Chapter 10

Tomorrow, they would arrive on Bastion. Tomorrow, they would face the Moff council with the news that Jaina was claiming her Grandfather's position in the Empire. Tomorrow, Jagged and Jaina would be tried in the court of public opinion. So much rested on tomorrow. The pressure was high, the cost for failure even higher.

Soontir felt like he was walking on eggshells. He couldn't blame Jag for being ready to explode at any moment. The tension was nearly unbearable. Jagged had been obsessively poring over reports all morning, while Jaina had stayed out of sight as much as possible. Her emotional meltdown yesterday hadn't been a surprise. He was eternally grateful that Wynn had been available for that one.

It wasn't that he didn't know pregnancy losses happened, he simply didn't know the words to say. Wynn, however, could relate all to well to what Jaina was going through. He hadn't anticipated a simple diaper ad on the HoloNet being the cause of the meltdown. Wynn had recognized the look on Jaina's face immediately, and had been quick to hustle her out of the room. She wasn't quick enough to prevent Soontir from noticing the way Jaina's shoulders were shaking or the tears running down her face. It had been only the start of a trying afternoon.

The happiness of a couple days ago seemed so elusive today. Soontir knew that the wounds would heal, and that healing would take time. In healing, sometimes a wound reopened. That didn't make it any easier to watch his son and daughter-in-law suffer. He stared at the flight simulator, debating whether or not to run a sim solo.

"I'm guessing Jagged turned down your offer for a sim?" Wedge had been invaluable over the last several days. It was his ability to manage any situation confidently and coolly that kept things running smoothly, and Jaina's meltdown under wraps.

"He did. He seemed unusually interested in the tax stream reports from some world I can't remember." Turning down a sim just wasn't like Jagged.

"Probably one of Lecersen's planets. That moff is nothing short of trouble, and according to Reige, most of the attempts to remove Jagged are originating from him. Jagged isn't a fool, and he's well aware of the importance of tomorrow." Wedge, for the first time that week, looked truly tired. No wonder he'd ventured to the simulators.

"Everything rides on how the Moff Council reacts. I'm starting to think Jaina's assessment of the next few days is about spot on. A few assassination attempts, moff intimidation, complete and utter boredom… Has anyone told her about the ball that is being thrown in a week?"

"She knows. Winter has spent quite a bit of time refreshing both Jaina and Jagged's knowledge of the various dances that may be utilized. Winter insisted on Jaina learning them in childhood, so she is familiar, just out of practice."

"I can imagine the fun Winter had in teaching Jaina anything feminine." Jaina still protested furiously at being forced into a dress, and was quick to throw on a flight suit every time she could find an excuse to do something where a dress would be hindrance. She was getting increasingly more adept at finding reasons to stay out of the dresses. She tolerated them in public, but only because her position dictated it. Her handmaiden was working overtime trying to keep Jaina manicured, made up, and coiffed.

"You should have seen the arguments that ensued when Winter mandated Alderaanian ballet in addition to Galactic Standard ballroom. The only way they got Jaina to agree to it was Han offering her one hour of flight time for every hour she spent in ballet. Until that agreement was finally reached, there was pure chaos in the Solo household." Wedge laughed, and Soontir could only imagine how Jaina had made her protests known.

"I didn't know she took ballet at all. I could see Leia mandating ballroom, it would be a necessity for her family given her station. I can't imagine how Jaina enacted revenge."

"Winter felt it was an essential part of the upbringing of every young lady. It's helped her footwork in ground combat immensely, so today Jaina is grateful for it. At the time, though, a riled nexu had nothing on her temper. Even as a little kid, Jaina was more than creative with revenge. I distinctly recall the purple fizz powder she'd snuck into the water supply at the Orowood Tower. Winter was less than amused." As Wedge continued with the various pranks Jaina had used to illustrate her point, including a rather amusing one involving "borrowing" a crystal snake from Jacen, Soontir was laughing so hard he elected to sit down lest he fall over. There was no denying that his daughter in law was as devious as they came, and he almost, almost, felt pity for the moffs who would dare cross her.

Jagged was no slouch in the devious plot area, either. When you added Cherith and Davin to the mix, the plotting became an art. When Soontir had made the mistake of scaring off Cherith's first boyfriend, he'd ended up in a rather embarrassing situation in front of several of his best squadron leaders. The Chiss were far too professional to bring it up again, but the humans under his command snickered about it until the day he retired.

He just hoped that Jagged and Jaina never teamed up with Wes Janson. The galaxy simply couldn't take that kind of mayhem.