Story Title: Let Downs
Author: AdraLoran, co-written with NicolaAfyon
Keywords: Wraith Squadron, Face Loran, Adra Tallon, Nicola Afyon, Bror Afyon
Timeframe: AU Post-Battle of Yavin (Approx. 34 years ABY)/Post-Bilbringi (ABB)
Dramatis Personae:
NRI Head Iella Wessiri Antilles (female human)
General Baron Soontir Fel (male human)
Imperial General Trude Tallon (male human)
General Wedge Antilles (male human)
Colonel Jagged Fel (male human)
Colonel Jaina Solo (female human)
Colonel Tycho Celchu (male human)
Commander Garik 'Face' Loran (male human)
Major Wes Janson (male human)
Captain Kell Tainer (male human)
Captain Nicola Afyon (female human)
Lieutenant Adra Tallon (female human)
Lieutenant Bror Afyon (male human)
Lieutenant Jade Veila (female human)
Lieutenant Tyria Tainer (female human)
Flight Officer Cloud Ritril (male human)
Flight Officer Ryok Necxo (male human)

Chapter One – The Parents

Lina Tallon glared at the figure coming up the steps to the front hall. The manor house, while it had its extensive grounds, provided an excellent view of the front drive of the house. And at this moment, Trude and Lina Tallon's only child was walking up the front steps, another person in tow. Lina saw her husband nod to the droid that came in, requesting orders as to the people approaching the front doors. Lina sighed slightly. Adra was back after such a long time, but even from the view of the windows, she knew that her daughter was much changed. The clothes she and the other wore were enough to testify to that. They both had the Rebel symbol sewn on their shoulders. Trude must've sensed her uncertainty because he patted her leg, trying to conduct confidence to her.

* * * * *

Adra sighed, looking at the manor before her. While technically this place was her home, she could not have felt more foreign anywhere else. A familiar droid opened the door and Adra couldn't help smiling with the memories. General Tallon had never been one for naming his droids, but she had always come up with her own little nicknames for them. They had been her only friends, unless you counted the other 'children' she was schooled with. By the times she had been 7 years old her father had pulled some strings with some friends of his at the Imperial Academy, easily bangling her into one of the courses.

By the time she was 9, she had had contact with the small green alien who had told her about the Jedi and that she, Adra Tallon, had a certain Force sensitivity that could be trained to make her into a Jedi Knight. It took her all of two nanoseconds for her to agree with the green creature, even without her parent's knowledge of her doing so or of where she was going and why. She just upped and left.

Quickly, she glanced over at Face and his obviously nervous state. She gave his hand a quick squeeze then released it, her gaze traveling around the hall she hadn't seen in ten years. The droid, whom she'd come to call Bolt, twittered excited nonsense and led the way to the living room, if her mind remembered correctly.

As they turned the corner into the room, she saw Bolt draw away towards the back of the room once more. But then her parents stood and Adra knew very well that this wasn't going to be, in any way, shape or form, a day she wanted to remember. The glare on her mother's face, the outright hatred flickering in her eyes... Adra closed her eyes, taking a deep breath then letting it out again. Her eyes flicked open once more, this time with a firm resolve nailed in place behind them. The General, at least, didn't appear to be angry, but she had never been able to read him well.

Adra glanced at Face one more time and got an encouraging nod from him. A smile flickered across her face, disappearing as quickly as it had come. Then she looked directly at her parents...

...and her mother spoke first.

"And we had such high hopes for you." The words were filled with obvious scorn and, despite herself and her knowledge that her mother was going to berate her, Adra was thrown off by the comment. Being thrown off in her mind didn't mean that she would show it, however. She would not give her mother that delight.

Lina Tallon's gaze had turned form her daughter's face and instead was looking Face over with scrutiny, as if trying to place his face. Adra sighed silently, not liking how this 'meeting' had started. At last her mother seemed to come to terms with who Face was. The only downside of that was that she also recognized that he was a New Republic pilot...rather, a Rebellion pilot. That's what her parents considered the people of the New Republic, even if it was long past the 'Rebellion' stage. They weren't ever called the New Republic. No, they were the Rebels.

"Garik Loran. The Face. The wonderful child who acted so well in the Imperial holovids, then up and deserted to the rebellion." Adra could see the sneering expression on her mother's face before she even looked at her. Just something about the way her mother was, had always been, was what told her how she'd act. The woman's gaze turned sharply on Adra, her sneer still in place. "Now I know I told you a while ago that I thought it would be wonderful if you hooked up with him, but that was long before he deserted, Adra. If you'd actually listened to your father and I, you could be flying in a squadron by now, maybe even-"

Adra had no intention of letting her mother finish. As soon as she had started talking about what she could have been doing, Adra had shaken her head to stop the words to follow.

"No, that's what you would've liked to have seen me do. For your information, I am part of a squadron. While it may not be the 181st, I'm happy flying in it. At least I know I matter to the people I'm flying with. I'm not just another TIE pilot who's got close to no shields and more guns on it than rolls of fat on Jabba the Hutt," her voice broke in the same tone as her mother's had, though with a good deal less contemptuous scorn. "I did not come to be lectured by you. We, Face and I, have come to tell you that, painful as it might be to you now, we are getting married. Besides," here she smirked in spite of herself, "I highly doubt any 181st pilot would want to marry me, mother dear, considering I'm part of the squadron that shot down their commander."

The General, who had just taken a sip of whatever was in his glass, spat the contents out in a misty spew. Quickly his glass found the table and he stood up, walking around his chair with high intent on not being taken lightly. When she had been younger, he had always intimidated Adra. He was, she knew, at least six feet tall. But that didn't really seem to faze her at this point, even though she was roughly seven inches shorter than him.

"What did you just say?" Trude demanded, his face darkening. "I could've sworn that you, young lady, told me that you were part of the squadron that had a run in with the 181st's commander."

Her gaze squarely meeting his, she replied quite firmly. "Glad to know that your hearing hasn't gone too, though I'm not so sure about your mind. Yes, I am part of Wraith squadron. I'm actually one of the two computer hackers that Daala would most love to get her hands on. Just thought I might fill you in on that little detail. Just think, you could go around backstabbing like you used to and turn your Imperial deserter of a child in to the Admiral that rules your sithing lives."

Saying that was like a slap in the face to both her parents and herself. Adra blinked once as the realization hit home that they could, in fact, do that. She hadn't thought about that, hadn't even considered it a danger because she'd expected, in some strange fashion, to come home and be treated like a daughter who had done a great deal wrong but would be forgiven. Funny thing though, she didn't want their forgiveness. However, the other thing she seemed to have overlooked was the fact that she was not only a Jedi and her parents had no clue, but that she, Adra Rena Tallon, had joined the New Republic. She, daughter of Imperial General Trude Tallon, had turned 'traitor' and deserted not only her parents, but the Empire.

Perfect.

Face was, meanwhile, replying to her mother's earlier comment about how he'd been, at one time, a 'good actor'. The 'good actor' they were talking about was a firm believer in the Empire, or so it had seemed. Well, technically he wasn't really replying. He was, to be more correct, muttering random things including how he really wanted to kill Isard. Lina Tallon looked outraged.

Adra merely shook her head, sighing. You would've been smarter to have said that outside their presence, Face. Her voice flowed easily through the Force and she knew, just as easily, that he'd gotten the message. Face grinned guiltily and attempted an innocent-looking smile. Adra knew that she would've forgiven him, but her parents? Quite out of the question. That was like asking the Emperor if he would forgive the Rebel Alliance for blowing up the Death Star.

* * * * *

Some time later, after blows in the form of words had been exchanged, the two partied had calmed down enough for the General to open his hospitality a bit and offer Face and Adra drinks. Adra was still feeling uneasy though. Her father had either changed a lot in ten years, or knew something they didn't. Somehow, she had to go with the latter of the two options.

Both she and Face had refused the offer of staying for lunch, in spite of Lina's scowls at the prospect, answering the inquiry with a simple 'we need to get back to base' that was as easily accepted as it was offered. Bolt seemed to snap awake in his corner and quickly made his way over to the door as Face and Adra both stood to leave. Adra stood still, scrutinizing her parents. The only thing that truly flashed across her head was 'Imperials'. That's all her parents were.

Her parents didn't come to the door to see them off; instead they let the droid take care of seeing them out. Adra fished in her pockets for something, and brought out a fist sized object. A grin passed over her face and she quickly activated the thermal detonator, placing the thing on one of the shelves. Adra looked over at Face to find him grinning at her.

"What?" Her voice carried no hint of the fact that she was covering up the smile that was readily apparent on her face.

Adra smiled when Face just shook his head. Quickly she directed him out of the hall and down the steps. After they were on level ground, her spirits dropped into something more appropriately labeled annoyed recollection.

"Now you see why I never introduced you to them, Face."

Face, Adra saw, was nodding quickly while trying to keep something like a mix of shock and fun off his face. From the Force Adra easily picked up on the excitement mixed with subsiding nerves that were etched among various other emotions of his.

"That's the first time in a while I haven't gotten the 'Garik Loran? The Face? Oh, I think I'm going to faint' deal," Face finally conceded.

Adra opened her mouth to reply, but the blast from behind them quickly stifled her words. After the initial explosion subsided, Adra knew that the grin on her face must look extremely stupid. At last she re-gathered her thoughts, "As far as they're concerned, you deserted. Deserters don't sit well with them. For example, look at their daughter. Their only child, yet she comes back after she left them for ten years and they don't even give so much of a worried glance to her. Not that I can say I mind, however. They wouldn't be happy if I married the Chief of State in the New Republic- he would still be with the Rebellion. My parents would've loved to see me married off to some member of the 181st. They're just heavy-duty Imperials."

Her gaze flicked to Face, the smile on her face now listed on his. "Am I making sense yet?" He nodded quickly. A true smile dawned ever-so-slightly as Face put his arm around her shoulders. She let out an exasperated sigh that was directed very heavily at her parents, then put her head on his shoulder as they walked towards the spaceport, invisible to Bastion's inhabitants thanks to the Force.

"They'll just have to deal with the fact that you're not marrying an Imperial, now won't they?" Face's question brought a larger smile to her face. Yes, she thought, they will. "Perhaps you should remind them that you're a Jedi."

Adra merely shook her head, the movement restricted by the fact that her head remained on his shoulder. "Face, they don't know I left to be trained as a Jedi. They had no clue that I wasn't drafted for some Imperial base assignment. Only when they got the letter from the Academy asking them to get me to get my butt back to it did they begin inquiring as to where I actually was."

For all Adra could see, Face nodded as well. The spaceport was a little more crowded than before, but they still had no trouble finding their crafts. As Adra ran the preflight check and got settled in the cockpit, she heard a voice over the open comm frequency. Someone at base was working on their craft and they obviously had their comm on, though it was amazing that they could be heard this far from base. Adra listened to the voices, noting that the nearest-sounding one was Kell Tainer's. Cloud Ritril and Nicola Afyon could be heard distinctly in the background. Adra smiled and then looked over at Face and his X-Wing as he added his voice to those coming through the comm. "So wait. Did you borrow that thing from Kell?"

Kell's voice stopped at the other end, then it jumped back on, telling Cloud and Nicola to shut up. Adra smiled as she imagined her friend's face as Kell told Nicola to shut her mouth. If Kell was lucky, Nicola wouldn't make him live to regret it. Adra closed the canopy, strapping herself in. The R3 unit quickly power up the Enigma's four engines.

"Yes, yes I did," came her simple response. Then as an afterthought, "Even if I didn't ask."

With those simple words, Adra could imagine the look that passed over Kell's face. "I heard that!" Kell's voice resounded over the frequency. "You owe me an explosive! A good one too! Don't go in my X-Wing again!"

Adra burst out laughing at Kell's demands, though quickly stifled the laughter so she could reply. "Hey, I didn't actually do the 'in your X-Wing part'. That was all Cloud."

Almost as if they were standing before her, Adra could see Kell turning with an incredulous stare to face Cloud. "You did what?!" His voice was caught by the comm, even if he wasn't trying to have it that way.

Her laughter broke out again, but this time was held in check. She could only imagine the look on Cloud's face as he spoke. "Hey, it's not my fault she can use the Jedi Mind control thing!" That one was priceless. Adra made a note to write that down when they got back to base, merely because it would be a great reminder to him.

Nicola's voice broke the comm next, sounding both pleased and surprised. Adra could tell she'd moved closer to the comm. "Adra, you used mind control on a friend? I'm so proud of you!"

In the background Adra could hear Kell laughing very slightly and Cloud muttering a string of words that included both her name and curses. In spite of herself, Adra beamed at having put Cloud off that much.

Before she eased off the repulsor pads, Adra made one last comment before switching her frequency over to Face's private one. "Hey, I knew what I wanted in a detonator, okay? Cloud didn't have any and al Ryok's have been rebuilt to blow up an entire city, not just one house, albeit a large one."

Adra heard, before the frequency changed, Kell's and Cloud's disappointed groans at having missed seeing the house blow up. She had no doubt that they would be interrogating her about where she'd put the explosive and how big the impending results were. Then they would analyze their data and tell her if she'd put it in the right spot. But right now, Adra didn't worry about that.