Chapter 13

"I told you, I'm fine," Jaina snapped at the Emdee droid. They had shown up with what seemed to Jaina like a full platoon and carried her off like an injured bantha. She had been forced to undergo all kinds of tests had bacta patches applied to her neck and hands. And still they would not let her go.

"I can't turn my back for one second, can I?" a familiar voice asked.

Jaina's head snapped around to see Jag leaning against the door jam and shaking his head. But underneath his casual facade Jaina could feel the worried tension like it was her own, the cold fear that something had happened to her.

Jaina waggled a finger in his direction. "This is not my fault! It's that damned General you all were so thrilled about."

"Were?" he asked, coming to kneel by her bed and taking her hand almost absentmindedly.

"That's right, were. Unless you have an unusual fondness for Vong spies who try to murder your wife," she snapped. She wasn't in the best of tempers, and didn't mind taking it out on him.

Jag's brow steepled with confusion. "Covathen was a Vong spy? How?"

"I just know that his face peeled off and there was a Vong underneath. The next thing I know the room's full of an ink-cloud and there's and amphistaff around my neck."

Jag touched the almost healed skin on her hands. When he looked back up at her his eyes were so full of sorrow that Jaina felt all her anger and frustration evaporate in an instant. "Jag?" she asked.

"I should have listened to you. I never should have let you meet with him when you told me he was dangerous. I'm so sorry, Jaina."

Jaina grinned softly, touched by his protectiveness. How typical of him, trying to bear the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. "Jag, when are you going to learn that I make my own decisions, and that my mistakes are my own, too? You can no more keep me from danger than you can keep me from breathing."

"But I could have this time," he insisted.

Jaina sighed. "I'm a big girl, Jag. I can take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter. Look, I'm alive, see? You need to worry about yourself more. You're the one who's going to be on the front lines the next few weeks. I'm trusting that you'll be here when I get back."

He kissed her hand gently and smiled. "You can count on it."

"Good. Okay, these stupid droids won't let me go yet, so can you take my report to Captain Naidi? I typed it up while I was waiting." She passed him the datacard.

"Sure," he said. "But there's one thing about this that doesn't add up. Covathen has been here since childhood. How can he have been a Yuuzhan Vong the whole time?"

"I guess he murdered the real Covathen after he became a General and took his place," Jaina said. "It's the only thing that makes sense to me."

"Probably," Jag agreed. "Okay, I'll be by to pick you up later."

Jaina waved him off. "I'll be out of here long before then. I'll meet you at home."

Jag saluted the Captain as he entered. "At ease," Naidi said, then beckoned him foreward.
Jag handed him the datacard Jaina had given him. "Here is Jaina's report from the reconnaissance and from the attack in the General's office."

"Thank you," Naidi said popping it into his datapad and scanning through it. "Is she going to recover?"

"Yes," Jag answered. "She's just a little banged up."

Naidi closed the datapad and looked at Jag. "I have your new orders."

"Where are they sending me?" Jag asked.

"The Imperial Remnant has had trouble with the Vong harrying their borders as well. Grand Admiral Pallaeon has requested military assistance as well as tactical aid. They have no idea how to fight them. They're being slaughtered. We're sending you to the Chimaera to help."

Jag was incredulous. "You're sending me to the Empire?"

"You're a better candidate than most. Your family has a history with them, and your background will allow you to adjust better. We're hoping that if they learn how to fight these invaders that they will drive them back from there side so they won't enter Known Space. I doubt the New Republic will handle such an invasion well, and if the Vong gain access there they can launch attacks at us from New Republic worlds. It would be devastating. You have to help make sure that that doesn't happen," Naidi told him.

This was unexpected, but not exactly unwelcome. Jag had always wanted to know more about the Imperial Remnant. He had also never flown a TIE. It was an exciting prospect. Since Jaina was leaving anyway he didn't have to worry about leaving her so far behind. He could complete this mission in peace, knowing she was safe with her family. "When do I leave?"

"Three days," Naidi said. He copied the information from the disc Jaina had sent him onto his datapad, then handed the disc back to Jag. "Keep this as reference. Give anything that is needed to the Empire. They need all that they can get."

Jaina was there when Jag got home. She was already packing for her own excursion, and clothes were thrown everywhere. This place is going to be a wreck by the time we get through with it, Jag thought. He wasn't sure how to break the news to her. He knew it shouldn't matter where he was while she was gone, but he didn't how she—coming from the New Republic which had formerly been the Rebellion—would take him living with the Empire.

She smiled as he came through the door. "What did Naidi say?"

"He gave me my new orders," Jag said, deciding not to shirk from the problem. No, he would face it head on.

"Really?" Jaina asked as she folded a shirt and laid it inside her bag. "Where are they sending you?"

"The Empire."

Jaina gave him a shocked look. "The Remnant? What're they sending you there for?"

"They've requested help in fighting the Vong. They've been attacking their borders, and the Empire doesn't know how to fight them," Jag answered.

"So you're going to teach them?" Jaina said.

"Basically. Teach them, fight with them, help with tactics. I'll probably be there a while," he added, trying to get a sense of hr reaction.

To his surprise, she just snorted derisively. "Probably. They need somebody to help them. They could have used a little instruction a long time ago."

Jag let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. Not only did she not object, she agreed! He should have known she was too reasonable to let something that petty interfere with her judgment. "I admit I'm looking forward to the visit. I've heard my father tell stories all my life."

Jaina grinned at him knowingly. "I know what you want. You just want to fly a TIE fighter."

Jag laughed and kissed her forehead. "Maybe just a little."

"It's okay. I always wanted one too."

"Really?" Jag asked, surprised.

"Yep. I found one when I was a kid at the Jedi Academy. It had crashed all the way back during the Battle of Yavin. I tried to fix it up, but it got stolen."

"By who?" Jag asked.

"The pilot," she laughed.

"The pilot was still alive?"

"Alive enough to steal my ship and the hyperdrive unit Chewie sent me."

"Chewie?" Jag asked.

Jaina laughed. "Chewbacca. He's a Wookiee. He's my dad's copilot."

"I thought you didn't get along with your parents," Jag said.

"My mom, never. But it wasn't always that way with my dad. He used to come around a lot after we moved into Uncle Luke's place, and before then he took care of us at home. I think he loves us, at least, but he just got too busy to come see us anymore, or something. I haven't talked to him in a long time, but Chewie kept coming. He even babysat when Uncle Luke was away," Jaina explained.

Jag couldn't imagine a father just 'getting to busy' for his kids like that. Soontir Fel had been gone a lot during Jag's childhood, but he had never forgotten his family. He never shirked his parental responsibilities, and for that Jag was thankful. Jag firmly resolved then that his and Jaina's children—

He stopped himself in mid-thought, shocked by his own idea. Had he really just thought about having children with Jaina?

Jaina picked up on his sudden spike of emotion and gave him a questioning look. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Jag answered, shaking his head. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her, or worse, give her any ideas. "Nothing."

"Maybe I should stop by Csilla before I go home," Jaina was saying. They were sitting in the mess hall eating dinner. It was the night before they parted, and both were feeling a little down even though they did their best to hide it from the other.

"Why?" Jag asked, then spooned a bite of mashed protato into his mouth.

"There are some datacards and things I've been working on, letters I've written to everyone that I was going to give them when I went home next year. I might as well take them now. And it's not that out of the way, and won't take long," she answered.

"Well, if you do, can you do a favor for me?"

"Sure." Jaina said, sipping her glass of water.

"Go by the lab and see if they've come up with anything about Shawnkyr's murder. I haven't been able to check in in a long time, and who knows, maybe they've uncovered something."

"Okay," Jaina said. "That shouldn't take long." She was quite for a long moment. "If I finish my business before you do, should I go to Csilla, or the Empire?"

Jag mulled over the question. "By then I say we'd both be ready to see each other again. Just come to Bastion."

"You know," Jaina said, "when I first got here, all I wanted to do was go home. And now I can't stand the thought of leaving you."

"I know," Jag said, taking her hand. "But think of it this way: I would have to leave you even if you stayed here anyway, at least for a little while. Think of it like a vacation while I'm gone."

Jaina smiled. "I hardly think instructing a group of Jedi in combat is going to be very much like a vacation. In fact, it'll probably be close to the opposite."

"But you'll get to see your brothers and uncle again. And who knows, maybe Mother Dear will pay you a visit, too."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Now I know I don't want to go."

Jaina hugged herself tightly, trying to fight off the cold that only existed in her mind. She watched Jag prep his clawcraft for takeoff, and each second that passed she ached to be back in his arms. She knew it was in her head, that because she knew it would probably be months before she even saw him again she missed him more than usual. They had certainly packed enough loving into one night to last them, but she longed for him anyway, even when he was only a few meters away.

As he set the ship up on its preflight check Jag got out of the craft and climbed down the ladder to say his final goodbyes. Jaina didn't say anything, simply buried her face against his chest and let him hold her tight. "Are you sure you can't, you know, just kind of get lost and end up in the New Republic instead?" she asked finally.

He laughed, but there was little mirth in it. "It'll be okay," he said. "We'll be seeing each other again before you know it."

"I know," she said. Then she looked up into his eyes, letting him know the seriousness of what she was about to say. "You be careful, Jag. The last thing I want is to be widowed at sixteen."

He smiled and kissed her softly. "You won't be."

"Promise me," she said sternly. "Promise me that I'll see you again."

He sighed. "Jaina, do you really want me to promise something that I can't guarantee?"

"No. I want you to guarantee it. Maybe it'll make you think twice before you take an unnecessary risk or do something rash."

"Okay," he conceded. "I promise."

"I'm holding you to it," she said as she backed away, letting him board his craft. As she watched his engines flare to life and his repulsorlifts kick in she felt a deep sense sadness. Who knew how long it would be before he could make good on his promise?

The ship they lent Jaina to take back to Csilla was a beauty of a machine. Jaina itched to get her hands on the controls, and her desire to pilot it helped with her loneliness somewhat. She had never piloted a ship by herself before, but she wasn't afraid. She could do this.

As she seated herself in the pilot's chair and ran it through preflight she wondered what her brothers would think of her, especially Jacen. Had they changed as much as she had? Jaina had conveniently neglected to mention in her messages to them that she had fallen in love with Jag. She wasn't sure how they would take it, especially after she denied vehemently ever having anything to do with the man.

It wasn't that she was ashamed of Jag, far from it. She just hated to tell them all that after she had protested so much, it really wasn't all that bad.

But neither did she forgive her mother for doing this to her. Even if she had met a man that she loved dearly, Leia Organa Solo had had no right to impress it all upon her. It was the principle of the matter that angered Jaina. That her own feelings had been so disregarded made her blood boil.

It didn't help matters that Leia continued to see it as the reasonable decision. No apology was forthcoming, and Jaina doubted that she ever would get one. At least from Leia. Jaina was curious as to what part Han had played in Jaina's arranged marriage. She had no idea whether he approved of the match or not, or was simply indifferent to Jaina's fate. Her memories of Han before she had went to live with her Uncle Luke were fond ones. Jacen and she had always been asking to go with him to the Millenium Falcon. He let them tinker with it, pretend to fly it. Sometimes they would just take rides around Coruscant, taking turns sitting on his lap and 'helping' with the controls. He would tell stories about Corellia and his smuggling days, and they ate it up. Anakin had been too young then to remember much about that time, but Jaina remembered it well. If Han Solo had played no other role in her life, he was the one who taught her to love flying.

She and her brothers had lived with Luke Skywalker since they were six, however, and Jaina's time with her father dwindled quickly. Every once and a while he would visit or send presents, but not often. He made an effort at the beginning, at least, which was more than Jaina could say for her mother.

These were mostly the kind of thoughts that Jaina had during the short hyperspace ride to Csilla. She mostly reminisced about her old life, the good and the bad. It would never be that way again, she knew. Even though she wouldn't trade Jag for it back, she would miss it all the same.

Thoughts of her dad left Jaina strangely saddened. She had mused over her parents role—or lack of—in her life before, but it had never really bothered her. She had just taken her life as it was, knowing there wasn't anything she could change.

And maybe that was what was bothering her now. She hadn't missed Jag's musing over their children, if they ever decided to have any, even though he thought she had. What kind of parent would Jaina be? She never wanted a child to go through what she did. If they ever—some time in the far future—decided that they wanted a family, Jaina wanted to make sure that her children knew their parents, both of them. Until she could make sure of that, Jaina solemnly resolved to never bring a life into the galaxy.

Jag eagerly awaited the Chimaera to realize he had dropped into the system. This was the kind of assignment he had always wanted, and he was eager to get started. He missed Jaina already, of course, but his excitement helped take his mind off it. He fervently hoped that he would be given command of a squadron instead of working in the bridge of a Star Destroyer, but he was anxious begin either way.

Finally the saw the small clawcraft, and hailed him. "Unidentified craft, please state your name and intentions," a female voice said.

"This is Colonel Jagged Fel of the Chiss Ascendancy, reporting to Grand Admiral Pallaeon for duty," he said. Meanwhile he eased his clawcraft closer, taking a sweeping overview of the hulking triangular ship. It was impressive to say the least.

"Colonel Fel," a different, male voice came back finally, "we've been expecting you. Please proceed to docking bay 42."

"Acknowledged," Jag said. He watched the tiny blip appear on his screen, indicating the correct port. Jag pushed down on his control stick, lowering himself close to the hull until he could see the officers at their stations. He scanned the ship with wonderment, hungry to become a part of the workings of such a great machine.

As he landed his craft in the bay, he noticed his welcoming party standing close by. The Grand Admiral was among them, along with several stormtroopers and aids. Pallaeon came to meet jag as he disembarked.

Jag snapped a smart salute as he approached, hoping that was the proper protocol. "At ease," Pallaeon said. "Welcome, Colonel. I cannot express to you how glad I am that the Ascendancy responded so quickly to our request."

Jag took up the 'at ease' pose, spreading his legs and folding his arms behind his back. "I am pleased to be here, Admiral. I am eager to begin."

"Good, good, because there is a lot of work to be done," the aging admiral said. "Follow me, and I'll tell you about your duties."

Jag followed obediently as Pallaeon led his to a turbolift. "Sir," he said when the whole contingent was inside, "how many troops will I be in command of?"

"You will be instructing all my Senior Commanders, who will then report to their individual legions," Pallaeon said. "As for space combat, we've prepared simulators, which you will run with the squad leaders."

"Sir, no disrespect intended, but I do not believe simulators will be enough. It would be much more effective if I could actually be there during space combat," Jag said.

"Very well, whatever you deem necessary. I am leaving the details to you. Frankly, I really don't care how you do it, Colonel, so long as you make my navy into a formidable force. We in the Empire have not suffered such defeat since the days of the Rebellion. I am heartily ashamed of the job we have done against the Yuuzhan Vong."

"Don't worry, Admiral. I have had several months experience with them, and only recently we defeated their flotilla at Gortheba."

"Good," Pallaeon said as the turbolift door opened. He stepped out onto the Chimaera's and beckoned Jag to follow. "When do you think you will be ready to begin?"

"As soon as you can assemble your men," Jag replied.

"Excellent!" Pallaeon said. "Though I should warn you, Colonel, this will probably be a lengthy endeavor. I hope you do not have plans to return to the Ascendancy anytime soon."

Jag sighed. He had known this, of course, but hearing it didn't help any. "I have made the arrangements for a extended stay," Jag said.

Pallaeon smiled beneath his bushy white mustache. "I'm sure we'll keep you busy enough to pass the time quickly."