Chapter Ten - Orders
Having nearly jammed Sparky's 'awakeness' by taking off within two minutes of the call and then powering her way over to Rogue headquarters, Jaina opened her comm to the rest of Saber squadron.
"This is Saber Leader. Get the Sith to base, code red. This is not a drill."
Jaina flicked her comm off as she landed down next to the Falcon, jumped out and tossed her colorfully decorated helmet into the seat. The next second saw her sprinting to the building.
Behind her, Vana's X-Wing was landing. The Jedi inside was in the building after Jaina, hardly a pace behind. Using the Force to keep her attuned with her surroundings- past the pilots- Jaina smiled slightly as Vana's loose thoughts came to her. Jag would, she agreed, be at Rogue base soon. With everything going on in the New Republic, she and Jag had hardly had time to see each other... Jaina shook the thoughts from her head; she was here to get her orders and then to get Saber into the air. But still, one couldn't help missing having Twin Suns where Jag had been her wingmate.
The group in Wedge's office consisted of Hobbie, Tycho, her father, Iella, Wedge and now Vana and herself. Tycho then walked over to Wedge, speaking in a hushed tone that none-the-less carried across the silence of the room.
"You want me to get the squad up?"
Wedge's nod sent Tycho out of the room, passing Adra Tallon as she entered it. Jaina smiled to her friend, nodding to the pilot as she passed. The other pilot nodded in turn, then looked over to Han Solo as he took out his comm.
* * * * *
Han Solo had been watching his oldest child as she came in, almost having to laugh at the circumstances. Wedge was calling all squads out. That meant that nearly everyone in his family from his father-in-law- a Saber pilot- to his youngest grandchild- a Rogue pilot- would be flying into the fight. The last thought was most certainly 'comforting', considering the girl was only 9. Jolting back to reality, he nodded to Wedge and thumbed his comm on.
"Bel Iblis? General Solo here. We've got Imperial news."
* * * * *
Adra had come in to be greeted by Wedge, who seemed to be making a point of saying at least 'hello' to everyone. However, as she took a step to go and sit down, he stopped her. Adra raised an eyebrow at the general, waiting with- amazingly- a hint of patience.
"I need you and Tyria to work on hacking into their systems. Any information we can get is a plus. Oh," Wedge pause, grinning, "and I heard about you and Face." Adra's face made it quite clear that he didn't need to say any more, this she knew, and before he left to do something else, Wedge winked at her in joke. Then the general's attention was directed away to his twic. "Put the squad on red alert and get Janson and Hobbie in here. Oh, and get Mirax too. The Council may view her as a trouble maker, but she's got a lot of experience with Imperial attacks.
As Wedge seemed to have a minute, Adra chose to give him a little reply of her own.
"Wedge, what do you mean 'work on'? I've already hacked into their systems at least 5 times in the last two days. They never change their passwords."
Adra left Wedge with that, looking to see who else she knew that was present. Alinn Varth, Comet leader, was over in one corner; she had to nod to the strict pilot. Jag may've been raised as a Chiss who had no emotion, but on any given day, Alinn could probably give him a run for his money. Stifling a laugh, she went over to where Nicola was standing somewhat between Jaina and Vana. Adra nodded to her squad leader and best friend, a hint of a smile playing on her face.
"Imagine. Code red on such a little thing as Imps." Adra grinned at Nicola and the other grinned back at her, sharing the joke.
Nicola had to laugh with Adra, because it was true. Then she added in her own bit, "Yeah, lots of fun! When people ask me how I spent my first days as a married woman, I'll tell them I blew some Imps straight to hell." A moment later, her face was a bit more serious. She had pulled her datapad out, sending a message to all the Wild Knights, putting them on full battle alert. Half to herself, half to Adra, she asked her about Tyria. "Is Tyria here yet? I just remembered something you guys might want to try and get into."
Then their attention was drawn elsewhere; namely, Tycho and his exit into the hall. Adra allowed herself to remain quiet, using the Force to search around the room for misgivings and other people's worries. Tycho came back in a moment later, followed quickly by a clearly disgusted Hobbie and a clearly relieved Janson. Reaching out with the Force to see what was bothering one and delighting the other, she laughed softly. Hobbie had, apparently, been winning a sabacc game when the message came in. And, of course, Janson had been the one losing. As Hobbie passed Adra to get to Wedge, she smiled at his muttered comments.
"...Sithing Imps wanna have fun with Rogues? We'll make 'em remember why half their pilots never get sleep due to fear of dreams including Rogues hot on their tails..."
Hobbie, it was true, had a sense of humor, even if he were a pessimistic pilot who's favorite control was the eject button. He was always coming up with some sort of sarcastic remark or something similar. Sort of like Adra herself. Adra looked around and grabbed on of the remaining chairs, sitting down with its back against the wall. Hobbie's voice came across the group's chatter, filled with its usual joking nature.
"You rang, O Envy of all Corellia?"
Janson's voice wasn't far behind and it held just as much sarcasm. "Oooo, which overgrown Imperial baby do we get to blast this time, O Mighty General?"
Adra watched Janson carefully as he scanned the room. Wedge looked liked he was coming up with a very nice remark of his own. But Janson, it seemed, had caught sight of Jaina. A smirk crossed Adra's face as she watched him inch over a bit, putting Hobbie between him and the Jedi. Mirax Halcyon burst through the doors at that exact moment, giving Janson a break from Jaina's relentless glare.
"Your timing couldn't have been better Wedge. You have just saved me from being buried alive by the Council- namely Mace Windu," Mirax said, coming to a halt next to Hobbie.
* * * * *
Jaina looked at Wes for another second and shook her head. You're fine. I'm more into blowing up a Supe than you, at the moment. A look of untrusting relief crossed the older pilot's face, but she paid it no heed.
Jag was the next person to enter, Jaina saw with a bit of delight. His pace wasn't noticeably quickened; things like this just didn't seem to get him rowed up. But yet, he was still the highly trained professional that could fly better than everyone in the New Republic, with very few exceptions. Vana returned the nod Jag had sent to his twic, and then the latter came over to stand behind Jaina. A slight smile on her face, she quickly masked it, and sent him a greeting through the Force.
Up front, Wedge was rolling his eyes at Janson, Hobbie and Mirax. "Alright you three, knock of the jokes and get serious. We've got serious problems on our hands. Daala's plotting a major attack on the New Republic."
Janson seemed to draw back on his hardly-used serious side. He blinked a few times, gaping at Wedge and his news of Daala. Jaina saw him look around the rest of the room, then speak. "So... what's the attack plan?"
Adra had leaned up against a wall, pulled out two datapads and had begun punching in access codes. A smile crossed the Jedi pilot's face as she handed Wedge one of the cards. Then she seemed to begin the process again, this time the smile turning to a look of annoyance. Tyria interrupted Jaina's thoughts on what Adra was doing as she had just burst in the door, looking highly annoyed. The datacards in her hands quickly exchanged grips as she forced them on Wedge.
"Here. It's all the types and amounts of ships they're using, and the focus of the attack. I'd have gotten them to you sooner except Face is a bit slow in alerting his squad members of Imperial attacks." As she was talking, she glared over at Face. Face, meanwhile, was standing next to Adra, reading over her shoulder.
Jaina took the opportunity to have a sideways look at the datapads Wedge was shuffling. A note was made on who was in charge of what... and of what the Imperials had. Super Star Destroyers. Great. Sithin' great. Shaking her head and grumbling slightly to herself, Jaina opted not to say anything- something she rarely decided to do. Instead, she bit her tongue, watching the situation.
Wedge was in his element, that's for sure. He was all-military as he read the datapads and giving random information to his wife. He appeared about to say something, when Han interrupted.
"It looks as if Karrde made it." His gaze was following the path from the building to the docking bay.
* * * * *
The Wild Karrde touched down, showing Karrde exiting as quickly as the ramp had gone down. With a glance over his shoulder, he saw the Shatterglass land as well. The datacards in hand, he walked calmly into Rogue headquarters, nearly laughing at the amount of hot-tempered pilots that had been- miraculously- gathered under one roof without killing each other. His strides slowed as he neared the office, slipping inside. He walked right up to the generals, his gaze levelly meeting theirs in turn.
"It's a good thing I hate Thrawn and Daala. Elsewise, I'd charge you a sithload for those," his voice was calm and controlled as he handed the cards to Wedge.
Charisma Karrde had followed her uncle in, as he knew she would, and he smiled to her. She however, just shook her head.
"And I still think we should've charged them something for this."
Karrde couldn't help laughing. His niece was, he noted with pride, a Corellian smuggler to the bone. It seemed he was not the only one to appreciate this though, for Han Solo was looking on in approval. The ex- smuggler certainly hadn't lost his love for the game. Everyone turned quickly to see the newest person entering the room. It turned out to be General Garm bel Iblis. The Corellian ex-Senator seemed to command silence, even without asking it. He stopped by Wedge and Han, nodding to the pilots in the room.
"So, Daala's back again?"
Han nodded in return to bel Iblis's question. He opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped. Karrde nodded out the window at the luxury yacht that had just landed. The Lady Luck it undoubtedly was. Lando Calrissian's appearance at the top of her ramp confirmed that. The other general appeared to be sending out a string of curses and Karrde had absolutely no doubt as to who they were aimed at. It was common logic: If the Imperials were attacking, it obviously meant they'd regrouped. And Sith only knew how many other fighters they had because Daala, even with her lapse of intelligence and military genius at times, certainly wouldn't send all the forces the Empire had into battle. And over a shipyard at that. Lando had disappeared from view moments before, and now his footsteps were heard as the pilot came closer. The pilots, already parted, nodded to him as he passed, and Lando came up towards the others.
Karrde relinquished his spot next to Han so Lando could take it; that seemed to be his customary place. Wedge looked over at Lando, nodded, and then went back to reading the information Karrde himself had supplied. As Wedge finished up, Lando was the first to speak.
"So, Generals, what are we dealing with this time?"
Enyri, Comet Squadron's twic, walked in all of a second later, taking her spot next to her commander. Alinn looked over, nodding to her twic, but didn't say anything. The room was filling quickly, but that didn't stop pilots from being able to spot their squadmates. Enyri's voice carried over to Karrde, considering Alinn and Enyri were standing closest to him.
"Sorry, I got held up by Kuat port authorities. Seemed to think I was smuggling weapons to the Sith."
Karrde saw Alinn nod, and was slightly surprised to see a small smile on her face. "A shame they can't recognize the rest of us as easily as Wedge or Han."
He looked back over to the Generals as the commander shot him a glance. It seemed that the entirety of squad captains and twics were present. Karrde looked scrutinously over at Wedge- could they get on with it?
* * * * *
Tycho walked around the heavily crowded room, was jammed into the wall at one point by someone- he didn't catch who- backing up, and finally made it to the group of generals. Rubbing his arm where Adra Tallon had taken the courteously of jabbing him with her elbow, he listened absently to their chatter for a minute. Apparently, they were just debating small things like X-Wing color. Something that could easily put them up as 'unprepared' would be his announcing to the group that they needed to listen. So he did.
"Alright everyone, shut the Vong up. We've got our little datacards now, so listen to the plan." With that, the Alderaanian turned to look at Wedge, grinning sardonically. "There all yours." The glare he received hardly unnerved him. So, he had been right in thinking that Wedge wasn't ready for him to announce quiet. Too bad. Wedge glared at Tycho for a moment longer, in which time Tycho mock bowed to him, then grinned as Wedge replied in a most unprofessional manner. No doubt he would be getting a revenge strike from Wedge in the future. The very near future.
"Thanks Tycho," was the sarcastic reply. Then Wedge stepped forward, clearing his voice. "Alright everyone, I'm going to make this short. The Imperials, in the form of Admiral Daala, are going to attack the Bilbringi shipyards in about nine and a half hours. As soon as our plan is finalized, it'll be sent to you and the rest of your squadron's members. If you or any of your squad members have any problems, transmit them directly to me, Tycho, Han, Lando, or bel Iblis. The basic idea of the plan is to make the Imps think they're going to take it easy and then hit 'em hard. Anyone have any questions?"
Tycho grinned slightly, then his face fell serious once more. So much for thinking about revenge he could pull on Wedge once his commander's had been achieved. With a glance around the room, he saw Jaina nod Astarta off, then go over to her father.
"The Falcon's hyperdrive should work for you, if you need it. Doubt you will though. I don't usually see you as the type to run from a fight."
* * * * *
Jaina turned from her father to walk out to the hanger, but stopped in front of Jag. Nodding to Nicola and Adra, she smiled at the two. Then her gaze returned to Jag. Somehow, she didn't really care if the gathered group thought her un-Goddess like or not. It wasn't as if they hadn't known her exclusively as Jaina Solo, Han Solo's highly stubborn daughter at one point. Or, most of them at least.
"See you later then. Don't even get the vague idea of letting the Imps shoot you." In spite of her earlier decision, she looked up at Jag and then kissed him. The rest of the room's contents were, undoubtedly, staring at them. Too bad. They could deal with the supposed Yuuzhan Vong Goddess being human for a minute. All of a minute later, she was at the Trickster, her helmet on.
"Let's go, Sparky," she said as she climbed into her cockpit. Listening unconsciously to her R5 unit as it powered up it's connections to the engines, she powered up her craft and lifted off. The X-Wing was gone within the minute, its direction: Saber Headquarters.
* * * * *
Adra couldn't help grinning at Jaina's actions before leaving the room. Jag was talking to his twic with a slowly fading smile on his face. Then she looked back at Nicola, her face serious once more.
"I'll take Suprosa back to base and make sure everyone's up and running," she offered quickly to Nicola, who merely nodded. Adra turned to go, then remembered what she was supposed to tell Wedge from Gaeriel. Taking the five strides necessary to get over to Wedge, she tapped him on the shoulder, rather than interrupting him verbally.
"Gaeriel said she'd fly as Eleven's wingmate since her twin isn't flying Twelve yet."
Having no doubt in her mind that Wedge wouldn't turn down the extra help, she nodded to the people she passed on her way to her X-Wing. Once inside the cockpit, she double-checked her R3 unit and then maneuvered the Suprosa around, speeding off to Wild Knights' newly erected base.
* * * * *
Vana walked over to Jag the moment Jaina was off to the docking bay. She, for once in her life, kept her mouth shut about Jag and Jaina's actions. Instead, she kept her mind on business. "Orders, Colonel?"
Jag glanced over at Vana, his grin, she noticed, slowly fading. "See if you can get any more information about the Imperials from General Antilles or any of the others. Then get back to base."