The Path of Dreams

~Chapter 7~

Bothawui Orbit

Syal took a barrage of laser fire, and her astromech screeched as her shields went down. She pulled the injured ship level, and immediately saw her mistake as she picked up another Rogue Squadron X-wing.

“Kriff!” she cursed and after the tail didn’t shoot she instantly banked the ship starboard, and pulled it into a series of twisting, evasive maneuvers her dad had taught her. “We lost that one, Zippers.”

Then the R-9 began to squeal again and she looked down at her sensors. “Sithspit, don’t they ever give up?” She tried to invert her ship to pull into another dive, but her ship was becoming sluggish and didn’t respond as well as it had when she escaped the last possible attack. Suddenly, she looked down at her sensor display wide-eyed as the X-wing that came out of nowhere got a lock on her. If she was hit, her shieldless ship would never survive.

“Oh, no. Zippers get out of here!” she screamed as she hit the ejector at the same time as she sealed her helmet visor. Syal closed her eyes and prayed that she would be able to clear the blast zone, and wouldn’t be impaled by expanding debris and shrapnel.

She cleared the ship as it was hit by a laser blast and began to explode. Her visor darkened, but not enough, that she couldn’t see she wasn’t going to clear the blast zone. She could feel the heat of the fire ball through her suit and she knew she would never survive if the fire reached her. The explosion wouldn’t last long with out oxygen, but it wouldn’t take long to fry her to a crisp. As regret and panic began to overtake her, she suddenly noticed the expanding ball of white fire that had been her X-wing was moving in the other direction and away from her. She was puzzled by it, but she didn’t have the frame of mind to speculate the reason, and she wasn’t aware of anything else as she lost consciousness.

~

“Valin! No!” Jaina screamed over the comm and through the Force. She knew the type of guilt that went with shooting at a loved one. She had been forced to do that same thing six years before. However she quickly forgot the sorrow of a love gone terribly wrong, as she reached out into the Force with an invisible grasp to catch the exploding ship, and pulled it away from the ejecting pilot.

“Jaina?” Both Valin’s and Zekk’s voices came over at the same time, and then Valin, realizing who he must have shot, let out a shattering cry, drowning out anything Zekk may have said. “Syal!?”

Jaina let go of the dieing fireball that had been Syal Antilles’ X-wing, and reached out into the Force again to find Syal floating in her ejector seat. She was unconscious, but she was otherwise unharmed. Then she felt Valin’s profound despair, and she reassured, “Valin, she’s okay. You hear me? Syal is okay. She cleared the blast and is going to be alright.”

Valin’s voice was detached and lifeless as he said, “I almost killed her, Jaina. I almost killed her.”

Suddenly, she realized Valin was in worse shape to fight than she was as she took aim and at a Corellian fighter and fired. “Lead?”

Zekk, having sensed Jaina’s thoughts and feelings through their bond, came over the comm, saying, “Yes, Sticks, you’re right. Nine. Get back to base. You’re relived of duty. Do you copy?”

Valin never responsed.

Zekk then called, “Ten?”

“Yes, Lead, Ten here,” the voice of Allia Judday came over in answer.

“Ten, you are to escort Nine back to the Mon Mothma, understand?”

A click resounded over the comm, and then Valin’s amazingly calm protest as he insisted, “Colonel, I’m fine. I’m upset but I’m okay. I don’t intend to leave this battle. I won’t let anything happen to her while she is out here.”

Jaina felt Zekk reach out to the younger man through the meld and finally he said, “Nine you are relieved of duty. Ten, you have your orders.”

“No, I am not leaving. She’s in danger as long as the battle is raging here.” He shot at another Corellian X-wing and went through a twisting motion to end up on the plane on which Syal was floating. “I have every intention of staying right here.”

“I’m staying with him, Lead,” Allia’s determined voice came over the comm.

“Nine, I gave you a direct order,” Zekk’s voice didn’t come across as authoritative as it did pleading. Suddenly, Jaina realized what Zekk was trying to get across: if Valin stayed with Syal he could be in trouble for insubordination.

However, she didn’t have time to voice her concern before she had to go through a portside banking turn to avoid being vaped. She took out another ship, this time a Corellian fighter from another squadron.

~~~

Hangar Mon Mothma

Valin sat his X-wing down on the flight deck and felt as if his heart had been shattered into a million pieces. He had stayed with Syal until her area was no longer in danger. He knew now he would be in for it from the higher ups. Well, he thought, it doesn’t matter. This was the last time he’d be forced to shoot at the woman he loved.

He pulled his helmet off, popped the canopy and despairingly stood up. He watched as Allia unwittingly mimicked his actions, and wondered what he was going to say to her. She had stayed with him, and together they protected Syal’s unconscious exposed form from possible injury from both sides. He owed her but he couldn’t help but speculate why she stayed. Especially after they had been ordered to move from that position, not just by Zekk, but three other times by General Mazzi, before the Corellian rescue ships began to scour the area for EV pilots after the GA was forced to fall back.

Valin climbed down the ladder and moved over to where Allia had just dismounted hers. Coming up behind her, he cleared his throat and rubbed his stubbly jaw. “Allia, I—emm—I want to thank you for what you did out there, but you shouldn’t have.”

She slowly turned and he was surprised at the spike of emotion he felt from her. Her grey eyes seemed to be afire with a sudden grief. “You don’t need to thank me, Val,” she quietly said and quickly moved away. Valin looked around as he watched the rest of the returning ships from the completed battle. The Mon Mothma was beginning to limp away from the outer edges of the system the GA had just lost. Other skirmishes were still ongoing, but the GA had lost.

He was puzzled by her response and followed her. Laying his hand on her upper arm, he said as she turned to meet his gaze again, “Yes, I do. You went beyond the call of duty, and you most likely will be called on the carpet because of it. You defied orders.”

Allia glanced down at Valin’s hand, and then said, “I stayed because I know what it’s like to think that you may have killed someone you love.” Valin was shocked by the pain that shown through her watery eyes as she looked up at him again. “My fiancé was Corellian also and was a member of CorSec. We would have been married last year after he finished his last bit of training. He was a fighter pilot, but wanted to be an investigative officer.” She then moved away from Valin, but she continued to speak. ”I was among the Aleph squad called Gray Squadron. Syal, or as I knew her then, Lysa Dunter and I flew together during the First Battle of Tralus.”

Valin came up behind her and quietly finished for her, “Your fiancé was killed during the battle.”

She turned and Valin saw the tears slide down her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped her face with the backs of her hands before nodding and saying, “Yes. Of course, I don’t know for sure if it was me who killed him, but I was in that battle and in the end Raife was dead.”

Valin understood her pain all too well, and despite the curious audience they were incurring, he took her into his arms and hugged her. “I’m so sorry, Allia. This war is a terrible thing. Families are fighting each other and friends are fighting friends. I can only hope that it is all worth the sacrifice.”

She pulled out of his embrace and looked up at him as she softly inquired, “What do you mean?”

He looked around and, after a moment, said, “I hope that what we are fighting for is really worth it.” Then he met her eyes and added, “I’m Corellian, did you know that?”

She absently nodded and then he went on, “My grandfather still supports Corellia, although he hasn’t gotten involved in the war directly—yet. My mother is trying to stay neutral through this all, mainly because my father supports the GA whole-heartedly as a member of the Jedi Council. My sister also supports the GA. She and my mother have gotten into more than one political debate because of the war.”

There was an uneasy silence between them as Valin continued to watch the scurrying pilots and techs, but he knew she was studying his impassive face. Finally, she asked, “And what do you believe.”

He met her eyes again and realized he wasn’t sure what he believed. What was right and what was wrong? He honestly didn’t know anymore. But he knew trying to kill the woman he loved was not right. Did he really support the GA, or was he fighting for the same reason his mother was staying with his father on Coruscant, because that was what was expected of him? What did he feel for Corellia? He had always considered himself Corellian, but he never really lived there. Yavin 4 and then Ossus was more home to him than anywhere else. However, he had to admit the more he thought of it, he found himself thinking he was fighting on the wrong side. The so-called democracy of the GA was a sham, but was Corellia any better? Was Gejjen any better than Sal-Solo had been? However, he didn’t like Niathal’s policies any more than he had liked Omas’s. Maybe Corellia wasn’t completely right, but he could see himself fighting for the greater cause of what the Confederation was struggling to achieve. He realized that these thoughts could be considered treason. Was he really ready to cross that line?

Realizing Allia was still waiting for an answer, he replied honestly, “I don’t really know anymore.”

“Valin.” He turned at the call of his name from Jaina as she weaved her way closer to them through the thong of pilots and support personnel.

He swallowed and knew what was coming. “Yes, Major.”

She looked from him to Allia and then related, “Valin, you and Lieutenant Judday are summoned to Conference Room B143.”

Valin met his friend’s brown eyes, slowly nodded and replied formally, “Yes, sir.”

Allia saluted Jaina and then moved on in the direction of the lift. Valin turned to follow her when Jaina’s voice stopped him. “Valin, you know Zekk and I would have done the same thing.”

He looked back at her. “Yeah. I know. Thanks Jaina, you probably saved her life by pulling the blast away from her.”

Jaina nodded and moved to stand beside him. Slipping her arm around his waist she smiled and stated, “She’s my friend too. I had to do everything possible to save her.”

Before they reached the trubolift that Allia had already boarded, Valin stopped and gazed into her eyes and inquired, “Jay, do you ever think we—” Suddenly he looked away and quickly covered bitterly with, “Oh, never mind. It won’t matter for me now anyway.”

She stared at her young friend. She had known Valin all his life. They had been at the Academy together and he and her brother Anakin, Sannah and Tahiri Velia had all been good friends. She shook her head and pensively continued for him, “Do I ever think we’re fighting for the wrong reasons?” His surprise was an easy read for her through the Force. “Yes,” was her simple whispered response to his unfinished question. She quickly headed into the lift, leaving a very confused Valin to contemplate what she was saying as he too entered the lift car that would take him to his superiors and to his destiny.

~~~

Conference Room B143, Mon Mothma

“Lt. Colonel, Lieutenant Horn and Lieutenant Judday both disobeyed a direct order, not only from you but from General Mazzi as well. I realize that Rogue Squadron has always walked the slippery edge of insubordination, but this time your squad has crossed that line one too many times.”

Zekk stood at attention as the Fifth Fleet Commander, Mon Calamari Admiral Cheb, continued with his tirade concerning Zekk’s lack of disciplinary control over the squadron he inherited when Jaina was demoted. Zekk couldn’t help but wonder if those in power promoted him into her position as some cruel joke. Nearly everyone knew about their relationship, which they never kept secret. Of course, they weren’t as close at the conclusion of her court-martial when the decision had been made to promote him as they were now, but even then they were Jedi partners, former Joiners and lovers.

“Do you deny any of this, Lt. Colonel?”

Zekk took a deep breath and calmly responded, “No, Admiral Cheb, I do not deny that the Rogues are a special case.”

“A special case?” Zekk was actually surprised at the Mon Cal’s outburst. “You call what happened today a special case?”

Zekk called on the Force to keep his calm and simply said, “Yes. I do.”

“Admiral,” Sullustan General Mazzi shot Zekk a warning, which the Jedi really didn’t need, and then looked at the Mon Cal. “I too feel that Rogue Squadron has a unique structure. First of all, it is the only squadron that has three Jedi in it. Secondly, Major Solo and Lt. Colonel Zekk maintain a relationship that normally wouldn’t be seen in a commander and a subordinate. And thirdly, Major Solo and Lieutenant Horn were put in a precarious position today.”

Cheb glared from the Sullustan general to Zekk and huffed as he turned away with his webbed hands clasped tightly behind him. “Maybe the problem is that the Jedi have been allowed to demand too much. They have always felt they deserve special considerations; however I find their considerations often hinder a mission more than help it. In concerning your last statement, I totally disagree. If they were loyal to the GFFA, they would not have even considered disobeying orders. Colonel Jacen Solo does not have problems with family loyalty verses patriotism.”

Zekk nearly lost his control on his emotions, Cheb’s continued support of Jacen and the dislike for Jaina was nearly too much. “Admiral, Colonel Solo has not been put in the position Jaina or Valin have been put into. They have pledged to uphold the rights and laws of the GA, Sir, and they do. However being Jedi, we are able to see things from different perspectives, if you will.”

Cheb opened his mouth to protest when Zekk felt Jaina and Valin outside the conference room. He gave the commander a half smile and announced, “Sirs, they are here.”

The Mon Calamari and Sullustan both stared at Zekk as the door slid open allowing Jaina to escort the junior officers into the room that was occupied by Zekk, Admiral Cheb, General Mazzi, a MP detail and a few other officers that Zekk didn’t recognize.

Jaina, Valin and Allia saluted their superiors and Zekk sent Jaina and Valin his reassurance as he returned the acknowledgement. Cheb had supported Jacen’s charges and attempt at having Jaina court-martialed two years before. Zekk could feel Jaina’s concern and realized that she wasn’t concerned for herself but worried for their younger friend and Allia.

After the formalities were over, the Mon Calamari admiral announced, “Lieutenants Horn and Jadday you are facing the serious charge of disobeying a direct order from a superior, not once, but multiple times. Do either of you disagree with this charge?”

Zekk felt Valin pull the Force to him and he looked over at Jaina, wondering if the Corellian Jedi had said anything to her. He easily felt her concern as well. Then Valin began to speak and Zekk was stunned.

“Admiral Cheb, General Mazz, Colonel Zekk, I do not deny the charge. I disobeyed direct orders, and I would do it again. However, Lieutenant Jadday was trying to convince me to give up my personal reasons for not obeying the orders. This charge should be dropped for her.”

Allia stared at Valin incredulously as he went on, “She felt that as my wingman it was her duty to remain with me.” Valin smiled slightly at her and Zekk saw something in the younger man’s hazel eyes that outright surprised him. Valin had always been known for his independence. He nearly left the Order to stay on Yavin 8, but Zekk had a sinking feeling Valin was about to do something even more radical than that. Looking back at the admiral and the fighter wing commander, Valin went on to say as he reached up and ripped the rank insignia from his flight suit, “However, I take total responsibility for my actions, and I would do them again if it ensured the continued welfare of Commander Antilles of the Corellian Defense Forces.”

“Valin?” Zekk said just above a whisper, “You do realize what you are doing.”

Valin turned bright eyes to him and nodded once, “Yes, Colonel, I do. I can no longer fight in this war. I am a Jedi first and foremost, Sir, just as you are, but I am also Corellian. I realize that I can no longer fire upon the people of my home planet or, more importantly, the woman I wanted to marry someday.”

“Valin…” Allia stared at him. But she didn’t get the chance to say anything else.

Valin gave her a sad crooked smile and then said, “I’m sorry, Lieutenant, that you risked your neck and career for a traitor.”

“Security,” called Admiral Cheb as he looked over at the guards that were standing by the bulkhead. Then gazing back at Valin, he announced, “Lieutenant Horn, you are under arrest until court-martial for the charge of treason.”

Zekk and Jaina stared at their fellow Jedi, but neither of them could do anything. Nothing could improve the situation.

“Mr Horn,” the armored sergeant that flanked Valin nervously said as he held out his hand, “please hand over your lightsaber and blaster.”

Valin removed the lightsaber hilt from his belt and held it out to the enlisted man, who nervously looked at the Jedi weapon before taking it and stashing it into his own belt. Then he took Valin’s blaster and did the same, albeit less gingerly. Valin’s face held no emotion, but an indifference that Zekk had to admire, because the feelings coming through the Force from the Corellian was everything but impassive.