Disclaimer: Once again, I own none of this, the characters the story
nothing.
Author's note: Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I really appreciate it.
Three Days Previously
Jagged Fel surveyed the empty space around him. He and his squadron were still patrolling the Hydian Way. Today, his squadron was scattered among various asteroids as they waited for the Vong. An anonymous tip sent in by a traitorous peace brigader had tipped them off to this newest incursion. He scanned the space around him, waiting for the Vong to enter the system, and suddenly there they were. A Yuuzhan Vong frigate about the size of Jaina Solo's Trickster, Jag noted, was the first to enter. It was accompanied by about two dozen coralskippers.
Noting that the Vong had yet to notice his squadron, he switched to squadron frequency, "All right people, wait until the skips come by the asteroids before you shoot." Jag paused glancing down at his sensors quickly checking the skips progress. "Make the first shot count, people. Ten," he called to his Vong specialist, "It's your job to jam the yamosk. Two through six, you're with me. Our job is to get the coral skippers. Seven through twelve take care of the frigate. You all know what to do. Fire on my mark."
He stopped abruptly and focused on the leading skip. Hoping that his rookie pilots wouldn't get impatient and take an early shot, he waited until the skips were almost past them and said, "Three, two, one, Mark."
He let off a brilliant burst of laser fire, overloading the dovin basal and sending debris flying in all directions. He noticed as he rose off of the asteroid that most of his pilots, even the rookies, had been successful, cutting the down the number of skips significantly.
As he and his shield trio raced towards the Vong, he spared one last thought before focusing on the battle. He remembered the promise he had made to Jaina, a promise he fully intended to make good on. He remembered the teary smile Jaina had given him in the deserted conference room and his resulting impromptu promise. Holding Jaina in a tight hug, seeing a side of her that he, much less anyone else, rarely saw, he whispered, "Jaina I know I told you I wouldn't leave, but I will come back. I promise you I will, no matter what." He stepped back and looked her in the eye. They shared one last kiss before Jaina walked out of his sight for the last time before he left.
Abruptly, he shook his head as if to shake off his lingering thoughts. Grimly he and his shield trio opened fire on the approaching skips. Blowing past the first skip, Jag and his shield trio made short work of the skips. As he turned back to the Vong frigate, he thanked the galaxy that his pilots weren't as green as Jaina's and noted that only one of his pilots had gone EV, a large improvement over past engagements.
Making sure that one of his pilots had already called for a rescue shuttle, he and the rest of his pilots began to bombard the frigate. Before long the space around them was filled with flying pieces of coral and gouts of plasma as the ship came apart piece by piece, overwhelmed by the fighters and deprived of its escort.
________________________________________________________________________
Two hours later, after mopping up the fight and a comparatively brief return trip, Jag and his squadron entered the hanger bay of their home base, the home base for all of the New Republic forces in the area, a captured Imperial Star Destroyer. Setting his clawcraft down with the ease born of practice, Jag began to open his cockpit before his fighter had even touched the deck. To his surprise, as he jumped out of his fighter cockpit, a technician ran across the landing bay towards him.
"An urgent message for you Colonel," called the winded technician, "It's been forwarded to your quarters for you."
Nodding his thanks to the man, he quickly called his second-in-command over to him to make sure fighter maintenance was scheduled. Before he dismissed his squadron, he notified them of the post-flight briefing in an hour and then headed to his quarters to retrieve the 'urgent' message.
It was, he concluded, probably from Jaina. Her goddess status demanded that her messages, even private messages, be given priority. He keyed the message and to his surprise, it was not Jaina but Leia Organa Solo and Mara Jade Skywalker.
Leia spoke first, "Colonel Fel, at the request of Wedge Antilles and Admiral Kre'fey, you are being recalled to Mon Calamari." Pausing she glanced over at Mara, who spoke up next. "If you consent, Colonel, you will be appointed the liaison to the jedi. A new squadron commander is being sent to lead your squadron." Then Leia picked up the one-sided conversation again. "You will be expected at Mon Calamari as soon as possible. You will be briefed when you arrive. Thank you."
Jag tired from the days fighting and the contents of the message, sat down abruptly on his bunk. To his chagrin, his mind did not go immediately to the tactical or political ramifications of his next course of action, but the fact that he would soon be seeing Jaina again. With another abrupt change in mood, Jag was suddenly overtaken by grim determination. Throwing his gear into a bag, he quickly made the necessary arrangements for departure and was gone with in the hour.
Tired from the almost constant fighting, Jag spent the first day in hyperspace in a peaceful slumber. However, the second day of his journey left him plenty of time for thought, about his reassignment to Mon Calamari, about his superiors reasoning, his parents and family in Chiss space and most importantly about Jaina. As he thought of her a goofy grin, totally at odds with his projected image of polished Chiss-trained Colonel, spread across his face. He had changed so much since they had first met. Yet, there was still a spark between them, a spark that seemed to be burning a bit brighter of late. He had no desire to pressure Jaina, she had enough stress already and he understood Jaina's reasons for secrecy about their relationship,but. This, this was serious and he would prove it to Jaina any way he could.
________________________________________________________________________
A Day Later. In the darkest hours of night a young man landed in a lone clawcraft landed on Mon Calamari, determined to tell Jaina Solo how he truly felt about her only to be stopped by an assumed suitor before he could even begin.
By the next morning, after a few short hours of tossing and turning, a still furious Jagged Fel appeared in the mess hall, searching for Kyp Durrron on his Uncle, anyone who could tell him his next assignment so that he could go. To his immense relief, although no one could tell his relief from his expression, he spotted Kyp almost immediately. When he reached Kyp's table he simply stood there waiting for the sleepy Jedi Master to speak.
"Fel? What are you doing here?" The surprise in his voice was genuine, Jag was sad to note, meaning that Kyp had no clue about his new assignment. "Fel. Hey, Fel, are you alright? You don't feel so great." Kyp added reading Jag through the force.
"I'm fine, thank you, Master Durron. " Jag replied in a cool, controlled voice.
Then he turned and almost collided with Jaina Solo as she entered the cramped mess hall with her twin brother, Jacen. Kyp watched with shock and growing horror as the scene before him unfolded with painful detail. As he expected, Jaina's response to unexpectedly seeing Jag was exuberant. She enthusiastically grabbed the pilot in a tight embrace and before the entire mess hall gave him a deep kiss, deep enough to make Jacen blush. However, Jaina's response was not the surprise; it was instead Jag's lack or a response that was shocking. He simply stood there rigid, stepping back from her as she tried to kiss him. As she stepped back in surprise all she saw in his eyes was a cold distance.
"Jag," she murmured, reaching a hand out weakly to touch his arm. The flinch and the look of loathing that passed over his face sent Jaina reeling back another few paces where Jacen caught her in a supportive embrace.
The look on Jag's face, one of icy fury, as he brushed passed Jaina and his curt, formal, "Stay the Sith away from me, Goddess," left Jaina thoroughly hurt and confused. Leaving Jacen to comfort Jaina, Kyp angrily started out after Jag, but to his deep disappointment, Jag had already disappeared. After a quick scan of the crowd, Kyp walked back into the mess hall to find Jaina trying to hold back sobs as Jacen tightly embraced her and tried to soothe her pain. Jacen looked up from Jaina, momentarily raising his eyebrows at Kyp, questioning his success.
At Kyp's curt shake of dissent, he heard Jacen say through the force *Please help me get her out of here, Kyp.*
Abruptly remembering that Jaina had an image to maintain, Kyp grasped Jaina's arm (the one Jacen wasn't holding) and protectively led her out of the mess hall and back to her quarters.
Leaving Jaina in the refresher for a moment when they returned to her quarters, the two men conferred quietly. "Will she be okay," queried Kyp, "or should we call for back up. You Mother or Mara, maybe?"
Pausing before he spoke, Jacen reached out to touch his twin's emotional state through the force. After a moment he replied, "I'm not sure that we should tell Mom, Jaina might not appreciate that but, maybe we could call Mara. I want to go find fell."
"You and me both, Solo," Kyp almost growled.
Five minutes later Mara Jade Skywalker entered Jaina's quarters. Kyp, looking almost like a club bouncer, stood guarding the door and received an odd look from Mara as she crossed the room to where Jacen sat next to Jaina on her bunk. As Mara sat down on Jaina's other side, Jacen rose and with Kyp in the lead started towards the door.
They had only taken two steps though when Jaina's voice stopped them where they stood. "Don't, don't go after him. Don't mess with him. Jacen, Kyp, promise me you won't." The desperation in her voice made them both agree immediately even though internally both were raging at Jag.
Thank you for reading. Please review.
Author's note: Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I really appreciate it.
Three Days Previously
Jagged Fel surveyed the empty space around him. He and his squadron were still patrolling the Hydian Way. Today, his squadron was scattered among various asteroids as they waited for the Vong. An anonymous tip sent in by a traitorous peace brigader had tipped them off to this newest incursion. He scanned the space around him, waiting for the Vong to enter the system, and suddenly there they were. A Yuuzhan Vong frigate about the size of Jaina Solo's Trickster, Jag noted, was the first to enter. It was accompanied by about two dozen coralskippers.
Noting that the Vong had yet to notice his squadron, he switched to squadron frequency, "All right people, wait until the skips come by the asteroids before you shoot." Jag paused glancing down at his sensors quickly checking the skips progress. "Make the first shot count, people. Ten," he called to his Vong specialist, "It's your job to jam the yamosk. Two through six, you're with me. Our job is to get the coral skippers. Seven through twelve take care of the frigate. You all know what to do. Fire on my mark."
He stopped abruptly and focused on the leading skip. Hoping that his rookie pilots wouldn't get impatient and take an early shot, he waited until the skips were almost past them and said, "Three, two, one, Mark."
He let off a brilliant burst of laser fire, overloading the dovin basal and sending debris flying in all directions. He noticed as he rose off of the asteroid that most of his pilots, even the rookies, had been successful, cutting the down the number of skips significantly.
As he and his shield trio raced towards the Vong, he spared one last thought before focusing on the battle. He remembered the promise he had made to Jaina, a promise he fully intended to make good on. He remembered the teary smile Jaina had given him in the deserted conference room and his resulting impromptu promise. Holding Jaina in a tight hug, seeing a side of her that he, much less anyone else, rarely saw, he whispered, "Jaina I know I told you I wouldn't leave, but I will come back. I promise you I will, no matter what." He stepped back and looked her in the eye. They shared one last kiss before Jaina walked out of his sight for the last time before he left.
Abruptly, he shook his head as if to shake off his lingering thoughts. Grimly he and his shield trio opened fire on the approaching skips. Blowing past the first skip, Jag and his shield trio made short work of the skips. As he turned back to the Vong frigate, he thanked the galaxy that his pilots weren't as green as Jaina's and noted that only one of his pilots had gone EV, a large improvement over past engagements.
Making sure that one of his pilots had already called for a rescue shuttle, he and the rest of his pilots began to bombard the frigate. Before long the space around them was filled with flying pieces of coral and gouts of plasma as the ship came apart piece by piece, overwhelmed by the fighters and deprived of its escort.
________________________________________________________________________
Two hours later, after mopping up the fight and a comparatively brief return trip, Jag and his squadron entered the hanger bay of their home base, the home base for all of the New Republic forces in the area, a captured Imperial Star Destroyer. Setting his clawcraft down with the ease born of practice, Jag began to open his cockpit before his fighter had even touched the deck. To his surprise, as he jumped out of his fighter cockpit, a technician ran across the landing bay towards him.
"An urgent message for you Colonel," called the winded technician, "It's been forwarded to your quarters for you."
Nodding his thanks to the man, he quickly called his second-in-command over to him to make sure fighter maintenance was scheduled. Before he dismissed his squadron, he notified them of the post-flight briefing in an hour and then headed to his quarters to retrieve the 'urgent' message.
It was, he concluded, probably from Jaina. Her goddess status demanded that her messages, even private messages, be given priority. He keyed the message and to his surprise, it was not Jaina but Leia Organa Solo and Mara Jade Skywalker.
Leia spoke first, "Colonel Fel, at the request of Wedge Antilles and Admiral Kre'fey, you are being recalled to Mon Calamari." Pausing she glanced over at Mara, who spoke up next. "If you consent, Colonel, you will be appointed the liaison to the jedi. A new squadron commander is being sent to lead your squadron." Then Leia picked up the one-sided conversation again. "You will be expected at Mon Calamari as soon as possible. You will be briefed when you arrive. Thank you."
Jag tired from the days fighting and the contents of the message, sat down abruptly on his bunk. To his chagrin, his mind did not go immediately to the tactical or political ramifications of his next course of action, but the fact that he would soon be seeing Jaina again. With another abrupt change in mood, Jag was suddenly overtaken by grim determination. Throwing his gear into a bag, he quickly made the necessary arrangements for departure and was gone with in the hour.
Tired from the almost constant fighting, Jag spent the first day in hyperspace in a peaceful slumber. However, the second day of his journey left him plenty of time for thought, about his reassignment to Mon Calamari, about his superiors reasoning, his parents and family in Chiss space and most importantly about Jaina. As he thought of her a goofy grin, totally at odds with his projected image of polished Chiss-trained Colonel, spread across his face. He had changed so much since they had first met. Yet, there was still a spark between them, a spark that seemed to be burning a bit brighter of late. He had no desire to pressure Jaina, she had enough stress already and he understood Jaina's reasons for secrecy about their relationship,but. This, this was serious and he would prove it to Jaina any way he could.
________________________________________________________________________
A Day Later. In the darkest hours of night a young man landed in a lone clawcraft landed on Mon Calamari, determined to tell Jaina Solo how he truly felt about her only to be stopped by an assumed suitor before he could even begin.
By the next morning, after a few short hours of tossing and turning, a still furious Jagged Fel appeared in the mess hall, searching for Kyp Durrron on his Uncle, anyone who could tell him his next assignment so that he could go. To his immense relief, although no one could tell his relief from his expression, he spotted Kyp almost immediately. When he reached Kyp's table he simply stood there waiting for the sleepy Jedi Master to speak.
"Fel? What are you doing here?" The surprise in his voice was genuine, Jag was sad to note, meaning that Kyp had no clue about his new assignment. "Fel. Hey, Fel, are you alright? You don't feel so great." Kyp added reading Jag through the force.
"I'm fine, thank you, Master Durron. " Jag replied in a cool, controlled voice.
Then he turned and almost collided with Jaina Solo as she entered the cramped mess hall with her twin brother, Jacen. Kyp watched with shock and growing horror as the scene before him unfolded with painful detail. As he expected, Jaina's response to unexpectedly seeing Jag was exuberant. She enthusiastically grabbed the pilot in a tight embrace and before the entire mess hall gave him a deep kiss, deep enough to make Jacen blush. However, Jaina's response was not the surprise; it was instead Jag's lack or a response that was shocking. He simply stood there rigid, stepping back from her as she tried to kiss him. As she stepped back in surprise all she saw in his eyes was a cold distance.
"Jag," she murmured, reaching a hand out weakly to touch his arm. The flinch and the look of loathing that passed over his face sent Jaina reeling back another few paces where Jacen caught her in a supportive embrace.
The look on Jag's face, one of icy fury, as he brushed passed Jaina and his curt, formal, "Stay the Sith away from me, Goddess," left Jaina thoroughly hurt and confused. Leaving Jacen to comfort Jaina, Kyp angrily started out after Jag, but to his deep disappointment, Jag had already disappeared. After a quick scan of the crowd, Kyp walked back into the mess hall to find Jaina trying to hold back sobs as Jacen tightly embraced her and tried to soothe her pain. Jacen looked up from Jaina, momentarily raising his eyebrows at Kyp, questioning his success.
At Kyp's curt shake of dissent, he heard Jacen say through the force *Please help me get her out of here, Kyp.*
Abruptly remembering that Jaina had an image to maintain, Kyp grasped Jaina's arm (the one Jacen wasn't holding) and protectively led her out of the mess hall and back to her quarters.
Leaving Jaina in the refresher for a moment when they returned to her quarters, the two men conferred quietly. "Will she be okay," queried Kyp, "or should we call for back up. You Mother or Mara, maybe?"
Pausing before he spoke, Jacen reached out to touch his twin's emotional state through the force. After a moment he replied, "I'm not sure that we should tell Mom, Jaina might not appreciate that but, maybe we could call Mara. I want to go find fell."
"You and me both, Solo," Kyp almost growled.
Five minutes later Mara Jade Skywalker entered Jaina's quarters. Kyp, looking almost like a club bouncer, stood guarding the door and received an odd look from Mara as she crossed the room to where Jacen sat next to Jaina on her bunk. As Mara sat down on Jaina's other side, Jacen rose and with Kyp in the lead started towards the door.
They had only taken two steps though when Jaina's voice stopped them where they stood. "Don't, don't go after him. Don't mess with him. Jacen, Kyp, promise me you won't." The desperation in her voice made them both agree immediately even though internally both were raging at Jag.
Thank you for reading. Please review.