Echoes of the Past (NJO, Jaina/Jag, post DW) - Love Letter Challenge Entry 02/24/04

I love the way Jaina took immediate control when they reverted to real space. She's so in control, and it really proves than although she's only half-Solo p) that half is enough to give her the great instincts and leadership she needs to survive (I don't buy into Skywalker being as good as Solo, but hey, I guess I'm just prejudiced )

Well done!

 

good post! Nice start to the battle scene.

 

bump

 

I just found this and it's great. Can't wait for more!

 

GOOD MORNING!

JainaJag00: Thanks for your input.

jags_gurl & rogue11lovesjag: I think the letter captures Jag?s true nature. More to come.

Zena_Antilles: I am glad you liked the battle sequence. It was really tough to write. I think you are right about things to come.

SoraJade: Glad you liked.

Trickster_Jaina_Fel: Can?t fault the guy for asking

LadyMairead: Thank you. I am trying to stay true to the character of Jag Fel. This story will allow him to grow in different ways though. Life will throw Jag more than one curve before the end.

Master_Jaina1011: Thanks for the compliment.

TheBiggerFish: I love the Solo side too. It always keeps you on your toes. Han is actually my favorite character to write, but you will see a lot of Han in his daughter. Jaina is definitely her father?s daughter.

Jedi_Liz: Thanks for the kudos on the battle scene. Hold on though; it is going to be a bumpy ride.

jainasolo2001: Welcome and thanks!

Stay tuned, there will be a post shortly. Just fixing it up right now.

 

Here goes a new post. Enjoy!


Syal Fel noticed the dark cloud looming over her husband since he had returned from meeting with the Chiss Council earlier that day. He had hardly said a word during dinner. It seemed to her that he had hugged Briaun a little harder than usual before sending their youngest daughter off to bed. As she sat across from him, Syal puzzled over how to get her reserved husband to open up to her. She knew he would do everything in his power to protect her from all the worries of the universe. And for that, she loved this man with all her heart.

??Tir, you said you had a report from Jagged today?? she questioned him, using their son as a springboard for the conversation.

Soontir Fel nodded a reply, his one good eye not lifting from the datapad he was reviewing from his usual chair in the sitting room.

?How does he sound??

Soontir looked up at his wife, for a moment the harsh gaze of the General softened as he forced a small smile to his mouth. ?He seems well. Your brother finally came to his senses and pulled Jagged out of that ridiculous Twin Suns Squadron and put him in charge of two squadrons. They are using the Chiss pilots sent to the Galactic Alliance in one of his squadrons. The other squadron is a group of E-wing pilots Jagged recruited specifically for this assignment. They have been clearing the Hydian Way of Vong mines, and doing quite an admirable job of it, too. They seem to have been so successful that the Vong apparently have given up on mining that sector. According to Jagged, more squadrons are being recalled to Mon Calamari, to protect the newly formed government during their critical early months.?

Syal noticed the pride in Soontir?s voice as he spoke of his son?s accomplishments. She knew that Jag?s brief time as Twin Suns Three at Borleias had been a sore spot for her husband. He was sure that it had been a result of the ongoing feud between himself and Wedge Antilles, that Wedge was punishing Soontir through his son. Syal knew better than that though; she was sure there was another reason.

?Was his report the reason you had to speak to the Council?? Syal said, gingerly pressing towards her true goal.

?Yes,? Soontir replied curtly, his good eye returning to the datapad as if to dismiss her line of questioning.

Syal stood up from her seat and walked across the room, kneeling at her husband?s feet. She took the datapad away from him, setting it on the table beside his chair, and took his hands in hers. Looking up at him she spoke softly, ?Soontir, what is it that troubles you so??

Soontir sighed, like the weight of the galaxy was pushing down on his soul. He would do anything to keep his family safe, and he dreaded having to say what he would inevitably have to tell his wife. He shifted his hands over the top of hers, rubbing his thumbs on her palms and looked into Syal?s loving eyes.

?The Chiss Council is concerned with the current status of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. Although there have been significant advances, the state of the new government is a concern. If the government is sound, the current state of the Yuuzhan Vong would suggest it is time to deliver a fatal blow. Jagged has become quite the spokesman for the new Galactic Alliance. His last report seems to have persuaded the Chiss Council to seriously consider lending their assistance to this end. They are planning to send an ambassador to Mon Calamari to offer any aid we can?? Soontir paused and looked down at their hands clasped together, and in that moment Syal knew.

?And they think you should be the one to go.? It was not a question, just an uncomfortable fact formed into words.

Soontir Fel looked into his wife?s green eyes and nodded.

Syal took her right hand and lifted it to cup his cheek. ?I know that you have done everything in your power to protect your family, living here among the Chiss away from your own kind. And I know that you feel that you owe the Chiss a great debt. Indeed, we all do. So, then if this is what they ask of you, it m

 

ur welcome! nice post. love how sweet they are!

 

come on guys! respond. they're a new post up. its kinda sad that the only person whos responded is the beta.

 

geez, cut a girl some slack! I was sleeping!

hmmm.... 'Tir............

I'm not sure if I love him or hate him. Very sweet post though.

and YAY!! Jaina isn't going to be some sappy diplomat or psycotic, uber-spiritual jedi (i hate her being written like that)

 

bump

 

JainaJag00 & TheBiggerFish: Thanks for the bumps and the support. This ones for you two. I hope this means people are just busy with the holidays. Well let's hope for more reviews, so I can get on to posting Chapter 2.


Jaina cursed to herself as she pulled the X-wing in a tight loop following the skip in front of her, all the while evading the chase of her two pursuers, the constant demands on her body and mind wearing on her. She had started sweating; her breath had become quicker and labored despite her Jedi abilities. Her arms, legs and head all ached with the demand placed on them. According to her chrono, Twin Suns Two should have had plenty of time to reboot his systems.

The skip in front of her finally came into the laser sights. Jaina laid down round after round of fire, activating its voids. The skip pilot panicked from the laser fire and accelerated, weakening the voids by using them for impulsion. Several shots of laser fire made it through, slicing the skip in half.

Jaina shot past the debris, aiming her X-wing toward the planet, and jumped into hyperspace. It was only two seconds later that she reverted to realspace.

?Status, Two,? she queried into the comm.

?Computer is back online. Plotting jump course now sir,? Brance replied, a hint of agitation and fear tainting his voice.

?Make it quick. We are going to have company momentarily.? The hyperspace jump was short; it would not take the skips long to reach their location despite a lack of hyperdrive engines.

No sooner had she said that, the two remaining skips appeared in the distance heading for her wingmate.

?Two, get going. You have incoming.?

Brance broke to starboard, but had been too slow to react. Jaina knew the skips would have him in their sights in seconds. She pushed forward on her yoke, plotting an intercept course between her wingmate and his imminent doom.

Just as the skips caught the imperiled X-wing, Jaina?s ship flashed between the skips and Twin Suns Two, taking the plasma fire on her dorsal engine sections.

The shot blacked out her fighter and jolted Jaina hard against the crash webbing. Power returned just as suddenly; warnings blared throughout the cockpit.

?Thanks for the save, Lead. What?s your status??

?Not good. I have multiple system failures. I lost Cappie.?

?I?m coming back around. You?ve got those skips heading your way.?

?Negative Two. I want you to jump out of here. I am going to have to put this flying wreck down on the planet.? Jaina was already flipping switches, shutting down unnecessary systems and rerouting power where it was needed, as she turned her ship into the planet?s atmosphere. Fortunately that was not where the skips had expected her to go, opening a gap between her and the skips.

?I?ll go down with you, Lead. There are still two Vong skips out there.?

Jaina could see Brance was still heading in her direction.

?Negative Two, I can handle the two Vong pilots on the ground. You will only get in the way. I need you to get back to base and get help out here as soon as possible.?

Jaina?s scan of the atmosphere revealed that it was breathable. She noted there was significant cloud cover in the northern hemisphere. Jaina pulled on the yoke to head in that direction, knowing it would better hide her descent. The skips were closing on her position, trying to get to her before she disappeared into the clouds. Jaina also noticed that Twin Suns Two was still on her display.

?Two, get out of here. I have enough to worry about without planning your court martial.?

?Acknowledged Lead. I just have one last thing to take care of.?

Just as the words came from his mouth, Twin Suns Two shot past Jaina?s X-wing, firing shots across the pursuing skips, forcing them to break away. The added demands of flying in the atmosphere prohibited the dovin basals from projecting significant voids and several of his shots glanced across the skips. Neither skip succumbed to the damage, but both had been wounded.

?May the

 

That's great!

SIR, So very Trek like.

 

Wow, great start, TKeira_Lea! You've captured the essence of each of the characters, and I'm really enjoying reading so far. I hope Jaina's okay, but I'm sure she can take care of herself. It's really more Jag I'm worried about...

Can't wait to read more--keep up the good work!

 

*cheers for TKeira*

Great posts. You're really capturing the characters well, I think. Can't wait for more!

~Rogue

 

great! that last line was very powerful 2!

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jag's goanna go after her right? I mean, you won't make someone else go and have him torture himself over it?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

good post!


what is with all the stories and how they send Jaina to her "Death". I put "Death" in quotation marks because I don't think anyone will actually kill Jaina.

 

Just catching up because I couldn't log in yesterday to reply.

I really like how you're writing Soontir and Syal! Speaking as someone who is a great admirer of theirs, you're writing them very well, Tkeira_Lea! Don't change that!!

Interesting developments in the last post and the battle scenes are nicely done.

Keep up the great work!

 

this is a very well written story. I love it!!! keep it coming TL!

 

GOOD MORNING!

ONLY 7 SHOPPING DAYS LEFT FOR YOU CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS ? TIME TO GET HOPPING!

jainasolo2001: Thanks!

Xaara: Don?t worry. Jaina?s a big girl. Besides, she?s got the Force and a whole lot of love waiting back on Mon Cal.

rogue11lovesjag: Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! More coming soon.

JainaJag00: Just call me the drama queen. My husband surely does.

TheBiggerFish: Tune in and see.

Jedi_Liz: No ?death? just bumps in the road called life. There wouldn?t be much of a story without them.

Mira_Terrik: Thanks. I was inspired by how well you write Soontir & Syal. I really like both characters. Syal is the heart of the family and I think Soontir is the glue and strength that holds it all together.

Master_Jaina1011: Thanks, it?s coming soon.

Stay tuned, there will be a post shortly. Just fixing it up right now.

 

Okay. I am giving you two sections today so there can be a special holiday post on Christmas Day. Here is the first. Looking for some comments before I put up the second part. ?


CHAPTER 2

Jaina brought the craft down through thick cloud cover, which made visibility poor. This was to her advantage to some degree, since it hid her from the pursuing skips. Unfortunately, the visibility was poor all the way to the ground. Jaina never had a chance to scope out her landing site as she forced her sluggish craft through a haphazard series of turns to further throw off the Vong pilots.

The craft jolted suddenly as it hit the tops of trees. The collision slowed the craft abruptly, dropping its altitude quicker with every snap below. Jaina struggled to keep the nose elevated and the ship from flipping over its nose. She was not sure if it was control over the stick or her control in the Force that was doing the job, but she was thankful for the ship?s responsiveness to this point.

Suddenly, the ship lurched to the left as a tree snagged the bottom wing. Already weakened from plasma damage, it sheared off. The sound of ripping metal echoed in her ears. Jaina knew there was nothing left but the inevitable crash and sunk herself into the Force, protecting her body as best she could. She found a peace inside herself as chaos consumed the small world around her cockpit.

The silence that stifled the air as the X-wing came to a sudden stop was more unnerving than the deafening roar of the ship plunging through the planet?s dense undergrowth. Jaina started to sigh with relief, knowing that she had made it down in one piece, when her body began wracking in pain as her lungs expanded against her ribs. Using the Force to quell her pain, Jaina reached out to the source and found two cracked ribs and several more beginning to bruise under her crash webbing.

Slowly, she allowed her mind to drift throughout her body searching for further injuries and quieting the pains that began screaming from all over. She pushed back the fog that had started creeping into the back of mind. Cracked collar bone. Bruised knee. Big laceration under the helmet. Not bad considering, she thought to herself.

Jaina knew she needed to get out of the ship and as far away as possible. The skip pilots would put down as near as they could figure to where she crashed and begin looking for her. Jaina closed her eyes and took several cleansing breaths in through her nose, out through her mouth, pushing the pain out of her body. When she felt confident enough to do so, she reached up to remove her helmet.

Blood trickled down her forehead from the hairline, across her right eyebrow and down the side of her face. Paying no mind to it, Jaina reached up to pull herself out of the cockpit. Halfway out of the cockpit, the pain renewed its attack on her senses, her breath gasping in agony. The world was spinning in a wild dance around her.

Jaina, fight, she ordered herself. She knew she needed to move. Every instinct told her so. She grabbed the Force and willed her body to do her bidding. As Jaina pushed her way up again, her body lost it fight against the pain, and the blackness consumed her.

**********

 

ouch. does NOT sound good.

 

oh, this can't be good at all! [face_shocked] great posts- i can't wait to read more!

 

JainaJag00 & jags_gurl: This is for you


Jag sat in one of the conference rooms overlooking the hangar bay. He had a stack of reports in front of him, but he was having trouble focusing on them. Jag kept thinking about the moment he would get to be alone with Jaina. Those thoughts had consumed him for the past several days. He longed to taste her lips, smell her hair, hold her in his arms.

Their separation had been awkward following the fall of Borleias. They had both been sent their separate ways without a chance to say goodbye or state their intentions toward each other. Their time together at Ylesia had not permitted such opportunities either.

Jag had plenty of time to think about his intentions while patrolling the Hydian Way. Despite the prospect of war, maybe because of it, Jag needed to tell Jaina the depth of his feelings for her, to tell her that she brought meaning to his life. It was important to Jag that she knew. Especially since he understood how war could leave you with so much regret. Regret for things he had not said to Davin and Cherith. Things he knew they understood, but still wished he had said to them.

Jag was not sure if Jaina knew the true extent of his feelings. He did not know the extent of hers, but he chose not to regret. He chose to push past his tendencies to hide behind his cocky arrogance. Jag chose to show Jaina who he truly was ? a man totally in love with her.

Jag glanced at his chrono, and then looked back at the hangar. Twin Suns Squadron had been expected back over half an hour ago. Even though there could be a thousand reasons why they were late, he began to panic, drawing on all the negative possibilities. A small pit of dread had seeded in his stomach and grew with every passing moment. Reasons that would cause him to regret.

Just as Jag pushed away at his negative emotions, X-wings began funneling through the bay doors. Jag stood up and walked towards the transparisteel window, watching as they settled in one by one. He knew Jaina would be the last one in, as always, so she could be the first one out. That was just the way Jaina was. That was one of the reasons he had grown to love her.

Jag watched as ten X-wings landed, and pilots began climbing out of their ships. He looked past the hangar doors, willing the last two X-wings to appear before his eyes. All that met his eyes was empty sky. The feeling of dread reignited like a blazing fire within him as Jag watched Colonel Celchu walking hurriedly over to the Wookie, Jaina?s second-in-command.

Although he willed his feet to move, Jag was powerless to do so. For Jag knew the truth without hearing it, Jaina Solo had not made the return trip home.

**********

 

awesome. nice one, and i like the way u had her strength give out.