Sorry it's taken so long! Ah! Do teachers LIKE to ruin my life with homework! Anyway…here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy ^_-
Turn of the Tide- Chapter 4
The beeping was the only relatively soothing thing that Jag could think of at the moment. He was almost tempted to go wake up Jaina but he thought better of it and decided that he could do this by himself. He was the best pilot in the Chiss army and he knew he had to prove that right now. Despite his mental vote for confidence, jag's hands were shaking as he steered the ship down towards the mangled planet. He could see the smoke coming off of it, the destruction that had taken place. This had been Jaina's home.
He shook the thought out of his head and started once again focusing on the readout that was in front of him. The ship was originally designed and grafted into Nom Amor but when Jacen had escaped from the clutches of the Vong he had managed to convince it to work with him. Jacen had spent a few hours with Jag and Jaina so that the ship could slowly blend into them. He could see by the readouts that the ship didn't fully trust his flying capabilities and preferred that he went and got Jaina, but he was determined to let her sleep. He would not let anything happen to her and the safest place he felt right now, was being in control of the ship.
After a few moments the ship caught on that Jag was going to be the pilot here and it started feeding some data towards him. He could already make out about 4 or 5 skips heading towards him and some fast thinking was in order. Dropping the notes he sat down in the pilots seat and decided to trust in his own piloting skills and not what the ship could do for him.
Jag Fel had never bragged about his flying. Then again he had never denied it either. Praise was a regular thing for him and he proved that he deserved it every day. Today he would prove it even more. He took the ship into a tight barrel roll and zoomed as fast as he could towards the planet. He felt several impacts that shook the ship, but he also felt and heard the ones that he was able to dodge. No doubt about it. This was a moment for Jag Fel to prove his glory. He quickly slammed in full reverse and felt the weak but faithful ship beneath him groan under his commands.
Nevertheless, he felt the ship jerk back and he saw all the skips fly into view in front of him. Taking the momentary advantage of the surprise, Jag hit his guns and blew all 4 of them into oblivion in the next 10 seconds. Sudden surprise was his specialty. Only after celebrating his victory did he note the true damage that the skips had done to their craft. Their shields were almost gone, at 10% nothing was going to last long. They had lost 4 of their 5 repulsors and Jag saw the planet looming up on them much fast than it was supposed to. For a moment he panicked but the cool demeanor that he was famous for came back almost instantly. Gripping the controls confidently he landed somewhat smoothly onto the grounds of lower level Courasaunt. He didn't have much time to think as he was undoing his crash webbing. He could already her the shouts of the Vong coming closer and fear griped at him as he rushed back to Jaina. There was only one safe place on Courasaunt that he really knew. And he had to get Jaina there…fast.
"Jaina….Jaina wake up quick!"
Sitting up with a start, Jaina wiped the last remnants of sleep out of her eyes and she was immediately confronted with Jag's hovering, worriedly looking face. She had never seen him like this and as soon as she had made eyes contact he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the cabin. Confused, but to tired to fight back, Jaina let him lead her towards the door. He dropped her arm momentarily to key it open and Jaina's eyes went wide as she realized what had happened. She all of a sudden notice the smell of smoke in the air and she also could scent the odor of some metal burning outside their hull.
The door swished open and Jaina was overpowered by the heat coming from the outside. After the shock of the temperature change, Jag once again grabbed her arm and lead her farther and farther away from the ship. She risked a glance back and saw several Vong warriors running up the hill behind their ship, firing at it with their weapons and she watched in wonder as the entire hull was stripped away and the ship slowly began to melt. It was all happening too fast for Jaina and her brain was working at top speed again. She vaguely could feel the tight grip of Jag's hand around her wrist.
Courasaunt…this was all they had left of their home…A few tears pricked at her eyes as she looked all around at the desolation. More and more tears came until she could no longer tell which direction they were going in. They had been running for almost 10 minutes now and Jag seemed to know exactly where he was going. Like he was looking for somewhere, or something. Which, Jaina thought was rather strange considering that as far as she knew, he had never been on Courasaunt in his life. Especially not the lower levels where they were now.
Of course you almost couldn't even call them lower levels. All the magnificently tall buildings were now reduced to ruin. As a matter of fact, that ruin was what they were running over. She risked a glance back but could not see any blurry Vong pursuers. Finally she and Jag came across one of the few buildings still standing and Jag pulled her down a dark ally, only to stop short, drop her hand and pull a data pad out of his jumpsuit, looking frantically for a file stored on it. Jaina's mind was still racing and she continued walking around, searching for anything that would tell her this used to be her home.
She didn't walk to far from Jag, it felt unsafe to be out of his protective area. But she still wouldn't acknowledge his presence as he put a comforting arm around her shoulders. She stood terribly still as more tears clouded her vision. His hand was cold on her shoulder and she hurriedly shook it off. She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to face him. He had one small tear flowing out of the corner of his eye and his faced was masked with a look of concern and worry, which Jaina knew was for her.
Her bottom lip trembled as she realized the seriousness of the situation. They were stranded on a planet full of Vong, with no ship, no means of communication, no supplies and all the defense they had was Jaina's light saber and Jag's blaster. To top it all off, Jaina's eyes rested on a spot near where the Senate Hall used to be, And she saw their old home, mangled, ruined and almost completely torn apart. She tried to stop it from coming but the pain was too great. For the first time in her life, sobs rocked Jaina Solo's body and her knees gave out from under her. She fell into Jag's strong embrace and lay there until she cried herself to sleep.
Jag once again tried not to squirm too much as he heard Jaina's sobs die down. His eyes scanned the dark ally every few minutes, watching closely for any movement. Then his eyes would drop down to his data pad. He was trying to find the safest and quickest route to the described location from Jacen Solo. He had said that it was a building still intact, with plenty of rations inside. Jacen had been told from his friend Vergere that the Vong believed that to be an evil place of gods for the signs and symbols painted outside of it. Refugees who had not made it off Courasaunt had painted those to wards the Vong away and it had apparently works. It was the place of gathering for all who stayed alive long enough to make it there. Jacen had given him directions incase something went wrong. Something had indeed gone wrong.
When he finally found the route that he had determined was the safest he settled down and brought Jaina more into his protection. He smoothed her had out a bit and wiped the last remains of her tears from her face. The run had warn her out and he couldn't blame her. But he hadn't known what else to do. They wouldn't have been able to make it away if he had carried her. Jag just knew that somehow, call it the force.
A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and his hand smoothly went down to his blaster. A light reflected off of a broken window and shined on the silhouette of a man? Vong? He couldn't tell but he knew something was there. He quietly slid out from underneath Jaina and his movement woke her up. Her eyes fluttered open but before she could open her mouth Jag's finger was pressed to her lips. His eyes flicked to the open alleyway and then back to her. Jaina got the hint and calmly reached down for her light saber. Gripping it's cool handle she ignited it. Jag almost jumped back in surprise at what he saw when the light from the saber lit up their attacker.
Eight or nine men and woman stood in the darkness. All armed with beat up blasters and violates. Their clothing was torn into almost rags and their faces were caked with dirt, sweat and blood. None of them were smiling. One man, who seemed to be the leader of the group, was the first to lower his weapon and a slight grin formed on his face. One by one the others followed in succession, though they did not all smile after their weapons were lowered. Jaina and Jag both had no idea what to say so they waited for the group to say the first words.
The Lead man stepped up towards Jag and held out his hand, a half smile still on his face. Jag looked at the hand skeptically. Jacen, Luke, Mara and Tahari had all told them to be wary of the people still surviving on Courasaunt. They didn't fool around. Jag heard as well as saw Jaina turn off her light saber and clip it back onto her belt. Still a little bit skeptical and having a hard time smiling, Jag reached up and shook the man's hand. His grip was firm and his smile didn't die away after he let go. He almost reminded Jag of the cocky young Han Solo who Jag had heard stories about. Stepping back the man surveyed Jaina and Jag for a few more seconds. Finally he spoke, forcing Jaina and Jag to both exhale. Something neither of them had done since Jaina turned on her light saber.
"Don't be frightened of us kids. We only use these weapons on Vong," he said patting his blaster that was secured firmly at his side. "We saw a ship land near hear and we came to check it out. Though I have to admit that you two are the last people that I would ever expect to see here."
"Do you even know who we are?" Jaina said with a skeptical glare.
"As a matter of fact I do. I served with both of your fathers in the Imperial Academy. I got kicked out a few years after your father miss Solo. You both have a stunning resemblance to your parents," he stuck out his hand for Jaina to shake. "My names Jenous. I only ever got to Lieutenant but titles are of no use around here. Everyone just had names now." Jaina reached up to give his hand a firm shake. Jag still saw the doubting look in her eyes as she tightly gripped this man's hand. Jenous continued talking. "Say why are you kids here anyway? Shouldn't you freedom fighters be up there blasting away some Vong for us? We don't get many down here who stumble into our territory."
"We could ask the same for you," Jag said defiantly. "Your obviously a smuggler of some kind. Not many of them were even on Courasaunt during it's takeover."
"Well I'm one of the not many." He pointed towards the rest of the group. "This here is a group of smuggler's and bounty hunters who's ships were all destroyed in the same hanger, along with mine. Everyone here can shoot and fly far better than they can walk. We scout out extra food and supplies for a small camp near here." Jag realized how trusting this man was being, considering that he really didn't know much about him and Jaina except through heritage, and bounty hunters and smuggler's weren't ones to trust someone so readily. He looked back towards Jaina and saw that she was definitely believing them. Why not, Jag thought. It's not like we've got something better to do right now…