Disclaimer: I know I have one of these in this story somewhere. It applies
here too!
Author's note: I'LL BE POSTING DAILY ON THIS STORY FROM NOW ON!
Nike's Zero- I'm glad you liked Kyp's little idea. I had so much fun writing that!
x-woman1- Sorry about the confusion with Callista. That conversation won't come for a few more chapters.
Jaina Solo Fel- Jaina and Jag back together is a hard request. I love them as a couple, but this story definitely has a healthy side of angst. :)
Jaina rifled through the disorganized and sprawling piles of datapads in front of her, with determination. She knew that she had already been working for far too long. A simple glance at the nearest chrono made he wince and wish that she hadn't looked. As a Jedi she could, for at least a week and a half, go without sleep when it was necessary. With her busy schedule, however, sleep had eventually become a rewarding luxury.
She, Jag and Kyp had spent the better part of a day locked n the conference room planning. Once they had gotten immersed in their planning, she and Jag had almost seemed to forget that they were supposed to hate one another and acted civilly if not politely to one another. The hint of a scowl graced Jaina's forehead as she remembered how Kyp had chosen to break up her argument with Jag.
The chirp of an incoming holonet transmission drew her out of her slightly brooding thoughts. She brushed away a few of the scattered datapads until she could find the controls for the holodisplay underneath them. Catching a glimpse of the datapad that she had been searching for among those displaced by her search, she pulled it deftly out of the pile and began to pull up the information that she had been searching for as she switched the holodisplay on.
"Goddess," she answered haphazardly, more focused on the information in front of her than whoever was trying to contact her. She began jotting down notes on another datapad. The plan that the three of them had come up with was definitely daring and quite possibly insane, but it just might work if this data was correct.
"Luke said that you wanted to talk to me, Jaina." A miniature holographic version of Mara Jade Skywalker sprang to life in front of Jaina.
"Aunt Mara," her voice changed instantly for distracted to entirely focused. The look on Jaina's face was one of absolute seriousness. "Is this connection secure," she questioned Mara warily.
The look on Mara's face was an eloquent enough response to her former apprentice's question. "Of course," the older woman's words were definite. "You know I don't take chances with security."
"Good," Jaina responded sharply and then took a deep breath, wondering for a single moment how she had been the person to tell Mara that Callista was back...twice. "A Yuuzhan Vong prisoner surrendered to us."
Mara looked slightly puzzled. "Why were they surrendering to us? If they were a prisoner of the Yuuzhan Vong, wouldn't that make them our ally?"
Jaina's face was grim. "Not when the prisoner was Callista."
Mara sat so still, so frozen, that Jaina thought that there had been a glitch in the holoconection. Jaina could see the barely restrained fury in Mara's eyes.
"Who captured her," Mara asked with deceptive calmness, "And why is she still alive, Jaina?"
Jaina straightened up immediately, all traces of her casual posture gone. "I was the one who found her, and," she didn't give Mara a moment to add a furious rejoinder, "Callista's still alive because she claims to know where Jacen is being held prisoner." Jaina's brown eyes flashed and her chin tilted sharply up with defiance as she stared at Mara.
"You think she's telling the truth." It was a statement of disbelief.
"It's been confirmed as much as my sources can confirm it," Jaina was confident of that at least. She had even forced Cem to access the Chiss information network without the knowledge of her superiors to verify it. "Mara," she said coldly, "I hate Callista and I certainly don't completely trust her, but if this means that Mom was right all of this time. I can't abandon Jacen if there's even the slightest possibility that he's still alive."
There was understanding in Mara's eyes. She hadn't personally seen Jaina's fall to the Dark side after the disastrous mission to Myrkr, but she had seen its results in the years that followed, and she understood at least a portion of the price Jaina had paid for her pain at her brother's death. "I understand, Jaina," she said simply, "but I will not allow Callista to go free again."
====================================================================
A Twi'lek dressed in a food service uniform brushed past Cem Fel as she made her way towards her quarters. Cem hardly even felt the weight of the datapad being slipped from the pocket of her flight suit. She didn't react as a person usually would when they were assaulted by a pick pocket. Instead she merely kept walking as if she hadn't noticed it. That Twi'lek was most likely either the contact that would deliver her most recent report to her superiors or he was working for Jaina and intercepting the information that she was sending her superiors in an effort to make sure that Cem wasn't reporting anything about the Insiders to the Chiss.
Cem didn't bother to hold back a tired sigh. This was all getting so complicated. She had been so excited when Jaina had approached her about joining the Insiders. Before then she had been able to find precious little information to report to her superior, and the knowledge and infiltration of a secret group among the Galactic Alliance would have pleased them greatly. Now she was trapped between two equally powerful and equally dangerous forces. The stakes were impossibly high and she couldn't afford to fail, but neither could she see a way to succeed. Cem wished she could talk to Jag. She wished things were easier, like when she was a small girl and her big brother Jagged could solve any problem big or small.
Now it was she who protected Jag, even if he didn't know it, even if no one knew it but her. His disobedience of the orders to return back to Csillian space years ago, had garnered further reaching consequences than Jag knew. Not only his future among the Chiss was in jeopardy, but also her entire family's future. She had tried to warn Jag to the sensitivity of the issue at home. Csillia was not the place it had once been. The leaders were fiercely conservative and gave humanoids adopted into their midst an even shorter measurement of failure than the enforced on their own people. The Vong war was seen as nothing less than what the people of the Known Regions deserved if they were so weak that they could not protect themselves. It had been a highly unpleasant atmosphere for the Fel family, especially in light of Jag's uncharacteristic defiance.
When Jag had finally managed to return to Csillia to face the top officers of the CEDF, it was too late. The unforgiving regulations of the Chiss military in combination with the unseen political maneuvering had left Jag with no chance. He would be banished, or if he refused to leave, as many honorable Chiss would refuse to leave their homespace, he would be executed. Cem had, had no choice. Jag was stubborn and at times categorically blind. She knew her brother well, and he while not suicidal, he was stubborn. He would not back down from his position, so she had been forced to do whatever was necessary to save him in her family.
It had been difficult, but ultimately doable to persuade CEDF intelligence to even consider her offer. CEDF intelligence, however, proved to be more pragmatic and in some ways more powerful, than other divisions of the Chiss Fleet. She had been assigned to monitor her own brother, in return for her family's safety. She would report anything that Jag failed to and provide any other information that she could get for her superiors, while the Chiss Fleet managed to keep a valuable asset like her brother. Her missions had expanded as her years of service grew and with it the price she paid for Jag's freedom and safety grew.
The information that she had already been able to gather on Bastion had been valuable, but now everything was growing far more complicated and dangerous. She was reporting to three different groups, each with different desires. Her only real loyalty was to herself and her family. She simply wasn't sure how much longer she could do this. Cem refused to let her mind travel down the path to failure and its consequences. It was a gamble, but for the moment she had to keep her knowledge of the Insiders a secret from CEDF intelligence. If they found out, there would be no way that she could explain why she had hidden the information, but it also provided her with possibilities and options previously unavailable. If she and Jagged survived the coming fight, made she could even use the opportunities the Insiders provided to get herself and the people she loved out of this situation.
All she needed was time and opportunity.
Reviews are loved!
Author's note: I'LL BE POSTING DAILY ON THIS STORY FROM NOW ON!
Nike's Zero- I'm glad you liked Kyp's little idea. I had so much fun writing that!
x-woman1- Sorry about the confusion with Callista. That conversation won't come for a few more chapters.
Jaina Solo Fel- Jaina and Jag back together is a hard request. I love them as a couple, but this story definitely has a healthy side of angst. :)
Jaina rifled through the disorganized and sprawling piles of datapads in front of her, with determination. She knew that she had already been working for far too long. A simple glance at the nearest chrono made he wince and wish that she hadn't looked. As a Jedi she could, for at least a week and a half, go without sleep when it was necessary. With her busy schedule, however, sleep had eventually become a rewarding luxury.
She, Jag and Kyp had spent the better part of a day locked n the conference room planning. Once they had gotten immersed in their planning, she and Jag had almost seemed to forget that they were supposed to hate one another and acted civilly if not politely to one another. The hint of a scowl graced Jaina's forehead as she remembered how Kyp had chosen to break up her argument with Jag.
The chirp of an incoming holonet transmission drew her out of her slightly brooding thoughts. She brushed away a few of the scattered datapads until she could find the controls for the holodisplay underneath them. Catching a glimpse of the datapad that she had been searching for among those displaced by her search, she pulled it deftly out of the pile and began to pull up the information that she had been searching for as she switched the holodisplay on.
"Goddess," she answered haphazardly, more focused on the information in front of her than whoever was trying to contact her. She began jotting down notes on another datapad. The plan that the three of them had come up with was definitely daring and quite possibly insane, but it just might work if this data was correct.
"Luke said that you wanted to talk to me, Jaina." A miniature holographic version of Mara Jade Skywalker sprang to life in front of Jaina.
"Aunt Mara," her voice changed instantly for distracted to entirely focused. The look on Jaina's face was one of absolute seriousness. "Is this connection secure," she questioned Mara warily.
The look on Mara's face was an eloquent enough response to her former apprentice's question. "Of course," the older woman's words were definite. "You know I don't take chances with security."
"Good," Jaina responded sharply and then took a deep breath, wondering for a single moment how she had been the person to tell Mara that Callista was back...twice. "A Yuuzhan Vong prisoner surrendered to us."
Mara looked slightly puzzled. "Why were they surrendering to us? If they were a prisoner of the Yuuzhan Vong, wouldn't that make them our ally?"
Jaina's face was grim. "Not when the prisoner was Callista."
Mara sat so still, so frozen, that Jaina thought that there had been a glitch in the holoconection. Jaina could see the barely restrained fury in Mara's eyes.
"Who captured her," Mara asked with deceptive calmness, "And why is she still alive, Jaina?"
Jaina straightened up immediately, all traces of her casual posture gone. "I was the one who found her, and," she didn't give Mara a moment to add a furious rejoinder, "Callista's still alive because she claims to know where Jacen is being held prisoner." Jaina's brown eyes flashed and her chin tilted sharply up with defiance as she stared at Mara.
"You think she's telling the truth." It was a statement of disbelief.
"It's been confirmed as much as my sources can confirm it," Jaina was confident of that at least. She had even forced Cem to access the Chiss information network without the knowledge of her superiors to verify it. "Mara," she said coldly, "I hate Callista and I certainly don't completely trust her, but if this means that Mom was right all of this time. I can't abandon Jacen if there's even the slightest possibility that he's still alive."
There was understanding in Mara's eyes. She hadn't personally seen Jaina's fall to the Dark side after the disastrous mission to Myrkr, but she had seen its results in the years that followed, and she understood at least a portion of the price Jaina had paid for her pain at her brother's death. "I understand, Jaina," she said simply, "but I will not allow Callista to go free again."
====================================================================
A Twi'lek dressed in a food service uniform brushed past Cem Fel as she made her way towards her quarters. Cem hardly even felt the weight of the datapad being slipped from the pocket of her flight suit. She didn't react as a person usually would when they were assaulted by a pick pocket. Instead she merely kept walking as if she hadn't noticed it. That Twi'lek was most likely either the contact that would deliver her most recent report to her superiors or he was working for Jaina and intercepting the information that she was sending her superiors in an effort to make sure that Cem wasn't reporting anything about the Insiders to the Chiss.
Cem didn't bother to hold back a tired sigh. This was all getting so complicated. She had been so excited when Jaina had approached her about joining the Insiders. Before then she had been able to find precious little information to report to her superior, and the knowledge and infiltration of a secret group among the Galactic Alliance would have pleased them greatly. Now she was trapped between two equally powerful and equally dangerous forces. The stakes were impossibly high and she couldn't afford to fail, but neither could she see a way to succeed. Cem wished she could talk to Jag. She wished things were easier, like when she was a small girl and her big brother Jagged could solve any problem big or small.
Now it was she who protected Jag, even if he didn't know it, even if no one knew it but her. His disobedience of the orders to return back to Csillian space years ago, had garnered further reaching consequences than Jag knew. Not only his future among the Chiss was in jeopardy, but also her entire family's future. She had tried to warn Jag to the sensitivity of the issue at home. Csillia was not the place it had once been. The leaders were fiercely conservative and gave humanoids adopted into their midst an even shorter measurement of failure than the enforced on their own people. The Vong war was seen as nothing less than what the people of the Known Regions deserved if they were so weak that they could not protect themselves. It had been a highly unpleasant atmosphere for the Fel family, especially in light of Jag's uncharacteristic defiance.
When Jag had finally managed to return to Csillia to face the top officers of the CEDF, it was too late. The unforgiving regulations of the Chiss military in combination with the unseen political maneuvering had left Jag with no chance. He would be banished, or if he refused to leave, as many honorable Chiss would refuse to leave their homespace, he would be executed. Cem had, had no choice. Jag was stubborn and at times categorically blind. She knew her brother well, and he while not suicidal, he was stubborn. He would not back down from his position, so she had been forced to do whatever was necessary to save him in her family.
It had been difficult, but ultimately doable to persuade CEDF intelligence to even consider her offer. CEDF intelligence, however, proved to be more pragmatic and in some ways more powerful, than other divisions of the Chiss Fleet. She had been assigned to monitor her own brother, in return for her family's safety. She would report anything that Jag failed to and provide any other information that she could get for her superiors, while the Chiss Fleet managed to keep a valuable asset like her brother. Her missions had expanded as her years of service grew and with it the price she paid for Jag's freedom and safety grew.
The information that she had already been able to gather on Bastion had been valuable, but now everything was growing far more complicated and dangerous. She was reporting to three different groups, each with different desires. Her only real loyalty was to herself and her family. She simply wasn't sure how much longer she could do this. Cem refused to let her mind travel down the path to failure and its consequences. It was a gamble, but for the moment she had to keep her knowledge of the Insiders a secret from CEDF intelligence. If they found out, there would be no way that she could explain why she had hidden the information, but it also provided her with possibilities and options previously unavailable. If she and Jagged survived the coming fight, made she could even use the opportunities the Insiders provided to get herself and the people she loved out of this situation.
All she needed was time and opportunity.
Reviews are loved!