Chapter Three: Decisions
Jag considered catching up on lost sleep during the flight to the Unknown Regions, but for some strange reason, he couldn't. Perhaps the cockpit was too uncomfortable today, or his caf had been extra strong that morning. Either way, he was wired.
Maybe he was nervous about bringing Jaina to Csilla. After all, her brashness and her bared emotions would cause a stir in his normally routine life, and then there were his parents…
He didn't really get a chance to consider it further, because the fuzzy mottled pattern of hyperspace abruptly changed to star lines and a sharp jerk to his Clawcraft nearly pitched him into the maneuvering controls. His ears were assaulted by blaring alarms and proximity warnings while his tried to regain control of his fighter.
"Shavit!" he cursed as he realized that himself, Jaina and Shawnkyr had all been pulled out of hyperspace by a dovin basal. He rapidly pressed buttons, checking diagnostics to see if any damage had been done to the Clawcraft, and opened a channel to Jaina and Shawnkyr.
"Group, acknowledge," he pressed urgently.
"Here Colonel," Jaina said, her tone determined, angry.
"Repor-"
Shawnkyr's reply was interrupted by her surprised cry and a burst of static.
At the same time, a group of fighters labelled as enemies appeared on the radar, almost on top of Shawnkyr.
"Lieutentant!" Jag cried in fear.
Please let Shawnkyr be alive…
"I'm here Colonel!" came her shaken voice.
"Are they Vong?" Jag asked.
"No, Peace Brigade," she answered, her voice becoming calmer again.
An insistent beeping informed Jag he was being targeted.
"Group, split!" Jag ordered and rolled his Clawcraft into a hard barrel roll to port, narrowly escaping the volley of laser cannon fire. The ship chasing him sped through the space where Jag had been. It was an ugly, with a tie-fighter cockpit and X-wing S-foils.
Jag swore again and dove after it. With a little sideways maneuvering, he got directly behind it and tore it apart with well-aimed blasts from his lasers. A quick glance at his screen told him there were more enemies in pursuit behind him and closing fast.
His threw the controls to the left with all his strength and looped the Clawcraft in an excruciating, gravity-crunching turn to face the new opponents.
He got a lock, let a proton torpedo fly, and almost before it hit the intended craft he gained another lock and fired again.
The two uglies flared into incandescent balls of shrapnel, and Jag automatically juked his vessel from side to side to avoid return fire from the remaining two opponents. He had no time for them, there were three on Jaina and two on Shawnkyr.
Battling his the instinct of his heart to immediately aid Jaina, Jag sped towards Shawnkyr who was closer.
"Shawnkyr, what's wrong with you?" he asked gravely, noticing that she was only avoiding fire and not shooting back.
"Colonel, my ship was damaged. I can only maintain maneuvering and shields, not weapons."
Jag gritted his teeth dangerously. "I'll be right there."
The two craft tailing Shawnkyr had better pilots than the clods who'd been after him and both avoided his first shots.
"Damn," he muttered under his breath, "So that's how you want to play it, huh?"
A slight smile curved the corner of his mouth as Jag threw his own fighter into an impossible series of dives and twists. Within seconds, the enemies were eliminated.
His alarms blared again and Jag's elation disappeared as he saw another dozen uglies bearing down overhead.
He was in a rotten position, being right under them and put more on the defense than the offense, but Jag had every confidence in his ability to avoid them. It was the other two members of his group he was worried about.
Jag was taking a deep breath in preparation of some deft catch-me-if-you-can displays when three of his opponents were suddenly extinguished in a brief blaze of light.
"Thought you could use some assistance over here," Jaina's voice greeted smugly, and then in a low voice directed to the Peace Brigade ships, "Pick on my boyfriend why don't you?"
Jag couldn't suppress a grin and used the extra few seconds that shock treatment had given him to take a position along side Jaina.
"I'm almost out of torps Jag," she confided, "I'll can take them out with laser cannons or cover you."
"I'll take them," Jag decided quickly, "Fall in behind."
"Yes sir," Jaina said primly, her joking tone evident over the commlink.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite work that way.
The cowardly Peace Brigade, when faced with two superior pilots at the same time, veered off all at once towards Shawnkyr.
Jag swore gloriously in fashion with his Correllian heritage for the third time that day.
"Shawnkyr, do you have hyperdrive capability?"
"Yes, Colonel."
"Micro-jump out of this system now," Jag ordered, hoping the danger of the Peace Brigade outweighed the risk of the action.
"Yes, sir."
Jag let out a breath of relief at her ship fired its sublight engines and engaged the hyperdrive, disappearing into the blackness.
"What now mortal?" Jaina asked mockingly.
"First we take care of these six while I plot a course away from here. Fight our way out of the dovin basals influence. Then we jump," Jag said.
In his head he added, And then we get Shawnkyr back.
"As ordered Colonel," Jaina said softly.
Nine large, messy explosions later, Jaina and Jag escaped into the emptiness of space.
* * *
"Jag?" Jaina asked tentatively when they exited hyperspace into a fairly empty region of space.
There was silence for a moment, then a hiss of static as Jag opened a link.
"Yes, Jaina?" his voice was weary, making her long to be on the ground kiss some life back into him.
"What are we going to do now?" Jaina questioned him.
"Shawnkyr has a transmitter on her ship that should broadcast to me momentarily," Jag explained, "It takes a few minutes."
Great, waiting, Jaina moaned in her head. Patience wasn't a virtue she was known for.
Second stretched between them before Jag addressed her again.
"I have the signal," he announced, "On a planet called Gobi, somewhere in proximity a city called Kalari. I'm sending you the coordinates and some information on the planet now."
A series of soft beeps followed a clicking noise came through the communications module and she leaned forward, confidently directing the X-wing. At times like this when space wasn't filled with coralskippers, every movement in the cockpit was full of ease and assuredness. She flew her craft with a natural skill, like the ship was part of her.
"Ready when you are Colonel," she said.
"Affirmative. Jump on my mark. Three, two, one…"
Space dissolved into white light once again.