Disclaimer: See all of the previous chapters
Five Years Later
The small barren moon slid into view, hanging in space in a sharp contrast to Mon Calamari's beautiful blue brilliance. An instant later the squadron of x-wings was already slipping past it. Even in the openness of space, they flew in a sharp precise formation that alluded to their status as one of the top squadrons in the Galaxy.
"Control to Twin Suns Leader, you have the all clear to proceed to the Chimaera."
Twin Suns Leader grimaced tightly and replied shortly, "Acknowledged, Twin Suns is preceding."
Without excessive instructions, showing the ease of long practice, Twin Suns flew towards the much larger Star Destroyer. At one time, working with the Imperial Remnant, flying with them, or even opening talks with them had been a very tense prospect. Now, today, it was almost common place, at least for the pilots of Twin Suns Squadron and other squadrons like them.
As the Yuuzhan Vong war had continued, turning into a prolonged bloodbath, Galactic Alliance and Imperial forces had begun to slowly work together side by side in some areas of the war. Twin Suns was one of the squadrons with the most frequent interaction with the Imperials. It was a well known fact that for the past year, Twin Suns had spent more time staging missions off of Imperial ships and bases than they had from Galactic Alliance strongholds. It was certainly unusual, even for these times of greater cooperation, but Twin Suns was also on of the most successful squadrons against the Vong.
With the ease of familiarity the squadron settled onto the deck and immediately began to climb out of their fighters. By the time that the routine maintenance personnel had reached their x-wings, the Galactic Alliance pilots were already standing formally at attention in front of their ships. The formality was another necessary concession to working with the Imperials, and one that at times, Jaina hadn't been happy to make.
In the years that followed their first interactions with the Imperials, though, Jaina had come to accept it, using it and working within the Imperial system whenever it was beneficial and discarding the rules- Galactic Alliance or Imperial- whenever the situation called for it.
Jaina waited non-pulsed as the aide that she had been expecting welcomed her. "Colonel Solo, welcome back to the Chimaera. I'm sure your squadron remembers their way around?"
The question was perfunctory at best. Twin Suns had last been stationed aboard the Star Destroyer less than two months before. Jaina nodded curtly, trying futilely to rush through the courtesies. She already knew what Temm's next question would be. It was always the same. Today she had no patience for it.
"If your squadron is settled in, Grand Admiral Pelleaon would like to speak with you."
Jaina didn't bother to respond. If she didn't want to speak with the Grand Admiral, she wouldn't have come. She turned back to her squadron instead. "You know the rules. Respect the customs and laws of the Imperial Remnant. Don't cause an intergalactic incident over the last glass of gizzer ale. No armed fights. Don't win more than two months pay from the Imperials in any form of gambling." She emphasized it pointedly, knowing that her people had repeatedly violated that rule.
She stifled a snort of amusement at that thought. She had been forced to create that rule when Pelleaon had come to her, concerned over the fact that a significant and constantly rising portion of his crew were withdrawing pay more than three or four months in advance to gamble against the Twin Suns personnel and were loosing.
"That's all," she added curtly, "Briefing room, tomorrow morning. You'll be notified of the time later." She paused for a beat. "Dismissed."
==================================================================
She didn't need Temm to show her the way, but she followed the woman anyway. They stopped in front of a door and Temm stepped aside quickly, without a word or so much as a glance at Jaina. Nothing the woman was doing could be said to be unprofessional, but her voice had developed a cold, harsh edge that Jaina hadn't heard before. Not that she blamed her. Too much had happened the last time that Jaina had been stationed aboard the Chimaera. "The Grand Admiral is waiting for you."
Jaina nodded, her thanks, although she really didn't feel thankful. She just wanted to know what was going on and why Twin Suns ha been pulled away from their uncompleted mission to come here. She palmed the door open and stepped into the office without further invitation. The door slid shut behind her as she quickly scanned the room for Pelleaon. Today he was behind his desk, sorting through a stack of datacards. He looked up attentively when Jaina came in. He set down the datacard that he was examining and gestured to the chair in front of his desk.
"Grand Admiral," she said with a nod of acknowledgement as he leaned back slightly in his seat.
"Please," he said calmly, "drop the formalities, Jaina. We've certainly worked together enough."
Jaina smiled, but it was more the warning of a predator than an indicator of happiness. Ignoring his comment, and still smiling, she asked bluntly, "Why was my squadron pulled from our mission and sent here, Gilad?"
Used to her blunt ways, the Grand Admiral didn't even blink at her statement. He understood it and in some small part, shared the sentiment. He had actually come to respect the petite Jedi woman as they fought together. She had courage and would stand up for what she thought was the best course of action when all of his subordinates would have long since backed down. She had the talent of a natural born leader and the skills to complement that. Jaina had the discipline of a Jedi Knight balanced and the determination of a Rebel Pilot all channeled with a determination to fight and win.
It was an intensity and drive that he hadn't even seen in Thrawn. He knew that her drive and fierce intensity to fight the Vong, worried some and even scared others. He respected it and was more than willing to work with her, so long as her drive to kill the Yuuzhan Vong didn't work against her. So far it hadn't. Jaina was reckless, but she had the skills to back her amazing feats up, and her pilots followed her with a loyalty that was second to none. Some things about the young woman did worry him, though. She had proven herself capable of making hard decision in very little time. He only hoped that making the hard decisions, being ruthless with the fate of people- his or hers- hadn't become too easy for the Jedi warrior. He was old enough to remember the days of her grandfather, Darth Vader, in the Imperial Navy.
Pelleaon would return her blunt honesty, with honesty of his own, though. It was the least he could do for the moment. "In a week, representatives of most of the Galaxy's remaining major powers will be meeting on Bastion. Rumors are coming in through several intelligence networks that the Vong are preparing an attack on Bastion. As one of the best and most prominent squadrons, it was decided to recall Twin Suns for this."
Her face morphed into a look of brief frustration followed by a lethal, eerie calm. "They won't attack, Gilad," she said sharply. "We both know that. The Vong are strong, but they can't afford to waste the soldiers of ships that they have on an ultimately futile offensive like this. You have to know that and so do the other military leaders." Her brown eyes flashed and she suppressed a harsh laugh. "The politicians are going to get us all killed."
He could see her mind working, calculating this and that quickly. Even barely in her twenties, Jaina had become one of the best military minds that they currently had. Pelleaon was waiting for Jaina to disobey her orders completely and return to her previous mission. When she didn't he wasn't entirely surprised. Jaina Solo was very rarely predictable.
"My squadron is always fit, ready for anything, but pushing too hard for too long can be very dangerous. If this gives them a slight break, then good. I don't like it, but we'll stay for now, Gilad, and if the Vong do come, we'll make them sorry that they ever came to Bastion."
He was surprised at his momentary surge of relief. Gilad claimed no perceptions of the Force, but this rumor- something about it wanted to make him take it seriously. He had learned much from Thrawn, and from his own years as a commander, he knew better than to dismiss his instincts. Pelleaon stood politely as Jaina rose, "Good to have you back on board, Colonel."
For the first time since she had come aboard, Jaina smiled at him genuinely. In a strange way she had come to respect and even admire the Grand Admiral, at least as much as he respected her, she sensed. She suspected that if she died, Pelleaon might actually be sad at her loss. It was almost a strange thought.
As he bowed slightly in the usual formal Imperial style and she returned it sketchily, she looked piercingly at him and said dryly, "Thank you, Admiral," her smile was sharp, "It's good to be back on board." She shook her head slightly, "I never thought I would one day say that about flying off of the flagship of the Imperial fleet."
His lips twisted into a half grin, half-grimace, as she stepped towards the door. "Colonel," he said sharply, as she pulled it open, "As I said a moment ago, I am glad that you're back aboard Chimaera, however," his voice was low and warned of a seriousness that his earlier friendliness had belied, "If there is a repeat of the incident that occurred the last time that Twin Suns was aboard, you will never work with any Imperial personnel again."
Jaina's eyes darkened with fury, but she managed to bite back her furious response, limiting herself to a curt nod. She exploded out into the corridor and began the long walk to the quarters that she would be sharing. With the Chimaera already flying with a full complement of Imperial fighters, it meant that all Twin Suns pilots, including Jaina, were sharing quarters. In the past, Jaina had shared quarters with Miat Temm.
It had originally been done in the interest of eliminating as much conflict as possible between the Galactic Alliance and Imperial personnel. Miat had been one of the few Imperials that wouldn't be uncomfortable with Jaina's Force skills, mainly because she possessed them herself. It was an odd attitude for the woman to have, but Miat had taken advantage of the situation to learn as much about her Force skills from Jaina as she could. She wanted to be able to take advantage of all of the skills that she possessed should the need arise. Despite a few personality conflicts and the typical Imperial/Rebel jibbing, the two women had actually worked well enough together.
After what had happened, Jain wondered if Miat would have requested to share her quarters with another member of the squadron. It was yet another reason why Jaina hadn't wanted Twin Suns to accept this mission. There was no way that she would be able to sleep that night, she knew that. Twin Suns might be a very successful squadron, but even they had their failures. Their last mission off of the Chimaera had been one such incident.
Unknowingly two of the Chimaera's TIE squadrons had been slowly and discreetly filled with undercover Peace Brigaders. When the two squadrons along with Twin Suns and another half squadron of TIE's were dropped off to ambush a Vong convoy, it was them not the Vong that were ambushed.
The loyal half-squadron of TIE's hadn't stood a chance. In an ambush their superior maneuverability did nothing to compensate for their lack of shielding. They were gone in the first volley of the fight. Jaina's pilots had only faired a little bit better. The Vong had brought in a larger vessel with sufficient dovin basals to act as an interdiction field. She had been forced to make a split second decision at that moment. Jaina had chosen to scatter her squadron outward in a seemingly random manner. Twin Suns, even with the assistance of the Rogues or the Spikes would have been had pressed to win the engagement against the two squadrons of TIE's and swarms of skips. It had been a virtual free for all. Her only orders: get to hyperspace to deliver a warning to Pelleaon.
Her pilots had done the best that they could, but less than half of her squadron had survived to return to the Chimaera. When her much diminished squadron had reverted to realspace where the Chimaera was waiting, the situation had only gotten worse.
Twin Suns had limped towards the Star Destroyer, some of the x-wings barely capable of maneuvering with severely injured pilots. Jaina had been one of the pilots with the fewest injuries and she had already been certain that she had at least two fractured ribs. The reality of the situation had unfolded when Pelleaon himself had spoken to Jaina over the frequency that was usually reserved for the person acting as the Controller.
He had ordered her to stand down and do as they were ordered. The Vong had managed to gain control of several key portions of the ship and were literally holding the entire crew of the Chimaera hostage. Pelleaon had been attempting to deal with the situation himself. She had known with some Jedi sense- the same senses that had deserted her for the first par of the mission- that whatever Pelleaon tried would fail. She had seen the Vong capture the ship, forcing it to take them to Bastion and the destruction that would be rained down upon that world with the flick of switch. Jaina had seen it all in an instant, not in the form of a Force vision, but in the certainty of the Jedi danger sense. She had known exactly what had to be done in the same way that Jedi knew exactly where to put their lightsaber to deflect incoming blaster bolts.
She had acted swiftly, ignoring the Grand Admiral's orders. When it was over the Vong were dead, and the Imperial Star Destroyer, flagship of its fleet, boasted several smoking craters. Among the Vong dead, were two hundred and twenty six dead Imperials. The number had been burned into her mind, their faces swimming before her eyes in her dreams. Jaina had been cleared of any charges concerning the incident, but it was something that would haunt her until her death. People called her reckless and ruthless behind her back. She ignored the whispers and the outright accusations. She tried to forget the fact that Miat's boyfriend had been among those killed. She tried to forget the anger that had been her only shield from the pain, for the past months. She tried to forget everything, but she knew she wouldn't be so lucky.
Hmmmm, so what do we all think of the new, older Jaina now? I just wanted to say once again, how much I appreciate everyone's feedback. Thank you all very much for your comments.
Five Years Later
The small barren moon slid into view, hanging in space in a sharp contrast to Mon Calamari's beautiful blue brilliance. An instant later the squadron of x-wings was already slipping past it. Even in the openness of space, they flew in a sharp precise formation that alluded to their status as one of the top squadrons in the Galaxy.
"Control to Twin Suns Leader, you have the all clear to proceed to the Chimaera."
Twin Suns Leader grimaced tightly and replied shortly, "Acknowledged, Twin Suns is preceding."
Without excessive instructions, showing the ease of long practice, Twin Suns flew towards the much larger Star Destroyer. At one time, working with the Imperial Remnant, flying with them, or even opening talks with them had been a very tense prospect. Now, today, it was almost common place, at least for the pilots of Twin Suns Squadron and other squadrons like them.
As the Yuuzhan Vong war had continued, turning into a prolonged bloodbath, Galactic Alliance and Imperial forces had begun to slowly work together side by side in some areas of the war. Twin Suns was one of the squadrons with the most frequent interaction with the Imperials. It was a well known fact that for the past year, Twin Suns had spent more time staging missions off of Imperial ships and bases than they had from Galactic Alliance strongholds. It was certainly unusual, even for these times of greater cooperation, but Twin Suns was also on of the most successful squadrons against the Vong.
With the ease of familiarity the squadron settled onto the deck and immediately began to climb out of their fighters. By the time that the routine maintenance personnel had reached their x-wings, the Galactic Alliance pilots were already standing formally at attention in front of their ships. The formality was another necessary concession to working with the Imperials, and one that at times, Jaina hadn't been happy to make.
In the years that followed their first interactions with the Imperials, though, Jaina had come to accept it, using it and working within the Imperial system whenever it was beneficial and discarding the rules- Galactic Alliance or Imperial- whenever the situation called for it.
Jaina waited non-pulsed as the aide that she had been expecting welcomed her. "Colonel Solo, welcome back to the Chimaera. I'm sure your squadron remembers their way around?"
The question was perfunctory at best. Twin Suns had last been stationed aboard the Star Destroyer less than two months before. Jaina nodded curtly, trying futilely to rush through the courtesies. She already knew what Temm's next question would be. It was always the same. Today she had no patience for it.
"If your squadron is settled in, Grand Admiral Pelleaon would like to speak with you."
Jaina didn't bother to respond. If she didn't want to speak with the Grand Admiral, she wouldn't have come. She turned back to her squadron instead. "You know the rules. Respect the customs and laws of the Imperial Remnant. Don't cause an intergalactic incident over the last glass of gizzer ale. No armed fights. Don't win more than two months pay from the Imperials in any form of gambling." She emphasized it pointedly, knowing that her people had repeatedly violated that rule.
She stifled a snort of amusement at that thought. She had been forced to create that rule when Pelleaon had come to her, concerned over the fact that a significant and constantly rising portion of his crew were withdrawing pay more than three or four months in advance to gamble against the Twin Suns personnel and were loosing.
"That's all," she added curtly, "Briefing room, tomorrow morning. You'll be notified of the time later." She paused for a beat. "Dismissed."
==================================================================
She didn't need Temm to show her the way, but she followed the woman anyway. They stopped in front of a door and Temm stepped aside quickly, without a word or so much as a glance at Jaina. Nothing the woman was doing could be said to be unprofessional, but her voice had developed a cold, harsh edge that Jaina hadn't heard before. Not that she blamed her. Too much had happened the last time that Jaina had been stationed aboard the Chimaera. "The Grand Admiral is waiting for you."
Jaina nodded, her thanks, although she really didn't feel thankful. She just wanted to know what was going on and why Twin Suns ha been pulled away from their uncompleted mission to come here. She palmed the door open and stepped into the office without further invitation. The door slid shut behind her as she quickly scanned the room for Pelleaon. Today he was behind his desk, sorting through a stack of datacards. He looked up attentively when Jaina came in. He set down the datacard that he was examining and gestured to the chair in front of his desk.
"Grand Admiral," she said with a nod of acknowledgement as he leaned back slightly in his seat.
"Please," he said calmly, "drop the formalities, Jaina. We've certainly worked together enough."
Jaina smiled, but it was more the warning of a predator than an indicator of happiness. Ignoring his comment, and still smiling, she asked bluntly, "Why was my squadron pulled from our mission and sent here, Gilad?"
Used to her blunt ways, the Grand Admiral didn't even blink at her statement. He understood it and in some small part, shared the sentiment. He had actually come to respect the petite Jedi woman as they fought together. She had courage and would stand up for what she thought was the best course of action when all of his subordinates would have long since backed down. She had the talent of a natural born leader and the skills to complement that. Jaina had the discipline of a Jedi Knight balanced and the determination of a Rebel Pilot all channeled with a determination to fight and win.
It was an intensity and drive that he hadn't even seen in Thrawn. He knew that her drive and fierce intensity to fight the Vong, worried some and even scared others. He respected it and was more than willing to work with her, so long as her drive to kill the Yuuzhan Vong didn't work against her. So far it hadn't. Jaina was reckless, but she had the skills to back her amazing feats up, and her pilots followed her with a loyalty that was second to none. Some things about the young woman did worry him, though. She had proven herself capable of making hard decision in very little time. He only hoped that making the hard decisions, being ruthless with the fate of people- his or hers- hadn't become too easy for the Jedi warrior. He was old enough to remember the days of her grandfather, Darth Vader, in the Imperial Navy.
Pelleaon would return her blunt honesty, with honesty of his own, though. It was the least he could do for the moment. "In a week, representatives of most of the Galaxy's remaining major powers will be meeting on Bastion. Rumors are coming in through several intelligence networks that the Vong are preparing an attack on Bastion. As one of the best and most prominent squadrons, it was decided to recall Twin Suns for this."
Her face morphed into a look of brief frustration followed by a lethal, eerie calm. "They won't attack, Gilad," she said sharply. "We both know that. The Vong are strong, but they can't afford to waste the soldiers of ships that they have on an ultimately futile offensive like this. You have to know that and so do the other military leaders." Her brown eyes flashed and she suppressed a harsh laugh. "The politicians are going to get us all killed."
He could see her mind working, calculating this and that quickly. Even barely in her twenties, Jaina had become one of the best military minds that they currently had. Pelleaon was waiting for Jaina to disobey her orders completely and return to her previous mission. When she didn't he wasn't entirely surprised. Jaina Solo was very rarely predictable.
"My squadron is always fit, ready for anything, but pushing too hard for too long can be very dangerous. If this gives them a slight break, then good. I don't like it, but we'll stay for now, Gilad, and if the Vong do come, we'll make them sorry that they ever came to Bastion."
He was surprised at his momentary surge of relief. Gilad claimed no perceptions of the Force, but this rumor- something about it wanted to make him take it seriously. He had learned much from Thrawn, and from his own years as a commander, he knew better than to dismiss his instincts. Pelleaon stood politely as Jaina rose, "Good to have you back on board, Colonel."
For the first time since she had come aboard, Jaina smiled at him genuinely. In a strange way she had come to respect and even admire the Grand Admiral, at least as much as he respected her, she sensed. She suspected that if she died, Pelleaon might actually be sad at her loss. It was almost a strange thought.
As he bowed slightly in the usual formal Imperial style and she returned it sketchily, she looked piercingly at him and said dryly, "Thank you, Admiral," her smile was sharp, "It's good to be back on board." She shook her head slightly, "I never thought I would one day say that about flying off of the flagship of the Imperial fleet."
His lips twisted into a half grin, half-grimace, as she stepped towards the door. "Colonel," he said sharply, as she pulled it open, "As I said a moment ago, I am glad that you're back aboard Chimaera, however," his voice was low and warned of a seriousness that his earlier friendliness had belied, "If there is a repeat of the incident that occurred the last time that Twin Suns was aboard, you will never work with any Imperial personnel again."
Jaina's eyes darkened with fury, but she managed to bite back her furious response, limiting herself to a curt nod. She exploded out into the corridor and began the long walk to the quarters that she would be sharing. With the Chimaera already flying with a full complement of Imperial fighters, it meant that all Twin Suns pilots, including Jaina, were sharing quarters. In the past, Jaina had shared quarters with Miat Temm.
It had originally been done in the interest of eliminating as much conflict as possible between the Galactic Alliance and Imperial personnel. Miat had been one of the few Imperials that wouldn't be uncomfortable with Jaina's Force skills, mainly because she possessed them herself. It was an odd attitude for the woman to have, but Miat had taken advantage of the situation to learn as much about her Force skills from Jaina as she could. She wanted to be able to take advantage of all of the skills that she possessed should the need arise. Despite a few personality conflicts and the typical Imperial/Rebel jibbing, the two women had actually worked well enough together.
After what had happened, Jain wondered if Miat would have requested to share her quarters with another member of the squadron. It was yet another reason why Jaina hadn't wanted Twin Suns to accept this mission. There was no way that she would be able to sleep that night, she knew that. Twin Suns might be a very successful squadron, but even they had their failures. Their last mission off of the Chimaera had been one such incident.
Unknowingly two of the Chimaera's TIE squadrons had been slowly and discreetly filled with undercover Peace Brigaders. When the two squadrons along with Twin Suns and another half squadron of TIE's were dropped off to ambush a Vong convoy, it was them not the Vong that were ambushed.
The loyal half-squadron of TIE's hadn't stood a chance. In an ambush their superior maneuverability did nothing to compensate for their lack of shielding. They were gone in the first volley of the fight. Jaina's pilots had only faired a little bit better. The Vong had brought in a larger vessel with sufficient dovin basals to act as an interdiction field. She had been forced to make a split second decision at that moment. Jaina had chosen to scatter her squadron outward in a seemingly random manner. Twin Suns, even with the assistance of the Rogues or the Spikes would have been had pressed to win the engagement against the two squadrons of TIE's and swarms of skips. It had been a virtual free for all. Her only orders: get to hyperspace to deliver a warning to Pelleaon.
Her pilots had done the best that they could, but less than half of her squadron had survived to return to the Chimaera. When her much diminished squadron had reverted to realspace where the Chimaera was waiting, the situation had only gotten worse.
Twin Suns had limped towards the Star Destroyer, some of the x-wings barely capable of maneuvering with severely injured pilots. Jaina had been one of the pilots with the fewest injuries and she had already been certain that she had at least two fractured ribs. The reality of the situation had unfolded when Pelleaon himself had spoken to Jaina over the frequency that was usually reserved for the person acting as the Controller.
He had ordered her to stand down and do as they were ordered. The Vong had managed to gain control of several key portions of the ship and were literally holding the entire crew of the Chimaera hostage. Pelleaon had been attempting to deal with the situation himself. She had known with some Jedi sense- the same senses that had deserted her for the first par of the mission- that whatever Pelleaon tried would fail. She had seen the Vong capture the ship, forcing it to take them to Bastion and the destruction that would be rained down upon that world with the flick of switch. Jaina had seen it all in an instant, not in the form of a Force vision, but in the certainty of the Jedi danger sense. She had known exactly what had to be done in the same way that Jedi knew exactly where to put their lightsaber to deflect incoming blaster bolts.
She had acted swiftly, ignoring the Grand Admiral's orders. When it was over the Vong were dead, and the Imperial Star Destroyer, flagship of its fleet, boasted several smoking craters. Among the Vong dead, were two hundred and twenty six dead Imperials. The number had been burned into her mind, their faces swimming before her eyes in her dreams. Jaina had been cleared of any charges concerning the incident, but it was something that would haunt her until her death. People called her reckless and ruthless behind her back. She ignored the whispers and the outright accusations. She tried to forget the fact that Miat's boyfriend had been among those killed. She tried to forget the anger that had been her only shield from the pain, for the past months. She tried to forget everything, but she knew she wouldn't be so lucky.
Hmmmm, so what do we all think of the new, older Jaina now? I just wanted to say once again, how much I appreciate everyone's feedback. Thank you all very much for your comments.