Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 331

Naboo was, generally, the same planet it had been since long before the Empire was even an idea. Its location, far from the Core Worlds, likely had a lot to do with the fact that it was not at all ravaged by the wars that had raged over the past decades. Even after the Empire fell, the planet was left alone...it had only been the vacation spot for most Imperial Officers, with a single garrison in the capital city of Theed to ‘protect’ the entirety of the planet. This, of course, meant that the general populace felt little influence from the Empire at all. The cities were still as beautiful and extravagant as ever, and the fields were farmed just as always.

Jyren set down the X-Wing in a spot where it didn’t look like he’d harm any crops, but also was in walking distance of the single building out in the middle of no where on the planet. It was the same, boxy structure as all the buildings on the planet, with green domed roofs over each of the sections. Even the older looking garage had the same design as everything else.

Tearing his eyes away from the view, Jyren hit the switch to raise the canopy and said over his shoulder, “So, Toby, why again were you hiding back there?”

A giggle sounded from the rear seat before a series of scratching noises and in a moment, the little Alraxian was perched on the edge of Jyren’s seat and looking him straight in the eye from only a few centimeters away, “Mama said you’d play!”

Jyren rolled his eyes, doing his best to ignore the word that Tobias had used instead of ‘Shadow’. Typical. He’d gotten the ship into hyperspace and then, out of no where, there was a ‘grrr!’ behind him. He’d assumed that Toby had snuck in on his own, but it suddenly made a great deal of sense that Shadow had been the start of it. She’d been...relatively quiet about where she and Loki were going, though it didn’t surprise Jyren for some reason. He’d been quiet, too.

It was...strange, really. There had been very, very little talk about what had happened. Not that neither of them wanted to, but more than there was nothing to actually discuss. It was over, and that was all that mattered. The very thought, though, surprised Jyren, and he knew it had a lot to do with the link. Normally, he’d have dwelled on something like that for years but...but the link seemed to make things different. He couldn’t bury anything inside without Shadow digging it right up, and a good amount of it probably had to do with some of her own personality seeping through to him.

“Alright, Toby, c’mon,” Jyren picked up the child after setting up the ladder and then climbed down to the grassy ground below. He was currently human, as it was just so much easier to fly an X-Wing like that and...and he needed to be currently. Once he was down, Jyren let Toby drop to the ground and watched he child’s eyes roam around almost like a predator, “I’ve got something to do first, little guy, so you stay out here and play.”

Tobias made an ‘uh-huh’ noise before pouncing what was probably a bug and ‘grrr’ing a lot. Jyren grinned and poked Toby in the back with his boot, “Don’t hurt anything, little guy, and stay close to the house.”

There was a noise from the little Alraxian before he scampered off into the part of the field with taller grass that made it easier to hide in. Jyren watched for a minute before taking off his gloves and tossing them up into the cockpit, then finally closing the thing. After climbing back down to the ground and straightening his old brown jacket out of nervousness, Jyren let out a long sigh and headed for the house.

When he reached the entrance, Jyren pressed the small call button next to the door. It beeped, and then he waited. Jyren only had to wait for a half minute before the door slid open to reveal an older man with greying brown hair and a simple shirt and trousers on. He was clean shaven and well tanned, obviously the type to be outside a great deal, and upon seeing Jyren, his expression seemed to change from somewhat annoyed to suddenly curious, “Can I help you...?”

So this was it.

Years of putting it off and ignoring it...and here he was. There was no turning back now.

After another deep breath, Jyren managed to find his voice, “Yes, sir, my name is ah...um...” he trailed off a long moment, suddenly blanking before his mind kicking the mouth into using the right one, “My name is Raan Maxwell.”

A wave of emotion washed over the man, and the expression on his face grew neutral. He stood there looking at Jyren for a long minute before finally saying, “I knew I recognized you...” there was another pause, and Jyren started to get more and more nervous. But then, the man reached up and patted his shoulder, motioning inside, “C’mon in, Raan, its good to finally meet you.”

Jyren followed where the man led him, eventually reaching a small room that looked to be the main living area. There were some chairs, a viewscreen, and other random things strewn about. Jyren had a seat in the chair offered to him, and the man sat across from him. When he sat, Jyren said, “I’m uh...sorry I didn’t do this sooner.”

“Its been nearly five years,” the older man responded with a nod, “We were...surprised that you didn’t show up at the ceremony.”

“Yes...well...” Jyren trailed off into a mumble and finally shrugged, “Listen, Mr. Mare, I’m...sorry.”

“Terek.”

“Huh?”

“That’s my name,” Terek Mare said with the first hint of a smile on his features. He then waved a hand at Jyren, “And you don’t have a damned thing to be sorry about. I know you wrote that long thing trying to explain how it was all your fault, but do you really think I didn’t make sure to get a hold of the official records, too?”

“No! No that’s not what I meant,” Jyren shook his head, trying to make sense of everything as it all became a thousand times more clouded, “I should have been here for the ceremony. I just...I just couldn’t do it then.”

Terek nodded, an understanding look on his face, then leaned forward some, “We actually tried to get in contact with you afterwards...but the New Republic said you left Starfighter Command and wouldn’t say anything else.”

“Yeah...” the young man just nodded, sighing and then forcing himself to look Terek in the eye, “It wasn’t exactly the best time for me. I...I did a lot of stupid things,” as he trailed off, it became obvious that the older man was going to try to say something, but Jyren waved a hand and quickly cut in, “Listen, I’m not here to tell you how bad things were. You had it worse, I know. She was your daughter.”

Again, Terek nodded, but he didn’t seem to be completely agreeing with Jyren, “None of us had it worse than anyone else. Liz was my daughter, yes, but...well, she talked a lot about you. In fact, it was all we ever heard about. It was hard on all of us, and it still is...but believe me, putting one of us below the other isn’t going to do a thing. Don’t worry about that now, Raan, just tell me what you need.”

“I don’t need anything,” Jyren shook his head, still finding it strange to respond to that name. He then quickly reached into his jacket and pulled out a handful of things and handed them to Terek, “I uh...kind of ended up with her things. I think you should have these.”

Taking the things from Jyren, the older man took a long time to look at all of them. The holoimage of her and Jyren...the random objects that everyone always seemed to have...and the datapad that was her journal. After a few quiet minutes, all of the objects were handed back to Jyren, “Keep them.”

“Wha...?”

“I’ve already got the image,” Terek said with a smile, pointing over to a table where an exact copy of it sat, “And the rest I think are better for you to keep.”

As Jyren took them back, suddenly lost as to what to do, the man spoke up again, “Its only been a few years, Raan...but if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were a decade older.”

“That bad, huh?” Jyren asked, almost grinning at that and finding a small mirror across the room to look at his face in. Yeah, he wasn’t that kid anymore. There were scars and scratches and...and the eyes didn’t look so happy. Or maybe just not as bright. Even his hair was scruffier. It didn’t help that the jacket had taken a worse beating than anything else over the years.

“Tell me,” the voice cut into Jyren’s thoughts and jolted him back into he moment, “Where have you been these last few years? From the way Liz talked, you aren’t the kind to just up and disappear like you did.”

“It’s a uh...long story.”

That actually got a smile out of the old man, “That was the first thing you wrote in the message to us after Liz died. It wasn’t exactly very long, either.”

Somehow, that got a smile from Jyren, too. He then added a shrug to it, “I’m just good at adding a little extra drama to things.”

“Alright, fine, you don’t have to tell me everything,” Terek shrugged and then glanced out one of the nearby windows that looked out across the field, “But I can probably make a few guesses. That little boy you’ve got with you definitely answers some things.”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Jyren shook his hands and his head, “Its not what you think. I mean...look at him!” he then looked around to look out the window, catching a glimpse of the black furred, blue-striped Tobias pouncing up and around a tree, “He’s not even human!”

Two very critical eyes turned to look back at Jyren, and Terek’s smile simply held its place, “I didn’t say it answers everything...but trust me on this, Raan, you look just like I did when Liz was young.”

The idea was left to hang in the air for a few minutes as the two of them watched Tobias through the window. After a while, though, Terek spoke up again, “You didn’t wait all these years to come out here and hand me a bunch of Liz’s things. Looks like you’ve got time to me, so why don’t you at least indulge me and tell me where you’ve been all these years?”

Jyren turned to look at the older man, but didn’t take very long to give in. He told Terek everything. Everything after Liz had died. From the darkest moments that hurt to even think about to that night on the Capital world in the Alraxian Empire with Shadow...to just hours earlier when he’d left Loki to get to the planet and go through with all of this. No details were left out, and it felt amazingly good to finally let someone know everything instead of having to keep it all in.

Once it was over and Jyren finally sat back, Terek looked over the young man very slowly, “Now I think I understand why it took you this long to get out here. Sounds to me like this is the first time you’ve had to actually sit in nearly five years.”

A smile slipped through Jyren’s defenses and he added a shrug to it, “That’s about right. But its not so bad...”

“If you’re worried about me being angry that you found someone other than my daughter, don’t be,” Terek shook his head and glanced over to the holo again, “Its important to accept that was has happened has already happened and cannot be changed. No, the pain will never go away, but you must learn to live with it and go on with your life...and, honestly, it sounds to me like you’ve done a good job with that. I know that Liz would be happy.”

Jyren’s eyes looked down at the floor before finally saying, “I guess I just don’t understand why I got a second chance...but she didn’t. She deserved one a thousand times more than I do.”

“Its not about who deserved anything,” Terek said simply, finally standing up and walking over to look out the window completely, “That’s just how life is. It can be gone or an instant or go on for who knows how long. There’s no sense in being angry because you were allowed to move on. No, its not fair, and yes, I want my daughter back as much as you do...but no amount of wanting will ever change that. Its something I had to learn, too...Jyren. What you do with your life is not anything to punish yourself about. Look out there. You say he’s not your real son, but really look. What do you feel? Does it even matter? That child right there is enough of a reason for you to live as anything else. How did you feel growing up without parents? Now look at him and ask yourself if you want the same for him...because if you continue to hang onto an event that is unchangeable, its going to happen.”

By now, Jyren was standing next to the man. He slowly nodded and watched as Toby rolled across some grass after some creature beneath the grass, “I understand...but still, there’s that feeling that comes back whenever I take too much time to think about it.”

“And that’s understandable,” Terek said, turning to face him, “But you learn to accept that, too. Its part of being...well, alive. Dealing with loss comes hand-in-hand with love. You can’t have one without the other, and no matter how much you seem to doubt yourself, you’ve done a damned good job standing up after being hit again and again.”

That actually brought the smile back to Jyren face, “I learned that from Liz. She never, ever let me fall behind on anything, whether I liked it or not.”

Patting him on the shoulder again, Terek returned the smile, “You see? She’s still right there with you, just not how you expected. And she always will be. I know that girl wasn’t Force Sensitive, but she was as stubborn as her mother...I know neither of them would ever let someone they loved go on without them, even if death tried to get in the way.”

There was a series of interesting curses from a few rooms over and a crash. A laugh escaped the old man and he pushed Jyren around to face the way he’d come in, “Speaking of my wife...listen, go get that little monster an bring him in. I know my wife would kill me if she didn’t get to meet you or the little one, and that means you aren’t getting out of here without being fed.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 332

Despite the fact that the galaxy was almost completely explored, save for some large areas of the Unknown Regions, there were still countless numbers of habitable but unoccupied planets strewn about every corner of the galaxy. Most had life of some kind, but just as many were devoid of anything but the ground and their atmosphere. Therefore, it was no surprise that one such planet wasn’t too terribly far off from Naboo...though it did happen to be a nice little coincidence that this one was only a few lightyears out.

It didn’t have a name...or at least, no name that Shadow knew of. The climate was about the same as on Alraxia, though a bit more on the rainy side with lush stretches of jungle across most of its surface. But there was one spot next to the shore of the single, huge ocean, that was cleared of anything but rock and dirt. A large hill overlooked the ocean below, and had not been empty for nearly...nearly ten standard years now.

That had been when she had first found the place. Ever since then, a small stone marker sat on top of the hill, with Alraxian words carved over its surface. Time had not faded them at all, and Shadow couldn’t help but be a little proud that the marks she’d made with her claws had stayed that well. The single stone, marking the grave of the smuggler who had taken her in after escaping from the Empire, had not been moved by a single thing in all of those years.

But now the marker was not alone. To its right, were two new ones, about the same shape and size and taken from the same rocks that littered the shoreline. Shadow had just finished carving into the second stone and putting it in its place before finally standing back and looking down at it all. A nameless planet who’s surface now contained three names.

Shadow knelt down next to the center stone and dusted off a little of the scrapings from her claw marks, making sure that it was readable...not that anyone would ever understand it. But that really wasn’t the point. The point was that it was there, it was clear, and it would never, ever go away. After it was fixed, she looked to the older of the three and sighed.

Max had died a good ten years ago, but she could still remember his face all too clearly. Middle aged and definitely looked it, with thinning hair and a few grey spots, Max had been well built and always wore the baggiest, piece of junk clothes that seemed to be held together more by sheer force of will than any actual threading. He had always been in a good mood, even when deals went bad...and always made it out with just a scratch. To remember it by, he would always say.

But then one day, a job went very bad. Shadow could close her eyes and stand there again, in the small tavern on Ord Mantell when the white-armored Stormtroopers marched in. It had felt like a bad deal from the beginning, but they had gone through with it anyway...so it hadn’t been too surprising to see the Imperial troops show up. What had been surprising, though, was the fact that two of the troopers carried repeating blaster rifles, and that at least two of the patrons in the bar were Imperial agents waiting behind them.

The ambush had been well planned, and Shadow had only made it out because of a quick misdirection thanks to her using the Force to ‘borrow’ a concussion grenade from one of the troopers. But when she made it out, Max wasn’t right there...and she knew right away that he hadn’t survived the initial blaster barrage that came at them from both sides. And later, she had gone in and retrieved his body before bringing it here.

Now, next to him, lay Jen Zaarin Voort...and next to her, a marker for Titus Voort. What had happened to his body, Shadow didn’t know, but he deserved the marker as much as the two others. But Jen was placed there, and despite the fact that Jyren had known her much better than Shadow had, she knew that this was something she needed to do herself. She had trained Jen, and because of that, Shadow took full responsibility for the human’s actions. It was not Jen’s fault that she was not ready...but Shadow’s for trying to push too hard, too fast.

Finally, Shadow sat down in front of all three markers and looked at them. For all she knew, this would be the last time she’d ever be on this planet...and ever see these markers. After this, it was back home. Back to where she needed to be. Yes, Shadow had done her best through the years to avoid going back to Alraxia, but it was time to stop hiding and accept who she was.

She was not Shadow...or Alrax...or Delta Three...she was Marix BlueIce, the Empress of the Alraxian Empire and leader of her people. They needed her. Despite how much she wanted to just stay away, they truly needed her, and nothing could replace that. While she would at least give Jyren the chance to stay back, she knew he wouldn’t. It was...comforting to know that he’d stay with her, even though he was even more detached from the Empire than she was.

It was strange, but a part of her was glad it was over. Glad for the opportunity to stop running to stay alive and be able to stop and relax, even if only for a short time. There had been one wonderful night back on the Capital world when she had felt that...despite the fact that it had only been a single night, and afterwards the attack had come and, in the days to follow, her mother, father, and closest friend had been killed. But the night before was calm and like nothing she’d ever even imagined...and, in all honesty, Shadow wouldn’t mind a few more of them.

Running a hand through her hair to pull the damned stuff out of her sight, Shadow got to her feet and actually allowed herself a smile. It would be something new. Not nearly as exciting as a fight or even a good run across a planet, but it would be new. Besides, after all these years of chaos and running and fighting and, ultimately being stuck on her own...that was over. Why not move on with it? It was impossible to tell what would happen, and it just might be worth all of the struggle to reach it. Then again, it might not...and that could be easily fixed by hitting Jyren across the head hard enough to get him to ‘play’.

[Loki, can you come pick me up now?] she asked, for once not actually looking up and instead keeping her gaze off across the water below.

The ‘voice’ answered in her head as if he was as close as usual, despite the fact that he was probably on the other side of the planet. [Be there in a minute. Where to next?]

Marix BlueIce looked down at the markers one last time before turning to the jungle behind her. [We’re going to meet Jyren and Toby at the Gate...then we’ll head home.]

The answer she gave seemed to actually surprise the ship. [For good...?]

[For a while, at least.] she started walking down the hill towards the larger open section of the shore where Loki could set down. [Now stop being slow and get over here. You’re obviously getting too bored without having Toby around to lock up and have yell at you.]

[Awww...how cute. You actually sound like you miss the little guy.] there was a grin in the mental voice now. [I wonder what Jyren would say if I let him know...]

Marix looked up at the sky above in the direction where Loki probably was and glared at it. [Shut up, Loki.]

Of course, the ship didn’t shut up. He knew well enough by now that when she said that was the perfect time to go on an all out attack. And, of course, Loki took full advantage of that. By the time they were in hyperspace, she was already threatening to end the ship’s life...just like the days when it had only been the two of them. It was another thing that part of her loved to remember. And, again, she couldn’t help but wonder if this would be it.

But Marix wasn’t Jyren, no matter how much his personality seeped through the link. She didn’t dwell on the could-have-been’s and what-if’s. Instead, she would simply move on and wait to see what would happen.

If anything, she knew that it was certainly going to be interesting.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 336

“You’re sure about this?” Marix asked quietly as she and Jyren looked out the viewport in Loki’s cockpit. In front of them, once again, was the large ring that guarded the entrance to Alraxian space. They had contacted the Knights that guarded the border and were told the shield would be taken down in the next few minutes.

Jyren sat forward in his usual seat to her left and peered out at the thing. After a moment, he turned to look her direction through the fringe of his hair that came over a good portion of the right side of his face, “Of course I am.”

She nodded and also leaned forward some, stretching slightly in the process. There was a slight pop sound from her back, and a cringe appeared on her face. That actually got a grin from Jyren, but her expression quickly became a sharp glare. No words were actually exchanged on that matter, even through the link. However, she did speak up after a few more seconds again, “This isn’t exactly going off for another adventure, Jyren.”

This time, he turned to face her completely, reaching up to brush the fringe out of his face so he could look at her more clearly, “I know. Really, though, do you think I’d let you go off on your own? Besides...it will be nice to have a break. I know I didn’t expect to come back so soon, but we’ve done what needed to be done...tied up all the loose ends on this side of the galaxy. We might as well clean up the mess we left back home.”

Home.

He’d said it before, but Marix could feel that he really meant it this time. She allowed herself a smile before reaching over to rest a hand on his, “You going to survive the formalities and the politics we’re going to be stuck dealing with?”

“We?” Jyren grinned and squeezed her hand, “You’re the Empress, remember? I get to sit back while you do all the work. The real question is, are you going to survive?”

“I did before,” Marix returned the grin and glanced towards the ring again, “And don’t think you’re completely off the hook. There’s no way I’m going to do all the work when you’re a perfectly good scapegoat for the grunt work.”

Jyren’s eyes went wide at that, though, for once, it was easy for Marix to detect the sarcasm, “Grunt work? I’m sorry, Shady, but Emperors don’t do grunt work.”

Getting her hand free of his, she poked him in the chest, “When I’m in charge they do.”

Out of no where, Jyren suddenly snatched her hand and tried to yank her across the cockpit to him. Thanks to the fact that Shadow was pretty much always ready for some kind of ‘attack’, it proved to be more difficult than he had expected...and ended up with her lurching halfway across the cockpit with a yelp, only to cut off Jyren’s laugh by pulling back. In a blur, he found himself face up on the deck between the two seats in the cockpit, looking up at Marix as she still hung slightly off of the side of her seat.

“That wasn’t funny,” Marix said through a very large grin.

Jyren’s face looked pretty much the same, except for a bit more surprise that he was now on the deck instead of in his seat, “You never let me have any fun, anymore.”

“None at all,” she agreed after finally letting go of his arm and allowing him to get back into the co-pilot’s chair.

After plopping back down and leaning all the way back, he glanced over to her and asked, “Is it going to be like last time? Or will we at least have a little peace and between all those damned formalities?”

Marix bit her lip and also leaned back, “It will be...much the same at first, I expect. I don’t think anyone expected either of us back so quickly. But afterwards things should...should calm down a little. I just hope the situation with the Mrrakesh can stay as calm as it is...”

“You and me both,” Jyren agreed with a nod, “I’ve seen what their ships can do and that was enough.”

The subject itself brought a somewhat tense silence to the cockpit. Jyren’s attention was still on Marix, and while that wasn’t all that out of the ordinary, it still made her a bit jumpy when he stared at her like that...not that she didn’t do the same to him a good amount of the time. That, of course, was not the point. The point was it was unnerving, yet at the same time she couldn’t bring herself to say a damned thing about it.

[The shield is down.] Loki’s ‘voice’ echoed in their minds for a long time before either of them actually reacted to it.

Marix was the first to, and she quickly sat up straight and looked to see that the blueish glow that usually sat in the center of the thing had faded. The path was clear now. As she reached down to rest her hands on the controls, Marix’s eyes turned back to where Jyren sat, “Last chance. There’s not going to be any turning back after we do this...”

“Your last chance, too,” Jyren said, sitting up and looking carefully out at the empty blackness that now inhabited the center of the ring.

The words actually hit her fairly strongly, and caused her to hesitate for a long minute. Then, shaking herself out of it, Marix whispered, “They need me. They need us...” trailing of a moment, she once again looked over to Jyren, “This isn’t something we can just avoid. There is a Council and changes are coming, but that means that need their Empress even more. Even if the position loses its power...they’ll need me. Some stability to look to and know that the Empire is safe...that they are safe.”

Jyren nodded slowly, reaching over again and resting his hand on hers, half holding the controls as she did, “Then we’ll be there and do that.”

For a long time, they sat in silence again, and once again, Marix seemed to be actually afraid of going anywhere. Quietly still, she asked, “You’re really sure about this?”

Suddenly, Jyren was very glad that the seats were able to move around the cockpit fairly freely. It allowed him to slide right over to her without any trouble. Carefully, and knowing it was still slightly unnerving for her, Jyren brought his other hand up and rested it on her cheek while looking her straight in the eyes, “I’ll follow you anywhere.”

The words were simple, and truthful, but there was so much more in them that Marix found through the link. All of the feelings and thoughts that went along with the simple words flowed through at the same time, and she knew exactly what he meant, and exactly how serious he was when he said it. A smile again returned to her face, and she gently rubbed her cheek against his hand a moment before opening her mouth to say something and finding herself unable to say anything at all. When she realized this, though, Marix didn’t just sit there like an idiot as Jyren seemingly enjoyed doing, but just nodded instead.

In another few minutes, Loki made the jump to hyperspace...straight to Alraxia.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Part V
Chapter 337

“Six, you’ve got two on your tail!” the voice was young, of course, and vaguely human sounding...probably male.

“This is Four, there’s another three coming around from behind that asteroid!” this was definitely not human, and had a watery quality to it that identified the speaker as, most likely, a Mon Calamari.

“Asteroids don’t move like that!” the first voice returned quickly, though there was a scream a second later from another.

“Shields are out! I need some help!!”

“Hang on, Five, I’m on my way!” it was the Mon Calamari again, sounding frantic all of a sudden.

“There’s hundreds of them!” female, definitely, and most likely humanoid...with a slight Coruscanti accent in the voice.

“Just protect the refugees!” it was a new voice, firm and strong, and probably someone in charge, but beyond that, there was no way to attach any kind of picture to the speaker, as it was such a generic ‘Command’ voice.

“Break away! There’s too many!” another new voice, but this one was cut off by another yell from another voice before any identification could be made.

“The transports are ready to make the jump to lightspeed,” it was the ‘Command’ voice again, “Get yourselves ready and get out now!”

There was the slightest of pauses and only crackling static remained...and then...

“I can’t jump!!” it was the first voice again, “There’s some kind of gravity well but there’s no damned planet!!”

“The second wave is coming in!” yet another new voice with a very unique pitch to it chimed in, but then it all faded into something else entirely. No single voices could be heard...instead, the entire thing became a series of screams, muffled explosions, and even worse noises that sounded like bones breaking that should never, ever be heard over a comm.

“That’s enough!” Jyren finally growled, looking to his right to where Marix sat in a disturbingly calm way despite what they were listening to, “Turn that damned thing off!”

The last thing that escaped the comm was a static-filled cry before Marix reached over and switched it off, drowning Loki’s cockpit in a wave of pure silence. They sat there in their usual spots eyes looking out the viewport and to the distant black...where, somewhere not too far away, the massacre went on, despite the fact that they were no longer listening.

Finally, Marix sat back and turned to look at Jyren, idly taking note of the fact that he looked much better after she’d finally managed to convince him to stop trying to look so scruffy. Sure, he still had that fringe hanging down over the right side of his face, but at least now it was trimmed and looked nice, and the hair wasn’t piling up at his neck like the fur of some angry beast. Telling him that it didn’t suit an Emperor to look scruffy had taken a long time to actually get through the always-thick skull of his, and it had finally been accomplished through a joint effort with his father. But that had been...years ago now, though it felt like only days.

“If we try to get involved, we’ll just die, too,” Marix said eventually, knowing exactly what her ever-idealistic husband was thinking before even he did...well, normally before he did. He had actually been thinking about that for the last few days, and it was the whole reason they were out here now. After a sigh, she turned to look out the viewport again, “Remember, we only came out here to get an idea of the situation.”

Jyren pointed at the comm device over in front of where she sat, “If that didn’t give you a pretty good idea, I don’t know what will.”

To his surprise, Marix actually nodded. Despite all the years together, she still had a way of reacting exactly how he didn’t expect she would. Sometimes, Jyren wondered if she just did it on purpose...and, whether he knew it or not, he was actually right. Slowly, she reached up and ran a hand through her hair(which, unlike his, was generally unchanged) and idly scratched a spot behind her ear, “That asteroid was a ship.”

“I’ve seen the scout’s reports, too,” Jyren said flatly, obviously not in a good mood with any of this. Truthfully, it wasn’t for no reason, “You’d think the New Republic would be ready for this kind of thing after two months.”

Marix just shrugged, “They got too comfortable. You should know as well as I do by now that two standard months can seem like an eternity in politics.”

There was much more to that than was initially obvious, and it took Jyren a moment to pick up on the hidden message. When he did, he raised and eyebrow and looked over to her again, “So you’re worried about this, too?”

“Concerned,” she corrected, raising a hand at the same time, “But at least now we’ve got more of a reason to have left rather than just trying to escape the Palace for a few days...” the words trailed off before Marix sighed, then added, “This is too close to us, Jyren.”

“Could it explain why the Mrrakesh have been so jumpy on the border lately?” he asked idly. It wasn’t a new thought, and, in fact, it had been one he’d thrown around a lot...but Marix had never actually given him a straight answer to it before.

Yet again, though, she just shrugged, “It might, but the timing’s a bit off. We’ll have to keep an eye on that end of things, too.”

And then, a natural silence returned to the cockpit. This one, however, lasted only a few minutes. It was ended by Loki chiming in with a somewhat worried tone. [The ah...battle is moving towards us.]

“What?” Jyren was the first to say what they both were about to. He looked down a moment at the small navcomputer he’d managed to convince Loki to install a few years back before shaking his head, “Where the hell are they trying to go?”

“Can’t jump to hyperspace...” Marix said softly to herself, thinking out loud more than anything, “Escorting refugees...running. But it would be a long run to anywhere out here.”

“Dantooine’s close,” Jyren said after a moment of looking closer, “Nothing there at all, though. Don’t see how that would help.”

Again, Marix shrugged, but sat forward some and said simply, “Either way, it doesn’t matter. We’re not getting involved in this fight. Loki, turn us around and plot us a course out of here.”

[To...?]

Marix turned to look to Jyren, and they held a single look for a short time. They would be expected back at the Palace by the end of the day on Alraxia...which was quickly approaching. However, neither of them really wanted to go back all that much. There were only a few small(literally and metaphorically) things that tied them to that place. It was Jyren who decided to be the irresponsible one first though, since she was the Empress and it wouldn’t look good even if no one was looking, “They could do without us for another few days...”

A long time ago, that would have convinced the both of them in a matter of seconds. But now there were...other things on both of their minds. Slowly, the both of them went through the usual motions of making sure just how long they’d been gone and if the Empire would fall about without them. Then, even more slowly, Marix said quietly, “...just a few more days.”

After they both nodded one more time, she looked back up ‘to’ Loki and said, “Ord Mantell isn’t too far from here.”

Jyren nodded again, but it was obvious he had another idea. She gave the poke through the link and, without hesitation, he said, “I’d like to go somewhere else, actually...”

“Out with it, already,” she grumbled, still constantly annoyed by his ever present use of stalling tactics. She’d have thought he’d have known by now that those only made her more angry than if he’d just step out and say what he was wanting to say.

“What about Yavin?”

That brought another silence to the ship.

Marix regarded the Alraxian sitting next to her for a long time, both with her eyes and through their shared link, before saying slowly, as she did when talking to children, “You are sure about that? You do remember the last time you tried talking with them...?”

Jyren responded with a fairly quick nod, “But it’s the safest place I can think of and...”

That thought didn’t take a genius to finish, even without the link. Marix rolled her eyes and sighed, “And you want to help if you can. Dammit, Jyren, its always the same. Didn’t you just say not a week ago that you were enjoying the lack of constant threat of death hanging over our heads?”

“Yes, but—“

”But this is different,” she finished for him, shaking her head and going on, “And it is. Fine. Loki, plot a course to Yavin and get us out of here before we get stuck, too.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 338

Ten standard years was, for Humans, a long time. For an Alraxian, however...it most definitely was not. Well, at least not when looked back at even more years later and realizing it was just a blink in time over a long life. Living through it, though, brought a different perspective to things that was actually not all that different from the way any species saw things. So yes, maybe ten standard years was a long time. With it had come so many changes that neither Jyren nor Marix could count. They could name the important things easily, but so much always happened that was only important in the moment and never afterwards.

But what they looked at now was obviously not something to be ignored. One of the major changes that Marix had brought as Empress was a gradual reduction in the isolationist attitudes of the Alraxians and the other species that lived in the Empire. This meant scouts, small trading vessels, and other little things would periodically leave and come back...though it also meant that the security for the single hyperspace route into the Empire was upped even more than it had been for the previous thousands of years. And thanks to the scouts, especially, reports of the goings-on in the rest of the galaxy were able to make their way to the Empress.

Two standard months earlier, they recieved a report of some kind of attack on a world called Helska. Even Jyren didn’t know the place, but when he found it on the navcomputer and realized just how close it was to Alraxian space compared to most events in the galaxy, it became worrying. This was only added to the fact that, very quickly, this single attack turned into what looked to be a full scale invasion. It had been fought back then...but now it looked like it had been only the initial force attempting to gain a foothold. And despite the fact that the invaders had been thrown back and their foothold on Helska removed, it should have been no surprise to see what was most likely the main force charge in not two months later.

And it was coming from outside the galaxy itself. This was what worried them so much. These invaders, these Yuuzhan Vong, as they were apparently called, were charging straight into the galaxy at a point very, very close to Mrrakesh space. Adding to the fact that, in the last few months, the Alraxian-Mrrakesh border was the location of many more skirmishes than usual, this had both Jyren and Marix worried that the invaders were pushing from there, too. And that meant a threat to the Empire...which was why they had left to see for themselves just how things were going in the rest of the galaxy.

So far, though, it was hard to tell much. They had found the planet Dubrillion under attack and that was where they listened to the New Republic comms. From the look of it, the Yuuzhan Vong were heading Coreward, straight past the small patch of the Imperial Remnant that remained nearby, and, so far, away from the Mrrakesh and Alraxians as far as could be seen.

The fact that it looked like the attack was not the direct reason for the border disputes was the main reason why Marix and Jyren decided it was okay to stay away from home for a few more days. The Empire itself would be fine, of course, and it was stupid to think otherwise...but it was the small things that gripped both of their attention much more. And also a large part of the reason the both of them had trouble tearing themselves away from the Palace lately.

But a few days would be alright. With their home out of immediate danger, they could worry a little less and focus on a little more recon. The side trip to Yavin IV would just be an added attempt by Jyren to gain a little help from the growing Jedi Order. He’d tried to do the same roughly six years before, only to be treated like a violent, dangerous person who treated a lightsaber like a toy. That, of course, meant he didn’t stay long, since by then Jyren was long past those childish days. He had simply wanted...a little assistance. A little insight. Just another view, really, as he had come to see the Force very close to the Alraxians did...fluid, open, and not just one single thing that the Jedi seemed to believe it was, though he still refused any attempt that Marix made to open him up to more uses of the Force. Most of which were at best, borderline unnecessary, and at worst, blatantly aggressive. While he was definitely no real Jedi, Jyren still drew the line, for himself at least, there.

It was important to him, though. Important mainly due to the fact that Tobias had become more and more interested in the Jedi over the years, and Jyren at least had to check out what was really going on with them and if things were...were right. Not that Tobias was going to be a Jedi, of course, he was still young(though definitely not a tiny child)...but Jyren at least wanted to see. And, despite the ever growing tension in the Force that was rising in the months since the Yuuzhan Vong first appeared, he felt it was worth trying one more time...hoping that the Jedi would be like before, and at the same time that the planet wouldn’t be the next target for the invasion force that neither he nor Marix wanted to get involved in...

...for the moment, at least.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 339

In many ways, Yavin IV was a lot like Alraxia. The temperature was warm, it was very humid by Human standards, and the thick jungles that covered the entire surface made it so much like the Alraxian homeworld that the only way to tell the difference was the lack of extremely dangerous predators. Well, that and the only buildings were pretty much ruins, where Alraxia at least had the Palace and its surrounding area that was enclosed in the large shield to protect the city from the predators of the planet.

As Loki set down in the small clearing in front of the Great Temple that served as the main building for the Jedi Academy, Marix carefully watched the approach of a few New Republic troops in addition to the Jedi that were coming to greet them. She sighed and glanced to Jyren, “It would probably be a good idea to not tell them that Loki is alive.”

“Agreed,” he nodded and then patted the bulkhead next to him, “I get the feeling that they wouldn’t take too kindly to that idea. It feels tense enough out there, probably best not to add anything we don’t have to.”

Just as he was speaking, Marix was acting accordingly. It took barely a second, but soon she was considerably shorter, and there was a definite lack of tail also...and lack of stripe. In fact, she was Human. The same she’d always looked as a Human: relatively short, with short, straight, jet-black hair and a small build. After giving him a long, slow look that was just as effective in any form(as somehow, her eyes seemed to actually grow more piercing as a Human) Jyren gave in and followed suit. It was...strange to be Human again, really. While he knew his Alraxian body had changed, even if it was really just the length of his hair, the morphs were always the same...unless, of course, effort was thrown in.

But because that little extra effort was, technically, unnecessary it wasn’t used...and that meant Jyren looked exactly the same he had close to eleven years earlier. Thankfully, it wasn’t such a young look that people would get suspicious. He had been at the right age to be able to look like that for a long time and get away with it without much more than a careful look from a few people.

“I guess I get to do the talking this time,” Jyren mumbled as he followed her out of the cockpit.

Marix glanced over her shoulder and smiled, “For once. Just don’t get us killed.”

“I never do that on purpose, thank you,” he grumbled while they rounded a corner in the corridor to the hatch.

“Of course not,” she rolled her eyes as she spoke while reaching over to hit the switch to open the hatch, “It just happens that you have a way of getting people to shoot at you before you say ‘hello’.”

Jyren grinned and shrugged, “What can I say? A special talent of mine.”

And the conversation ended there. Not that much else needed to be said...it was nothing new. If it went on much longer it would end up in something that most people would call a brawl, but Marix and Jyren had a habit of calling ‘fun’. They never really meant to cause harm...but if the other didn’t move fast enough...

“This is not exactly the best time for visiting,” the thoughts were cut off by the strong voice of Kam Solusar. He was one of the Jedi that Jyren remember very clearly...and, truthfully, was hard to forget. He was tall, strong, and despite probably being close to middle-aged, didn’t look it one bit. He wore simple robes that most of the Jedi seemed to have adopted over the years and had his arms folded across his chest.

Jyren stepped up next to Marix and found that he had to look up slightly to be eye to eye with the Jedi...which was a good way to avoid the six New Republic troopers that were eyeing them closely, “I assume you greeting me like this means that Skywalker isn’t here.”

Solusar raised an eyebrow but shook his head, “If I’d known it was you I’d have brought more, actually. And no, Master Skywalker isn’t here but it has nothing to do with this security.”

“Right,” Jyren added just enough sarcasm to show he wasn’t happy, which was, of course, nothing new. But then he changed to a more casual tone, “I’m not here for another fight, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

The Jedi’s eyes darted down for a moment to the lightsaber on Jyren’s belt, but then back up to his eyes, obviously trying to read him. This became even more apparent when Jyren felt a slight brush in the Force, which he did his best to push back...too much of that and the strong connection he had with Marix might be noticed. That was just one of those things that both he and Marix knew was best to avoid. Sure, they could explain it off with as the Force, but it wasn’t and that could be easily noticed if looked at just a little more carefully.

The moment passed, and the Jedi then asked, “Then what are you doing here?”

Jyren glanced to Marix for a moment, then back to Solusar, “We need a safe place to stay for a couple of days.”

Such a simple request, but the tension in the air still remained. After another long check through the Force, Kam asked, “Forgive me for being surprised that you’d come here.”

This time it was Marix who spoke up, now annoyed with the hidden meanings being passed back and forth without anyone getting directly to the point, “You can just say ‘no’ and we’ll find somewhere else.”

There was a certain tone to that sentence that put a wave of silence over the area. After finally seeming to notice that she was even there, Kam sighed and shook his head, “You came here because you knew we wouldn’t say that.”

“See?” Marix sighed back, “Simple as that.”

Now fully turning to face her, the Jedi looked down to find her staring right back with much more intensity than should have been possible. It actually got a slight smile to his face, “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

“And if that’s an attempt to get more information out of us then I’d suggest giving up right now,” she rolled her eyes and glanced over to Jyren. He was actually grinning now, which didn’t exactly help things. But that was Jyren, of course...never helping. She then looked back to the Jedi and added, “Though if it helps, we won’t stay long. Just long enough until we’re sure its safe in this part of the galaxy to go home.”

It was actually a large amount of information, but worded just right to bury any questions meant to dig deeper. Marix had learned the fine art of giving just enough information to satisfy people without giving away anything at all. And it definitely worked from the look that came over Kam’s face. He seemed to relax and actually nodded before motioning towards the Great Temple, “You may not have picked the best planet, then.”

“I guess I wouldn’t be able to have a look at the latest reports,” Jyren said as he fell into step next to the Jedi. Marix was right next to him, and the troops, unsurprisingly, followed relatively close behind.

Looking over to Jyren, Kam Solusar actually looked neutral on the suggestion before saying, “Depends on where you call home.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 340

It was still somewhat unnerving to see all of the Jedi that were actually present at the Academy. Sure, most of them were children or, at least, very young, but there was something in the air beyond the tension in the Force that made it...different than any other place either Marix or Jyren had been.

“For the moment,” Kam Solusar was saying, “We’re safe here.”

They were in a fairly large room that had probably once housed some kind of command room, but was now more of an open area with a few computer consoles here and there. The center had a large holoprojector, and above it was a map of the galaxy, with a small red blur representing the current, short, path that the invading Yuuzhan Vong were taking. Jyren was actually surprised that they were being shown this much, but it was probably due to...other reason beyond just being friendly.

It was Marix that shook her head and reached up to touch the holo where the Imperial Remnant was, “They deviate just slightly one way and they’ll take the Remnant easily...the other way...” she trailed her finger over to the other side of the red, “...and they go straight through here.”

The Jedi nodded, “There is a reason for the defense we have...however, there isn’t any strategic gain for taking this system.”

“Resources,” Jyren cut in, thinking out loud, “Help them gain what they need to push for the Core.”

That brought about an uneasy silence...not because of what he’d said, but because of the assumption he was making. A worried look flashed across Kam’s face for a quick second before disappearing to a neutral one again when he carefully asked, “Why do you think they’re pushing for the Core?”

Jyren took a deep breath, not wanted to outright say that he and Marix had sources with the same intelligence reports that the New Republic had, and instead tried a different angle, “Its what I would do. Hit the government center of the galaxy and throw everything else into chaos. Simple divide and conquer strategy.”

The worried look returned quickly to the Jedi, and this time it seeped through his voice. But instead of asking another foolish question, he went straight for the important point, “You know how long they’ve had scouts here.”

Deciding it wasn’t worth arguing, Jyren just nodded, but before an accusation could be made, he quickly added, “Again, simple strategy. Learn about your enemy before you attack. I believe they’ve already proven that they aren’t idiots.”

Slowly, the Jedi nodded again, but this time reached down and switched off the holo. With the blue-green light of the galaxy gone from the room, it was fairly dark again...not that it bothered any of them. Silence hung in the room for a long few minutes as they stood there thinking, but it was Kam that broke it with something that Jyren had not actually expected.

“You should stay here.”

The idea was so different from his last encounter with these Jedi that it threw Jyren off completely, “Wha...?”

Marix, however, was not that easily lost, and said simply, “He can’t.”

Kam’s eyes turned to Marix, “I meant both of you. Obviously you’ve both got a good amount of training and the Jedi Order could use your skills”

“We can’t,” Marix folded her arms over her chest and tried to ignore that Jyren was still catching up, “We have...other responsibilities.”

She was polite enough not to insult them or even hint at other beliefs in how the Force worked, but that was due to the fact that she really was not in the mood for this kind of discussion. It was not a discussion, as they simply could not, and would not, do it. There were too many risks, both in staying away from the Empire and the possibility of being discovered as more than just Human. The latter being the most worrying, as it would bring up many questions as to who they really were and where they came from and then...with a little checking, the fact that bounties were still out on a Shadow and Akan would be easy to discover.

But the Jedi did not seem to be at all hurt by this stance, and simply stood up straight and motioned towards the turbolift, “I can’t make you stay. But I know everyone here would appreciate any assistance you could give...or take. However, that is up to you and I won’t push it anymore...” he trailed off then read the both of them perfectly, “Now I believe I should show you to some empty quarters. With most of the Knights out doing their best to protect people its left us a little light here...not that you should expect to be able to just drop in anytime. This isn’t a resort.”

“I know,” it was Jyren who answered for the both of them as they all stepped into the turbolift, “But it’s a safe place in a dangerous part of the galaxy these days. With all of the tension towards Force-users in general lately its good to be able to rest safely on a planet instead of in a ship. And I’m very sorry, Kam, but I am not the kind of person you’d want in the Order. Neither of us are. We do things our own way, and many times I know that even non-Jedi would raise an eyebrow.”

Right on cue, Kam raised his eyebrow at that, “I can’t help but wonder why you’re telling me that, of all things.”

“Because while we may not be staying, we won’t just abandon people if this war grows,” Jyren put an ‘if’ where he knew a ‘when’ should have gone...but for some reason he felt the need to ignore what was going to happen and put a slight note of hope in there. It was definitely something he wouldn’t have done many years ago. He sighed and waited for the turbolift to stop and open to a small corridor before adding, “And if its needed, you’ll have my blade at your side to help.”

If the Jedi made a response as he showed them to their quarters, neither Marix nor Jyren heard it...mainly because of what Jyren had just said. Through the link, Marix growled. [I should have known you’d try something like that. You know we can’t get involved in this!]

Jyren waited until the door was closed behind them in the meager quarters before turning to face Marix and responding. [And you know that I can’t just sit back and watch this war spread. You, of all Alraxians, should know how bad it is to be an isolationist! You’ve even stopped most of it and opened up the people! How can you think about sitting back and hiding at a time like this?]

There was silence through the link for a long moment, but finally Marix said. [Because this is not like before. This is not personal...this is not our fault. This is war, Jyren, and not like anything either of us or our people have ever experience before. If we get involved in this, we may never get out.]

[And we may not have a choice...] Jyren ‘said’, adding an outward sigh before taking a step closer and drawing her into a hug.

Marix sighed, too, and leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder(well, as best she could manage with the current height difference) before saying very quietly, “Knowing our luck we won’t.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 341

“Is it just me, or are we surrounded by children?” Jyren whispered as quietly as he could manage as he and Marix walked through what had once been the huge main hangar for the Temple. Now it was a mix of that and some training areas from the looks of things. The night had been fairly quiet, considering the situation, but it seemed like the Jedi had a habit of getting up long before Yavin’s star even thought about rising over the moon’s horizon. Not that this was horrible to either of them, but sleep was...well, a nice thing and not something either Marix nor Jyren were able to get much of lately.

Marix couldn’t help a slight yawn before grumbling, “Weren’t we trying to get away from that?”

“My thoughts exactly,” he trailed off, though, after hearing an interesting sound that turned his vision off to the open hangar door. The sunlight was a bit weak at this hour, but it was enough and the gas giant, Yavin, did a good amount of help in illuminating its moon. A young human, probably in his early teens, and a similarly aged Bothan were putting on blast helmets, while two other apprentices, a Rodian and a Duros, were stepping back and rubbing their sides. It took Jyren a moment to notice the small, floating pair of Remote Droids and that the apprentices were also handing over deactivated lightsabers.

Jyren actually couldn’t help stopping not far away to watch, and Marix walked straight on without him for a good thirty paces before realizing he’d stopped. She returned to roll her eyes at him and then a strange curiosity gripped her and she, too, turned to watch the young Jedi attempting to blindly deflect blaster bolts with lightsabers. An older Jedi, probably a Master from the way he held himself, stood back and watched carefully, but was remaining generally silent throughout the exercise...even when the students failed to deflect a shot and yelped in surprise when they were stung by the low powered bolts.

Almost out of no where, Jyren added to where he’d trailed off before, “At least they’re just watching us.”

That actually got a short laugh from Marix, who couldn’t help a nod, though her eyes were still focused on the Force training in front of them, “You mean instead of pouncing you, screaming to play, removing any chance at a full night’s sleep, and requiring nearly full time attention?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were taking a shot at me,” Jyren said as, coincidentally, the human student missed a deflection on a blaster bolt but actually managed to jump to the side and out of the way to avoid it still.

This time, Marix did turn to look up at him, catching the slight grin on his face but keeping her own face neutral, “You do no better. In fact, you know that if I was taking a shot at you I’d have a blaster.”

Jyren’s grin grew, “If I was lucky.”

“See?” she finally grinned, too, before patting his shoulder, “You do no better.”

Silence never came over the entirety of the hangar...nor the jungle outside. So even though both Marix and Jyren went quiet, the world around them didn’t come anywhere close to it. There was the thrumming of the lightsabers, general movement around the hangar and a series of very interesting noises coming from outside that hangar that were most likely some kind of animal...but it sure wasn’t like any sound either of them had ever heard before. But soon, the movement began to overwhelm the other sounds. Footsteps that grew into faster walking and, soon, there was running. Voices were growing and words were spreading and the Force was somehow growing more tense every moment.

Marix was the first to turn around and see the gathering of Jedi around a holoprojector. Knowing something was definitely bad, she grabbed Jyren’s arm and dragged him over to the crowd, poking him roughly until he got the idea that he was going to have to do the looking because even though there were mostly children here, there were still enough people taller that got in her way. But even Jyren couldn’t make out exactly what was going on...beyond the fact that it was some kind of feed from the Holonet. Closer to it the device were the majority of who Jyren recognized to be the few Jedi Masters that stayed on Yavin IV as teachers.

It wasn’t long before one of the Masters, a white haired woman who Jyren didn’t even know the name of, spoke up to calm the group. Her voice was calm, somewhat soothing, and had an interesting song-like quality to it, “Back to your exercises, everyone.”

It was...amazing how such few words delivered in just the right way were so effective. In a matter moments, the students dispersed, heading off to where they’d come from but, of course, talking about whatever it was they had seen at the same time. A few of the older students(who were probably Knights or at least close to it) stayed, as did all of the Masters...all six of them. And, of course, neither Marix nor Jyren went anywhere.

That got them some stares, but when the two of them were able to very easily match every single one of them, Kam Solusar waved a hand to get everyone’s attention before saying quietly, “This should have waited.”

A male Twi’lek in rather boring looking robes bowed his head and said softly, “I apologize, Master. I was merely attempting to check that it had not been damaged.”

“What’s done is done,” Master Solusar nodded to the Twi’lik before looking at one of the other Jedi, “We’ll need to contact Master Skywalker to confirm this...please meet me in the briefing room in half an hour.”

There was a series of nods and the remainder of the crowd dispersed...well, again, except for the two outsiders, who both could tell that certain words were being held back because of their presence. It was interesting to note, however, that Master Solusar stood there next to the holoprojector, idly watching the nothing that was being shown now.

After a few minutes, as things seemed to have returned to normal, he said quietly, “The Vong are moving...Dantooine has fallen. Master Skywalker believes they’re heading straight for Ithor.”

Normally, that might have brought about some kind of silence, but instead, for Jyren, it brought a question, “Why do you want to talk with Skywalker if he sent you a message?”

“If Ithor is attacked, we’re cut off,” Kam said softly, and it started to make a lot more sense all of a sudden.

It was Marix who spoke up next, latching onto a small piece of information one of their scouts had reported not long before the two of them had left Alraxia, “I thought the New Republic was denying the existence of the Vong.”

“They are,” the Jedi Master nodded and shrugged slightly, “Master Skywalker has gone to Coruscant to attempt to change that.”

Jyren nodded slowly, a thousand thoughts running through his mind and at least a few starting to take a strong grip on him despite his knowledge that it would be stupid to attempt pretty much any of them. From the link, this was calmed and in a moment he gave in to what he had to do rather than what he wanted to do. With a sigh, he said, “I hope it goes well for him.”

“For a moment there, I thought you were going to actually be staying,” the Jedi answered with his own sigh, but managed a polite smile. It was still surprising how much he seemed to want the two of them to stay there. Maybe it was just to have another person to help them fight a fight that couldn’t be too far off from the way things looked.

A careful glance was shared between Jyren and Marix before she shook her head and answered the unspoken ‘why’ that was hidden at the end of Kam’s sentence, “If you’re right about the path they are taking, then we need to leave now before we are cut off from our home.”

“Really...?” Master Solusar seemed to be very interested in the slight hint that was given without being meant to, “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me where home is, though.”

“No,” Marix said simply, before bowing politely and turning around to head back to where Loki sat outside the hangar.

But Jyren didn’t follow. He stayed and after a deep breath, reached into his jacket pocket. He then stepped over to the Jedi Master and handed him a small comm device, “If it gets worse...use that and you can get a hold of us.”

Before the Jedi Master could say anything, Jyren turned around and headed after Marix...back home again.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 342

“You gave him what?!” Marix’s voice was surprisingly calm considering that her tone could probably have destroyed entire fleets.

“My comlink,” Jyren answered for the third time, trying not to incite any more anger than he already had by being as neutral as possible. They were sitting in their usual, comfortable seats in Loki’s cockpit. There had actually been a long conversation with Loki not twenty minutes earlier about the whole war that was going brewing in the remainder of the galaxy. But then they passed through the Gate to the Empire and made their second jump to Alraxia...Jyren had decided that was the best time to bring up what he’d hidden.

Loki had gone...suspiciously silent after Jyren had first brought it up and, honestly, Jyren couldn’t blame the ship. It was the smart thing to do, and he’d do the same if he could have. But, instead, he had Marix glaring turbolasers at him and almost completely at a loss for words. Almost working it out herself, she said, “You gave that Jedi your comlink. The one we modified to transmit an Alraxian security code to the Knights that guard the Gate so that the message will go directly to the Palace.”

Jyren simply nodded in response.

There was a short pause where she continued to just stare at him, then she let out a long sigh, “Jyren we’re having enough trouble opening up the damned Empire slowly! Now you’ve given some random Jedi, who is definitely nothing like the Jedi in our history, direct access to our home! The second he uses that the word will get out and people will go crazy!”

“I was just some random Jedi!” Jyren suddenly snapped, “By the Force, I never even was a Jedi and these people latched onto me anyway!”

“This could pull the entire Empire into a war that even the Mrrakesh aren’t equipped to fight!” Marix yelled back at him, “We can barely hold our borders against them and now we could be dragged into a galactic conflict with powers that make the Mrrakesh look like children!”

“I did it so he could contact me, not the Empire!” by now, he was yelling back.

Marix bit her lip and did her best not to throw something at him, “How can you still be so damned stupid after so many years?! You are me and I am the Empire! You get involved, I get involved, everyone gets involved!”

“I can’t just sit in the Palace and listen to our scouts reporting what world has fallen next!” Jyren growled back, just as angry all of a sudden(mostly due to the link, of course, which definitely had a habit of making arguments even more heated than they should have been), “You’ve felt the same thing I have! This is not something we can just ignore. These Vong are prepared, and they are something that the New Republic has never dreamed of seeing. They will keep plowing over world after world while that damned government sits back and claims they don’t know a think!”

“And you can’t stop them!” Marix snapped back, a bit more quietly but still just as angry, “The galaxy will have to deal with this on their own. That is what the Jedi are supposed to be doing. Protecting people.”

Jyren sighed and shook his head, “There aren’t enough Jedi for that.”

Marix raised a finger, “One person won’t tip the odds to their side.”

And then they went silent. She was right, of course. About everything. He was just one person, and no matter how idealistic he may still have been, no amount of that could save a galaxy on its own. But at the same time, it wasn’t so easy to just sit there and watch...not that Marix didn’t understand. She, however, had always been much better at thinking with her brain rather than her hearts. That was Jyren’s specialty, and was the reason they usually ended up in trouble...but also, a good amount of the time, why they got out of trouble.

But things were so much more complicated now than they were ten years earlier. Then, maybe, he could have run off to fight this fight and she would have been right there with him the whole time. But now...now it wasn’t a good idea for either of them to go. And, whether Jyren liked it or not, it applied to him as much as it did to her.

An hour of silence passed as they both drifted into their own thoughts while casually watching the lines of hyperspace in front of them. But, finally, Jyren said quietly, “Have you ever been to Ithor?”

“Once,” Marix answered just as quietly, her eyes still looking off into no where, “About a year before we met. Had to pick up some kind of food supplies for transport to some blockaded planet.”

“What was it like?”

“Ithor?” Marix turned to look over to him and, when he nodded, went on, “A lot like home, really. The forests were...amazing. I just wish they would have let me down on the ground but it takes some long ritual and a lot of approvals to even fly a speeder over it. They’re...very protective of their home.”

Jyren nodded, smiling slightly as he couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the Ithorians an the Alraxians. He let out a long sigh before shaking his head and whispering, “I want to help them, Shady. I need to. I know you don’t want me to, and I know its not exactly the best idea considering things but...but I need to.”

Slowly, Marix reached over and took his hand in hers, “Lets just get home...we’ll worry about this later.”

Jyren smiled and squeezed her hand and managed a nod, “Deal.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 343

They returned to Alraxia to the usual controlled chaos of the Palace. It was amazing how many things would pile up after only a few days. Sure, there were people that were supposed to be dealing with those things, but somehow most came to the conclusion that it was best for the Empress to settle. Despite all the changes that were attempted, the Alraxians ha a habit of still falling back to that...which was only more proof that simply escaping the Empire and leaving a council in place would only last for as long as it had the last time...weeks.

But there were more than just government matters to be dealt with. In fact, those were the least of importance to both Marix and Jyren. Somehow, they also fairly easy to escape, at least when the Empress was around to be looked at. And besides, even the Alraxian people had a way of respecting that certain things simply had to come before the government, even for the Empress.

“You need to talk to him,” Marix said over her shoulder, not taking her attention off of the view from the window in front of her. They were in Blackflame territory, far to the south of the Palace and in the part of Alraxia that was much more fields and hills than the forests of the north where the Palace was located.

“If he won’t listen to you, he surely won’t listen to me,” Navik Keros responded from across the room in his home. The two of them were in his study, which was now much more cluttered than it had been years ago when Jyren had first seen it.

Marix sighed and turned back to face the older Alraxian, noting that he really didn’t look much older at all. Years were, generally, fairly kind to most Alraxians. She idly walked over to the desk near the back wall of the study and rested an arm on it, her eyes looking at the many holos that sat on top of it, “He likes to fight with me more than anything.”

That actually got a short laugh out of Jyren’s father, who smiled and shrugged before walking over to the desk, too, “Sometimes it scares me how much he’s like his mother...but I’ll do what I can. Though if he’s got it in his head that he can do something, I don’t think either of us can stop him from going.”

“If he goes, I’ll have to,” Marix said flatly, her eyes now finding one of the newest holos to look at as she thought.

Navik nodded but seemed to have the same discomfort about this as she did, “We will...survive,” he then glanced to the open door at the other end of the room and down the hallway a moment, “All of us will. But if this situation you have seen is as volatile as you think...we will become involved no matter what.”

“We are shielded by Mrrakesh space, the Imperial Remnant, and the lack of hyperspace routes to our Empire,” Marix said, finally looking the Alraxian who had become her best advisor in the eye, “Our people are safe. Charging in, even if its only myself and Jyren, could drag us into a war we would never have been involved in otherwise.”

“You’ve always said we should stop hiding in our little corner of the galaxy,” Navik said with a slight smile tugging at his face, “Jyren is going to go regardless of the greater consequences. He’s as idealistic as his mother and will simply rush in because he feels it’s the right thing to do...and, usually, it is the right thing to do.”

Marix sighed again but couldn’t help a nod, “But the right thing to do isn’t always the best thing for everyone.”

“He probably knows that but he’s going to see the greater threat rather than the smaller ones,” as he spoke, Navik turned to walk over to the hallway, speaking over his shoulder, “I’ll try to talk with him but trying to tell him he can’t go will only make him more stubborn.”

And then the older Alraxian stepped out of the room, heading down the hallway towards the sounds that he’d been trying to talk over and do his best to not let distract him. Navik passed by the two newer rooms, that had been added to his home only a year earlier, before stopping in front of what had been Jyren’s room well over thirty standard years ago. It was still bright red and very much the perfect room for any child...which was surprisingly fitting, actually.

Sitting on the floor in the center of the room was Jyren, and in his arms a small, white-furred and black striped Alraxian child, just slightly smaller than Tobias had been on the first trip they’d all made to Alraxia. Sitting at Jyren’s feet, purring happily and playing with some shape-changing blocks, was another small child that looked almost exactly the same as the other, save that the child’s fur was black and he had a blueish coloured stripe.

Jyren smiled when he saw his father and nodded to the sleeping child in his arms, “How is it that they always fall asleep when you’re around?”

“We old men are good at boring children,” Navik said with a smile.

“Good at boring one of them, at least,” Jyren grinned and reached over to ruffle the fur of the playing child, which got him a gentle bite on the hand and a slight ‘grrr’ in response.

His father nodded out of the room, “Would I be able to steal you for a few minutes?”

“I don’t know,” Jyren looked down at the child who still had a good grip on his hand with some fairly sharp teeth before asking, “You be okay playing on your own for a little while?”

After relinquishing Jyren’s hand, the little Alraxian looked up to him with two big, silvery-orange eyes before nodding a few too many times and going back to the interesting little toy blocks. Jyren, of course, took advantage of this to ruffle the child’s fur one more time before getting to his feet and laying the one in his arms down on the nearest of two beds in the room.

Once the sleeping child had some blankets pulled over, Jyren managed to escape and followed his father out of the home and onto the small entranceway that overlooked the single path in the small community. Jyren looked up and along the hill to where the dining hall for the entire community was before asking idly, “I hope they didn’t drive you too crazy.”

“Of course not,” Navik smiled, “Remember, they always sleep when I’m around. Very easy. Still, wouldn’t it just be easier for the nannies over at the Palace? Surely you wouldn’t have to go across half the planet like this.”

“You know how I feel about that,” Jyren said, looking back to his father.

His father who was now grinning, “Me and all the Empire. Can’t say I blame you, though. But you should have heard this place when people found out the Empress and Emperor were going to raise their children like the rest of us do. Everyone assumed you’d be driven insane trying to balance that with keeping the Empire together.”

“Pity they didn’t know it was too late for that,” Jyren grinned, too, “Where’d Toby run off to?”

“Eating with the rest of the clan, probably,” Navik waved a hand in that direction vaguely, then picked up on his son’s expression and asked, “Would you rather we stop delaying and get straight to the point?”

Surprisingly enough, that actually made the grin on Jyren’s face grow, “You’ve been around Marix too much...but its probably a good idea, anyway.”

But despite the words, both father and son went silent. Truthfully, neither really needed to say any words to make their point, but its seemed like a necessary formality that both were, currently, doing their best to avoid. So both tried to figure out the best way to make their point without offending the other, as, over the years, a somewhat tense relationship had developed due to Jyren’s personality being so very idealistic...which was just like his mother had been, and had been the reason for many, many clashes between Navik and his wife. It was no surprise that the same thing created similar clashes between father and son.

It was Jyren who managed to gather his thoughts first, “You know that I’ve never actually been able to open myself up to the Network like every other Alraxian. I know that you can feel what all the other Alraxians feel through it...like my link with Marix, only less specific and a little less strong. More like...more like the Force only centered around one species,” Jyren sighed and motioned up to the darkening sky, “I feel the same for the rest of the galaxy. This is my home but there...that is my home, too. If I can help them, I should. Its important and...and I can’t just sit around while people die.”

“I understand why you want to go, Jyren, but if you go, Marix is going to go, too,” Navik simply repeated what the Empress had told him, knowing that it needed to be said from both himself and Marix to even have a chance of getting through his son’s head, “The Empress and the Emperor leaving with the Mrrakesh pushing our borders and a galactic war brewing everywhere else will not go over very well. Not to mention the fact that you can’t just run off and leave anymore. You have your reasons for not wanting to have your children raised by others, remember? What do you think’s going to happen if you run off?”

“I know,” Jyren sighed and looked down at the ground, “But I can feel...feel something. Something is growing out there. Something very, very dangerous...and if its ignored it will reach us here. If I go now, then I can stop it before it becomes a threat to us.”

Navik turned around to look back inside his home, idly catching sight of Marix slipping into the room with the children, “You cannot change the course of a war by yourself.”

“But I can help,” Jyren actually sounded a lot more reasonable than usual during these kind of discussions, “Another good pilot is always a valuable resource, and I’m more than just that.”

Glancing back over to his son again, Navik shook his head, “But what about Marix? I doubt you’ve told her as much as you just told me...and from the sound of it, you really are planning to go alone.”

Jyren actually nodded before saying, “I was a pilot long before I tried to pretend to be a Jedi. You’ve seen how I wield my lightsaber...but flying is even more natural to me. I’m not bragging by saying that it’s a rare thing...it is. And the New Republic is going to need everything they can get, even if it is just one more pilot.”

“You’re thinking only about yourself, Jyren. The Empire is—“

”I don’t care about the Empire!” Jyren snapped a little too loudly considering how close they were to both Marix and the other houses...though, hopefully, most of the other people would be eating instead of listening. The outburst actually surprised Navik, though, as his son had shown over the years that he did, in fact, care about the Empire. But then, after lowering his voice, Jyren added, “I care about my family. If protecting my family happens to be the same as protecting the Empire, then its simply luck.”

At least that made a little more sense. But Navik didn’t say anything to that. His son was being truthful, and arguing that wouldn’t do any good at all. There wasn’t any actual silence, though, as both father and son had turned their attention to listening to the noises escaping the house...giggling, loud purring, and louder laughter. Marix never liked to publicly admit liking her children...but that didn’t meant she didn’t, of course...even Toby.

Eventually, Jyren said quietly, “Would it be too much to ask you to take care of the twins?”

“Ten years and you still have the nerve to ask something like that,” Navik smiled and patted his son’s shoulder, “Of course it wouldn’t be too much to ask....though I can’t help but wonder why you failed to mention Tobias.”

Jyren smiled and shrugged, “You really think he’ll let me run off without trying to tag along? He’s not small enough to hide in the cargo compartment anymore but he definitely has his ways. And even if we do manage to keep him here, the Palace is probably better for him.”

Pushing his son up from leaning against the ledge, Navik motioned towards the dining hall, “You should probably go find the little guy.”

Laughing slightly, Jyren nodded and started for the dining hall. As he walked off, though, a familiar voice jumped into his head suddenly. [When you get back, we’ll talk.]

[Why does that worry me?] Jyren asked through the link.

There was a short pause before Marix responded. [Because we tried this before a few hours ago. Apparently I should have said more than just ‘wait until we get home’.]