Jaina Solo Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
solo_sword) wrote2009-07-11 12:45 am
solo_sword) wrote2009-07-11 12:45 am
Entry tags:
Galantos, Saturday morning Fandom time
Since leaving Palo Alto, Jaina had continued to have the nightmares, but they didn't tend to wake her up. This was a good thing, since currently she was being shaken awake, and having to explain waking up in a cold sweat was not a great way to start a day. It took a second to even figure out who it was, trying to work through the memories of the dream while attempting to see in the dark.
"Relax, Jaina, it's just me."
"Jag?" She sat up, shoving her hair back from her face. "You shouldn't be here, the squirrels will report it."
He paused, and then paused some more. "Uh. What?"
This wasn't Fandom. Right. She was in a communal bunkroom with a curtain separating her cot from a dozen others, a setup which had made her almost miss the cabins when she first saw it. No squirrels. Right. "Why are you waking me up?' she asked, ignoring the need for her explanation. "Has anything happened?"
"No," he said. "You requested a standard field nap, and I volunteered to do the dirty work when time came to wake you up. It was my opinion that the duty officer should be spared the grisly business. I don't see why he should get to have all the fun."
"Stop flirting," she replied. "What do you really want, Jag? If it's a rematch on the dueling mat, then you're going to have to at least give me a minute or two to wake up properly."
He laughed. Some people- John- probably wouldn't believe he did that. "Actually, I came to bring you some news," he said. "About Jacen."
Jaina was awake now. She swung her legs off the cot and said, "Tell me."
Word had come down early on that the Yuuzhan Vong had attacked inside there Empire. They'd hit Bastion hard and were more than primed to continue their advance. However, the Imperials had driven them back and still had them in a fight they were going to win. Luke and Mara had been instrumental in that, Jacen was fine, and it was one less thing to worry about. It had been a strange time, considering Jag himself was an Imperial, and half the squadron was Chiss, and stranger still to realize that the survival of the Empire was a good thing.La la la.
She made Jag stand outside the curtain while she changed, and since he'd woken her much earlier than she would have preferred- he'd be thoroughly hit for that later- they headed down to the mess for something possibly resembling breakfast. It was the same meal pretty much all the time, and it was disgusting, but that was military rations in wartime for you.
"I read your report on N'zoth," Jag said, once the topic of the next stop at Bakura had been exhausted. "It's brief but to the point."
While her parents and Tahiri had been on Galantos, Twin Suns had been in orbit around the planet. Jaina had taken two of the new Chiss pilots to N'zoth, the homeworld of the Yevetha, only to find that the Vong had essentially wiped them all out. They'd found a surviving pilot, who said that he would rather his entire species die than he himself be saved by aliens, and his resulting self-destruction of his ship had killed one of Twin Suns' pilots.
"I'm sorry about Miza," she said. Usually, she'd give her pilots some distance at first. She would never ignore them, she'd be there if needed, but it wasn't until they'd really proven themselves that she would maybe strike up conversation that was on some personal level, get to know them a bit. It was a technique that really did seem to work. It meant it was easier to take their death if they didn't make it through the first battle, and with rookies, if they did well enough, it seemed to be a morale boost to have their commander become something of an actual human being. She hadn't even had a chance to do that with Miza, and what happened still upset her. Maybe she was getting soft.
"It wasn't your fault," Jag assured her.
"Falling afoul of an ambush while simply trying to help someone," she said. "It seems like such an inglorious way to die."
"I don't think there are necessarily any good ways to die, Jaina."
"He'll be missed, won't he?" she asked. She didn't know why she was so concerned about that.
All right, yes, she knew. It was because she was thinking a lot about that lately, and doing a lot of missing herself.
And Miza had been one of Jag's pilots. He could give her that answer. "Of course," he said. "For his good points as well as his bad."
Jaina nodded. "And now the squad is one short."
"After only our first mission, too. Not a good start, is it?"
At least he was right there with her. She didn't know if that made her feel better or worse. "I'm sure everything will be okay, Jag," she said. "I know this is a strange way to run a squadron, but once we've ironed out the bugs..." She seemed to be saying that a lot lately.
Maybe she was getting optimistic along with soft.
[NFB, NFI, most dialogue taken from Force Heretic I: Remnant by Sean Williams and Shane Dix. If they're gonna spend entire pages at a time expositing, I can do some of my own. Suck it, Willix.]
"Relax, Jaina, it's just me."
"Jag?" She sat up, shoving her hair back from her face. "You shouldn't be here, the squirrels will report it."
He paused, and then paused some more. "Uh. What?"
This wasn't Fandom. Right. She was in a communal bunkroom with a curtain separating her cot from a dozen others, a setup which had made her almost miss the cabins when she first saw it. No squirrels. Right. "Why are you waking me up?' she asked, ignoring the need for her explanation. "Has anything happened?"
"No," he said. "You requested a standard field nap, and I volunteered to do the dirty work when time came to wake you up. It was my opinion that the duty officer should be spared the grisly business. I don't see why he should get to have all the fun."
"Stop flirting," she replied. "What do you really want, Jag? If it's a rematch on the dueling mat, then you're going to have to at least give me a minute or two to wake up properly."
He laughed. Some people- John- probably wouldn't believe he did that. "Actually, I came to bring you some news," he said. "About Jacen."
Jaina was awake now. She swung her legs off the cot and said, "Tell me."
Word had come down early on that the Yuuzhan Vong had attacked inside there Empire. They'd hit Bastion hard and were more than primed to continue their advance. However, the Imperials had driven them back and still had them in a fight they were going to win. Luke and Mara had been instrumental in that, Jacen was fine, and it was one less thing to worry about. It had been a strange time, considering Jag himself was an Imperial, and half the squadron was Chiss, and stranger still to realize that the survival of the Empire was a good thing.
She made Jag stand outside the curtain while she changed, and since he'd woken her much earlier than she would have preferred- he'd be thoroughly hit for that later- they headed down to the mess for something possibly resembling breakfast. It was the same meal pretty much all the time, and it was disgusting, but that was military rations in wartime for you.
"I read your report on N'zoth," Jag said, once the topic of the next stop at Bakura had been exhausted. "It's brief but to the point."
While her parents and Tahiri had been on Galantos, Twin Suns had been in orbit around the planet. Jaina had taken two of the new Chiss pilots to N'zoth, the homeworld of the Yevetha, only to find that the Vong had essentially wiped them all out. They'd found a surviving pilot, who said that he would rather his entire species die than he himself be saved by aliens, and his resulting self-destruction of his ship had killed one of Twin Suns' pilots.
"I'm sorry about Miza," she said. Usually, she'd give her pilots some distance at first. She would never ignore them, she'd be there if needed, but it wasn't until they'd really proven themselves that she would maybe strike up conversation that was on some personal level, get to know them a bit. It was a technique that really did seem to work. It meant it was easier to take their death if they didn't make it through the first battle, and with rookies, if they did well enough, it seemed to be a morale boost to have their commander become something of an actual human being. She hadn't even had a chance to do that with Miza, and what happened still upset her. Maybe she was getting soft.
"It wasn't your fault," Jag assured her.
"Falling afoul of an ambush while simply trying to help someone," she said. "It seems like such an inglorious way to die."
"I don't think there are necessarily any good ways to die, Jaina."
"He'll be missed, won't he?" she asked. She didn't know why she was so concerned about that.
All right, yes, she knew. It was because she was thinking a lot about that lately, and doing a lot of missing herself.
And Miza had been one of Jag's pilots. He could give her that answer. "Of course," he said. "For his good points as well as his bad."
Jaina nodded. "And now the squad is one short."
"After only our first mission, too. Not a good start, is it?"
At least he was right there with her. She didn't know if that made her feel better or worse. "I'm sure everything will be okay, Jag," she said. "I know this is a strange way to run a squadron, but once we've ironed out the bugs..." She seemed to be saying that a lot lately.
Maybe she was getting optimistic along with soft.
[NFB, NFI, most dialogue taken from Force Heretic I: Remnant by Sean Williams and Shane Dix. If they're gonna spend entire pages at a time expositing, I can do some of my own. Suck it, Willix.]