Maelstrom j/j/k Final Post, 11/12 Sequel link up!

Okay, this is my first story post, so I hope everyone likes it. Please give me feedback!!

Legal junk-SW belongs to George Lucas, story is mine, characters are his. yadayadayada crunchy granola.

Now, onto the story!!

***

Maelstrom


She laid there, drifting in the netherworld between sleep and wakefulness.

Jaina.

Go away. She struggled against the dream of her brother. Jacen was dead. She fought to break out of the dream, the part of her that was awake cursing the part that was still asleep.

Jaina. Jaina.

A harsh alarm intruded into her dream. She jerked out of her bed, only to find she was in her X-wing.

"Commander Solo," she snapped at the insistingly flashing comm unit.

Tycho Celchu's voice answered her. Sithspit, doesn't he ever sleep? "Vong scout ship in system."

"Acknowledged," Jaina said, her hands flying over her controls. "Twin Suns, this is leader. Call off when ready and launch by shield trios."

The Vong's probes into this system had become more frequent, at least once a day. It was Twin Suns' turn and Jaina had ordered the squadron to sleep in their fighters. They were going to get it this time. The Rogues had caught one yesterday, Janson's Yellow Aces the day before, and Twin Suns had recieved no small amount of grief at not having yet caught one.

"Two, four green," Kyp's voice said. He wasn't fully awake yet.

"Three, green." That was Jag. Jaina reached out to him. He was awake, more awake than anyone else, and she wasn't surprised.

Jag's clawcraft shot out of the Rebel Dream, Jaina and Kyp not far behind. The rest of the squadron followed.

The ship was smaller than most of the other scouting vessels they'd seen. Jaina powered up her lasers as they got in range.

"All right, people," she said. "Time to try something new. Split and swarm."

Half the squadron peeled off, centering in on the ship in the other direction, a new tactic Piggy and Sharr had suggested.

Smiling, like a feral cat zeroing in on its prey, Jaina readjusted her grip on her trigger.

Cappie whistled as she came in range. Reaching out, she searched for Kyp's presence in the Force.

And found something else.

"Break off!" she snapped, almost unable to get the words out of her mouth as she swung the starfighter in as tight a turn as she could manage, away from the Vong vessel.

"Jaina!" Kyp's voice said. She almost didn't hear him, her heart pounding too loudly, her brain suffering from sudden sensory overload. It wasn't until he repeated her name that she actually registered him calling her.

"Jaina, what is it?"

"My brother," she said. "My brother is on that ship."

***

Kyp Durron swung his X-wing around, stretching his senses out beyond, searching for Jacen Solo's presence in the blank section of space where the Vong ship was.

A tired Force voice met his cautious probe. Yes, Kyp, it's me.

Kyp swallowed hard. Yes, that was Jacen Solo. He was changed, most definitely, but that was Jacen Solo.

The comm finally activated again, and Tycho Celchu's astonished voice came through.

"Jaina are you sure?"

"This is Durron," he heard himself say. "Jacen Solo is on that ship."

There was another silence, then Wedge Antilles' voice came through. "Jaina, could this be a trap?"

Kyp could feel Jaina stretching back out to her brother. "No, General."

He could hear Wedge blow his breath out in indecision before he spoke. "Bring him in."

"Twin Suns, escort formation around the ship," Jaina's voice said. Her fighter arced in front of the ship, leading it into the docking bay.

***

Jaina began her X-wing shut down procedures almost before the landing struts settled on the decking. She had her fighter shut down before anyone else, even Jag.

She sprang out of her X-wing and took off towards the Vong ship. She hopped from foot to foot in suspense, and the hatch finally, finally opened.

A bearded man appeared, with brown hair, liberally streaked with blonde. His tired e

 

It's off to a good start Rogue11.

 

Thank you JWY!!

 

great start! that was such a cute reunion ! is this going to be a jaina/jag mushy story? mush is good !

 

QuiGonKat says:

Hi,

I'm stealing Rogue's keyboard while she's going to the bathroom!!!

Just wanted to extend the thanks for the post! We hope you love it!!!

(I do love this unnoticed power abuse thing! )

 

Jedida Thanks for the compliment! Mush will come later, I promise. I have to control my mushiness though, or else I'll go overboard (and that's really, really bad when I do).

QuiGonKat says "Dang, these people read fast!"

So there you are. If I feel inspired (or my roommate doesn't come home till late) I might post another section.

Excuse me while I go hunt down QuiGonKat and destroy her!

 

Nice start!!

 

a wonderful beginning, rogue11!! can't wait to read more!

 

Thank you, Jags-gurl! I appreciate it!

Okay, since I already have this section written, here's section two of Maelstrom.

***

It had been twenty-four hours since Jaina had found out her twin was alive.

Twenty-four hours in which everything had changed. Everything she ever thought she knew about the Force, Jacen had just swept away.

And the worst part of it was-he might be right. Or was he wrong and just blindly believing what Vergere had told him, and influencing her through their bond?

She didn't know. Tradition conflicted with trust in her brother, and she rubbed her eyes in frustration.

She looked at the small table by her bed, covered in datacards. She didn't feel like dealing with those right now. She needed a drink. She needed to relax. She needed-

Someone knocked at her door. She opened it to find Jag Fel standing here.

Exactly what she needed.

"I am so glad you're here," she said.

"Been looking forward to the squadron efficiency reports, have you?" he said, the smile he reserved only for her lighting up his normally reserved face.

"Get in here," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him in. The door slid shut behind him, and tossing the squadron efficiency reports aside, he took her into his arms and kissed her gently.

"You don't look as happy as I thought you would," Jag said softly.

Jaina sighed and disengaged herself from his arms. "What he's been telling me-" She shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."

"I don't like to think that I'm so stupid as that," Jag said dryly. "Just because I'm not a Jedi doesn't mean I can't listen."

"I'm sorry," she said, returning to his strong arms and leaning her head against his chest. "It's just-he's changed so much." She looked up at him. "He's not the Jacen I used to know."

"He's been through a lot, Jaina," Jag said quietly. "You've changed, too, in the time I've known you."

"Oh?" Jaina asked. "How so?"

Jag traced her jawline with a finger. "When I met you, you were so much more lighthearted. You've had so much heartache and tragedy and so many cares laid on you."

"Am I grim now?" she asked, allowing a smile to creep onto her face.

Jag laughed. "I can't believe I actually said that."

"I can't believe that you can't believe that you said that," Jaina said, giving him a quick kiss.

"Don't lose your happiness, Jaina," Jag said.

"Are you here, Jag?" she asked.

He frowned. "Yes."

"Then I won't lose my happiness, because my happiness is you," Jaina said. She stood up on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him.

Jag tucked her hair behind her ear. "Then I'll do my best to do so."

"I know you will," Jaina said. "Can you stay a while?"

"I think I can manage a few hours."

***

Jacen Solo sat crossed-legged on his bunk, his eyes closed.

"She didn't believe me," he said clearly.

The other occupant of the room stirred, unfolding her legs. "Yet."

"She won't believe me until Uncle Luke declares it canon," Jacen said.

"Kyp Durron believes more readily than your sister. He has fewer distractions."

"Oh?"

Vergere's lilting voice chuckled. "Such as the distraction she is experiencing now."

Jacen's eyes popped open. "Who does that Jag Fel think he is?"

"Your sister's lover," Vergere said. "I should think that that would be plain enough. No one said you had to like it."

"For the record, I don't," Jacen said.

Vergere's musical laugh rang out again. "Why not? He makes her happy."

"I know pilots too well," Jacen said. "Someone ought to warn Fel."

"Someone ought to warn your future brother-in-law of what?"

"Of what my father is going to do to him when he finds out," Jacen said.

"Your father will not approve of this Jagged Fel?"

"My father won't approve of any guy who falls for Jaina. Fel just happens to be the son of one of my father's old rivals."

"You make it sound like a holodrama."

"It has all the aspects of one," Jacen said, closing his eyes, preparing to resume his meditation.

 

Great job, rogue11. I like the fact that Jaina doesn't like the change in Jacen.

 

This is a great fic so far, rogue! I like the humor

 

Good fic so far.

 

that was great! i'm going to sleep now, and now I'll have happy dreams (of a shirtless Jag...yummy... )

 

Thank you, JWY! By the way, when is Never say Never's sequel coming??

Here's the next part, maybe all for tonight. I've been working on this for a while, trying to get my courage up to post. This is a short one.

***

A knock at her door woke Jaina form her sleep. Warm and comfortable, she decided to ignore it. Maybe whoever it was would go away.

The knocking persisted, and Jaina was greeting with a mental image of her father knocking.

Her father...her father!

"Jag!" She sat straight up in bed. Jag was already gone, the squadron efficiency reports on her desk, plus another datacard in her datapad.

The knocking became more insistent. "Hold on!" she called, pullng her robe off her bedpost and wrapping it around herself.

She answered the door, and her father's happy face greeted her. Happier than she'd seen him in a long time. Happier than he'd been since this damn war had started.

"Come on, get dressed and come to breakfast," Han said. "The four of us on the Falcon, as a family."

There was no mistaking the joy in his voice as he said the word family. Jaina grinned. "Give me ten minutes."

She jumped into the refresher, scrubbing her body as quickly as possible. She pulled on her uniform, running a comb through her tangled hair, while her father hopped from foot to foot.

She saw the datapad lying on the table and turned it on. It was a simple text message.

I thought perhaps I should go before morning. I'll be back later. Don't forget to sign off on the efficiency reports. Love, Jag.

"Come on," Han urged, almost like a little boy, excited in his anticipation of the first meal they'd had as a family since Anakin had died. Jaina hit the delete button before he could come around and read the message. She inserted the efficiency report. "Jaina!"

"Hold on," she said, scrolling through the report as fast as she could.

A knock at the door distracted her, and Han answered the door, surprising the pilot standing there.

"General Solo," Jag said, taken aback. "Is Commander Solo here?"

"Yes," Han said, moving to let Jag in, suspicion lighting his features.

"Here," Jaina said, finishing the report and quickly adding her authorization to the end. She pulled out the datacard and gave it to him with a smile. "Here you go."

"Thank you. Commander, General."

"Sorry," Jaina said. "I hate paperwork."

"Why do you think I'm no longer a general? Come on, your mother and brother are waiting."

***

Okay. Unless you beg really hard, I'm going to probably go to bed and post the rest in the morning.

Hint, hint...Baron Fel pays a visit.

 

Jade, Jedida, Tendra Thanks for the wonderful comments!! I'm really glad everyone likes it.

QuiGonKat has gone to bed, so if there are any grammatical or general proofreading mistakes, blame her.

 

Another great post, rogue11! Baron Fel? ooo

 

No, no Rogue11 post more tonight. Please.

Um, "Hope Runs Strong" should be up sometime within two weeks. I want to have a majority of it written before I begin posting it.

That was a great post, by the way.

 

"Are you here, Jag?" she asked.

He frowned. "Yes."

"Then I won't lose my happiness, because my happiness is you," Jaina said. She stood up on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him.

ok, everybody, one...two...three... AWWW!!! how cute! i loved that line! and the other postie was great, too! looking forward to more!

 

No message, um.... okay.

 

I hate computers.

Since there has been such a clamoring for more, here's the next part.

***

Jag Fel filed the squadron efficiency reports, then sighed in relief to have all the squadron's paperwork done this early in the day. It wasn't that he minded being Twin Sun's executive officer, he just enjoyed no paperwork.

Propping his feet up on his desk in the office he and Jaina shared, he reached for his datapad.

Wedge entered the office, and Jag's feet disappeared from the top of the dsk and she shot up into a salute.

"Sit down, Jag," Wedge said, his smile seeming slightly strained. "I've brought you a visitor."

General Baron Soontir Fel walked into the room, and Jag found himself suddenly back on his feet from sheer reflex. "Father-"

The general held up a hand to silence him, and Jag shut his mouth. "I've come with some information for you, Colonel."

Jag swallowed hard. "Yes, sir. Please, sit down." He snagged a chair from Jaina's desk for his father.

"The Vong intend to attack Mon Calamari within the month," the general said.

"Hence the probes here at Rosarian," Jag said.

"Exactly," the general said. "They're massing on Almania. We have an opportunity to attack this fleet."

Jag looked at his uncle. "We don't have the kinds of ships needed to attack such a fleet." He looked at his father. "Unless the Chiss are coming into this?"

Jaina walked into the office, laughing at something her father had said. She stopped short when she saw the visitors.

"Commander, I'd like to introduce you to my father, General Baron Soontir Fel," Jag said, gesturing towards his father, who had stood at her arrival. "Father, Commander Jaina Solo, commander of Twin Suns Squadron."

"Pleased to meet you, General," Jaina said, extending her hand to Jag's father, who clasped it briefly. "I hope you've brought us some good news about reinforcements, sir."

"We were just discussing that," Jag said. "Father?"

The general answered as Jaina perched herself on the edge of Jag's desk.

"They aren't willing to contribute large forces yet," the general said. "I've got four Star Destroyers right now. That's it."

He handed Jag a datacard. "This has our sensor data on it from Almania."

Jag plugged it into his datapad, and Jaina came around to look at it. "That's a full-fledged shipyard," she said, studying the image. "They're growing ships specifically for this." Jag was silent.

He scrolled through the images. "Stop," she said. "There."

"What is that?" Jag asked.

"That is a command center," Jaina said.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "They had one like it on Myrkr. Anakin also saw one like it on Yavin."

"A shaper compound," Jag said.

"Almania's perfect for a shipyard. The planet's been pretty much deserted since Kueller was there, and it's out of the way. If we could take Almania, we'd have delievered a huge defeat."

"You're talking about a real offensive. Not just blowing up the shipyard. Actually holding the system."

Jaina nodded. "See that big cruiser out there? We could take it out with that ball bearing trick. And if any of those ships came from Coruscant, I bet Jacen can convince the dovin basals to shut down."

"Somehow I feel like we've been left behind in this conversation," Wedge said.

"We had been discussing a ground mission to create havoc on the planet in the shaper compound," the general said.

Jaina paled, her normally rosy cheeks turning white. Jag noticed and so did Wedge. "I was thinking about the Wraiths and Tahiri. Maybe your brother as well, Jaina."

"I'll need to take Jacen on a scouting mission," Jaina said. "So he can get to know the ships. Then we'd have a better chance of him being able to persuade them to do what we wanted."

Wedge looked slightly mystified, and Jag's father totally confused.

"Jacen can sense the Vong in the Force now," Jaina said. "Come on, let's find the Wraiths and start firing ideas around."

Jag and Jaina left. "Is that how things work around here?" the general asked.

"W

 

Yet another great post, rogue!

 

That was a great post, but I don't like the fact that we have to wait until Mon. for more after the next one tonight.

 

Last part, ya'll. I've only got it written until this part, but I promise to work on it this weekend, as long as DRL doesn't give me too much trouble.

***

Jag and Jaina walked down the hall, studying the datacard Jag's father had given him.

"Look at this," Jag said, pointing at an image on the screen. "If we could-hey!"

Cold water suddenly drenched the two of them, from an open grate in the ceiling.

"Wes Janson!" Jaina used a Force-assisted leap to grab the lip of the hole in the ceiling. She crawled up into the panel, grabbing Janson's foot.

"Hey!" Janson yelled.

"Oh, no," Jaina said, pulling him down and out of the hole.

Janson fell out of the ceiling at Jag's feet, just as Wedge and General Fel turned the corner. Jaina leapt down.

"Now, you listen to me, you Tanaabian devil," she said, pointing her finger at him. "I will make your life so miserable, you won't know what happened."

Janson grinned from his position in the floor. "You can't."

Jaina grinned. "I have Wraiths for friends. Wraiths who would like to see you suffer."

His smile faded as he rose. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you, Great One?"

"Would you like to place bets?"

Jag fished out a crechip from his pocket and handed it to Jaina. "My money's on her."

Janson took off and Jaina and Jag started laughing.

"We're a mess."

"You are at that," General Fel said. "Jagged, after you clean up, I would like have a word with you."

Jag quickly turned sober. "Yes, sir."

They watched the two generals leave. "What do you suppose that was about?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jag said. "But whatever it was, I don't think I'm going to like it."

 

A little chat with the Baron sounds like fun.