ECHOES OF THE PAST
CHAPTER 1 – The Status of Twin Suns

Twelve clawcraft in perfect formation skimmed across the unusually calm waters of the Mon Calamari ocean.  Through the mist, blown off the fighters on their approach, could be seen a squadron of E-wings executing the same maneuver.  As both sets of fighters approached the base hanger, they slowed and slipped efficiently into the bay, each settling softly to the ground in text-book fashion.

Jag Fel sped through the power down procedure for his clawcraft.  He was eager to get his squadron bunked into their newly assigned post on Mon Calamari, eager to get a shower, to eat a hot meal and lay in his own bed.  Even so, he was more eager to find a certain lieutenant colonel - pretty, brown hair and matching eyes that could make his heart skip a beat - and wrap his arms around her.

Jag climbed out of his clawcraft stiffly, as always he was first of his unit to do so.  He walked across to the closest E-wing, belonging to Tanner Kale, his executive officer.  Tanner commanded the Enforcer Squadron of E-wings assigned to Jag during the demining of the Hydian Way.  Tanner had proven to be a capable leader as well as a person Jag could depend on in a tight situation.

"Major Kale, continue securing the ships. I will go check on our barrack assignments so we can get these pilots cleaned up and rested."

"Sounds good to me.  I need a hot shower.  I have a hot date tonight," Tanner replied with a grin.

"And who would that be, Major," Jag asked as he passed under the E-wing heading out of the hanger bay.

"Her name is Pillow," Tanner yelled after Jag.

Jag felt a little grin come to his face.  Tanner was always the one for a good laugh.  Jag thought the man's good nature might even be rubbing off on him.  He was smiling a lot more recently, he thought to himself.  You are not quite so grim anymore.  Jag recalled his words to Jaina Solo so long ago on Ithor.  Too much time spent here in the Known Regions, Jag, and you will turn into one of these Rebels.

As Jag rounded the corner, heading to the Galactic Alliance Defense Force Headquarters, a familiar face appeared down the hall.  Jag approached the man and offered him a smart bow.  "Vanguard and Enforcer Squadrons reporting as ordered, sir."

Colonel Tycho Celchu dipped his head in return.  "At ease soldier. Follow me."

As Jag swung into step with him, Colonel Celchu reached over and slapped Jag on the back.  "Good to see you back safely, Jag.  I see you have been keeping busy.  From your reports, it appears you've put together a good group of pilots.  Vanguards did an excellent job of cleaning up the Hydian Way.  Looks like the Vong just gave up trying to harass the refugees and shippers in that sector."

"Thank you, Colonel.  My pilots are a skilled group of men.  I have the utmost faith in their abilities.  They have trained very hard, and I believe our record speaks to that fact.  These men are up to any task.  They will serve the Galactic Alliance Defense Force well here on Mon Calamari."

"I am sure we could give you the worst pilots on the base, Jag, and you would whip them into a top performing squadron."

Both Jag and Tycho chuckled at the thought of Jag commanding a group of misfits.  Tycho motioned for Jag to step into his office at the end of the hallway.  Inside, Tycho walked to his desk and picked up a datacard.  He turned and handed it to Jag.

"Here are your room assignments and initial squadron orders as well as any other important information you may require.  Your squadron will have a couple days to settle in and make any necessary repairs to your ships before being put into the patrol rotation.  If I left anything out, please let me know."

Jag slipped the datacard into his datapad and scanned the information.  "It appears all the appropriate information is provided. My men will be pleased to have their own beds tonight."

"I'm sure they will. Well, I'll leave you to it then," Tycho responded as he sat down at his desk.

Jag hesitated.

Colonel Celchu looked up at the young man, wondering if Jag was waiting to be dismissed like this were some stiff Chiss unit his father ran.  "Is there something else, Colonel?"

"Uh, sir. May I inquire as to the status of Twin Suns Squadron."

The corner of Tycho's mouth twitched up mischievously.  There was only one reason Colonel Fel would inquire into the status of Twin Suns, one person that is.

"Twin Suns is in route from an escort mission to the Bespin System.  They should be returning around 1400 tomorrow."

"Thank you for the information Colonel.  See you tomorrow morning for the squadron commanders' briefing."

As Jag turned smartly to exit the room, Tycho called after him.  "Jag, would you like to know the status of the Rogues or Aces before you go."

Jag turned back to face him.

"No, sir. Thank you for offering though."

And with that he left the room.

***********

Jaina Solo had learned to enjoy the time spent in the cockpit of her X-wing, traveling through hyperspace.  The silence and solitude used to unnerve her.  Now, it had become a peaceful haven from the ravages of war.  Sometimes she would meditate or work on her Force skills.  Other times she would work on plans and tactics for her squadron, new tricks to use against the Vong.  Today though, Jaina decided to relax and replay a message that had been forwarded to her while she was on Bespin.

Dear Jaina,

I heard about your success at the battle of Ebaq.  I am thankful that you and your family made it through safely.  It seems that you have again, in great Solo style, managed to take yourself right into the heart of the battle and achieve a great victory despite the odds.

Clearing the Hydian Way with two new squadrons has kept me busy to say the least.  We appear to have the Vong second-guessing their position in this sector.  I hope that every small victory out here provides some measure of relief to the overall war effort.

There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about you - holding you in my arms or our conference room encounters.  The sooner the Vanguards clear this part of space, the sooner I can make it back to you and taste your sweet lips.

Try to stay out of harm's way for me.  I know that is like asking a parched man to avoid the oasis in a desert, but I will ask it anyway.  There is hope to reform your trouble seeking ways.  You are only half Solo.  I will see you in my dreams.  Until we meet again.

All My Love

Jagged

Jaina had not spoken to Jag since the battle of Ebaq.  She barely had a chance to come to grips with how the battle had changed her when Twin Suns had been sent out on this escort mission.  Her long seclusion in hyperspace had allowed her time to settle things in her mind.  She had so many things to tell Jag, so many emotions to share with him.

When she returned to Mon Calamari, Jaina would send a letter back to Jag explaining exactly how she felt about him.  Until then she would have plenty of time to compose her swirling thoughts and emotions into a coherent form.

I will see you in my dreams.  Jaina smiled to herself as she thought of Jag's arms folding around her, pulling her body close to his.  She could almost feel the strength of his body next to hers…

Jaina was jerked out of her reverie by alarms blaring in the cockpit.  It took her but a moment to realize that Twin Suns Squadron was reverting into real space, although not at the proper location.

Jaina scanned her tactical boards for the threats she knew instinctively would be there.  Only one thing could have caused the whole squadron to drop out of hyperspace, and Jaina needed to find the threat and eliminate it quickly.

"Twin Suns, form up. Twelve skips incoming. Break by pairs.  Flight leaders pick targets of opportunity.  Wingmen keep your leader's tail free of unexpected company.  You know the drill."

Eleven comm clicks confirmed her pilots were ready just as they entered the fray.

"Twin Suns Two on me.  We have a Vong mine to vape."

Jaina rolled to port, skimming between two sets of skip trios.  She pushed down the throttle aiming for the dovin basal mine in the direction their attackers had come.  The coralskipper trio that past to her starboard side swung around in pursuit.

"Two, skips coming round on intercept. Keep them off my tail long enough to clear this mine," Jaina directed her wingman. Brance Wartrue was the least experienced of all her pilots, and she wanted to be sure he understood what she needed of him.

"Acknowledged, Lead," came his reply.

Jaina sensed he was uncomfortable with the thought of being her flying shield, but he would do his job.  It just takes time to get used to having plasma slag flying at you from all directions.  He has good basic instincts. He'll be fine, Jaina thought to herself.

Jaina checked the status of her squadron on the tactical board and was pleased with what she saw.  Obviously, guarding dovin basal mines was not reserved for the elite Yuuzhan Vong pilots.  Three skips were already out of the fight, and Twin Suns was about to make short work of four more.  Comm chatter revealed relative ease given their current situation.  Jaina could not sense any undue stress in her pilots through the Force.  Nothing beyond the normal peaks of adrenaline associated with space battles.

Knowing all this, Jaina focused on the task at hand.  She dropped a shadow bomb, pulling it along with her through space.  The skips chasing Jaina and her wingman were catching them quickly.  Jaina adjusted more power to her rear shields, but kept her engines at maximum, hoping to outrun her pursuers.

"Taking fire, Lead," Twins Two called.  "I think they figured out your plan.  We've got additional skips vectoring in on us."

Jaina glanced at her sensor display and saw a second pair coming high on her port side followed closely by Twin Suns Five and Six.

"Just a couple seconds longer, Two.  We are going to have to hit this mine at full throttle, make sure you break with me."

Jaina was not happy about having to approach the mine at this speed.  She would have to try to slingshot past it as she dropped the shadow bomb, rather than pull up and away like she would prefer to do.  The timing would be somewhat tricky, something she could easily handle, but perhaps beyond Brance's skills.

"Twin Suns, Vong mine is about to become history.  Prepare to make for home on my mark. They might have called for reinforcements, and I don't plan on being here when they arrive.  Two, follow my lead."

As she finished speaking, Jaina sprayed down laser fire across the mine, drawing out voids.  As she shot past the mine, Jaina guided the bomb into the weakness she sensed in the mine's protection.  At the same time, she rolled her ship away from the direction she had guided the bomb, not slowing her forward momentum at all.

The bomb hit its mark and detonated, taking two of the three skips in pursuit with it.

"Twin Suns jump. I repeat, Twin Suns, clear furball and make your jump."

Jaina watched her sensor board as Twin Suns, one by one, made the jump to hyperspace.  Only Twin Suns Two was left with the remaining skip from the original pursuing trio on his tail.

"Two, forget the skip. Go to hyperspace."

"Not possible, Lead," his voice betraying the stress Jaina could sense from him.  "My fighter must have taken some damage from the explosion.  When I went to jump, there was some sort of failure.  It seems to have shorted some systems.  My nav computer isn't responding."

Jaina muttered a few curses as she spun her X-wing back towards Twin Two.  Scanning her sensor board, she could see that there were still three skips left against her and a damaged ship.  Think, Jaina. Think.  She needed to buy Brance enough time to power down his ship and restart the systems that had been shorted.  Jaina had experienced a similar problem before and knew the safety redundancies in the ship should recover sufficiently on restart to get his nav computer back running.  Suddenly an idea hit her.

"Two, do you still have control of your hyperspace engines?"

"Affirmative?"

"Turn toward bearing Oh-One-Four.  I want you to make a hyperspace jump at that planet.  Let its gravity well pull you out.  Then reboot your system.  I will keep them busy.  We will jump out when your nav computer comes back up."

"What about you?  There are still three skips left.  They will all be gunning for you."

"Two, you worry about you, and I'll worry about the three skips.  Now that's an order."

There was a comm click, and Twin Suns Two was gone.

Time to have some fun, my friends, Jaina thought to herself as she turned on one of the skip's tail.

**********

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 seemed to dread his next words. 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 blue-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 must be done."

Soontir turned to kiss the palm of his wife's hand, looking away from her as his one eye glistened with a tear mirroring those in his wife's eyes.  "I never meant for this to happen.  I know when Cherith died I promised to never leave you again."

Syal turned his face back towards hers and looked into his eyes.  "And so you never will.  It is time for me to return to the place from where I came.  I am going with you, my love."

Soontir saw the love and determination burning in her eyes and knew there would be no arguing.  So he reached down and pulled his wife into his arms.

**********

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 were 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 a second 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 as tiny specks in the distance, growing bigger with every passing second.  "Two, get going.  We've incoming."

Brance had been too slow in his reboot, and it had cost them valuable time.  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 them, taking 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."  Jaina batted sparking controls in a frantic effort to save vital systems.  Realizing she had not heard even a muted toot from her astromech, Jaina winced.  "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 continued 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 her pursuers.

"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.

"Still 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 Force be with you, sir," Brance called as he vectored out of the atmosphere.  Jaina knew she would need the Force, her superior piloting skills and all the Solo luck because the damage to her ship would render it almost impossible to land.  As he jumped into hyperspace, Jaina wondered if Brance Warture would be the last one to see her alive.

**********

END OF CHAPTER 1
TL/jj