Jaina had intended on taking a couple more days back home to be able to try to find out about her status with the Rogues, maybe pull a few strings in order to get some answers. Instead she was bored out of her mind. Everyone had split up upon returning to Coruscant, save for Anakin, who'd opted to stay with Tahiri aboard the Errant Venture. A short reunion with their parents had Jacen leaving with them for a time, and Luke and Mara had headed off on their own for a bit while they still could. This meant Jaina was staying alone in her family's apartment for the time being, which would have been fine if she didn't already spend all her time away from everyone.

Now in possession of an X-wing, at least while she was here, Jaina decided to take it out for one last spin over Coruscant. She'd be going back to Fandom in the morning. She had finally gotten in touch with Colonel Darklighter, who had explained that she might want to consider taking an extended leave of absence from the Rogues. She'd already known why: there was a bounty on her head, anti-Jedi sentiment was going around pretty strongly, the rescue mission to Yavin had been a big mistake politically, and she'd be altogether safer back at school. She had a perfect cover, use it.

Not exactly what she'd wanted to hear. She'd stayed on Coruscant for a little while longer, hoping that she'd be called back when he changed his mind, but it was sinking in that he wasn't going to.

She was almost relieved when the comm system alerted her, glad to have something to stop her from getting all depressed over it again. Of course, once she heard the tone of Mara's voice when she asked, "Jaina, where are you?" she had the feeling depression would be preferable to whatever was going on.

"Just out," she answered. "What's the matter?"

"We're taking the Jade Shadow up. Meet me, will you? It's important."

"Sure," Jaina said once she'd gotten the coordinates. "Laying that course now."

"And Jaina- keep your eyes open. Trust no one."

....Well wasn't that ominous. "Mara, what-"

"We'll discuss it when we rendezvous."

Jaina's worries were confirmed when she actually arrived at the rendezvous point, finding the Jade Shadow under fire from four security interceptors. ...Seriously? Things had to be going worse than she thought if they were actually trying to keep Luke and Mara from leaving the planet. Not even thinking about it, she powered up her weapons systems and headed into the middle of it, ignoring the hails from security and comming her aunt's ship instead. "You two look like you could use a hand," Jaina said when Luke answered. "What did you do to irk the sky cops?"

"Stay out of this, Jaina," Luke warned her, a bit predictably.

"Yeah, right. That'll happen." After all, Mara had called her. Therefore...

Working to cripple the security ships rather than destroy them, it wasn't really a hard fight. Jaina's X-wing didn't take nearly enough damage to hurt her, and the Shadow looked to be doing pretty well- small wonder, with those two aboard- but then she looked up to see them heading straight towards a squadron of twelve X-wings-

Oh no. No, no, no. Still not sure what was happening here, Jaina had to assume the worst. Whatever happened down there with Luke and Mara had to have been bad enough that the New Republic had actually called in Rogue Squadron for them, and there was no possible way that they'd done anything wrong to deserve that. And if they attacked... Jaina was going to have to fight her own squadron.

Luckily she was able to bite down on the outrage to see that the Rogues weren't attacking. Things looked pretty quiet, in fact. So Jaina bided her time and waited for the first sign of how to act.

She was surprised to get the personal hail from Colonel Darklighter, though the surprise was buried under all the anger, and it meant that she was working on trying not to be bitchy over the comm. "Yes, Colonel. How may I help you?" she answered, thereby throwing 'not being bitchy' out the window.

"Watch after Master Skywalker, Jaina," he told her. "He needs you."

She really didn't need him to tell her that. "I'll do my best, sir," she said, tone still a little clipped. "Is that all?"

"No. I made a mistake not putting you back on duty once your vision was recovered. I let you down, and I'm sorry for that. I'd like you to consider yourself still part of the Squadron."

Jaina blinked, not entirely sure she'd heard that right. Had he really just apologized to her? That really did change the way she spoke to him, answering a little quieter when she said, "I appreciate that, Rogue Leader. I know that right now-"

"As I said. Master Skywalker needs you now. You're still on leave, as far as I'm concerned. Go, and may the Force be with you."

She exhaled deeply, more relieved than anything that the Rogues were still on their side. Military or not, government-bound or not, they were going to let Luke and Mara go, and they weren't going to put Jaina in the position to choose between helping them or making her own situation even worse.

"Understood," she said, and ended the transmission to follow the Jade Shadowout. Maybe now she could find out what the hell was going on.

*****

What was going on was that Borsk Fey'lya hadn't looked very favorably on the situation at Yavin. Luke was still insistent that Fey'lya hadn't sold them out to the Vong, but the fact of the matter was, he was more than willing to let the Vong take the academy- children- if it would keep the Vong off their back. The Jedi for the rest of the galaxy, it seemed, except it was doubtful the Vong would settle for that. Fey'lya believed Luke to be in charge of the unsanctioned activity in a supposedly neutral space, and put out an arrest warrant for him and Mara. They had done nothing except send her and Jacen to find Booster, and could have beaten the charge, but they'd hedged around details in the explanation and made it clear that arrest was not an option right now.

So they'd sent Jaina on a mission. She was supposed to follow a tracer they'd put on Kyp Durron's ship and find him. Have a little talk, explain that help was needed. While she seriously doubted anyone was coming over to Kyp's way of thinking, he was right that they did need a united front now, more than ever if Luke had to be out of the picture. Of course, it also meant that she had to go back near what used to be Sernpidal, the same place where Chewie had died, and about as thick into Vong territory as you could get. Not that she had anything to be nervous about.

Kyp had moved on from the Sernpidal system by the time she got there, now on some freezing block of ice called a planet. Jaina couldn't help but remember Luke's recent trip to Hoth, and upon getting some readings on the planet, that was practically tropical. She didn't arrive unnoticed, flanked by two X-wings when she made orbit, one of which had the beacon on it.

"Amazing," a voice greeted her over the comm. "Simply amazing. Jaina Solo, you continue to find ways to surprise me."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Hello, Kyp."

"I'd ask you what could have possibly brought you to this place, but I almost don't want to know. If the Force guided you, it's almost too frightening."

His beacon guided her, actually, but she wasn't telling him that. She knew which ships did have them now, and she wasn't telling. "How so?"

"Because I was about to come looking for you and Rogue Squadron."

Someone was behind in the news. "Really."

"Yep. I've found something, Jaina- something I can't handle with my Dozen. Something that could strike a death blow to the New Republic if we don't deal with it now, while we can."

Jaina was used to Kyp's tactics, the way he could spin words. Add to that the fact that she'd been stuck in this cockpit since Coruscant and she was tired and restless and kind of just felt icky, and she wasn't falling for it based on his phrasing alone. "What are you talking about?"

"I'd rather tell you in person. Follow me in- we don't have much down there, but it's better than the cockpit of an X-wing."

While it was freezing inside the base that had been carved out of ice, the temperature change was nice after all that time in her ship, and Kyp was nice enough to provide her with a parka. And before she could start seriously thinking of him as nice, she was happy to get to the point and even happier that he asked for it as he led her around. "First things first, Jaina. Do you mind telling me why you're here? And, in all seriousness, give me a little hint as to how?"

That last part wasn't happening. "Master Skywalker sent me to talk to you," she told him.

"Really? Has he something new to say?"

"He and Mara fled Coruscant after Borsk Fey'lya ordered their arrest."

She kind of loved catching him by surprise. "Come in here and sit down," he said, leading her into the war room and pulling up chairs for them to sit in. "That was uncommonly stupid," he said. "Even for Fey'lya. Do you think our chief of state is working with the Peace Brigade?"

"Master Skywalker doesn't think so. Neither do I," Jaina answered. Fey'lya just was willing to give them to the Vong, that's all.

"Huh," said Kyp, though he didn't seem to believe this. "So what is Master Skywalker doing now?"

"Aunt Mara's pregnant, you know," she said. "It's not long before her time comes. Uncle Luke's hiding out with Booster Terrik. He intends to find a planet to build a Jedi base on."

She seemed to be getting his interest now. "A base for what?"

"To operate from. A place where endangered Jedi can go, a place for them to strike from."

He leaned forward a little. "Jaina, choose your words carefully. What do you mean by 'strike'? Don't put words in the Master's mouth just because you think I want to hear them."

"No," Jaina said, "he's still not advocating what you're doing. He's trying to build a network to pass people and information in and out of Yuuzhan Vong space. A system of places like this, and ships-"

"But no direct action. No bringing the fight home to the Yuuzhan Vong."

"Not exactly- not the way you mean. But, Kyp, he is doing something, and he needs your help."

Kyp shook his head. "I think he sent you here to find out what I'm doing."

"Party," she admitted. "But he also sent me to bring you back into the fold."

He was thinking about it. She could tell. "I don't object to what Master Skywalker is doing. I have my boltholes and contacts, but they're limited, scattered, one day at a time. I don't have the resources or the leisure to build and maintain a stable network. If Luke does, that's great. I wish he would take a more active hand, but this is more than I was starting to think he would do. He's right; I can be of help to him in certain sectors. And I'll do it- I'll meet with him. But Jaina, I need something from you in return. Though this arrest business changes things."

Jaina kind of dreaded where he was going with this. This was why she didn't negotiate, she didn't often account for the fact that she'd have to do something in return.

He shrugged, thinking things over before speaking again. "I'll lay it out for you anyway. I'm not on good terms with any of the military leaders. I need someone who is. Is that still you?"

That was debatable, but Colonel Darklighter had brought the Rogues in to their aid, and still wanted her. And she was sure Wedge Antilles was still on their side. "They might listen to me."

"Or your mother."

Jaina frowned, bristling a bit. She'd been out of the middle of everything far too long to defer something to her mother that she might be able to handle herself. "What do you need, Kyp?"

He didn't answer right away, instead looking at her and saying, "It can wait a few hours. Why don't you get cleaned up? We sank an old cargo tank to use as a warm room. There's a hot tub of water calling your name."

"That sounds really, really good," Jaina admitted, though she wanted to kick him for not telling her now. "That's not a proposition I'm prepared to refuse, anyway."

Kyp almost smiled at her. "When you're done, we'll discuss what other propositions you might find interesting."

...Okay? He couldn't have meant that the way Jaina took it, so she was just going to ignore it for now.

*****

Jaina headed into the command center amid alarms, shaking off any residual grogginess as she saw that everyone was still pretty calm. This included Kyp, who was giving the orders and even greeted her with a smile when he saw her arrive. All right, she could concede that there were worse ways to be welcomed into a room. "Good morning," he said. "Sleep well?"

"Not bad, considering my bed was a block of ice," she said. "What's going on?"

"Yuuzhan Vong recon just popped into the system. Not much of an outfit, but I don't want them to find us here. If we hurry, we can jet out the back way before they're any the wiser." He lowered his voice, very intent on her all of a sudden. "That means I'm going to have to ask for your decision- now. If you won't take this to someone in the military, I'll have to do it alone. I'll never convince them, but I have to try."

She knew he meant it. He had shown her what he was talking about, and while she wasn't sure she'd use the word "death blow" like he had, she'd found it pretty chilling. If he was right, and he certainly seemed to think he was, then she couldn't let something like this go. Gavin and Wedge would listen to her rather than him, and if she didn't, more people could die... "I'll go to Rogue Squadron with it," Jaina agreed. "It's the only place I now where I might still be welcome, and Colonel Darklighter will know what to do . But I'll need your data."

"Packed up and ready to go. And I'm going with you, just to make sure you get there."

Given the way he'd been towards her over the last day, she wasn't entirely comfortable with that. She'd gotten here through Vong space fine, she could get to the Rogues fine, too. "That might not be a good idea. If Uncle Luke isn't safe on Coruscant, I can't imagine you would be."

"Or you, for that matter," Kyp pointed out. "After all, you were last seen fleeing with them. I was hopping you could arrange a rendezvous somewhere else."

She didn't have an argument against that. "We could try that- I could send a message to Colonel Darklighter. But what if the Yuuzhan Vong or the Peace Brigade traces the communication?"

"You're a smart young woman. I'm sure you can think of someplace you and Darklighter know that you can refer to obliquely."

It had been a weak argument anyway. "Sure, probably."

Taking that as a win, Kyp smiled at her again. "Good. I took the liberty of refueling your X-wing and giving it the once-over. I'm afraid there's no time for you to give it a personal inspection. We've gotta haul jets."

"Okay, but if I flame out from a cracked nacelle, I'm holding you responsible."

"Don't worry, I prefer my friends uncooked. Especially my more attractive ones."

Jaina sighed, rolling her eyes. "Boy, you've been practicing that flattery stuff, haven't you? I've already agreed to help you. No need to pour frill syrup on honeycrust."

"I wasn't," he said, shooting her another one of those smiles as they made their way to the X-wings. Jaina continued to ignore him.


[NFI, NFB, you know the drill. Dialogue taken straight from Edge of Victory II: Rebirth by Greg Keys. I want a Kyp.]