STAR WARS Sword of the Jedi - Solo - Chapter 1

by Ming S. Pan



A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…



STAR WARS
Sword of the Jedi
"Solo"
(42.5 A.B.Y.)

The New Jedi Order has survived their perils under the leadership of Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker but not without great cost and sacrifice. With the surrender of the Empire, the repelling of the Yuuzahn Vong invasion, the formation of the Galactic Alliance, and their most recent trial: the fall of one their most revered Jedi of the current generation.

Jacen Solo, son of Rebellion heroes Han and Leia Organa Solo, turned to the Dark Side triggering the Second Galactic Civil War. Taking up the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith as his grandfather before him, he became Darth Caedus. As darkness had threatened to envelop the galaxy once more, Jaina Solo, twin sister of Jacen, confronted her brother in a final battle.

Caedus fell to Jaina's lightsaber ending his reign. While fading from the Force, Jaina felt her brother once more in their twin bond. As her heart collapses with both of her brothers gone, she folds emotionally inwards burying her grief with duty: Jedi Knight of the New Jedi Order, Rogue Leader of the legendary Rogue Squadron, and the last legacy of Han and Leia. Through trial of fire she has been tempered into the Sword of the Jedi but even the greatest of swords, break…




Act I
"Choice"

As the vast galaxy goes along its own cosmically organized chaos, the emotions of a person's heart are as intrinsically complicated. Ages come and go, governments rise and fall, battles are won and lost, but the emotions of a sentient being no matter what the species, gender, or beliefs: are similar. No matter who they may be, even Jedi.


Chapter 1


(Hyperspace, Bothan Assault Cruiser Ralroost en route to classified 3rd jump point in the Mid-Rim.)

'All you ever have to do in life, is choose and act.' thought Jaina Solo turning over once again on her small bunk. Such nights were typical for her. Then again "night" in the middle of deep space hyperspace transit was relative. In the dim light of her sparse quarters she could see the glint of her lightsaber resting upon her flight gear. The lightsaber she took so much pride in creating so long ago. The lightsaber that saved her life on countless missions and perils. The lightsaber she had used to end her brother Jacen's life.

She remembered Jacen saying those words to her, "choose and act" as it had become his own personal mantra over the years. Yet her brother chose to turn to the Darkside, becoming Darth Cadeus, enveloping the galaxy in darkness and war.

"If you really believed what you say," she whispered aloud, almost expecting the small room to give her answers, "then why did you choose this…"

Jaina shifted on her bunk, he eyes starting water. "Why? Jacen."

She closed her teary brown eyes and the scene replayed. It replayed every time she closed her eyes for any decent length of time. There was no sound other than a steady pulsing beat. The pulsing beat of a heart, a heart slowing.

Jaina is holding Jacen, his head perched on her lap unmoving as she slumped down kneeled besides her brother. Her hand gently cups the side of his face, feeling colder as blood ceased reaching the surface of his paling smooth skin. She passed her hand through his ruffled brown hair, so much like their father's. His eyes were closed and she realized that she would never see them again. They were like their mother's.

Tears overflowed streaming down her cheeks to land on the side of his.

Her lightsaber lay near, on the metallic floor, deactivated. Wisps of smoke trailed from the emitter shaft as the fresh acrid smell of burnt ozone filled the air. She feels her twin still, through the Force, but it fades in their life long twin bond. In this moment her brother is hers again. Not a Sith Lord, not even a Jedi, just Jacen Solo, the one person who she shared their special link in the Force even before birth. The only one to know her deeper than anyone else in her life could and more than anyone else would ever know.

Jacen, her brother who she loved dearly as the other half of her very soul, now flickers in the Force, a dying fire on its last embers gasping for oxygen. He embraces Jaina one last time in their bond with his remaining presence and strength. An embrace in the Force as it were, a hug, a good bye.

There is only silence. Jaina is alone.

Jaina snapped upright, awakening to the sounds of alarm klaxons and pulsating emergency lights. Did she fall asleep when she closed her eyes or was it just one of those very long blinks? She was not certain, pushing the thoughts aside. The current situation called for being awake, fully awake.

The overhead comm built throughout the ship blared announcements over the wailing alarms, "All personnel report to battle stations. Incoming hostile craft, Ralroost is under attack. All personnel report to battle stations..." Throwing off her bunk sheet Jaina quickly slipped into her orange flight suit, grabbing her gear, running out of her quarters.



The Ralroost, as a Bothan Assault Cruiser, in design was practical and straight forward. It lacked the unique curvy elegance of the more common Mon Calamari Star Cruisers but it made up for it by making sure getting to point A to point B was as easy as possible. Unlike the Mon Cals, in which one correct turn on one can be a completely wrong turn on another of the same class of ship, the Bothans believed in a more straight forward approach to ship design which made getting to the hangar bays quick and easy.

"Solo to Ralroost Control?" asked Jaina keying her wrist comm pad to the primary frequency reserved for squadron leaders and the bridge control center. "Status report?"

A young male Mon Calimari's voice crackled through, "An unidentified modified ISD Mark II along with three support ships were waiting for us at the 3rd jump point. They've ignored out hails and have launched two squadrons, older model TIEs: Interceptor and bomber class. Estimated firing range in 5 minutes Colonel."

"Copy control, Rogue Squadron outbound on alert in 2." said Jaina reaching the open broad blast doors of the hanger bay. She rushed toward her XJ7 X-wing as other pilots head to their own fighter craft as support personnel loaded fuel and ordinance. The entire hanger was abuzz with the typical organized chaos of dealing with a surprise attack. "Scramble Rogues! Squints and dupes inbound!"

Her attention turned to her domed astrogation droid, already lowered into the designated slot behind the cockpit of the starfighter. Jaina looked up her boarding ladder at her mechanical friend. "Priority pre-start Cappie. Go, go, go!" she ordered. The R2-unit hooted in compliance as combat systems sparked to life.

A hanger support tech remove her ladder as a blonde haired pilot ran underneath her starboard s-foil toward an adjacent XJ7. "Is it always this exciting Colonel?" he asked looking back shooting an eager grin toward his commanding officer.

"Just another day at the office Lieutenant, consider this your welcome party." said Jaina regarding their newest addition as her own reinstatement as Rogue Leader had left a vacancy for her old spot on the squadron roster.

'Blake's green for a Rogue, but he was an ace with his former squad.' thought Jaina reassuring herself about the rookie. 'Besides, he's got my lucky Eleven spot.'

Not that Jedi believe in luck but her Corellian heritage gave her allowance to be open to the concept of it. 'Dad always called it "luck" anyway.'

"Getting hot Sticks," a woman's voice called out to Jaina. "fly fast and shoot straight!"

Jaina turned to her XO, Inyri Forge, as the other woman slipped on her flight helmet.

"Let's get to vaping Forge!" Jaina replied, giving her a quick nod.

Lights along her tactical display sprung to life as the sound of fusion generators eagerly thrum feeding the X-wing's four 6L6 Incom engines with power. More indicator lights went active as 4 green lights blinked into existence from their previous yellows, signifying "stand by" on her control panel. Weapon systems cycle through their fast start ups as the X-wings readied themselves for combat like stirring beasts coming out of a lengthy hibernation. "Rogue Leader to control, Rogue One has four greens and is go. Rogue Squadron standing by."

"Rogue Squadron is cleared for priority launch. Good hunting, may the Force be with you." said the Mon Calimari controller's voice from before.

The XJ7s lifted off the deck, pointing their long sleek silhouettes toward the open vacuum just beyond the atmospheric shields of the hanger bay. Jaina pushed her throttle accelerating to attack speed.

"Rogues check in, lock s-foils in attack position." ordered Jaina while flipping a small lever along the side of her cockpit splitting the wings of her fighter into the "X" that the X-wing class of starfighter were famous for. She received acknowledgement as the squadron lock their wings increasing their weapons coverage. Jania angled the nose of her craft toward the incoming wave of hostiles. Her sensors pick up the reported Star Destroyer looming menacing in the distance.

'That's a strange mod to an old Imp Star Deuce…' thought Jaina noting a single horn-like appendage which seemed to have been grafted into the bow of the flagship. It appeared as if a giant curved spike had been pushed through the top of the star destroyer poking through the bottom. Through the transparisteel of her canopy she saw the familiar dagger-wedge of the destroyer along with its three unfamiliar escorts. The smaller escort ships, each with the same curved spike protrusion pointing upward relative to the old Imperial capital ship.

'Too far out of range to hit the Roost directly. Only fighters engaging?" thought Jaina. Twenty-four sensor blips provide the answer to her observation. The TIE squadrons were inbound, like an organized swarm of angry Tatooine dust hornets. No bigger than specks of dust themselves at the moment, they would soon be a deadly pack of full-fledged fighter craft looking to inflict their own special brand of destruction in their wake.

The TIE Bomber class of the older TIE series, or "dupes" in old Rebellion era slang for their double hull configuration, were slow and lumbering. However, each carried enough explosive ordnance to reduce the Ralroost to flaming slag. The TIE Interceptors, or the "squints", had been paired off with a bomber and were built specifically for ship-to-ship engagements. As fastest of the older TIE series, not including the rarer advanced models, they were highly maneuverable and deadly with a seasoned pilot at the yolk. The TIE interceptors began to pull away from their bomber escorts toward the Rogues apparently eager to engage.

"They're throwing antiques at us…" said a voice over the comm.

"Trim the chatter Eleven, they can still do damage. Defensive screen Beta-3" said Jaina, her pilots following suit with precision to her command. From her vantage point she could now see the occasional glint of light reflecting off the metallic black quadinium solar panels of the incoming TIEs. "It's still 2 on 1 and about to get hot."

"Rogue Leader, this is control." crackled the Mon Calimari from before on Jaina's private channel, "Admiral Darklighter has authorized Rogue Squadron with the ball. Weapons free. Engage hostiles as you see fit. Our mission has been compromised, give us enough time to jump out of the system to secondary coordinates. Rendezvous at code Mark 113-8."

"Copy control" said Jaina assessing the tactical situation, switching back to the squadron channel. "Rogues, let's spread the pain, switch to torps, single fire, choose your squint and go. Ignore dupes, sett'em for secondary targets."

'Squints are closing faster,' thought Jaina 'we can take care of them first before the bombers get in range.'

Jaina thumbed a knob on her flight stick, cycling through the weapon selection to her payload of 9 proton torpedoes. Typically, even a single torpedo was over kill for an individual unshielded craft like the typical TIE Interceptor. However, in a 2 on 1 furball, immediately reduction of hostile craft was paramount in greatly increasing the likelihood of overall survival. Cappie whistled in warning.

"5 klicks" she muttered, 'we're in torp range'.

Jaina eyed the lead interceptor, her targeting computer resolving the issue of acquiring a targeting solution at maximum range but closing quick. A warning indicator light flashed indicating another craft attempting a missile lock on her own starfighter came into play. 'The dupes seem to have the same idea.'

"Five to Lead." Inryi's voice came through the squadron channel. "Bombers are not locking on to the Ralroost. They're locking on us."

The XJ7s audio feed beeped in a quickening rhythm taking a few seconds to resolve into the steady single acoustic tone of a full target lock. Jaina took a couple of those seconds to focus within the Force toward the lead TIE bomber while remaining locked on her targeted interceptor. Using her Jedi senses she quickly sifted through the surface thoughts of the bomber squadron's leader, his basic intent.

"Negative Five, they're painting us hoping we break, they're going after the Roost." announced Jaina confidently. Cappie hummed worriedly, 'Dupes are going after the Roost but it'll take them longer to get in range. We can use that time to take care of the interceptor screen so we don't get picked apart going after those slow pieces of slag…'.

"Keep lock on the squints Rogues."

The distance between the XJ7s and interceptors shrank quickly as the targeting computers had locked on. The steady tone rang clear like a Bith high note on a jizz wailing kloo horn.

"Fire." ordered Jaina coolly. Twelve individual bright blue orbs streaked violently from the XJ7s underbelly torpedo launchers of each starfighter toward their designated targets.

A series of explosions lit up space like miniature stars going nova as torpedoes shredded through interceptor after interceptor. Gray durasteel armor alloy melted like bantha butter cut with a lightsaber. A pair of squints managed to evade the warheads, breaking hard in last second maneuvers. Homing tracking within each torpedo took half a second to reacquire the lock catching up to reduce their designated targets to their metallic base elements. With the interceptor screen neutralized the focus shifted to the bomber threat on the Ralroost, growing dangerously imminent.

"Rogues, secondary targets." ordered Jaina 'this is gonna be close.'

XJ7 systems struggled to track their targets, targeting computers beeped with each fixed tone taking an eternity to echo.

'Come on... Come on…'

The bombers began to fire.

'Stang!' Jaina felt her stomach clench as pair after pair of torpedoes launched from each TIE Bomber. An explosion caught the corner of Jaina's eye and she sensed that they had just lost someone.

"Eleven's hit!" cried out Inyri confirming her fear.

'Blake…' thought Jaina, clenching her jaw tight. The Ralroost took the initial wave of warheads absorbing and deflecting the initial explosive kinetic energy. The immediate second wave of torpedoes however had overwhelmed the shields eating away at armored hull plates. Fires had started to spread on the lower decks as several sections of the Ralroost vented atmosphere. As the third wave of torpedoes approached, the assault cruiser accelerated beyond their reach, jumping to the safety of hyperspace.

The moment the Bothan cruiser was in the clear, Jaina and the Rogues had acquired tone on the bombers.

"Fire!" she ordered, heated at the mess this had become.

The TIEs began evasive maneuvers as torpedoes lanced toward them. Enemy bombers broke apart as Rogue Squadron torpedoes vaporized their second set of threats shattering their flight formation with explosive fire. A third of the bombers had broken off their attack runs prematurely and in turn broke the targeting lock of Rogue Squadron torpedoes. The bomber Jaina targeted and its pilot was skilled to enough to evade in this manner, for now.

She pushed her stick forward dropping her nose down in an accelerating dive relative to her orientation trailing the TIE bomber. Thumbing her weapon selection stud, she returned the setting to her four laser canons. Linking her guns, lowered her overall rate of fire, but increased the potential damage of each discharge with all four cannons firing simultaneously. Tracking the bomber she box in the lumbering craft into her targeting cross hairs. The TIE attempted a hard starboard break into a slow roll but it was a futile maneuver against her faster and more maneuverable XJ7. Two quad bursts from her laser canons shredded through the bomber's port solar panels and missile storage pod detonating unspent torpedoes in a tight series of explosions. 'That one's for you Eleven...'

"Hostiles clear Lead," said Inyri "ISD and escorts jumped a second after the Roost did."

Jaina sensors confirmed her XOs assessment.  

"Copy that," said Jaina "Form up Rogues. Unlock s-foils from attack position and set 113-8 for the rendezvous."

"They got Blake with torps at range." said Inyri over a private channel. "He never had a chance."

"Yeah…" replied Jaina feeling more tired than before. Eleven X-wings jumped to hyperspace. "I know."



Standard military protocol dictates that when secondary coordinates are issued a list of 10 possible destinations are given, each with an associated code that only squadron leaders, associated squadron astromechs, capital ship commanders and their navigators would know. This insured that a short hyperspace jump to escape a battle resulted in all craft arriving at the same destination without openly transmitting flight telemetry across an unsecure comm channel. In this case, coded coordinates Mark 113-8, where Rogue Squadron had arrived to regroup with the Ralroost.

Jaina felt heavy, the artificial gravity of the Ralroost was the same as before she had left it but it felt heavier setting foot on the ship again. Something gnawed away in the back of her mind, something about the recent events seem to be wrong in general. Losing Blake this soon piled on what was wrong and her mind struggled to make sense of it all. It failed to do so.

She waited in a small conference room with Inryi. Dim emergency lights provided illumination as main power was disrupted throughout the Ralroost. She had ordered the rest of the Rogues to assist with the damage isolation teams and rescue units in other sections which had taken damage. Officers filtered in, some with minor scrapes and bruising, others with ash stained uniforms with an air of smoke. The general sound of chatter slowly filtered through the area. Jaina however, was too deep in thought to fake the pleasantries of general chit chat. Others seem to have noticed enough to just leave her to her thoughts. All except one.

A light nudge to her arm drew Jaina's focus from her thoughts to her Executive Officer.

"You alright Sticks?" asked Inyri with a slight look of concern. "You look like you've got a glit-bitter high going. What's eating you?"

"Oh," replied Jaina turning to her XO, "nothing."

She lied of course. Explaining her current state of mind her XO was not what she wanted to do in the present.

"Guess this will be one of those barebones debriefings then." said Jaina attempting to change the subject. Normally this was done in the ships main briefing room. This was currently not possible as that section of the Ralroost was currently exposed to vacuum on the lower decks.

"Alright everyone..." said a tall dark haired man with neatly trimmed facial hair entering the room. He wore a cream colored uniform with a rank badge of Admiral. A small syn-flesh bacta bandage on the temple of his head concealed a fresh wound.

"…let's get started" said Gavin Darklighter.

An older model flat topped orange and white R5 astromech unit rolled in projecting a holo record of the ambush. Jaina and the rest of the members of the briefing watched till holo footage ended. A rotating image of the oddly modified Star Destroyer took its place becoming the main focus. Still holos of the three smaller dark gray hulled support ships shrank for the time being.

Jaina took the time to study the hull modification to the Star Destroyer in detail. A thick curved horn-like appendage was attached to the bottom nose of the capitol ship. She had never seen such an odd, out of place modification to a Star Destroyer but assumed it was either a special sensor or weapon. The smaller escort ships had the same appendage but appeared to have had the attachment engineered into the design from the start.

The escorts had a forward configuration reminiscent of a double headed vibro-axe turn on its side. A thick curved horn pointed straight up, opposite from that of the Star Destroyer modification. There was a thin midsection of hull which was analogous to the vibro-axe shaft handle. The shaft lead to the rear of the ship which flared out into one wide engine drive similar to the Corellian YT-1300 series like her father's famous Millennium Falcon. In this case however, as the YT-1300 was mass produced and thus ideal for blending in at spaceports, starports, or Galactic Alliance check points, these ships stood out with the intent of intimidation.

"Intel has identified the Star Destroyer as the "Razor" started Gavin as the holo display gave a bluish hue to his strong profile, "this is unusual as intel also reports the Razor was destroyed in the Ketris System during the First Galactic Civil War."

The holo enhanced the view onto the horn attachment itself as the Admiral continued.

"This modification here was never originally placed on to this ISD Mark Two so we can assume that this group is responsible for adding it."

The R5's holo resolved itself to enhance and magnify one of the three smaller support ships as it slowly rotated, swapping positions with the now still, shrunken holo of the Razor. Jaina noticed a common symbol grafted on to the horn portions of all the ships which consisted of a horn shape followed by three smaller horns in a row.

"Their support ships are of unknown configuration and the reason for this attack is also unknown." said Gavin as Jaina studied the symbol further and realized that they were not horns, they were teeth. The teeth of a carnivore. 'No, not teeth… Fangs.'

"Here's what we do know." Gavin continued, "This symbol on the hull of their support ships is representative of a faction of privateers that operate near the Cron Drift to the borders of the Unknown Territories." The fang ship holographic faded into a holo map of the galaxy with the Cron Drift and large stretch of space highlighted along the Unknown Territories.  

"That's a lot of vacuum" muttered Inyri, studying the map intently.

"They have also been known to prey on cargo transports along the Perlemian Trade Route into the Tingle Arm." continued Gavin, as those sections of space highlighted accordingly.

"Big galaxy…" Jaina replied quietly to her XO.

"These pirates are known as the Grey Fangs." said Gavin. "They were considered "too small" to pursue as a threat by the GA top brass but with this latest action they've become our #1 priority. Unfortunately, their bases of operation are a well-kept secret with in their organization leaving us little to go on at the moment."

"This brings to question," interjected a pilot in a dressed down blue flight suit "why would pirates even want to attack a military cruiser?"

"If I had a credit for every questionable tactic I've ever seen Commander Zel," said Gavin shrugging slightly "I think I could retire on a small moon I'd buy outright."

"Admiral" said a women standing in the corner of the room closest to the entrance. She wore a Corellian style uniform bearing the mark of Galactic Alliance Intelligence on a fitted brown and lightly tanned jacket. Scorch marks had burnt through the jacket material on her right shoulder as black stains from smoke and ash covered her at various points. The matching colored pants that hugged her shapely legs were in the same overall condition of black staining. A gun belt was wrapped around her waist with a blaster holstered, slung low to her left hip in a fast draw position. "If I may..."

Gavin gestured with a nod and stepped aside as the woman walked forward. She took up the Admiral's previous position next to the R5 droid projecting the holo graphics for the briefing. The intelligence officer brushed some sooty dust from the breast of her jacket before she began.

"I am Laina Kael," said the woman "Corellian Galactic Alliance Intelligence, and diplomatic attaché for this current operation to the Bothan Government. As you are aware the Ralroost was put back into service after extensive retrofitting and upgrades so that it can be presented back to the Bothan government as a show of good relations."

Laina walked around the R5 unit for a better view of the occupants in the room. She paused momentarily on Jaina who returned Kael's look with a slight cocking of her head. Jaina wondered what kind of intelligence this woman had to offer in the course of this latest event, if any.

"Rogue Squadron" she continued looking away from Jaina "had also been assigned to the Ralroost to promote good will as its honorary fighter escort."  

"It's like we're just the galactic magnet for trouble." quietly muttered Inyri folding her arms.

"Pretty much, yeah." conceded Jaina.

Laina continued, "the current objective for us as I said was one of good will to the Bothan government and strengthen ties within the Galactic Alliance in the wake of certain recent events. Today it seems we have been met with opposition who do not want this to happen."

"Considering the climate of relations between various governments at the moment" said Gavin "this is a rather large setback."

"Unfortunately so Admiral." confirmed Laina with a nod.

"It seems then," said Commander Zel "that these Grey Fangs are no longer content with mere piracy as they now appear to be able to manufacture their own support ships. Not to mention they possess a Star Destroyer that's been missing for over 3 decades."

"The running theory at the moment is that they've become a mercenary group to promote descent with in the Galactic Alliance." said Laina.

"That would then make them a priority threat since they've become embolden enough to hit military targets." offeredd Gavin

"Very much so." acknowledged Laina, "had the Ralroost not made an emergency jump, this current operation would have ended as we would of all been killed. As is, this good will mission is now delayed a couple of months. I imagine the Bothan Government will not be pleased, however we were lucky overall."

'"Lucky?"' thought Jaina as a flash of irritation sparked. "Begging your pardon ma'am, but as this was a "mission of good will" as you put it, we didn't expect any opposition. Nothing like this anyway, we lost a lot of good people today."

"I meant no offense Colonel," offered Laina eyeing Jaina with a sight look of remorse "to the people of this ship or the valor of our fallen comrades. I only meant to keep perspective that a lot of us still have our lives in the face of an enemy who meant to do us grievous bodily harm today."

Jaina took a moment closing her eyes to clear the fatigue and reorient her train of thought.

"Forget about it…" she said placing a couple fingers to the temple of her head "…it's been a long day."

Gavin stepped in again, giving Jaina a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"For us all Colonel." he said "Back on point. There seems to be a lot of missing information preventing us to apply an effective strategy for a counter strike. Mainly, where the Grey Fangs are based. If we can discover this then we can neutralize this growing threat."

"I do have a question." said Laina turning to Gavin gesturing toward the R5 unit. "if I may, Admiral?"

"Please." said Gavin offering her the floor once more.

"R5," said Laina to the astromech doing the holoprojector duty. "Replay time index 0311.23 till 0311.30. Reference angle, 12.2.3.11"

The droid whistled in compliance playing the holo footage showing the initial impacts of
torpedoes or the Ralroost with the Star Destroyer far out of range. Before the second
wave hit the Razor had gone to hyperspace. 'The hell?' thought Jaina

"After reviewing the holo," said Laina "the enemy's movements do not make any sense strategically. As you have just seen, the Ralroost is still under bombardment as the Razor makes the jump to lightspeed. Why?" Kael paused, her gaze fell on Jaina again.

"If you were intent on destroying an enemy ship" continued Laina "would you not want to wait and see for the job to be done first before leaving?"

"The bombers were also left behind." observed Gavin. "That makes no sense as these older model had no hyperdrive. They would have been stranded."

'Had they survived' thought Jaina with a slight bit of smug of satisfaction.

"Another anomaly to take into consideration" said Kael "R5, replay same time frame reference angle, 12.5.3.9"

The droid beeped in compliance resetting the holo field. The time index was the same as before but the new vantage point showed that as the Ralroost was hit with the first wave of torpedoes, Blake's XJ7 was destroyed just prior to the Star Destroyer jumping.

"Why was only Rogue Eleven targeted with torpedoes?" ask Kael to the room which sounded almost rhetorical in nature but in truth she was indeed asking everyone present. Jaina realized the truth of it however.

"The attack on the Ralroost was a decoy." said Jaina standing abruptly enough to knock back her chair to the deck floor, her eyes wide with realization "They were after me…"



Admiral Darklighter's office on the Ralroost was sparse but sizable. Other than a miniature holo-viewer which was brighter than usual in the dim emergency lighting, Gavin had only a few personal items. The holo-viewer which ran on its own power shifted images of friends, family, and fellow pilots every minute or so. Currently it showed an older holo of Gavin's Uncle Huff and cousin Biggs standing next to a new assembled moisture vaporator on their homestead of the desert planet Tatooine. Huff wore a beaming smile under his prominent, dark moustache, his pride at his new vaporator unmistakable. The teen Biggs who'd yet to grow facial hair looked far less enthusiastic. The image shifted to Gavin and his adopted children playing with remotely operated repulsor controlled miniature X-wings models. The youngest wore one of Gavin's old flight helmets looking quite comical with his small frame under the oversized flight gear. Jaina and Laina stood across the Admiral's desk as Gavin took his seat.

"I wanted to haul this in before rumors start to spread." said Gavin "Even though briefings are under the guise of operational security we all know how information and rumors can leak."

The two women nodded in agreement. "I also apologize for the lack of chairs," he said "it seems that Bothans prefer their subordinates to stand rather than be comfortable."

Jaina rolled her eyes slightly but did not comment.

"There culture is rather rigidly hierarchal." agreed Kael.

"Now," said Gavin looking to Jaina, "why do you believe they were after you Colonel?"

Jaina took a moment as to settle her thoughts before speaking, "My previous designation was Rogue Eleven, they must of used old data to target solely me. They targeted Blake's fighter instead, not knowing I was reinstated to squadron leader when I reaccepted my commission. Blake just joined Rogue Squadron and took over my previous designation, there is no reason he'd be a target right from the start." Jaina paused to consider and looked down slightly in remorse, "Me on the other hand…"

"I think you've just hyped to a conclusion without preset nav-coordinates Sticks." said Gavin in a less formal tone. "There is no direct evidence of what you're saying."

"Then how would you explain this attack?" questioned Jaina. "The hasty withdrawal after only Blake's X-wing took two torpedoes at range and before the Ralroost was confirmed destroyed? One torp is overkill against an XJ7… but two? They were making sure."

"I know I was the one who pointed out this oddity in the first place," piped in Kael "but there are other possible explanations. Perhaps the pilot didn't break his lock off of Lieutenant Vashanel's ship to retarget the Ralroost."

"That does sound reasonable Jaina," confirmed Gavin "Did you happen to… "use The Force" on the pilots out there?"

"Begging your pardon Admiral?" questioned Kael furrowing her brow in a tone that asked why he asked what he just asked. Jaina glanced to the other woman and considered raising a comment but reframed, thinking better of it.

The holo-viewer caught Gavin's eye as the image was of himself, far younger in years, along with fellow Rogue Squadron piloting legends Wedge Antilles and Corran Horn. The three were leaning against an older model Incom T-65B X-wing in nearly matching flight gear with Corran deviating by wearing a green flight suit rather than the standard orange usually designated to X-wing pilots. All were life veteran members of the prestigious list of Rogue Squadron alumni and all by some miracle, still alive. Gavin turned to Laina as the holo-viewer paused on the trio of pilots for the moment gesturing to the image.

"My first CO was Wedge Antilles when I first joined Rogue Squadron. He use to mention that Jaina's Uncle, the Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker, was able to get a sense of enemies by 'using The Force' during ship-to-ship engagements when they flew together. Even though General Skywalker was before my time I remembered the stories."

"Ah yes," said Laina with a tone of skepticism "well, I believe there are several holomentaries about the farm boy from Tatooine who 'used The Force' to destroy the first Death Star."

"Well then," said Gavin with a smirk of an opportunity found, "I'll be looking forward to holomentary about the farmboy from Tatooine who became an Admiral in the Galactic Alliance." The women smiled, stifling a chuckle at Gavin's comment and the rare break from his usual humility. He was glad his attempt at levity was able to lighten the overall darker tone of the day.

"Regardless," continued Gavin gesturing once again to the image of the pilots before it shifted once again to a new image of Gavin and his wife on their wedding day. "Corran Horn was apparently quite adept this ability as well. Overall, I am no expert concerning Jedi and their seemingly rather super-natural abilities. However, having flown with these men and Jaina herself, I do believe that this is an ability they can use to great effect. Isn't Jaina?"

Jaina took another moment before she answered, as usual explanations to a non-Jedi about an ability they could not see or discern in any tangle way was like telling someone they had to go on faith that what they were saying was true and accurate. Sense abilities through the Force were usually the most difficult to explain.

"I did sense the lead bomber," started Jaina "and his intent was to break the lock on me and switch to the Ralroost." Jaina paused again, "However, I didn't sense the rest of them. My guess would be that they weren't fired from the lead fighter because they anticipated I use the Force to sense him, not the rest…"

"I think you're reaching Colonel." said Laina cutting short the speculation, "You're implying pirates thought that you'd 'use The Force' to sense their lead ship and not the others in some sort of elaborate assassination attempt on you? That's rather far-fetched."

"Pirates who have a Star Destroyer." countered Jaina off-handedly, "That's also rather far-fetched."

"Granted it's all suspicious…" said Gavin. "Even a green pilot knows how to retarget at an instant keeping a primary and secondary target in their sensor recital."

"It still doesn't change that fact that Blake and many people were killed today." said Jaina, remorse showing to a degree. "They paid the price for something that was meant for me."

"We're all soldiers Jaina. We all know the price of what we may have to pay to do what we do. No one can blame you for what happened, and no one will."

"Yes sir, I understand that." said Jaina "but if I'm endangering the entire squadron along with everyone aboard the Ralroost then..."

Jaina paused for this was a moment she had to steady herself mentally for.  

"…effective immediately, I resign my commission as Colonel and as CO of Rogue Squadron."

The room went silent. Gavin studied Jaina, his expression neutral but considerate, as if digesting what she had just said and was considering how palatable it was going down.

'I guess that was rather a shadow bomb…' thought Jaina holding her gaze at Gavin.

"That is rather rash Colonel Solo." said Laina breaking the silence. "You're making parsecs out of microns on sheer speculation. Your re-admittance to Rogue Squadron along with reinstatement as full Colonel was another example that we were bringing together the ties that have most recently separated us."

Jaina's expression didn't change turning to face Laina.

"Forgive me ma'am," she said genuinely apologetic, "but I am beginning to think that I was not ready to be reinstated as Rogue Leader, especially after this latest incident. If it means preserving the lives of our people then this is the right thing to do."

"If you choose to resign now," said Laina "then the Grey Fangs have succeeded in their goal. They have succeeded in dividing us when we should be a united front."

"Only if what you said before is true" replied Jaina stoically "that they have been hired to promote descent with in the Galactic Alliance and this was not a round-about shot at me. Call it a feeling that this was the later."

"Admiral, we can not-"

Gavin held up a hand softly as Laina fell silent.

"Hold on..." he said, eyeing Jaina, "First of all, Rogue Squadron and every ship in the Galactic Alliance will be in endangered regardless of where you go. If they are willing to attack a fully armed assault cruiser to possibly get at just one person then I don't think any of us are safe. If that is the case Jaina, you are more needed to us in the cockpit of an X-wing."

"Good point Admiral." said Laina with a supportive nod of confirmation.

"However," continued Gavin breaking his gaze at Jaina considering retrospectively, "I don't know about the Force, but I've witness things from the Jedi that I can't explain and probably will never understand."

The Admiral paused, looking to Jaina again. It was a look that denoted trust in a fellow pilot who had see the same battles and a look of trust in a friend.

"Therefore, I want to allow myself to trust your intuition concerning this latest event as well. If you wish to resign, I can't stop you, but may I offer an alternative to this?"

"…and that is sir?" asked Jaina.

"Leave of absence." offered Gavin.

"Then who will be in command of Rogue Squadron?" asked Laina

"Major Forge can keep the Rogues under her watch," said Gavin giving Jaina a small knowing smirk, "while Colonel Solo is away doing whatever is it she will be doing. Which, I'll assume, will be tracking down the people who are targeting her and in turn, the Alliance fleet."

"You're no Jedi sir," said Jaina with a small smirk of her own, "but your insight serves you well."

"Maybe being around all you Jedi over the years has lead to insight from the Force by osmosis."  

"I still disagree to this action over circumstantial evidence." said Laina "Colonel Solo's re-admittance was also symbolic to show the Bothans we are putting things behind us. With her absence the symbolism is not as powerful."

"Objection sliced and filed Captain Kael." said Gavin with authoritative calm. "However, if this group is targeting us to promote dissent or targeting Colonel Solo directly, then it may be better to have Jaina acting independently of Alliance Starfighter Command for the time being. More over considering how much damage there is to the Ralroost I doubt the Bothans will be very concerned about Jaina's temporary MIA status. That is if I can go ahead and approve a leave of absence rather than a resignation here? The choice is yours Colonel."

'Choose and act…' thought Jaina. Her brother's voice echoed in her mind again. 'it's all you ever have to do in life.'

"I won't risk the fleet but leave of absence sounds better than a forced retirement." said Jaina still uncertain, yet relieved to have made the choice. "When I get to the bottom of this I will let the fleet know."

Gavin stood without a word and nodded curtly. "We'll be waiting for news then. May the Force be with you Jaina."

"Sir. Thank you sir." said Jaina with a proper salute, leaving.



Yellow emergency panels lite the darkened hanger bay of the Ralroost as Jaina walked to her XJ7. She looked up at the length of fighter brushing her hands along the lightly scorched under panel of the nose cap. Blackish particulate had rubbed off on her gloved hand wiped the grime against her flight suit adding a new black smudge to the orange. In the dimmed lighting, rounding the forward landing strut of her starfighter, she could see someone next to her ladder.

"Did Gavin send you to change my mind afterall?" asked Jaina rather surly pausing for a confrontation at the base of her ladder.

"Admiral Darklighter did no such thing." said Kael, "I was hoping you'd share where you intend to start your investigation."

"You're Corellian GAI, Intel is your game" replied Jaina starting her climb up to XJ7 cockpit "I would think you would have your own leads."

"Perhaps I do," replied the other woman observing Jaina settle into her cockpit. The canopy began to lower on the XJ7, "but perhaps your Jedi insights may have something we don't."

"Perhaps I do…" said Jaina, her canopy sealed the cockpit completely and silently.

"Not much for conversation is she?" asked Kael to Cappie. The droid warbled in reply and shook its dome in a simulated "no". Laina winked at the droid, "Good luck to you both."

Repulsors kicked up dust with a swift displacement of air as Laina cleared out the way. She watched the XJ7 leave as the fighter roll to the right and out of view.

Jaina turned to look back in her rear view of the cockpit, her mind fresh with suspicion but dismissed it as a fresh wave of fatigued paranoia. As the Ralroost shrank behind her she set her hyperdrive to stand by.

"Cappie, give me the shortest set of numbers for Ossus," she asked. The R2 hooted in compliance as nav calculations were feed from the astrogation droid. A question appeared on Jaina's tactical display.

"Yeah, the Academy." replied Jaina to the droid. "We have to warn everyone just in case I'm not the only one being targeted and right now these grey guys probably think I'm dead. I like to keep it that way for now."

"All set?" she asked. Cappie whistled a confirmation as Jaina pulled back a lever setting her hyperdrive motivator to cycle. "Here we go…"

Stars elongated into bright white bluish lines as the X-wing jumped to hyperspace.