Prequel to Affectionate.
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Their first official campaign together, Flight Officer Shawnk'yr'nuruodo learns many things, the most important of which was the fact that her wingman had a hero complex. No matter how closely she dogged him, how many times she tried to temper his impulsiveness, he still managed to find himself in all sorts of trouble. Kyrn considers it a victory when Jag survives that first year of combat relatively intact.
At the end of the campaign, the fleet returns to Csilla and the crew disperse for leave. She and Jag sit next to each other in the shuttle down-planet, and he nods at her familiarly before they go their separate ways. "Thanks for watching my back, Ten. See you in three weeks."
She just frowns as his slight human frame walks away. She was only executing her duty.
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A year later, in the war against the Vagaari, Jag is shot down in battle and presumably picked up by enemy forces. He's marked as MIA immediately and his sister talks about a rescue mission, but it's Kyrn who approaches the commander about a commando strike, and it's their combined plan that convinces Command that destroying Vagaari base 17 and rescuing the POWs interned there is feasible.
Kyrn doesn't lead the strike team, and her name is not on the official report, but the right people know of her involvement – and one of them informs the rescued POWs. None of them thank her, except for Jag.
She tells him, less patiently than she might, that she's his wing – it's her job.
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By the time Spike Squadron is sent to the Known Regions, Jag and Kyrn have been on-again, off-again wingmen for more than five years. They have a relationship spanning seven campaigns, three wars, five borders skirmishes, and school. They know each other's family and have private jokes and sometimes they go to military functions together. As Jag says, he needs a wing.
Something about the Yuuzhan Vong unnerve him, though, and every time they get back safely he thanks her for being his wing. Kyrn doesn't say anything, because the Yuuzhan Vong disturb her too.
Nearly ten years after Kyrn met the new cadet with blue piping on his uniform, she is packing her bags for an extended time away. Yesterday, she was one of five officers to volunteer for a special reconnaissance mission to the Known Regions. She was the only one chosen.
"Why are you doing this?" Jag asks her as they wait for hyperspace clearance. His voice sound tinny over the Clawcraft comm, and Kyrn notes that he's accenting the wrong syllables again.
"I'm your wing," she says simply, stressing the right syllables in Cheuhn.
"Thanks."