Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money is being made and no infringement is
intended
Author's note: Wow, you guys should be proud of me. Two posts in less than a week! Thanks for the reviews, I hope you like it.
As Jaina sat in the pilot's seat, she glanced over at her twin. It was ironic really, both of them had volunteered to take this shift, while the rest of their companions slept so that they could talk. Now here they were, free to talk at last and no one was saying anything. She heard Jacen's chuckle and realized that her twin had just picked up on her thought. They shared a grin for a moment and then cast around for a neutral topic.
"I wonder what this recall is about?" threw out Jacen.
"'Don't know," Jaina replied, "but, we'll find out as soon as we come out of hyperspace. We need to change course and we can talk to them then."
"Good," Jacen answered. He faltered for a second and then said, "What are you going to do when we get back to Mon Calamari?"
"Well, first I imagine they'll drag me before hundreds of committees for debriefing and then I'll resume my duties as a squadron leader and a Goddess." She took her eyes off of her console for a moment and smirked at Jacen. "Of course, I suppose you'll be returning to Hapes with Tenel Ka. Purely to help her organize her military forces I'm sure."
Jacen started to shoot back with a remark about Jag, but stopped himself before he could. He didn't know what was going on between his sister and the enigmatic Colonel Fel. Jacen was well aware of the fact that his sister had feelings for Jag. Her actions before they had been captured showed that, but if they were involved, they were definitely hiding it better than he and Tenel Ka. Of course, Jacen suspected they'd, had much more practice at hiding. Either way, he simply let it go.
Jaina looked at him oddly and started to stay something, but stopped when the count down to real space began. The next few minutes were spent concentrating on flying, not talking, although both were familiar enough with the ship that it wouldn't have been a problem.
The clatter of noise from behind them caused both twins to whirl around in surprise. Both knew in their heads that there were no enemies or people trying to kill them on this ship, but there war and torture trained instincts still hated being snuck up on. Almost as one the twins relaxed as they saw that it was only Tahiri, Tenel Ka and Jag.
"Good," said Jaina, turning back to piloting, "You guys are awake. We just dropped out of hyperspace and we were about to get on the Holonet to call Mon Calamari."
"Excellent," said Tenel Ka who leaned forward to share a kiss with her fiancé before dropping in to her seat. Tahiri and Jaina looked at one another and rolled their eyes in disgust, while Jag simply smiled slightly.
The next few minutes passed in comfortable silence broken with jovial conversation as the twins struggled to get a connection to their parents. Finally a miniature holographic image of Han and Leia popped up.
"Hi, Mom, Dad," greeted Jaina.
"Hey kid," said Han, while Leia simply nodded politely at the rest of the people present. When her eyes met her daughter's however, she looked sternly at her. "Don't you dare ever do that again, Jaina Solo. Do you hear me?" Leia scolded.
"Sure, Mom," Jaina said surprised at her mother's outburst, but aware of the feelings behind it. Se had to admit though, that at times she didn't really have much choice in whether she would die or not. It wasn't like she had planned it in advance, either.
"Mom," Jacen cut in knowing they only had the connection for a short time, "Can you and Dad tell us why we were recalled to Mon Calamari so urgently?"
Leia sighed. This was the closest thing her children or any of the people on that ship had had to a vacation for years. She hated to bring reality and death back into it. "The Vong have started harassing our borders. No major advances," she quickly reassured them, "just small raids, capturing refugee ships, breaking trade and supply routes."
"It's not a major problem, yet," Han added, picking up where his wife stopped, "but Command thought it would be a good idea to send you, Jaina and the rest of Twin Suns, maybe a small task force out to throw your goddessness around to send the Vong a message."
"Sounds good," said Jaina, "I'll be ready to go as soon as we get to Mon Calamari, but I think you'll want to debrief me first. I have information," she held up a hand, "I don't want to say what it is yet, but it's important."
"Okay, Jaina," said Han, "We have to go now, Kids," he added.
"Take care of each other," Leia added, "and come back in one piece."
"We will, Mom," Jaina promised, "May the Force be with you," she finished just before the connection cut off.
As they resumed their journey, returning to hyperspace, Tenel Ka took over for Jaina. Making sure her brother wasn't watching, although Jaina suspected he was too preoccupied with Tenel Ka, his fiancé, to care, she stepped to the back of the cockpit and into Jag's arms. She relaxed, secure in the knowledge that her parents were safe, her brother was beyond happy and she was in the one safe place in the galaxy. This was just a brief reprieve, she knew, but she was happy just to have the time with Jag, her brother and her friends. It was perfect happiness like Jaina hadn't felt in years.
________________________________________________________________________
Jaina shook violently and the scenery around her began to get blurry and fade. The feeling of fur on her arm replaced Jag's wonderful touch. With a start Jaina's remembered perfection vanished in the face of the cold, harsh, deadly reality that surrounded her. She looked around, half-ashamed of her brief respite, but grateful for it none the less, as she found herself still buried below the surface of Hoth; the fur that she felt that of none other than her Wookie second in command, Lowbacca.
"Lowie," she said groggily, "What's the situation?"
[ Tesar, and some of the others have been scouting the tunnels. The Vong are fixing to make another push.] He growled the last bit out.
With as sense of hope or at least fortified determination that she hadn't felt before she slept, she reached up and gave her Wookie friend a hug, for once not caring if she acted the proper part of a Goddess. "How many Vong are there, Lowie?" She asked, although she wasn't really certain she wanted to know. Lowbacca growled out another answer and Jaina once again grimaced.
The odds weren't good. Then again, she wasn't half Corellian for nothing. "Okay, people," she barked drawing the attention of her soldiers. "Here's the plan. Lowbacca get two volunteers and start reversing the trigger mechanism on some of our thermal grenades. The idea is for them to go off when they're warm not cold. Meanwhile," she said to the rest of her unit, "We're going to divide into two units. Myself, Tesar and Tahiri will lead the charge." She almost grinned at her people's look of horror. "That's right we're going to charge them. The rest of you will stay behind us and take out as many of the Vong as you can. Once they start to force us retreat, we'll fall back a short ways. This is where Lowbacca comes in. We'll drop the grenades as we retreat. The Vong's body heat should activate them. These tunnels stretch for miles, people. We can do this all day, if we need. The Vong don't have a limitless supply of troops like they used to, so we're going to make them pay."
Half an hour later, as they prepared to make their first charge, Jaina leaned back and looked Basin in the eye. She hated what she was about to do, but she had to have his full focus. She couldn't afford to lose anyone else.
"Basin," she whispered, and the haunted young man turned to look at her, "Basin, these are the Vong that killed Davin. Let's make them pay for that all right?"
He nodded sharply and although the expression on his face never changed, she could feel his directionless grief and depression turn into vengeful determination. Jaina tried to keep the revulsion she felt in feeding Dark emotions like that in a virtual innocent like Basin even if he wasn't a Jedi.
In the almost ten years that the war had dragged on, she had done that and things like it far too many times. War was not a pretty thing and she was well acquainted with that fact. Jaina knew better than to dream too much about the future after the war, lest she loose her focus on the present and her distraction become fatal. But still, she did long for the day she would no longer have to fight and kill or order beings, especially innocent beings like Basin Fletts to fight and kill, especially when there was no way that all of them would come back.
Jaina sighed, shook her head, pushed back all distracting thoughts, even those of better times and donned her mask. It was the mask of a Goddess and a hardened warrior. With it finally in place, Jaina charged like Death incarnate towards the waiting Yuuzhan Vong soldiers.
________________________________________________________________________
Okay, well if that part confused you guys go back and read chapter one. If ya'll don't feel like reading that then: The chapters up to here have been memories that Jaina is dreaming about.
Author's note: Wow, you guys should be proud of me. Two posts in less than a week! Thanks for the reviews, I hope you like it.
As Jaina sat in the pilot's seat, she glanced over at her twin. It was ironic really, both of them had volunteered to take this shift, while the rest of their companions slept so that they could talk. Now here they were, free to talk at last and no one was saying anything. She heard Jacen's chuckle and realized that her twin had just picked up on her thought. They shared a grin for a moment and then cast around for a neutral topic.
"I wonder what this recall is about?" threw out Jacen.
"'Don't know," Jaina replied, "but, we'll find out as soon as we come out of hyperspace. We need to change course and we can talk to them then."
"Good," Jacen answered. He faltered for a second and then said, "What are you going to do when we get back to Mon Calamari?"
"Well, first I imagine they'll drag me before hundreds of committees for debriefing and then I'll resume my duties as a squadron leader and a Goddess." She took her eyes off of her console for a moment and smirked at Jacen. "Of course, I suppose you'll be returning to Hapes with Tenel Ka. Purely to help her organize her military forces I'm sure."
Jacen started to shoot back with a remark about Jag, but stopped himself before he could. He didn't know what was going on between his sister and the enigmatic Colonel Fel. Jacen was well aware of the fact that his sister had feelings for Jag. Her actions before they had been captured showed that, but if they were involved, they were definitely hiding it better than he and Tenel Ka. Of course, Jacen suspected they'd, had much more practice at hiding. Either way, he simply let it go.
Jaina looked at him oddly and started to stay something, but stopped when the count down to real space began. The next few minutes were spent concentrating on flying, not talking, although both were familiar enough with the ship that it wouldn't have been a problem.
The clatter of noise from behind them caused both twins to whirl around in surprise. Both knew in their heads that there were no enemies or people trying to kill them on this ship, but there war and torture trained instincts still hated being snuck up on. Almost as one the twins relaxed as they saw that it was only Tahiri, Tenel Ka and Jag.
"Good," said Jaina, turning back to piloting, "You guys are awake. We just dropped out of hyperspace and we were about to get on the Holonet to call Mon Calamari."
"Excellent," said Tenel Ka who leaned forward to share a kiss with her fiancé before dropping in to her seat. Tahiri and Jaina looked at one another and rolled their eyes in disgust, while Jag simply smiled slightly.
The next few minutes passed in comfortable silence broken with jovial conversation as the twins struggled to get a connection to their parents. Finally a miniature holographic image of Han and Leia popped up.
"Hi, Mom, Dad," greeted Jaina.
"Hey kid," said Han, while Leia simply nodded politely at the rest of the people present. When her eyes met her daughter's however, she looked sternly at her. "Don't you dare ever do that again, Jaina Solo. Do you hear me?" Leia scolded.
"Sure, Mom," Jaina said surprised at her mother's outburst, but aware of the feelings behind it. Se had to admit though, that at times she didn't really have much choice in whether she would die or not. It wasn't like she had planned it in advance, either.
"Mom," Jacen cut in knowing they only had the connection for a short time, "Can you and Dad tell us why we were recalled to Mon Calamari so urgently?"
Leia sighed. This was the closest thing her children or any of the people on that ship had had to a vacation for years. She hated to bring reality and death back into it. "The Vong have started harassing our borders. No major advances," she quickly reassured them, "just small raids, capturing refugee ships, breaking trade and supply routes."
"It's not a major problem, yet," Han added, picking up where his wife stopped, "but Command thought it would be a good idea to send you, Jaina and the rest of Twin Suns, maybe a small task force out to throw your goddessness around to send the Vong a message."
"Sounds good," said Jaina, "I'll be ready to go as soon as we get to Mon Calamari, but I think you'll want to debrief me first. I have information," she held up a hand, "I don't want to say what it is yet, but it's important."
"Okay, Jaina," said Han, "We have to go now, Kids," he added.
"Take care of each other," Leia added, "and come back in one piece."
"We will, Mom," Jaina promised, "May the Force be with you," she finished just before the connection cut off.
As they resumed their journey, returning to hyperspace, Tenel Ka took over for Jaina. Making sure her brother wasn't watching, although Jaina suspected he was too preoccupied with Tenel Ka, his fiancé, to care, she stepped to the back of the cockpit and into Jag's arms. She relaxed, secure in the knowledge that her parents were safe, her brother was beyond happy and she was in the one safe place in the galaxy. This was just a brief reprieve, she knew, but she was happy just to have the time with Jag, her brother and her friends. It was perfect happiness like Jaina hadn't felt in years.
________________________________________________________________________
Jaina shook violently and the scenery around her began to get blurry and fade. The feeling of fur on her arm replaced Jag's wonderful touch. With a start Jaina's remembered perfection vanished in the face of the cold, harsh, deadly reality that surrounded her. She looked around, half-ashamed of her brief respite, but grateful for it none the less, as she found herself still buried below the surface of Hoth; the fur that she felt that of none other than her Wookie second in command, Lowbacca.
"Lowie," she said groggily, "What's the situation?"
[ Tesar, and some of the others have been scouting the tunnels. The Vong are fixing to make another push.] He growled the last bit out.
With as sense of hope or at least fortified determination that she hadn't felt before she slept, she reached up and gave her Wookie friend a hug, for once not caring if she acted the proper part of a Goddess. "How many Vong are there, Lowie?" She asked, although she wasn't really certain she wanted to know. Lowbacca growled out another answer and Jaina once again grimaced.
The odds weren't good. Then again, she wasn't half Corellian for nothing. "Okay, people," she barked drawing the attention of her soldiers. "Here's the plan. Lowbacca get two volunteers and start reversing the trigger mechanism on some of our thermal grenades. The idea is for them to go off when they're warm not cold. Meanwhile," she said to the rest of her unit, "We're going to divide into two units. Myself, Tesar and Tahiri will lead the charge." She almost grinned at her people's look of horror. "That's right we're going to charge them. The rest of you will stay behind us and take out as many of the Vong as you can. Once they start to force us retreat, we'll fall back a short ways. This is where Lowbacca comes in. We'll drop the grenades as we retreat. The Vong's body heat should activate them. These tunnels stretch for miles, people. We can do this all day, if we need. The Vong don't have a limitless supply of troops like they used to, so we're going to make them pay."
Half an hour later, as they prepared to make their first charge, Jaina leaned back and looked Basin in the eye. She hated what she was about to do, but she had to have his full focus. She couldn't afford to lose anyone else.
"Basin," she whispered, and the haunted young man turned to look at her, "Basin, these are the Vong that killed Davin. Let's make them pay for that all right?"
He nodded sharply and although the expression on his face never changed, she could feel his directionless grief and depression turn into vengeful determination. Jaina tried to keep the revulsion she felt in feeding Dark emotions like that in a virtual innocent like Basin even if he wasn't a Jedi.
In the almost ten years that the war had dragged on, she had done that and things like it far too many times. War was not a pretty thing and she was well acquainted with that fact. Jaina knew better than to dream too much about the future after the war, lest she loose her focus on the present and her distraction become fatal. But still, she did long for the day she would no longer have to fight and kill or order beings, especially innocent beings like Basin Fletts to fight and kill, especially when there was no way that all of them would come back.
Jaina sighed, shook her head, pushed back all distracting thoughts, even those of better times and donned her mask. It was the mask of a Goddess and a hardened warrior. With it finally in place, Jaina charged like Death incarnate towards the waiting Yuuzhan Vong soldiers.
________________________________________________________________________
Okay, well if that part confused you guys go back and read chapter one. If ya'll don't feel like reading that then: The chapters up to here have been memories that Jaina is dreaming about.