The Simulator Run
Cariista Dentar and Nika Sulole met Jaina in the mess, just as they were finishing lunch. 'Or is it dinner?' thought Jaina with dismay. 'Did I really sleep that late?!'
"Hurry up and eat, sleepyhead! I hope you slept well. At least, you should have." Nika said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Cariista rolled her eyes. "Nika, she was up late last night, and up extra early this morning tinkering with her x-wing. She needed the nap. She is getting old, you know." Riista grinned slyly.
" Hey! I am not that old! I'm not even close to being old! What are you talking about!?" interrupted Jaina.
"Well, anyways, Colonel Darklighter's given everyone the chance to rest up, and wants the whole squadron to run the sim tonight, before it gets too late!" Cariista said.
"Sim? What sim?" asked a confused Jaina.
"You know, the one your boyfriend and his squadron set up~ the next mission…?" Nika supplied.
"What? Run that by me again? What boyfrie-oh." Jaina stopped in mid- sentence as it dawned on her. "He's NOT my boyfriend!"
"Uh-huh. That's not what it looked like last night." Cariista said skeptically. Jaina looked horrified, thinking of what they had seen, but covered it with a glare directed at her two friends. They tried not to laugh at her, but couldn't help it. Both burst out laughing at Jaina's expression. 'Sith! They bluffed knowing anything, on a hunch, and I just told them what they expected to hear!' Jaina thought, furious.
"Anger is of the Dark Side." 'Riista said in an uncanny Yoda impression.
"We'll catch you later, ok, Sticks? Just don't be too late, Colonel doesn't like tardiness, you know." Said Nika.
"If it'll hurry you up any, your boyfriend and his squad are going to run it with us, they're clawcraft sims can be linked through, so we'll have a perfect battle sim!" Cariista said, and then Jaina's two friends left the mess hall. Jaina hurried up and downed her nutribar and synth nerf milk, and left to find the sim room. 'What really happened last night between Jag and I? I need to talk to him about it…' she thought. 'Everything's moving so quickly!' She got there just in time to hear Colonel Gavin Darklighter assign people to flights and sims.
"Jaina! Glad to see you've decided to join us!" Gavin said cheerily.
Jaina nodded. "Good morning, er, afternoon to you too, Colonel."
" Evening, Jaina, evening." He laughed at her stunned and disbelieving expression. "Anyways, people, we're switching it up a bit. Tharen, er, you'll take Three Flight as instead of Dentar. And Sulole, you're switching to Three Flight, and Dentar's coming to Two Flight. Other than that, just pick a sim, and then it's normal Rogue Squadron routines. Anybody else need their astromech to be paired with their sim? Solo, we've put yours in already, since it was in your x-wing. Anybody else? Any questions?" Gavin scanned the room. "Ok, then people, let's get a move on it!" Jaina glanced over to see Jag and his Chiss standing by their clawcraft sims, waiting patiently. She quickly ambled up her ladder, and dropped into the simulator.
"Hey, Sparky!" she greeted her droid as she tugged on her flight gloves and helmet. Her droid chirped a greeting to her.
"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Jaina said. She flipped the comm switch, and Sparky started the pre-flight checks as usual. After a few moments, Jaina got the affirmative beep that all systems were go.
"All Rogues, report in!"
"Rogue Twelve, four lit and in the green. Let's blow some rock!" she called. She listened as the others called in, grinning like a predator eyeing its prey.
"All right, Rogues, break into flights, and let's go. Listen for me or Colonel Fel for instructions." Gavin's voice crackled through the comm.
"Uh, Lead? Twelve. Didn't Colonel Fel set up this sim, so he should be able to tell us how to beat it with out many problems?" Jaina questioned.
"Good thinking, Twelve, but Spike Lead set it up so we'd be getting a random size fleet, with random tactics each time, so we might get a harder sim this time through than next time. Don't worry about it. Just blow some rock, ok?"
"Copy, Rogue Lead." said Jaina.
She nudged her x-wing forward. Both squadrons flew out of the Hapan hangar and headed out towards the Transitory Mists.
"Lead, Twelve again. Is the battle in the Mists?" asked Jaina.
"Twelve, I wouldn't know." came Darklighter's reply. Jaina double clicked her comm, a signal meaning understood. She gritted her teeth as they entered the Mists.
"Engaging hostiles!" cried a Rogue.
'Son of a Sith. In these Mists? I have no sensor readouts!' thought Jaina. As if reading her mind, a coralskipper dropped in behind her and started pounding her shields with plasma.
"Help! I've got one on me!" panicked Jaina.
"Hang on, Rogue Twelve, I'm coming!" cried someone-'Jag!'- Jaina realized with a start. She juked and jinked, but couldn't shake the experienced Yuuzhan Vong pilot.
"Sithspit! I can't shake him! Shields to thirteen percent! I need that help, Spike Lead!" cried Jaina into the comm. 'Nevermind.' she thought bitterly as her sim went black. "Sparky, how long was in?" she asked her droid. The answer scrolled across her primary monitor: Two point five minutes.
"Sithspawn! Not another sithspawned failure!" Jaina yelled, and then launched into a vicious, curse-filled speech of the select things Jaina had to say about this particular simulation. She pounded the controls, and then rested her head in her hands, sitting there, defeated.
* * *
Jag gritted his teeth as he sent his ship into a dizzying dive towards Jaina's distressed calls. 'Not going to make it!' he thought.
"Sithspit! I can't shake him! Shilds to thirteen percent! I need that help, Spike Lead!" Jaina's panicky call snapped him back to reality. He started firing onto the lump of coral that after Jaina. "No, no, come on!" he shouted to himself. And, with that, Jaina's x-wing exploded into a bright fireball. He slammed his controls, and terminated his sim. 'Failed her. I failed her! She counted on me, and I failed her! Good thing this isn't real.' he thought glumly. He checked his chrono. Two point five minutes. Pathetic. He sighed. Jaina was the first one to go, and he was the second, everyone else still going strong. Jag got up and hauled himself out of the clawcraft. He walked over to Jaina's x-wing simulator, and rapped softly on the canopy. He peered in, surprised to see Jaina sitting in there, head in her hands, the picture of defeat. She glanced up at him, disinterested. She thumbed the canopy open, and he half smiled at her.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey yourself, Fel." she snapped back. His eyebrows shot up. 'She must be really angry,' he noted, surprised.
"Well, what do you want?" Jaina snarled.
"I'd like to apologize." he said calmly, and paused a moment for going on. He had her full attention now. "I'd like to apologize for not getting to you soon enough. Because of my errors, your practice run was terminated too soon." Jaina frowned slightly. "Let me tell you something, Fel, and you listen up. This isn't your failure. This is just another one of Jaina Solo's failures, and it's a good thing this was just a sim, or else it would have been the last failure on a long, long list." She said coldly. "Excuse me." And she shoved him out of her way, and began to walk from the room at a quick pace. Jag stood there, stunned for a moment, then jogged after her.
"Jaina, wait," he called, but she didn't turn or slow down. He caught up to her side, and matched her pace. She turned her face away from him. He walked alongside of her, momentarily at a loss for words.
"Go away, Fel." she muttered hoarsely.
"Jaina, please, what's the matter?" he pleaded with her to tell him, but was met with cold, hard silence. Jaina stopped walking. Jag looked up, and saw with surprise that they were at her quarters. Jaina punched in a code, and said, "Come in, Fel." She still didn't look at him. He followed her inside, and dropped down onto the bunk, next to her.
"Jaina, please, just tell me, what's wrong?" he took her hand in his.
Finally, Jaina took a shaky breath, and looked him in the eyes. Her eyes were brimming with tears.
"Jag, look, I'm just a failure, ok? I don't know why you even bother. I failed my twin brother, he's still a Vong captive, and they're trying to catch me so Jace and I can kill each other. I failed Anakin, he died because his big sister couldn't save him. I've failed my family over and over again, and just failed my squadron and myself in that simulator. They say it's a pretty good mirror on your skills, you know? Well, well, then, if that's a good mirror, then I may as well just shoot myself and save myself the misery of giving some Yuuzhan Vong the pleasure of killing me for some heathen religion."
Jag stared at her, disbelieving what she just said. "Jaina," he said quietly, tipping her chin up to stare in her brandy brown eyes, "Don't say that. You aren't a failure to me." A few tears slipped out, and rolled down her cheeks. Jag reached out and swiped them away. He gathered her in his arms, and murmured comforting words to her, rocking her gently, and letting her sob into his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, and kept telling her she wasn't a failure. After awhile, he realized she'd stopped crying, but he held her tightly, and whispered soothingly in her ear. Not too long after, he realized she'd fallen asleep, but he didn't dare move her for fear of waking her. Instead, he just sat there on the edge of her bunk, holding her.
'Every day's a surprise.' He thought wryly. ' She's been through so much pain…' he noted sadly. 'I could get used to this, though…' Jag smiled. He sat there, smiling for a few heartbeats, then whispered, "I think I love you, Jaina.' He could have sworn she smiled slightly in her sleep. He leaned back against the wall, still holding her close, and closed his eyes, resting and thinking.
* * *
hey, guys, I really appreciate all the reviews so far!! Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear you guys are liking the story ~ I hope I'm doing an accurate job of portraying the characters!! :D
Cariista Dentar and Nika Sulole met Jaina in the mess, just as they were finishing lunch. 'Or is it dinner?' thought Jaina with dismay. 'Did I really sleep that late?!'
"Hurry up and eat, sleepyhead! I hope you slept well. At least, you should have." Nika said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Cariista rolled her eyes. "Nika, she was up late last night, and up extra early this morning tinkering with her x-wing. She needed the nap. She is getting old, you know." Riista grinned slyly.
" Hey! I am not that old! I'm not even close to being old! What are you talking about!?" interrupted Jaina.
"Well, anyways, Colonel Darklighter's given everyone the chance to rest up, and wants the whole squadron to run the sim tonight, before it gets too late!" Cariista said.
"Sim? What sim?" asked a confused Jaina.
"You know, the one your boyfriend and his squadron set up~ the next mission…?" Nika supplied.
"What? Run that by me again? What boyfrie-oh." Jaina stopped in mid- sentence as it dawned on her. "He's NOT my boyfriend!"
"Uh-huh. That's not what it looked like last night." Cariista said skeptically. Jaina looked horrified, thinking of what they had seen, but covered it with a glare directed at her two friends. They tried not to laugh at her, but couldn't help it. Both burst out laughing at Jaina's expression. 'Sith! They bluffed knowing anything, on a hunch, and I just told them what they expected to hear!' Jaina thought, furious.
"Anger is of the Dark Side." 'Riista said in an uncanny Yoda impression.
"We'll catch you later, ok, Sticks? Just don't be too late, Colonel doesn't like tardiness, you know." Said Nika.
"If it'll hurry you up any, your boyfriend and his squad are going to run it with us, they're clawcraft sims can be linked through, so we'll have a perfect battle sim!" Cariista said, and then Jaina's two friends left the mess hall. Jaina hurried up and downed her nutribar and synth nerf milk, and left to find the sim room. 'What really happened last night between Jag and I? I need to talk to him about it…' she thought. 'Everything's moving so quickly!' She got there just in time to hear Colonel Gavin Darklighter assign people to flights and sims.
"Jaina! Glad to see you've decided to join us!" Gavin said cheerily.
Jaina nodded. "Good morning, er, afternoon to you too, Colonel."
" Evening, Jaina, evening." He laughed at her stunned and disbelieving expression. "Anyways, people, we're switching it up a bit. Tharen, er, you'll take Three Flight as instead of Dentar. And Sulole, you're switching to Three Flight, and Dentar's coming to Two Flight. Other than that, just pick a sim, and then it's normal Rogue Squadron routines. Anybody else need their astromech to be paired with their sim? Solo, we've put yours in already, since it was in your x-wing. Anybody else? Any questions?" Gavin scanned the room. "Ok, then people, let's get a move on it!" Jaina glanced over to see Jag and his Chiss standing by their clawcraft sims, waiting patiently. She quickly ambled up her ladder, and dropped into the simulator.
"Hey, Sparky!" she greeted her droid as she tugged on her flight gloves and helmet. Her droid chirped a greeting to her.
"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Jaina said. She flipped the comm switch, and Sparky started the pre-flight checks as usual. After a few moments, Jaina got the affirmative beep that all systems were go.
"All Rogues, report in!"
"Rogue Twelve, four lit and in the green. Let's blow some rock!" she called. She listened as the others called in, grinning like a predator eyeing its prey.
"All right, Rogues, break into flights, and let's go. Listen for me or Colonel Fel for instructions." Gavin's voice crackled through the comm.
"Uh, Lead? Twelve. Didn't Colonel Fel set up this sim, so he should be able to tell us how to beat it with out many problems?" Jaina questioned.
"Good thinking, Twelve, but Spike Lead set it up so we'd be getting a random size fleet, with random tactics each time, so we might get a harder sim this time through than next time. Don't worry about it. Just blow some rock, ok?"
"Copy, Rogue Lead." said Jaina.
She nudged her x-wing forward. Both squadrons flew out of the Hapan hangar and headed out towards the Transitory Mists.
"Lead, Twelve again. Is the battle in the Mists?" asked Jaina.
"Twelve, I wouldn't know." came Darklighter's reply. Jaina double clicked her comm, a signal meaning understood. She gritted her teeth as they entered the Mists.
"Engaging hostiles!" cried a Rogue.
'Son of a Sith. In these Mists? I have no sensor readouts!' thought Jaina. As if reading her mind, a coralskipper dropped in behind her and started pounding her shields with plasma.
"Help! I've got one on me!" panicked Jaina.
"Hang on, Rogue Twelve, I'm coming!" cried someone-'Jag!'- Jaina realized with a start. She juked and jinked, but couldn't shake the experienced Yuuzhan Vong pilot.
"Sithspit! I can't shake him! Shields to thirteen percent! I need that help, Spike Lead!" cried Jaina into the comm. 'Nevermind.' she thought bitterly as her sim went black. "Sparky, how long was in?" she asked her droid. The answer scrolled across her primary monitor: Two point five minutes.
"Sithspawn! Not another sithspawned failure!" Jaina yelled, and then launched into a vicious, curse-filled speech of the select things Jaina had to say about this particular simulation. She pounded the controls, and then rested her head in her hands, sitting there, defeated.
* * *
Jag gritted his teeth as he sent his ship into a dizzying dive towards Jaina's distressed calls. 'Not going to make it!' he thought.
"Sithspit! I can't shake him! Shilds to thirteen percent! I need that help, Spike Lead!" Jaina's panicky call snapped him back to reality. He started firing onto the lump of coral that after Jaina. "No, no, come on!" he shouted to himself. And, with that, Jaina's x-wing exploded into a bright fireball. He slammed his controls, and terminated his sim. 'Failed her. I failed her! She counted on me, and I failed her! Good thing this isn't real.' he thought glumly. He checked his chrono. Two point five minutes. Pathetic. He sighed. Jaina was the first one to go, and he was the second, everyone else still going strong. Jag got up and hauled himself out of the clawcraft. He walked over to Jaina's x-wing simulator, and rapped softly on the canopy. He peered in, surprised to see Jaina sitting in there, head in her hands, the picture of defeat. She glanced up at him, disinterested. She thumbed the canopy open, and he half smiled at her.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey yourself, Fel." she snapped back. His eyebrows shot up. 'She must be really angry,' he noted, surprised.
"Well, what do you want?" Jaina snarled.
"I'd like to apologize." he said calmly, and paused a moment for going on. He had her full attention now. "I'd like to apologize for not getting to you soon enough. Because of my errors, your practice run was terminated too soon." Jaina frowned slightly. "Let me tell you something, Fel, and you listen up. This isn't your failure. This is just another one of Jaina Solo's failures, and it's a good thing this was just a sim, or else it would have been the last failure on a long, long list." She said coldly. "Excuse me." And she shoved him out of her way, and began to walk from the room at a quick pace. Jag stood there, stunned for a moment, then jogged after her.
"Jaina, wait," he called, but she didn't turn or slow down. He caught up to her side, and matched her pace. She turned her face away from him. He walked alongside of her, momentarily at a loss for words.
"Go away, Fel." she muttered hoarsely.
"Jaina, please, what's the matter?" he pleaded with her to tell him, but was met with cold, hard silence. Jaina stopped walking. Jag looked up, and saw with surprise that they were at her quarters. Jaina punched in a code, and said, "Come in, Fel." She still didn't look at him. He followed her inside, and dropped down onto the bunk, next to her.
"Jaina, please, just tell me, what's wrong?" he took her hand in his.
Finally, Jaina took a shaky breath, and looked him in the eyes. Her eyes were brimming with tears.
"Jag, look, I'm just a failure, ok? I don't know why you even bother. I failed my twin brother, he's still a Vong captive, and they're trying to catch me so Jace and I can kill each other. I failed Anakin, he died because his big sister couldn't save him. I've failed my family over and over again, and just failed my squadron and myself in that simulator. They say it's a pretty good mirror on your skills, you know? Well, well, then, if that's a good mirror, then I may as well just shoot myself and save myself the misery of giving some Yuuzhan Vong the pleasure of killing me for some heathen religion."
Jag stared at her, disbelieving what she just said. "Jaina," he said quietly, tipping her chin up to stare in her brandy brown eyes, "Don't say that. You aren't a failure to me." A few tears slipped out, and rolled down her cheeks. Jag reached out and swiped them away. He gathered her in his arms, and murmured comforting words to her, rocking her gently, and letting her sob into his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, and kept telling her she wasn't a failure. After awhile, he realized she'd stopped crying, but he held her tightly, and whispered soothingly in her ear. Not too long after, he realized she'd fallen asleep, but he didn't dare move her for fear of waking her. Instead, he just sat there on the edge of her bunk, holding her.
'Every day's a surprise.' He thought wryly. ' She's been through so much pain…' he noted sadly. 'I could get used to this, though…' Jag smiled. He sat there, smiling for a few heartbeats, then whispered, "I think I love you, Jaina.' He could have sworn she smiled slightly in her sleep. He leaned back against the wall, still holding her close, and closed his eyes, resting and thinking.
* * *
hey, guys, I really appreciate all the reviews so far!! Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear you guys are liking the story ~ I hope I'm doing an accurate job of portraying the characters!! :D