you deny any of this, Lt. Colonel?"
Zekk took a deep breath and calmly responded, "No, Admiral Cheb, I do not deny that the Rogues are a special case."
"A special case?" Zekk was actually surprised at the Mon Cal's outburst. "You call what happened today a special case?"
Zekk called on the Force to keep his calm and simply said, "Yes. I do."
"Admiral," Sullustan General Mazzi shot Zekk a warning, which the Jedi really didn't need, and then looked at the Mon Cal, "I too feel that Rogue Squadron has a unique structure. First of all, it is the only squadron that has three Jedi in it. Secondly, Major Solo and Lt. Colonel Zekk maintain a relationship that normally wouldn't be seen in a commander and a subordinate. And thirdly, Major Solo and Lieutenant Horn were put in a precarious position today."
Cheb glared from the Sullustan general to Zekk and huffed as he turned away with his webbed hands clasped tightly behind him, "Maybe the problem is that the Jedi have been allowed to demand too much. They have always felt they deserve special considerations, however, I find their considerations often hinder a mission more than help it. And concerning your last statement, I totally disagree. If they were loyal to the GFFA they would not have even considered disobeying orders. Colonel Jacen Solo does not have problems with fa mily loyalty verses patriotism."
Zekk nearly lost his control on his emotions, Cheb's continued support of Jacen and the dislike for Jaina was nearly too much, "Admiral, Colonel Solo has not been put in the position Jaina or Valin have been put into. They have pledged to uphold the rights and laws of the GA, Sir, and they do. However, being Jedi we are able to see things from different perspectives, if you will."
Cheb opened his mouth to protest when Zekk felt Jaina and Valin outside the conference room. He gave the commander a half s mile and announced, "Sirs, they are here."
The Mon Calamari and Sullustan both stared at Zekk as the door slid open allowing Jaina to escort the junior officers into the room that was occupied by Zekk, Admiral Cheb, General Mazzi, security and a few other officers that Zekk didn't know.
Jaina, Valin and Allia saluted their superiors and Zekk sent Jaina and Valin his reassurance as he returned the acknowledgement. Cheb had supported Jacen's charges and attempt at having Jaina court-martialed two years before. Zekk could feel Jaina's concern and realized that she wasn't concerned for herself but worried for their younger friend.
After the formalities were over the Mon Calamari admiral announced, "Lieutenants Horn and Jadday you are facing the serious charge of disobeying a direct order from a superior. Do either of you disagree with this charge?"
Zekk felt Valin pull the Force to him and he looked over at Jaina, wondering if the Corellian Jedi had said anything to her. He easily felt her concern as well. Then Valin began to speak and Zekk was stunned.
"Admiral Cheb, General Mazz, Colonel Zekk, I do not deny the charge. I disobeyed a direct order and I would do it again. However, Lieutenant Jadday was trying to convince me to give up my personal reasons for not obeying the orders. This charge should be dropped for her."
Allia stared at Valin incredulously as he went on, "She felt that as my wingmate it was her duty to remain with me." Valin s miled slightly at her and Zekk saw something in the younger man's hazel eyes that outright surprised him. Valin had always been known for his independence. He nearly left the Order to stay on Yavin 8 but Zekk had a sinking feeling Valin was about to do something even more radical than that. Looking back at the admiral and the fighter wing commander, Valin went on to say as he reached up and ripped the rank insignia from his flight suit, "However, I take total responsibility for my actions and I would do them again if it ensured the continued welfare for Commander Antilles of the Corellian Defense Forces."
"Valin," Zekk said just above a whisper, "You do realize what you are doing."
Valin turned bright eyes to him and nodded once, "Yes, Colonel, I do. I can no longer fight in this war. I am a Jedi first and foremost, Sir, just as you are and I am Corellian. I realize that I can no longer fire upon the people of my home planet or more importantly the woman I want to marry someday."
"Valin…" Allia stared at him. But she didn't get the chance to say anything else.
Valin gave her a sad crooked s mile and then said, "I'm sorry, Lieutenant that you risked your neck for a traitor."
"Security," Admiral Cheb looked over at the guards that were standing by the bulkhead. Then gazing back at Valin he announced, "Lieutenant you are to be held under arrest until court-martial for the charge of disobeying orders and for treason."
Zekk and Jaina stared at their fellow Jedi but neither of them could do anything. Nothing could improve the situation.
"Mr Horn," the armored sergeant that flanked Valin nervously said as he held out his hand. "Please hand over your lightsaber and blaster."
Valin removed the brass colored lightsaber hilt from his belt and held it out to the enlisted man, who nervously looked at the Jedi weapon before taking it and stashing it into his own belt. Then he took Valin's blaster and did the same, albeit less gingerly. Valin's face held no emotion but a passiveness that Zekk had to admire, because the emotion coming through the Force from the Corellian was anything but.
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