Jaina Solo Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
solo_sword) wrote2009-07-09 07:06 pm
solo_sword) wrote2009-07-09 07:06 pm
Mon Calamari, Thursday evening Fandom time
For once, Jaina was late getting where she needed to be. She had to head to the Ralroost to pick up her X-wing and her squadron and it was less her scheduling that was to blame than it was the fact that she was the one in charge. It meant when she finally did land and hop out of her X-wing, she had someone waiting for her. "Nice to see you, Colonel," Kyp greeted her.
"Sorry I'm late," said Jaina, pulling off her helmet and tucking it under her arm. "There were delays making sure Twin Suns was adequately berthed. Did I miss the meeting?"
With a nod of his head, he started them walking away from the docking bays. "Afraid so. But that's okay. I get the feeling that everything's being decided behind the scenes. Gathering us together was just a formality-a way of reminding us that there's a bigger picture. You know?"
"I really do," she agreed. "Where is everyone now?"
"Right now your parents are in a meeting with Jag Fel. They're hatching some sort of scheme," he said, and stopped abruptly, turning to face her. "There's talk of winning this thing, Jaina. A lot of talk. It's almost hysterical. Before Ebaq 9 we were all but beaten; now you'd think we already had the Yuuzhan Vong on the run."
She knew that, unfortunately. She'd been getting those sorts of messages for months now, and apparently they were building on it. Talk was nothing. The people talking were those in charge, the ones who weren't doing the fighting, the ones who weren't losing their people and seeing the battlefields when it was over. Yes, they were doing well, and it was certainly better than they had been doing not long ago, but this wasn't over. Talking as if it was could only get them into trouble.
"I'll be careful," she promised, knowing his meaning: don't commit to anything without knowing why they were really asking.
She had been on Mon Calamari a few times, but not this particular area. Meanwhile Kyp had been here long enough to know exactly where they were going, catching up by talking shop. One might think that with as many hours a day as Jaina put into doing just that, she might get sick of it. The truth was, she really didn't, and the exchange of this kind of information could only help.
They finally came to a door guarded by Mon Calamari security, who saluted before allowing them through. Inside the room filled with displays and maps and charts, were Jaina's parents and Jag, along with a familiar dark-skinned woman that she recognized as intelligence
Before she could say anything, Leia came over to hug her. It wasn't a surprise. Her mom had gotten to be a hugger in the last year for some strange reason, but Jaina didn't mind. Her dad placed his hand on his shoulder with a, "Good to see you, kid."
"You, too, Dad," she said, having to stand on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Where's Jacen?" She'd been hoping to meet up with him and get that particular talk over with, but found he'd left the Ralroost and had come back here instead before she even got there. Maybe it was better not to start with that talk, anyway.
"Your uncle Luke has him working on something else," Leia replied. "He'll meet you when we're finished."
Jaina nodded, looking towards the other woman. "Belindi, isn't it?" she asked, hoping she'd gotten the name right. It had been a while.
The woman nodded, shaking Jaina's extended hand. "Belindi Kalenda, that's right," she said. "Chief Omas has asked me to coordinate an operation involving your parents- and you, if you're willing."
"And that's where I check out," Kyp said.
"You're leaving?" Jaina asked, surprised.
"My job was only to escort you here, I'm afraid," he said with exaggerated disappointment.
"The great Kyp Durron reduced to being a delivery boy, eh?" she teased, grinning. "Who'd have thought? And to think, you once offered to take me on as an apprentice, too! Glad I didn't take that route." For long, anyway.
"You're a funny girl, you know that? For a Solo, that is," he said. "But listen, if you feel like catching up later, why not stop by at the Ocean's Floor cafe for a drink?"
Jaina nodded her agreement. She didn't get to talk to him much anymore when it wasn't about shop. And, she realized, there were certain things that if she chose to, she could tell him without judgment.
The discussion with Kalenda led took an hour. It was long enough that someone sent food. The mission background was simple enough: the Vong had concentrated their effort on major hyperspace routes and ignored smaller more backwater areas, leaving it open. The problem was that no one was sure what was going on there, and while local despots were taking over the regions, they might not want anyone interfering with what they'd set up. Han and Leia would be directing the Falcon and one fighter squadron, along with a frigate, and as far as Jaina could tell, her entire part in this was because they wanted to use Twin Suns. She was happy to let her pilots be a part of this, but she was beginning to want her hour back.
"Is there any particular reason that I'm here?" she asked finally, trying not to sound too frustrated. "It just seems to me that I have very little part to play in this plan of yours."
The way Han said it, you'd think it would be obvious. "You're here because we want you here."
"Why?" she pressed.
"Because we need a military escort," said Leia. "That fighter squadron has to come from somewhere."
"Why Twin Suns, though? There must be others you could take."
"That's true, sweetheart," Han agreed. "But-*
"Don't 'sweetheart' me, Dad," she interrupted. "There's something you aren't telling me."
"Listen to what we are telling you," Leia said. "This mission is important, and we want the best pilots accompanying us."
"But I have work to do here! There are the new pilots to train, new simulators to program, and I just got here. There are things I need to be doing."
"Your training work will continue during the mission," Leia said calmly. She knew by now how to deal with a frustrated Jaina. "I'm proposing to allow Lowbacca to form his own squadron with the pilots you've trained. The gaps left in Twin Suns you can make up from Chiss Squadron. There's still a lot to learn from each other."
She hadn't expected that. She'd had her squadron pulled apart and built back up a few times, but that was even more reason for her to stay behind and make sure they were up to it. "Yes, but-"
"What are you afraid of, Jaina?" Han asked. "The war's still going to be there when you get back. That much, at least, I can promise you."
There were so many responses to that, but Jaina settled for turning to Jag for support. He'd been too quiet during this, and she frowned when all he did was shrug. He probably didn't want to be brought into the middle of this, especially when he'd seen Jaina frustrated, too. But that response did not help her.
"Don't be too hard on your parents," Kalenda put in. "This was my idea."
Jaina didn't care. Kalenda wouldn't get it. So Jaina ignored her, asking Jag instead, "I take it you'll be staying here, then?"
"Actually, no," he said. "I'll be going along with you."
Wait. Jaina looked over at her parents, then back at Jag. "As part of Twin Suns?"
"It's not the first time, and probably won't be the last."
"We like the idea of having two experienced squadron leaders, especially with a mix of Chiss and your pilots in the air," said Han. "This way we can have one leader groundside with us at all times, while the other remains up in orbit to keep an eye on things."
Jaina sighed, feeling pretty well defeated here. Having someone co-lead her squadron was actually less offensive to her than being dragged away from the duties she'd planned on being able to catch up with. It did make sense, and really, if there was anyone she'd rather co-lead with, it'd be him. He'd even taken over her squadron before at Ylesia when she was stuck planetside. And, while she really did love working with Lowie, Jag had more experience and if this continued past this mission, then Jaina knew her pilots were still in good hands when she returned to Fandom.
Still, it was annoying.
When the meeting finally ended, with Jag and Jaina agreeing to meet up later to work out the details, it left her alone in the room with her parents. Glad to see them as she was, she was still trying not to sulk.
Moreso when her father found the perfect opportunity to ask, "Where's the guy with the hair?"
While Jaina told John when her dad said hi, she didn't usually mention that there was usually some description involved rather than John's actual name. "California. He's at college," she answered. "And he's missing a lot of that hair right now."
"Is everything all right?" Leia wondered, looking concerned.
"Oh, sure. Except for how my boyfriend's time is moving way faster than mine, yeah, everything's fine," said Jaina. "I think it'll just make it really hard for him to come out here till we figure out how things are working."
"Have you tried?" Han wondered.
"Tried what?"
"Getting him out here?"
"Well, no, not yet," Jaina admitted. "But I just got here, and I don't know if he'll be able to make it. I'm not kidding, his time moves something like six times faster than it does in Fandom. That's about three times faster than here. Any more detail than that and my head will explode from math."
Han shrugged. "Could always give him a call, see if he's willing to try it."
She frowned at him. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing," said Leia with a small smile. "We're just trying to make sure everything's all right. You've seemed stressed."
"I'm always stressed," Jaina pointed out. It didn't help that she didn't want to discuss her love life with her parents.
"Moreso." Leia patted her shoulder. "Don't get too discouraged. Sometimes the hard times are what really make it all worth it."
Noticing the look her parents shared at that, Jaina said, "Please don't make out in front of me."
"Hey, a lot of kids would like to know they still have a set of loving parents," Han pointed out.
She had to admit they had a point. And she knew why they took an interest. Her parents really had been through a lot: war, carbon freezing, various crises, death, torture, more war, separation, one kid being captured, one turning to the dark side, and somehow after the deaths of Chewie and Anakin- something that still felt really unsettling right now- they seemed stronger than ever. At the same time, she thought that maybe with the toll this last war had taken on them, if they didn't look at her and start thinking that maybe there was hope for something good to come out of all of this. Once she'd figured that out, she'd stopped protesting the occasional off comment about settling down and decided they could have their hope, while she moved at her own pace.
And maybe they did have a point now. Han and Leia had made it through so much over what, thirty years? A little bit of time displacement didn't seem so bad in comparis-
"Oh, come on, guys, I even said please."
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. About half the dialogue taken from Force Heretic I: Remnant by Sean Williams and Shane Dix, with gratuitous chopping because the books are really kind of bad. Later bits brought to you by the letters O, M and G, and the number 34, which is the age at which Han and Leia are still prodding her about her bfs.]
"Sorry I'm late," said Jaina, pulling off her helmet and tucking it under her arm. "There were delays making sure Twin Suns was adequately berthed. Did I miss the meeting?"
With a nod of his head, he started them walking away from the docking bays. "Afraid so. But that's okay. I get the feeling that everything's being decided behind the scenes. Gathering us together was just a formality-a way of reminding us that there's a bigger picture. You know?"
"I really do," she agreed. "Where is everyone now?"
"Right now your parents are in a meeting with Jag Fel. They're hatching some sort of scheme," he said, and stopped abruptly, turning to face her. "There's talk of winning this thing, Jaina. A lot of talk. It's almost hysterical. Before Ebaq 9 we were all but beaten; now you'd think we already had the Yuuzhan Vong on the run."
She knew that, unfortunately. She'd been getting those sorts of messages for months now, and apparently they were building on it. Talk was nothing. The people talking were those in charge, the ones who weren't doing the fighting, the ones who weren't losing their people and seeing the battlefields when it was over. Yes, they were doing well, and it was certainly better than they had been doing not long ago, but this wasn't over. Talking as if it was could only get them into trouble.
"I'll be careful," she promised, knowing his meaning: don't commit to anything without knowing why they were really asking.
She had been on Mon Calamari a few times, but not this particular area. Meanwhile Kyp had been here long enough to know exactly where they were going, catching up by talking shop. One might think that with as many hours a day as Jaina put into doing just that, she might get sick of it. The truth was, she really didn't, and the exchange of this kind of information could only help.
They finally came to a door guarded by Mon Calamari security, who saluted before allowing them through. Inside the room filled with displays and maps and charts, were Jaina's parents and Jag, along with a familiar dark-skinned woman that she recognized as intelligence
Before she could say anything, Leia came over to hug her. It wasn't a surprise. Her mom had gotten to be a hugger in the last year for some strange reason, but Jaina didn't mind. Her dad placed his hand on his shoulder with a, "Good to see you, kid."
"You, too, Dad," she said, having to stand on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Where's Jacen?" She'd been hoping to meet up with him and get that particular talk over with, but found he'd left the Ralroost and had come back here instead before she even got there. Maybe it was better not to start with that talk, anyway.
"Your uncle Luke has him working on something else," Leia replied. "He'll meet you when we're finished."
Jaina nodded, looking towards the other woman. "Belindi, isn't it?" she asked, hoping she'd gotten the name right. It had been a while.
The woman nodded, shaking Jaina's extended hand. "Belindi Kalenda, that's right," she said. "Chief Omas has asked me to coordinate an operation involving your parents- and you, if you're willing."
"And that's where I check out," Kyp said.
"You're leaving?" Jaina asked, surprised.
"My job was only to escort you here, I'm afraid," he said with exaggerated disappointment.
"The great Kyp Durron reduced to being a delivery boy, eh?" she teased, grinning. "Who'd have thought? And to think, you once offered to take me on as an apprentice, too! Glad I didn't take that route." For long, anyway.
"You're a funny girl, you know that? For a Solo, that is," he said. "But listen, if you feel like catching up later, why not stop by at the Ocean's Floor cafe for a drink?"
Jaina nodded her agreement. She didn't get to talk to him much anymore when it wasn't about shop. And, she realized, there were certain things that if she chose to, she could tell him without judgment.
The discussion with Kalenda led took an hour. It was long enough that someone sent food. The mission background was simple enough: the Vong had concentrated their effort on major hyperspace routes and ignored smaller more backwater areas, leaving it open. The problem was that no one was sure what was going on there, and while local despots were taking over the regions, they might not want anyone interfering with what they'd set up. Han and Leia would be directing the Falcon and one fighter squadron, along with a frigate, and as far as Jaina could tell, her entire part in this was because they wanted to use Twin Suns. She was happy to let her pilots be a part of this, but she was beginning to want her hour back.
"Is there any particular reason that I'm here?" she asked finally, trying not to sound too frustrated. "It just seems to me that I have very little part to play in this plan of yours."
The way Han said it, you'd think it would be obvious. "You're here because we want you here."
"Why?" she pressed.
"Because we need a military escort," said Leia. "That fighter squadron has to come from somewhere."
"Why Twin Suns, though? There must be others you could take."
"That's true, sweetheart," Han agreed. "But-*
"Don't 'sweetheart' me, Dad," she interrupted. "There's something you aren't telling me."
"Listen to what we are telling you," Leia said. "This mission is important, and we want the best pilots accompanying us."
"But I have work to do here! There are the new pilots to train, new simulators to program, and I just got here. There are things I need to be doing."
"Your training work will continue during the mission," Leia said calmly. She knew by now how to deal with a frustrated Jaina. "I'm proposing to allow Lowbacca to form his own squadron with the pilots you've trained. The gaps left in Twin Suns you can make up from Chiss Squadron. There's still a lot to learn from each other."
She hadn't expected that. She'd had her squadron pulled apart and built back up a few times, but that was even more reason for her to stay behind and make sure they were up to it. "Yes, but-"
"What are you afraid of, Jaina?" Han asked. "The war's still going to be there when you get back. That much, at least, I can promise you."
There were so many responses to that, but Jaina settled for turning to Jag for support. He'd been too quiet during this, and she frowned when all he did was shrug. He probably didn't want to be brought into the middle of this, especially when he'd seen Jaina frustrated, too. But that response did not help her.
"Don't be too hard on your parents," Kalenda put in. "This was my idea."
Jaina didn't care. Kalenda wouldn't get it. So Jaina ignored her, asking Jag instead, "I take it you'll be staying here, then?"
"Actually, no," he said. "I'll be going along with you."
Wait. Jaina looked over at her parents, then back at Jag. "As part of Twin Suns?"
"It's not the first time, and probably won't be the last."
"We like the idea of having two experienced squadron leaders, especially with a mix of Chiss and your pilots in the air," said Han. "This way we can have one leader groundside with us at all times, while the other remains up in orbit to keep an eye on things."
Jaina sighed, feeling pretty well defeated here. Having someone co-lead her squadron was actually less offensive to her than being dragged away from the duties she'd planned on being able to catch up with. It did make sense, and really, if there was anyone she'd rather co-lead with, it'd be him. He'd even taken over her squadron before at Ylesia when she was stuck planetside. And, while she really did love working with Lowie, Jag had more experience and if this continued past this mission, then Jaina knew her pilots were still in good hands when she returned to Fandom.
Still, it was annoying.
When the meeting finally ended, with Jag and Jaina agreeing to meet up later to work out the details, it left her alone in the room with her parents. Glad to see them as she was, she was still trying not to sulk.
Moreso when her father found the perfect opportunity to ask, "Where's the guy with the hair?"
While Jaina told John when her dad said hi, she didn't usually mention that there was usually some description involved rather than John's actual name. "California. He's at college," she answered. "And he's missing a lot of that hair right now."
"Is everything all right?" Leia wondered, looking concerned.
"Oh, sure. Except for how my boyfriend's time is moving way faster than mine, yeah, everything's fine," said Jaina. "I think it'll just make it really hard for him to come out here till we figure out how things are working."
"Have you tried?" Han wondered.
"Tried what?"
"Getting him out here?"
"Well, no, not yet," Jaina admitted. "But I just got here, and I don't know if he'll be able to make it. I'm not kidding, his time moves something like six times faster than it does in Fandom. That's about three times faster than here. Any more detail than that and my head will explode from math."
Han shrugged. "Could always give him a call, see if he's willing to try it."
She frowned at him. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing," said Leia with a small smile. "We're just trying to make sure everything's all right. You've seemed stressed."
"I'm always stressed," Jaina pointed out. It didn't help that she didn't want to discuss her love life with her parents.
"Moreso." Leia patted her shoulder. "Don't get too discouraged. Sometimes the hard times are what really make it all worth it."
Noticing the look her parents shared at that, Jaina said, "Please don't make out in front of me."
"Hey, a lot of kids would like to know they still have a set of loving parents," Han pointed out.
She had to admit they had a point. And she knew why they took an interest. Her parents really had been through a lot: war, carbon freezing, various crises, death, torture, more war, separation, one kid being captured, one turning to the dark side, and somehow after the deaths of Chewie and Anakin- something that still felt really unsettling right now- they seemed stronger than ever. At the same time, she thought that maybe with the toll this last war had taken on them, if they didn't look at her and start thinking that maybe there was hope for something good to come out of all of this. Once she'd figured that out, she'd stopped protesting the occasional off comment about settling down and decided they could have their hope, while she moved at her own pace.
And maybe they did have a point now. Han and Leia had made it through so much over what, thirty years? A little bit of time displacement didn't seem so bad in comparis-
"Oh, come on, guys, I even said please."
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. About half the dialogue taken from Force Heretic I: Remnant by Sean Williams and Shane Dix, with gratuitous chopping because the books are really kind of bad. Later bits brought to you by the letters O, M and G, and the number 34, which is the age at which Han and Leia are still prodding her about her bfs.]
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