Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 344

His hair was longer and scruffier than ever. There wasn’t a fringe, really, but more of a general mass that did what it wanted and ended roughly near his neckline. The colour were still the same...though no longer covering all of his skin, which was now the usual well-tanned colour that was normal for all Alraxians. But his hair was still the same black colour, with that oddly blue stripe right down the center...though, with how messy it was, ‘center’ was a debatable matter.

He was taller, too. Not nearly as tall as an adult, of course, but closer to the size that Marix had been a long time ago when she’d first left Alraxia. This was probably due to the fact that he was roughly the same age as she had been, then. Still very young by Alraxian standards, but no longer a little ball of fur.

“Jyren!”

But the most dramatic change was his voice. It was no longer a squeaky little voice that cried out for a thousand different things...but now he sounded more...more something. Older was the only word for it. Sure, there was still a bit of a childish pitch to it but it was definitely...different.

“Hey, little guy,” Jyren smiled as he was attacked by Tobias, who now much higher up on him than to his knee...which was actually hard to notice when the young Alraxian embraced Jyren suddenly.

After a short moment, though, Toby stood back and gave Jyren a critical look, “You’re late.”

“Aren’t I always?” Jyren grinned and looked across the generally empty dining hall again. ‘Generally’ because there were at least a few watching both Jyren and Toby curiously, knowing who they were...and others that were Knights who stayed very nearby at all times to all of the Imperial Family...which meant their presence in the small community was not all that new. The fact that Jyren’s father lived there meant it was nice place to duck away for a few days for Jyren, Marix, or even Toby(though when he escaped there were usually search efforts involved...), and because of this there were usually Knights around.

“You said it would only be a couple days,” Toby grumbled, kicking the ground slightly and folding his arms. It was almost terrifying how much he looked like Marix when he got angry...sure, he didn’t have the same stare that could kill, but the beginnings of it were definitely there.

But Jyren just smiled and patted the young Alraxian’s shoulder, “It was only a couple of days, Toby. Besides, didn’t you have things you were supposed to be doing?”

“A couple is two. You were gone three,” to add to this information, Tobias made sure to show the correct number of...claws with each counting off. That was definitely not like Marix, who wouldn’t show off even minor threats when she didn’t mean it.

Not that it ever worked for Tobias, of course.

Jyren reached up and grabbed Toby’s hand to force him to remorph the claws away or risk tearing up Jyren’s hand, and looked Toby in his silvery eyes, “I know you wanted to go. But you couldn’t. Nothing happened, anyway, so don’t even try that. Alright?”

While Tobias had yet to master the death stare of Marix, he had become very adept at matching it without flinching...which meant that he could hold anyone’s gaze very easily without becoming unnerved. It was...annoying, to say the least. He could stare right back and that would be his only defiance but it was just so damned more effective than yelling because at least then it felt like there was a good reason to strangle him.

This moment was no different, and eventually, Tobias said flatly, “I’m not staying this time.”

“Yes,” Jyren said sternly, yet again hating the fact that he seemed to be the only Alraxian in the Empire that wasn’t a part of the Network...so was definitely out of the loop if he didn’t pay attention to his link with Marix too much, “You are staying. Toby, I’m not going back to play. Your mother is not even going with me. She can’t. You can’t. This is my choice and its something I have to do by myself, and no one here could help me even if they wanted to.”

When Toby didn’t respond immediately, Jyren knew something was up. He was never, ever without a quick comment back, especially when it came to something like this. There was no way he would just stand there...and Jyren could see in his eyes that he wasn’t completely paying attention. There was...something else. It was a look that, by now, Jyren knew. Toby was paying attention to the Network...which made his next comment make a lot more sense than if he’d just said it otherwise.

“Back to Starfighter Command?”

Despite not being so surprised by that, Jyren still couldn’t help a pause before he nodded, “Yes...and we’ve been over this before, Toby. Using the Network to find out what I’m thinking through your mother is cheating.”

Suddenly, Tobias’ angry looking features softened...and in a moment in a moment he was laughing. It didn’t take long before Jyren laughed too and put an arm on the young Alraxian’s shoulder, “Come on...lets head back.”

There was no argument on the short walk back to Jyren’s father’s home. In fact, it was rather comforting to fall into the usual back and forth banter rather than having to deal with more serious matters...especially with Toby. But then something happened...just a few meters away from the home, Toby stopped, causing Jyren to nearly walk off without him.

When Jyren turned around, he saw that there was a white-faced, wide-eyed look on Tobias’ face suddenly, and at the same time there was the same distracted, almost glazed over look from before. The Network. And that couldn’t be good.

“Toby, wha—“

[Jyren get up here now.] Marix’s sharp ‘voice’ cut into his mind and silenced him. His eyes looked up to the home a moment before back to Tobias, who still looked shocked but wasn’t just standing there like a statue anymore. Jyren, however, said nothing, and just turned and ran to the house, knowing that Tobias would be fine where he was and, besides, he was old enough to walk a few meters on his own.

Jyren stepped into his father’s house to see both Marix and his father standing in the main room waiting for him. He didn’t even have to ask what was going on before Marix looked him in the eye and said, “There’s been an attack on the Gate.”

At hearing that, Jyren probably started to look like Toby had for a moment there. He blinked a few times, then managed to find his voice again, “What?”

“Its still there,” Marix clarified a little too quickly, “But it was attacked...the Knights panicked and now the Network’s afire. I’m doing what I can...just...hang on a moment.”

Despite the fact that she seemed to hide away, Jyren did not have to wait. Just as Tobias stepped into the door behind Jyren, Navik decided to do the explanation while Marix tried to calm the Network, “A few moments ago the Knights there saw a series of...they thought it was comets or asteroids, but they were moving together and a little too organized. They went straight for the gate, started shooting...something. They did very minor damage to the shields before turning and running.”

It sounded disturbingly familiar to Jyren. And by the time Navik had finished, Marix was back in the moment and said Jyren’s thoughts, “It does sound like the Yuuzhan Vong.”

“Except don’t they usually just tear straight through instead of a quick hit and run without doing any damage?” Jyren asked no one in particular.

Being someone, however, Marix nodded, “As far we’ve seen. But the ships that attacked were not metal, and the descriptions of both the designs, the speed, and their weapons matches up with everything we’ve found out about the Yuuzhan Vong.”

The room went silent. There was a single question hanging in the air that terrified all of them.

And it was Jyren who very quietly spoke it, “Could they have followed us back?”

“I don’t think so,” Marix answered, but then sighed and added, “But I don’t. It could just be random bad timing, but maybe they did find a way to track us.”

“Please tell me that the Knights have some ships with capable weapons now,” Jyren was nearly begging when he said that, and looking from both his father to Marix at the same time.

“Some do...and they’ll be there in a matter of hours to protect the Gate...” she trailed off, then whispered, “Just in case.”

“What about the Mrrakesh?!” it was Toby who nearly yelped that, “Won’t that leave the border open?!”

“No, Toby,” both Jyren and Marix said at the exact same time....but then Jyren let her finish the next part, “The Mrrakesh won’t try anything. This is why I’ve told you to stay away from these talks. You’ll just get yourself worked up for nothing. Please do me a favor and go check on the twins.”

It was a cheap way to get rid of Toby, but a necessary one. The young Alraxian managed a nod before sighing dramatically and walking back down the hall to some distant noises of playing. When he’d left the room, all eyes fell on Jyren. Not that he was surprised.

“I need to go now before there is another attack,” Jyren said to both of them, “If I can get out, I can try to get a hold of better ships to protect the borders.”

“No,” Marix shook her head and took a step forward, “I’ll do that...I’ve still contacts. You...you need to go to Coruscant and do what you have to do.”

“I’ll try to find a way to help protect the Gate from where I end up,” he said quietly.

Marix took another step forward and embraced him, saying just as quietly, “Follow the Force. Trust your instincts and stay alive.”

Jyren nodded slowly, returning the embrace and gently resting his head on hers. Through their link, Marix added. [And keep in contact. If the entire galaxy is falling into war then we need to have the best eyes and ears out there to let us know.]

[If anything happens while I’m gone...if you need me, just say the word.]

Marix pulled back slightly to look up at him again, then spoke softly, “Same for you.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 345

Coruscant seemed to be the one planet in the galaxy that could not change. No matter what was going on in the rest of the galaxy, it was still a chaotic mess of speeders, people, and massively tall buildings. All of the metal shining in the sunlight was such a different sight from the forests and fields of Alraxia. It was strange to come back to a place that was the center of the galaxy and suddenly feel like it was a completely alien world...but that was how it felt for Jyren.

Thankfully, though, he was still able to find his way around without any trouble. And, because of this, the New Republic didn’t have long before they found out that a Captain in their special forces had returned from being presumed long, long dead. There was even more chaos within the building near Imperial Center(which, despite the New Republic’s efforts, couldn’t seem to adopt a new name without it being forgotten in a week), as datapads went different directions, guards arrived, and he was escorted into a small debriefing room...the likes of which he hadn’t seen in nearly fifteen years.

The expected questions were asked. What happened? Why didn’t you come back? Why now?

And Jyren gave the planned answers. The sabotage went bad. He was captured. When he escaped, he sent a transmission to the headquarters that they somehow didn’t receive. He’d come back now because the New Republic needed help, and he was still a damned good pilot.

Only the last one was true. In reality, he’d arrived on Corulag for his mission to take out the planet’s shield generators and then...just didn’t do it. Something had struck him, and he walked away then and there. That was, of course, not the kind of thing to tell one’s superior officer when returning after a good ten years.

The debriefing/interrogation continued for roughly three hours before, to Jyren’s surprise, he was reinstated right there. When he asked why it went so quickly, the answer was actually not all that surprising. They really did need all the pilots they could get. The New Republic had just publicly admitted to the existence of the Yuuzhan Vong, and that meant an actual mobilization was beginning. But unlike the old days in the early New Republic, there weren’t nearly as many well trained pilots to draw from, and new recruits could only do so much good when compared to experienced starfighter pilots.

After a quick transit into an orbiting Skyhook where Starfighter Command operated from, Jyren was presented with something else that had been completely unexpected. His own choice of assignment.

A datapad was handed to him by some Admiral he didn’t recognize and he scanned it...seeing a number of Star Destroyers named and then some squadrons in addition to many other ships. He even caught sight of Rogue Squadron listed there, and actually found himself wondering if he should ask if that was a mistake. They were the best of the best...and it sounded like the right place for him to at least aim for...but then his eye caught another name. One that brought a smile to his face, and the decision was made without another thought.

* * * *​

Jyren took a quick jog down one of the corridors outside the huge mess in the Skyhook, glancing both direction and cheating by using the Force to turn him left and head that way. He passed by a few pilots and personnel, who all gave him strange looks...which made him feel even more self conscious than he’d been when he’d put on his new uniform. It was so much like the old one...it just fit better. Brown and red piped with a few patches of grey here and there, with a couple of patches on his shoulders to indicate both that he was a member of Starfighter Command and then, on his right shoulder, his actual squadron.

The only real difference between the new uniform and the old one(despite the fact that it was...well, new) was the name patch. There was no ‘Cpt. Maxwell’ there anymore, which had been an interesting thing to convince the people to change. He may have been returning to the New Republic, but that didn’t mean he was planning to bring Raan Maxwell back. That kid was, in fact, long dead. Instead, it read ‘Cpt. BlueIce.’

At first, it had worried him that using his real name would throw up flags, but Jyren had to remind himself that the bounties that were still out there were for ‘Akan Tavos’ and ‘Shadow’. BlueIces were safe. And anyway, the bounties were on a couple of ‘Cathar-like, feline humanoids’, not the relatively young looking human that was currently scouring the corridors of the Skyhook.

And then he found what he’d been looking for. Across the corridor, walking the other direction, was a somewhat tall, deep blue skinned humanoid with a large head that Jyren immediately new to be a Duros. The Duros wore the same brown uniform, and looked to be holding some kind of datapad at his side as he walked casually away.

So here it was.

Jyren sped up his walking pace to catch up to the Duros, and when he was only a few paces behind, called out, “Rulae.”

That got the Duros to stop in his tracks. A sigh could be heard before he started to turn around, saying, “Look, I know you’re probably new, but its appropriate to address superior officers as, s—“

When Rulae had turned around completely to face Jyren, his small mouth stopped in mid sentence an he just stared, the already large red eyes somehow going wider. Jyren, of course, grinned at that, and shrugged, “Of course. I’m so sorry, s’.”

“Raan?!” the Duros mumbled the name at first, but then gave Jyren a very quick look over. In all truthfulness, he didn’t look much different from how he had ten years earlier. But there was still a good three and a half year gap between then and when he’d last seen Rulae Nok. Hopefully that wouldn’t have the Duros being too suspicious as to why he didn’t look older.

Finally, Rulae managed to close his mouth a moment, and after Jyren smiled, just shook his head, “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“When did that ever stop me?”

A pause...then Rulae’s small mouth formed a grin of its own, “Where the hell have you been all these years?!”

“I was...very busy,” Jyren said, not really lying but definitely avoiding the subject. Knowing that it was going to go on if he didn’t do something, he quickly attempted to change the subject, “So I see you’ve got a command now? Bringing back the Zephyrs, even. You’ve gone soft over the years. Weren’t we supposed to be the last Zephyrs?”

Duros could not roll their eyes, as they had no pupils...but they had a similar way of just staring at someone that managed to produce the same effect in the end. He glanced down a moment before noticing something, “It was lonely being the only one with that name. Figured it was as good a time as any to bring the name back before they tried to throw me in a desk job...and I see you aren’t exactly running from the name, either. Looks like I finally get to order you around, Captain BlueIce.”

“Just remember who saved your tail more than once and then we’ll see who’s order who around,” Jyren laughed.

Then another question finally came up, “So you going to at least tell me why that doesn’t say Maxwell?”

Still smiling, and in a surprisingly good mood suddenly, Jyren turned and put a hand on Rulae’s shoulder to lead him back to the mess, “That, my friend, I will tell you.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 346

It had taken an extra day for Marix to get away from the Empire. Calming the panic produced by the attack on the Gate and redirecting many of the Knights to defend it took more time than it should have...not to mention the fact that very few of the ships were armed in any way. Some had weapons, but it was still something that the Kanyaks (and Alraxians, really) felt to be unnatural and harmful. The Gate itself, though, did have some weapons, thanks to the fact that it was actually made of metal and there wasn’t anything alive actually built into the structure. But at least people seemed to accept the fact that a stronger defense was going to be necessary, and so there was little to no actual opposition for why the Empress and Emperor were leaving.

Not that they liked it, of course, but the reasoning was sound enough.

But then, just as she was preparing to leave, another issue had come up. It was one that Marix had attempted to avoid the entire time, but knew that, eventually, it was going to come up. Some things were far more trying on both sanity and patience than running the Empire, and it was definitely one at the top of the list.

“Tobias,” Marix called down the corridor behind Loki’s cockpit where she sat, “We’re setting down now.”

They were on Ord Mantell...not too terribly far from either the Alraxian Empire or what looked to be the steady path of the Yuuzhan Vong. But it was one of the places Marix knew she could find people to get her ships. And not flying pieces of junk, either.

A response echoed down the corridor, but she didn’t actually hear any words in it. Typical. She had gotten so close to being able to escape without the brat tagging along, but he’d tracked her down and made a disturbingly valid point. He was, roughly, the same age that she had been when she’d left...on her own. He’d be with her, and while he didn’t have the same training she had, could handle himself if things got bad. Truthfully, there was a lot of overconfidence in that, but they had spent a lot of time making sure the kid knew how to protect himself. Not as much fighting as simple self defense...so, he would be fine. And it was about time he actually got out and helped...and he had a habit of toying with things that exploded...inside the Palace...getting rid of that chaotic element, even if only for a few days, was something everyone would appreciate.

Loki set down in a small public hangar near the center of one of the major cities on the planet and Marix got to her feet and headed for the hatch. In the process, she took the time to morph human and get her bearings like that again...as it’d been a long time since she’d gone without a tail to help her keep her balance.

She found Tobias standing at the hatch waiting, unsurprisingly already human. Probably due to his attachment to Jyren (for whatever reason), Toby had a strong attachment to his human form. It was, like most Alraxian’s in that body, roughly the same...only that he was smaller, his hair was a simple, flat black mess (that made him look a little too much like Marix for her taste), and all the feline-like features were much more generically human.

At least he was shorter than she was, still.

“Stay close, don’t wander off, and don’t touch anything or anyone,” she said sternly, giving him that dangerous look and ignoring the fact that it had as little affect on Toby as it did on Jyren...the effect didn’t matter, just the thought behind it.

When Tobias nodded (and attempted to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes at her), Marix turned and hit the switch to open the hatch. [You stay safe, too, Loki. We shouldn’t be gone too long...if its more than a few hours, start looking.]

[Last time I did that, you screamed at me when I found you for distracting you.] Loki grumbled in her mind while both she and Toby stepped down into the circular and somewhat enclosed hangar.

Marix glanced back over at the ship as the hatch irised closed. [You should have known not to land on five of the bounty hunters when I was running right for them.]

[But it was so fun!] Loki actually managed a slight laugh at that, but soon went quiet as they headed out of the hangar.

The simple matter of paying the docking fee was handled very easily...the panel that handled it had already been broken by someone earlier, and no docking officials were dumb enough to run out asking for money where a person’s first instinct was to shoot and forget about any questions that might have almost come to mind. Or at least, if the ship only stayed a short time. There was a security force on the planet, of course, but they only mobilized in large groups if there were serious problems. The plan was to not be involved in one of those.

The door from the hangar opened to reveal the city, which was almost like a miniature Coruscant without the atmosphere-scraping heights. There were, of course, metal spires of large buildings that were all over the place, and upper levels of walkways connecting them that almost made the place look like Nar Shaddaa. The ground level was actually very populated, with every kind of creature moving around, going about their business and trying their best not to look anyone in the eye wrong or bump into others.

Remembering how Toby could be, especially the fact that this was his first time away from the Empire since he was a small child, Marix leaned down and said very quietly, “Stay very close.”

Again, Tobias nodded, but it didn’t seem to be from understanding this time. His currently-ice blue eyes were wide open and scanning the entire view, taking in every detail they could. Marix sighed and elbowed him a bit too roughly, which made him blink and look at her with a slightly worried look, “Huh?”

“Stay. Close,” she repeated, slowly and very carefully. If he’d missed it that time, Marix was done with him. He caused enough trouble at home, but here was a place that was no where near the place he was used to, and it wasn’t long before she was rethinking the intelligence in actually letting him come.

But, luckily for him, Tobias actually nodded while looking at her...with that worried look on his face no longer due to the fact that he wasn’t paying her any attention. They stood there for a moment, with Marix holding the stern gaze for long enough to damned well make sure the point got through. And then, without a word, she turned and led the way into the crowded streets, making sure that Tobias was right behind her the whole way.

Ord Mantell was not a planet that she had spent too terribly much time on, but certain areas she knew. This was one of them...not that she remembered the name of the city, but she knew its location and that was, in the end, all that mattered. Names had a habit of changing much faster than locations, especially when it came to cities. But this was one of the...less dangerous places, if there was such a thing on a planet crawling with bounty hunters, smugglers, pirates, spies, thieves, and completely lost idiots that had no idea what they’d gotten themselves into.

So, moving quickly so that they could get this over with as soon as possible, Marix led the way to an old shop that had been owned by a small group of Twi’lek merchants. Well, it had been about fifteen standard years ago. Now, she had no idea, but they were the kind of people that would bend easily and it was worth a try.

It took about five minutes to navigate both the main streets and a few back alleys (which, thankfully, they were left alone while passing through), before she found the small building cramped between a larger tower and what had once been a building but now looked to be a hollowed out chunk of durasteel. There was no sign over the entranceway, but there never had been, so Marix decided to accept that as a good sign.

Checking that Toby hadn’t disappeared from her side one last time, she then turned and headed for the closed door. Hitting the switch opened the door to show the same exact room she remembered from all those years ago...small, dark, relatively empty at first sight before one entered, and most importantly, not cleaned. She stepped in and looked straight to the left where the desk still was, but found it unoccupied. There was, however, junk spread out everywhere that looked just like it always had, which was another good sign that the same people owned the place.

And then there was a click behind her, followed by a simple charging sound. Marix froze, knowing immediately what a disrupter pistol sounded like when it was preparing to fire, and at the same time wondering why in the name of all hell that the Force hadn’t even screamed at her once.

A quiet, almost hissing voice from that direction said, “Move and die.”

She didn’t...but immediately, Marix’s mind raced, trying to reach out with the Force to find Tobias and stop him before he tried to do anything stupid. Unlike Jyren, the kid didn’t have any experience with surviving stupid actions.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 347

Jyren looked down at the vaguely greenish coloured liquid within the glass in his hands. It was some form of Corellian ale, fairly weak and tasted horrible...and yet, everyone drank the stuff, despite the many other things offered in the mess. Even Rulae Nok, the Duros commander of the newly reformed Zephyr Squadron and never known for his ability to hold his alcohol , had a glass in front of him on the table, though it was just sitting there as the Duros sat back and stared in near shock at the human sitting across from him.

“You’re serious?” Rulae asked, trying to take in all that Jyren had just told him.

Jyren just laughed and took a sip of the drink, trying to remember how he used to not make a disgusted face before, then said, “Yeah.”

The Duros shook his head, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but after what happened with Liz...well...didn’t really think you’d ever get past that.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jyren was, of course, still grinning, but he soon put the drink down and adopted a more serious tone before nodding, “I didn’t think I would either. Nearly didn’t...its...it still hurts. It still hurts a lot. But I...I learned to accept it.”

“Seeing you here now proves that,” Rulae agreed, “I’m still angry with you for just disappearing, no matter what you were up to. You were so close to the edge in those months after Coruscant before you just...disappeared. When they said you died in action I...didn’t believe them. You were too good for that. I thought...I thought that...”

Where the Duros trailed off, Jyren picked up carefully, “You thought I’d done something stupid. And I nearly did...more than once. But that’s the past. There are more important things going on right now than my childish actions a decade ago.”

Even without eyelids, Duros had a certain way of narrowing their eyes that was...strange, but was definitely able to produce the correct effect. As Rulae did this, he said, “Answer me one question before you change the subject and ask me when and where we’re going.”

Normally, Jyren would have smiled at that...but from his old friend’s tone, he knew that was not a good idea. This was definitely serious, and probably one of those questions that Jyren had dodged in his telling of where he’d been (from which all references to Alraxia and its people were removed), “Alright. Ask away.”

“You found your parents and you have a family that you obviously care very much about,” there was a pause after that, as the words were allowed to hang in the air for a moment before the more cutting question was asked, “What the hell are you doing all the way over here when you should be back with them keeping them safe from what’s happening in the galaxy?”

It was like Marix had found a way to follow him and was now controlling the words of those around him. But Jyren knew better than that. Despite the fact that, distantly, he could still feel her through the link...she was doing her own thing. Rulae was right...and so was everyone that even thought that question, which had probably been a good amount of the Empire that knew him better than just ‘the Empress’ Mate’.

And, in all honesty, Jyren had no rational answer. But there was something...else...almost acting on him and telling him what he needed to do.

“I need to be here,” Jyren eventually said softly, before looking down at the green liquid again, “I told you that I...learned a little about the Force. I can feel...somethting...maybe the Force but I can’t really say, just something. And its...its pulling at my very core. Pulling me here. I need to be here to do my part in protecting my family.”

For a long couple of minutes, the blue-skinned Duros simply looked at Jyren...though it was hard to tell if he was being studied or if Rulae was simply lost in thought. The small mouths and lack of pupils made it so hard to read emotions for Jyren, and the Force sure as hell wasn’t helping any...it was so heavy lately. Almost like back when they’d been on that ship fighting the Darkwings....but larger, more spread out, and much more dangerous.

Then, finally, Rulae reached down and picked up his glass to finish off the ale it contained before saying, “Can’t really argue with that. I don’t know much about the Force beyond the usual stories, but it sounds to me you’ve got your head in the right place...for once. Must have taken one hell of a woman to do that to you.”

Jyren couldn’t a laugh, and used it to mask his utter distaste as he followed suit and finished his own ale. After setting it back down on the table, he leaned back and nodded, “That’s a pretty accurate description, actually. Still, you’d be amazed how much physical force it took to get my head to where it needed to be.”

“No,” Rulae shook his head, the small smile on his features, “I wouldn’t. A lot may have happened to you in the last fifteen years, but I know you’re still just as crazy as you used to be.”

“I try my best,” Jyren shrugged with a smile still on his face, though he couldn’t help glancing around to the other pilots moving about in the mess around them for once. Then, finally, he turned back to Rulae and asked, “Alright, now its my turn. Where are we going and when?”

“We leave in ten hours,” Rulae answered in a very officer-like voice that had to have taken years of practice to achieve, “Going to be attached to the Araddon’s task force. Two Star Destroyers, three frigates, two bomber groups, a recon squad, and us...not counting the marines and ground troops.”

“They aren’t holding back on this one, are they?” Jyren couldn’t help cutting in, not really taking in the fact that they were going to be station on, of all things, a Star Destroyer. That would likely sink in much later.

The Duros simply nodded before going on, “We’re going to be one of the first task forces to hit the Vong head on. Two groups are headed for Ithor, as everything points to that being the next major target, another to the Yavin system, and we’re headed out towards Vortex.”

“Doesn’t sound like front line to me,” Jyren almost grumbled.

“If this invasion continues as its been going and Ithor is attacked, Vortex will be the front line a matter of days afterwards.”

The words forced a silence in the air. They were true. No one knew what to expect from these first fights. Sure, there had been smaller skirmishes here and there, and many unique qualities of the Yuuzhan Vong’s weaponry and ships were fairly well known...but it couldn’t be anywhere near as much as was out there. All of the first skirmishes had ended in either the total destruction of any non-Vong forces, or a few managing to barely escape to tell the stories of the amazingly planned out tactics and alien weapons that created a horrible slaughter.

And then something else struck Jyren that was completely different, forcing him to ask, “Hang on. Why did you just tell me that so casually without even a mention about protocol and all that garbage?”

The grim look faded from Rulae’s face to be replaced by another smile, and as he stood up, Rulae said, “My XO needs to know what’s going on. Now come on, Captain, there’s a briefing in an hour and its about time you met the recruits.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 348

“Alrax?!” the voice was a familiar one, and off out of Marix’s vision...but she could tell that it wasn’t the source of the one pointing the weapon at the back of her head.

“Silence!” that voice was the source...it was raspy, sharp, and definitely on edge, with a slight accent that was like nothing she had ever heard before. And something was very, very wrong with it. She could feel that there were two others in the room with her, but they were both off in the direction the first voice had come from...which, Marix figured, was one of the Twi’leks she knew that owned the place.

But she felt nothing behind her at all...

Part of her wanted to risk a glance behind her, but the practical part of Marix’s mind reminded her that would be the kind of stupid thing that Jyren would do and get himself killed if she didn’t scream at him...so, she stayed still and realized something else.

She had no idea at all where Tobias was.

“Hwhat are you doing here, huuman?!” the voice behind her growled, almost sounding as if it had learned Basic through reading but never through actual speaking.

That seemed like a stupid question to ask before Marix reminded her self that she hadn’t actually paid any attention to the sign outside other than a quick glance...and, upon going back through her memories and having a good look at it again, there was something on the door that was probably screaming at people to stay the hell away. But what bothered Marix was that it didn’t feel like it should be closed...and these Twi’leks, despite being on Ord Mantell, were never the kind to keep friends that would come asking for payment with disrupters.

But she did not have a chance to answer. There was a sudden streak of something through the Force and, instinctively, Marix ducked low. There was a loud shrieking sound of the disrupter going off over her head at the same time as a heavy thud and then a grunt. By that sound, Marix was turning to get a look at the attacker, and she was able to see a tall, powerfully built human spin around and backhand Tobias across the face so hard that it sent the young man flying across the room and into the back wall with an even louder thud.

“Dammit, Toby!” Marix growled as she charged the human head first, doing her best to tackle him to the ground despite his size. He had tried something stupid! And she nearly took a disrupter blast to the back of the head because of it!

...and then Marix’s thoughts stopped as she hit the human. Instead of taking him down, she hit him hard and was kicked back a good three meters with a disturbingly strong foot. Her head was spinning, but a loud clatter directed her vision down next to the human, where the disrupter had been dropped to the ground. Marix’s eyes went up to see that he had withdrawn some kind of...of...blade? It had to be a blade, but it didn’t look like any kind of vibro weapon or even a simple metal weapon...it wasn’t metal! It was...was...it was stabbing for her gut.

Quickly, she sidestepped the weapon, striking down at the man’s wrist. If she hadn’t already been given the idea that something was wrong with this man, it became immediately apparent. The placement of her attack very easily broke the man’s wrist with a loud snap, but not even the slightest noise escaped him to hint at any kind of pain, and the weapon remained in his hand.

And then, without any warning from the Force, Marix took a strong blow to the side of the head that sent her into the floor hard enough to cause her vision to go black for a few seconds. Fighting back the natural instinct to remorph the wounds and simply doing her best to move through the pain, Marix whipped her legs around and tried to sweep the human’s out from under him.

That worked.

The massive man slipped back and fell on his back hard, just as Marix jumped up to her feet and then, with the help of the Force, leapt over the fallen attacker. She landed in a very Alraxian position, in a three-limbed crouch, that, without the help of a tail, was very difficult to hold and looked extremely awkward as a human. But Marix held it long enough to reach out and sweep the disrupter pistol into her free hand. The second she got a grip on it, and again without any warning, a fact which was starting to worry her, a heavy boot slammed right into her face, breaking her nose and sending her a meter back before her back slammed into the counter. Her thud of impact was accented by two yelps of surprise from the other side...at least it was obvious where the Twi’leks were hiding.

But this was no time to be distracted. The man was getting up in as quick a fashion as Marix had, which was, again, worrying. Not only was the Force giving her no warnings at all to his attacks, but as far as she could tell, he shouldn’t have even been there. It was like a holo that was actually interacting with the world around it...wrong. And he was just as fast as her, and twice as strong. Marix couldn’t help a quiet curse about human females again before she dove to the side to avoid another strong kick.

This time, though, when she hit her arm was reaching up...disrupter in hand. The attacker seemed to be ready for this, reaching down with his weapon to slice her hand off...but Marix was, thankfully, faster. It was much easier to simply squeeze the trigger than it was to cut her hand off. And, so, there was another loud shriek before a sickly purple blast shot out and hit the man square in the chest.

It sent him stumbling back two steps before a gurgling sound escaped him and then he fell onto his back again. This time...he didn’t get up.

Silence consumed the small building...well, except for Marix’s extremely heavy breathing and similar sounds from the other side of the counter she was backed up against still.

“He’s dead,” she said eventually before tossing the disrupter pistol away in disgust. She hated blasters enough...but those things were even worse. Not that she wouldn’t use them, but she still didn’t like the damned things.

“...Alrax?” it was the same voice from before.

Marix nodded as she stood up, shaking her head and taking the time while no one was looking to remorph the broken nose and other bruises she’d taken. Realizing the nod couldn’t be seen, she said, “Yes, Kalrin.”

“What...what are you doing here?!” the Twi’lek finally appeared over the counter top. Kalrin was fairly old for a Twi’lek, but he was not as fat as many of the males of his species were. Instead, he was tall, thin, and a somewhat pale green colour that almost made him look sickly. He actually had a few scars that she didn’t recognize.

“I needed a favor,” Marix said, turning away from the Twi’lek and walking over to where Tobias had been thrown. There was a red stain on the wall where the back of his head had hit, but it looked as if his body had naturally remorphed itself before he’d fallen unconscious. That was an...interesting trait. Something she’d never actually seen before in any Alraxian, as unconsciousness was what would normally spell death for many. Sitting next to him an lifting his head up just to make sure the wound was gone, she looked back over and said, “Now I need another.”

“There’s a...a...a medkit in the back,” that was the second Twi’lek that Marix knew was there, but who had remained generally silent. It was a female, just as old as Kalrin, and pretty much the same build as him...though she was a red-orange colour that made her stand out very noticeably compared to the rest of the room. Though, unlike many Twi’lek females, she was clothed as would be expected of most normal humanoids in the galaxy. She was not a slave like many of the females of her species, but instead the mate of Kalrin, both of which had left Ryloth long ago to escape that exact thing.

After a deep breath, and calling on the Force to help her weaker human muscles, Marix picked up Tobias and walked around the counter, “Lead the way.”

“What about your favor?” Kalrin asked, though he was falling into step next to his mate as they walked into the small opening that led to the not-so-cluttered back of their store.

“We can work that out once I put him down...” Marix grumbled, noting that even the Force wasn’t helping all the much. Sometimes, she wondered how Jyren had managed to live nearly two standard decades as a human without getting himself killed...well, no, he had.

Well, that answered that at least.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 349

It was just like old times...in most every way. The current fact that was striking Jyren was that all of the Zephyrs, save for himself and Rulae, were very, very green. And not with envy, either. If any of them had ever been in an actual starfighter cockpit instead of a simulator, he’d have been thoroughly amazed. And that was the impression he’d gotten just from reading through all of the small files that Rulae had handed him.

Of the ten other pilots in the squadron, four were human(all from various planets in the galaxy), two were Mon Calamari, two were Twi’leks, one was a Bothan, and one was another Duros. It was, truthfully, a fairly normal make-up, species wise at least, for a starfighter squadron. Arguably, it was even more diverse than some units, but that really didn’t matter all that much in the end. The problem, for Jyren at least, was when he first met all of the pilots.

If he had thought they were green when he’d first read all of their files, after meeting them Jyren was at a loss for a colour to describe just how new they had to have been to Starfighter Command. A small part of him wondered if he’d looked like that all those years ago...wide eyed(even the Duros and the Mon Calamari), somewhat confused looking, and nervous enough that they all looked like they’d jump if someone spoke too quickly without warning. That thought alone made Jyren feel like he was getting old...and looking at the faces of the pilots, especially the humans, it was obvious just how young they were...

Of course, this was ignoring the fact that, despite he was technically in his early thirties(which was, however, nothing to an Alraxian...Toby was older than that), Jyren still looked a good ten years younger than he actually was. Maybe that was part of the reason the other Zephyrs were acting somewhat jumpy around him...they knew he was experienced(that was why he was the squadron’s XO), but while he looked it, he was so close to many of them that it was hard to imagine him being much more of a pilot than they were.

But those worries were passed off quickly, as Jyren knew they were childish. This wasn’t some little game...this was a starfighter squadron, and as long as they understood his rank, followed orders, and stayed alive, things should work out well enough. Not that he was any good at giving orders...but that was Rulae’s job in the end, so Jyren didn’t worry too much about that end of things.

They were aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, Araddon, which had been refitted not a month earlier. The briefing room was spacious, and in the same semi-circular shape that Jyren was used to aboard New Republic ships. Sure, it was a bit different, but the basic idea was close enough...and it sure as hell wasn’t as humid as a Mon Calamari Cruiser was, which was most definitely a plus. The ship itself was preparing, along with the rest of their small fleet, for the jump to Vortex, with the final supplies and crew boarding.

Rulae had taken this time to organize the new squadron together for an initial briefing...mainly for introductions, wingmate assignments, and other very basic things that would have been dealt with months ago if there had actually been some real preparation for this war instead of a sudden admission by Chief of State Fey’lya that the Yuuzhan Vong did, in fact, exist. But that was the past and, so, things were having to be done more quickly than usual. They would just have to survive.

Before the briefing, Rulae and Jyren had talked about the wingmate assignments, and Jyren was surprised just how much that his old friend was asking for his assistance with it. He seemed to really be interested in Jyren’s opinion, which, truthfully, shouldn’t have surprised him all that much...it’d just been so long that he forgot how close the two of them had become after ending up as the last of the Zephyrs after Coruscant. The one important thing that was decided, though, was that Rulae and Jyren should not be wingmates. Though, sometimes, the Commander and XO would be wingmates, it was not always the best thing to do in a situation like the new Zephyrs were in...with the two of them being the only experienced pilots.

So, after all the assignments were given out and the pilots dismissed, they separated into their wingmate pairs...mainly to get to know one another. It was, after all, an important thing to know one’s wingmate. That meant that, currently, Jyren was sitting in a small chair in the mess across from his new wingmate, a female Twi’lek named Rea’tin Lor. She was, like most young Twi’lek females, relatively short and had a very attractive build...though, thankfully, she had the decency to actually wear the correct uniform of the correct size so as not to cause a distraction...Jyren had heard stories of Twi’lek female pilots who didn’t exactly follow that line of thinking, and had a habit of taking every little advantage they could.

“So you knew the Commander from before?” she was asking, casually trying to probe into a past that he was obviously trying to hide from her. She had an interesting coloured dark-blue skin, that seemed to get lighter towards the tips of her two head tails that, to Jyren, should have been a lot more distracting than it was...but after so long on Alraxia, one got used to a variety of different colours for skin tones(or fur or hair or whatever it was that covered the body at the moment).

Jyren nodded, leaning back some to rest against the wall behind his chair, “We were part of the first Zephyr Squadron close to fifteen standard years ago. We flew together during the first fall of Coruscant.”

Rea, as, apparently, everyone called her, nodded and leaned forward, idly resting her head in her hands, before asking yet another question in the same somewhat high-pitched voice, “So do you know if we’re going straight to a fight?”

Wow, did she change subjects quickly...

“Not as far as I know,” Jyren answered in as neutral a voice as he could. Somehow, he could handle children just fine, but something about young, naive pilots got to his nerves a little too easily, “The Vong are still a good way out in the Outer Rim. So we should be fine. Enough time to get all of you some flight time in and get everyone used to things before we get to the real thing.”

“I’ve done a hundred simulator runs,” Rea said, almost a little too proudly.

Jyren, somehow, managed to not as politely as possible, “Simulators can only help you out so much. Being in the actual cockpit out there is much different...”

He trailed off, not wanting to add that no matter how much training one had, nothing would ever prepare a new pilot for their first engagement. The utter chaos was so much that it was, simply, not something that could be prepared for. Hopefully these new pilots would be up for it...but Jyren knew from experience that most would not be. It was the hard truth, but the truth nonetheless.

“Do you have a family?” Rea’s voice cut into his thoughts yet again, nearly jerking Jyren up to look at her through the fringe of his hair that he had let get a little too scruffy again. She was, apparently, full of questions. He should have been, too, but for some reason he just didn’t have much to ask her. Not only was she so green that her skin colour was probably painted on to hide the fact, but part of him just felt little need at all to get to know someone that was going to die in a few months...or weeks.

“Yes,” Jyren’s mouth answered while he brain rambled on to itself.

And then the Twi’lek girl proved that she wasn’t a complete idiot. She very easily picked up on the fact that he was distracted, and so asked the first question that most everyone in the galaxy would in the same situation, “Is something wrong?”

“No,” again, the answer came far too quickly, and was definitely a reflex. Jyren sighed, shook his head, and got to his feet, “I’m sorry, but I need to go take care of some things.”

And then he walked out, leaving the poor Rea to sit there and wonder what she’d done wrong. She assumed that she’d said something stupid, but hadn’t seen any indicators as to exactly what that had been. It didn’t take long, though, before the squadron’s Duros Commander walked over to her.

Immediately, she knew why, and so she went straight to the point, asking, “What did I do?”

“Nothing,” Rulae said, shaking his large, blue-grey head, “He was...very close to his last wingmate. After she died he pretty much ran away from the New Republic as a whole. It can’t be that easy on him to come back like this.”

Rea sighed and shook her head, idly running a blue hand over the table in front of her. Though she didn’t say anything, Rulae wasn’t stupid. He’d been around long enough to know the problem, and gently patted her shoulder, “Its alright. I’ll have a talk with him. It may be a bit rough at first, Ensign, but he’s the best pilot in the squadron...you’ll be glad to have him at your wing.”

The Twi’lek allowed her Commander to walk off in the direction that her new wingmate had gone before sighing again and mumbling into the table, “I hope so.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 350

“I’m sorry, Alrax, but we don’t have the same connections we used to,” Kalrin said quietly, shaking his head and obviously trying not to stare at Tobias, who was in the center of the room, laying down, and still unconscious.

Marix, who was sitting next to Toby with a hand rested on his shoulder, looked across the room where the two Twi’leks watched them. She couldn’t help a sigh, “You have to know someone.”

It was Kalrin’s wife, Ereth’la, who was currently closing up the medkit that had been used, who spoke up this time, “After Cora died a few years back we have...been much more isolated from the rest of the galaxy. He was always the one with the contacts. I should have thought you knew that.”

Marix did know that. Cora had been Ereth’la’s younger brother, from what she remembered. He’d been a smuggler and, like most that took up such a profession, was both very cocky and a little too ready to jump into a fight. Alright, so those were more symptoms of being young than being a smuggler, but it was surprising how well the two went together time and time again. It was really no surprise to learn he’d been killed, as he had a habit of picking fights where he couldn’t win them, and also didn’t exactly make the best of friends with the many contacts he made.

Nodding, Marix looked between the two Twi’leks, “And I know the two of you wouldn’t exactly have had a visitor like you just had if you’d gotten rid of all of those contacts. There has to be someone you can point me in the direction of.”

“That...man, had nothing to do with anyone we know,” Kalrin cut in a little too quickly, before changing his tone and trying to hide the sudden jump in by saying, “But I think I do know one or two people that could help you.”

But it was too late to jump away from what he’d first said. Marix latched onto it, knowing there was much more there, especially considering that she hadn’t been able to feel the attacker in the Force at all. There wasn’t even a hole as if he was a somewhat strong Force-user who wasn’t very good at hiding himself...instead, there was just nothing. It was like blank air, and if Marix had no other senses beyond the Force, it would have been impossible to know he had even been there.

“Who was he?” Marix’s voice was razor-edged and her eyes narrowed before looking to both of the Twi’leks. They would, no doubt, attempt to hide the answers, considering Kalrin’s quick change away from it already. She was going to do her best to stop any avoiding of the subject and get straight to the point.

There was a silence that fell over the small room, as Kalrin and Ereth’la exchanged a quick glance. Marix caught sight of their head tails twitching, and she knew right there that they were communicating quickly. Despite spending some time in a Twi’lek form here and there, and a good deal of knowledge of many different languages, the intricacies of the Twi’lek’s lekku communication was something that Marix had never been able to learn.

Thankfully, they did not take long, and soon both turned to face her again. It took another minute, however, before Kalrin reached up to rub his forehead and spoke quietly, “I do not know who he was...but he came looking for information. He was asking about...strange things. He wanted to know how often supply ships came and went, and though he specified our own ships, I know very well that he meant all of them.”

“He also asked about the Holonet,” Ereth’la added, shaking her red-orange head and giving Marix a very pointed look, “We told him nothing.”

“...which was why he was pulling a disrupter on you,” Marix finished the unsaid thoughts and nodded to herself. She could feel they were telling the truth, though it was a bit forced. When one was in the business of selling information more than selling physical objects, it was hard to give away any information, no matter how important or how small it may have been.

So they didn’t know anything else...but Marix knew there was something else there. It was something she was going to have to look into on her own, and that was definitely not something to mention to these Twi’leks. So, she quickly moved back to the important point and why she’d tracked them down in the first place, “So about those contacts you can give me.”

“You say you wanted ships, yes?” Kalrin asked, then waited for her nod before glancing to Ereth’la and going on, “We know a Rodian that could probably help you. I believe he is currently operating out of a small station near the Coreward edge of the Cron Drift. It would likely take little to find the station there, as the area is fairly empty.”

The Cron Drift. A place where, thousands of years ago, a series of stars went supernova and wiped out all the life in the entire sector that was nearby. The planets had remained, generally, uninhabitable, but that didn’t stop many from using the gaseous nature of the area as a good cover for multiple illegal activities. It made sense. And while it was a difficult area to navigate, Loki was a much better ship for that kind of instinctive piloting than any ship that Marix could think of. Besides, it would get the ship a little excitement again, after so many years of sitting around and flying here to there without any trouble at all.

“Will your...s...” Ereth’la stopped, bit her lip, then tried again, “Will he be alright?”

She had cut herself off for a reason. It was due to the sharp look that Marix had given her for what she’d nearly said. Not that Marix didn’t consider Tobias to be her son as much as Jyren did, but due to the fact that it was both something that didn’t need to be spoken, and because Marix felt that it was just another piece of information that she did not wish these two to know too much of.

“He will be fine,” Marix said flatly, part of her suddenly not liking the choice she had made to come and find these two for information. She was also starting to push Tobias through the Force, trying to get him up faster so that they could leave. She wasn’t about to walk the streets of Ord Mantell carrying the kid. That was asking for trouble.

And so they would have to wait. It wasn’t long, however, before Marix decided it would be a good idea to have another look at the attacker in the other room. While the two Twi’leks went about cleaning up the smashed things that were the result of the fight in the main room of the building, Marix dragged the corpse back to the same room where Toby lay. Dragged because this massive human was far too heavy for Marix to even attempt carrying in her own human form, and she wasn’t about to use the Force in plain sight of the two Twi’leks.

As she knelt down next to the corpse and looked it over, she couldn’t help but keep having to remind herself that this body was, in fact, right there. Even a dead body should have some slight resonance in the Force. But this had nothing. The Force told her she was just looking at empty air and the ground below it. But her eyes, hands, and even ears, told her a much different story...this was not a confusion she was used to, and not something she liked one bit.

Marix found nothing right away, though she did note that the clothes he wore seemed almost too tight to the body. It reminded her of a morphsuit, actually, but with more shape and changes in form rather than the single, form fitting body suit. And this thought made her hands run along the corpse, looking for who knew what but...something. And then she found something.

A point...near the back of the skull. It felt..rougher than skin should have, if that made any sense. And, instinctively, she put pressure on it to get a better feel of the spot. The second Marix did that, the man’s...face began to peel away down the middle. It was sickening at first, as the entire face split down the middle and folded away all the way down the body, revealing an entirely different creature within. This was not a human. This was humanoid, yes...but with deep grey skin, tattoos covering every inch of skin in intricate patterns, and...scars. Scars, amputations, and other horrid looking disfigurements that covered the entire body.

And right away, Marix knew what she was looking at. There was no other possibility.

A Yuuzhan Vong.

With a human suit.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 351

Even though a Star Destroyer was still one of the largest starships in the galaxy, it was very hard to find any place, other than personal quarters, to be away from anyone. The size of the ship meant that there was a considerable amount of personnel aboard...and that didn’t just count the actual ship’s crew. Ground troops, techs, medics, marines, and then, of course, the starfighter pilots were everywhere, which made it nearly impossible to not run into people pretty much anywhere.

And so, when Rulae couldn’t find Raan (or Jyren...whatever) in his quarters, the list of places he could have been in the mood he was currently in was very, very small. Though he hadn’t seen the man in a long time, Rulae had a good idea of where to go after that. There were three, relatively small, observation rooms that had once been tactical briefing rooms...but when the hangar of the Araddon was converted to house three starfighter squadrons, the tactical briefing rooms were moved and the empty shells that were left were...left. Unlike the Empire, the New Republic knew that at least some downtime was necessary, and these places provided a little something at least.

It only took checking the first of them, which was just a few meters out from the main hangar, yet still managed to have some kind of view of what was outside the ship. It was also the smallest of the three, which was why Rulae had checked that one first. And right here, in the center of the otherwise empty room, sat Jyren...cross-legged and facing off the other direction towards the small series of viewports.

“Still have another hour until we arrive,” Jyren’s calm voice said as Rulae walked in, “What do you need, Commander?”

“Technically, its Commodore,” the Duros said idly before stepping next to his old friend and having a seat on the cold floor. It was then that he noticed Jyren’s eyes were closed. After a short moment, he added, “And what I need, is for my XO to stop sulking and actually get to know the pilots in our squadron.”

Now, the human next to Rulae opened his eyes, turning to look at him with something heavy in those icy blue eyes, “Half of them will be dead in a matter of days.”

Rulae did not nod, but his large, full red eyes matched Jyren’s perfectly and held a surprisingly stern, pointed look that Jyren was amazed could come from such alien eyes, “They don’t need to know that...and ignoring them like you’re trying to do is only going to guarantee that more of them will die.”

“And if I get too friendly with them and they die, what then?” that was not the Raan that Rulae Nok remembered. The voice was the same, and so was his face, but that...that was something he’d not even seen from his friend after the Zephyrs died on Coruscant.

“Then you remember them and you move on,” Rulae said flatly, almost getting a little too angry all of a sudden, “Ra— Jyren, I was the same way after we lost our squadron. Everyone is. But you didn’t have to come back to this, and you know it. You knew you were going to have to deal with this, so why did you come back if you’re just going to try running away again?”

“I don’t...I don’t know,” Jyren trailed off a moment, and then he started to grin suddenly. It came out of no where, and even surprised him, but he just shook his head said down to the deck, “You know, I never actually thought about it. Amazing how I just rush off without thinking about anything first.”

Marix would be proud of him for staying consistent.

A grin managed to appear on the Duros’ face a few moments later, “You really haven’t changed all that much...Jyren, I’m serious, you can’t run from these kids. They’re terrified. Sure, they’re ready to get into their first dogfight and feel that adrenaline rush, but you remember how it was. No one had to tell you that, statistically, half of your new friends would be dead by the end of your first mission...and that was if you were lucky. They all know, and they won’t show it but they know. What they need from us, just as much as the in-cockpit training we’ll give them when we arrive, is assurance that maybe, just maybe, we’ll prove that statistics are just generalizations.”

“Spoken like a good Duros,” Jyren mumbled, not really saying that to anger his friend, but simply as an idle comment to throw out there for who knew why.

It did manage to get a short laugh from Rulae, who just nodded, “Spoken like a squadron commander. So, are you regretting coming back yet, or shall I throw some other responsibilities your way?”

For some reason, that made Jyren inwardly look to his link with Marix. She was still there, of course, but so far away...so far...

Shaking it off, Jyren looked back out towards the viewport again and answered Rulae’s joking question a little more seriously than had been intended, “A little bit. But this was the right choice. These kids need the help, and every little thing to assist in this war is what will be needed to end it quickly. The longer it lasts...the worse its going to get.”

The Duros nodded, carefully looking off to see if there was anything interesting that Jyren was actually looking at. When he saw nothing but the endless, empty blue of hyperspace, Rulae grabbed onto another stray thought, “You sound like a Jedi when you talk like that.”

“You’d be amazed how hard I tried at that,” Jyren said softly, more to himself than to Rulae.

But, of course, the Duros did not miss this. He could not raise an eyebrow as Duros had no body hair, but he did tilt his head curiously and ask, “I know you told me some of where you were since disappearing, but I think I would have remembered you mentioning being a Jedi.”

“I didn’t mention it because I’m not,” Jyren’s voice took on a very sharp, almost Marix-like tone, “I said I tried, I didn’t say I was.”

For a long half minute, Rulae eyed him very carefully. Those words were just as cryptic as the first, and he still wasn’t completely sure what exactly Jyren meant. But he was connecting small bits of information he already knew...such as the lightsaber Jyren had always carried, his natural talent for being a little too damn lucky, and now this Jedi thing...

Eventually, still carefully studying Jyren, the Duros said, “It would really help the kids’ morale to know we had a Jedi in the squadron.”

“And it would be a lie,” the knife-edge of Jyren’s voice cut that line of thought off before it had the chance to go anywhere, “Rulae, I am not going to be something I’m not again. I went through that already, and it only made things worse for everyone around me while I tried to pretend to be some Jedi hero,” he quickly waved a hand to silence any comments that might get in the way, then went on to clarify, “Yes, Rulae, I can use the Force and its saved my life more times than I can count...and yes, I can use the lightsaber that’s buried away in my quarters...but I am no Jedi.”

Rulae opened his small mouth for a second before closing it again, then opening it again to say, “Jedi is just a title, Jyren. Just...this is something that could really help. And you know its not something you, of all people, can hide...you have a habit of showing off a little too much.”

“No!” Jyren snapped, this time nearly yelling, before shaking his head again and taking a deep breath, “No. I did not tell you for a damn good reason and this is exactly why. I’m a pilot, Rulae. I am here to fly, not to show off, and especially not to lie to some already terrified kids and make them think they’ve got a Jedi flying with them. And don’t you start thinking that, either. Unless you, or one of those kids is one, there are no Jedi in this squadron. There never have been. Understand?”

There was nothing to be said to that...and so Rulae just nodded. He took a deep breath, then rested a long-fingered hand on the human’s shoulder, “Alright. I won’t say anything. But at least don’t shut the kids out completely. Go get to know them, especially your wing. You know how important that is more than most of us.”

At that, Jyren also nodded. He was right, of course. And so, Jyren got to his feet and, as he started out of the room and back towards the mess, he said over his shoulder, “I’m sorry I’m still such a mess, Rulae...but I swear to you I won’t let my own problems affect this squadron again.”

It wasn’t until the door slid closed behind the human that Rulae nodded and said to himself, “And neither will I.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 352

There were only a few things one could do after discovering that the human who had fired a disrupter within a small shop on Ord Mantell was not, in fact, a human. Marix took the most direct approach. Immediately upon identifying the attacker as a Yuuzhan Vong (or at least being sure that it was the most likely option of the few that were currently available), she knew that letting word spread of a Vong on this planet, in a human suit, no less, would be a very bad thing.

And so, the first thing she did was find a way to get the strange suit back onto the body it had peeled off of. This took a good ten minutes of work, but eventually she managed to coax the thing back onto its...host? Host was the best she could work out at this point, mainly due to the fact that it was definitely not a synthetic creation. The suit was, most definitely, alive. The little points that stuck into the pores of her skin when she tried to force it back onto the body proved that. It reacted as an instinct, almost, trying to grab onto its new host and...do whatever it did.

It was amazing, though, that she managed to get the Yuuzhan Vong’s corpse covered by the suit again before one of the two Twi’leks returned to check on them. Marix had quickly made up a few details about what she’d ‘found’, all of which were lies told in a very believable way. And when she was left alone with Tobias for the second time, Marix sighed and looked down at the still unconscious young looking human. He needed to wake up. They could only stay here so much longer. The very fact that a disguised Yuuzhan Vong was on Ord Mantell, at least five major star systems Coreward of the current, makeshift line near Dantooine, was not a good sign. And it brought Marix to the next most important thing to do...which Tobias was currently holding them back from.

Getting off of Ord Mantell.

Yes, it could be seen as running, but this was not an Alraxian war and she was going to keep it from that for as long as she possibly good. Her people were not ready for a war...in fact, only herself, Jyren, and he handful of Tam’day’u that were the main training force for the larger defensive group of Knights were ready for war at all. And to keep them out of this for as long as was possible, Marix knew that they needed a better defensive force at the gateway. So, it was simply more of a motivation to leave as soon as possible. If the Vong were already on Ord Mantell, then it was no telling how long it would be before an attack came...and that was the last thing Marix needed, especially with Tobias at her side.

The part of her that felt the distance of Jyren through the link couldn’t help but remind her of how...insensitive her actions were becoming. Over the many years, the link between them had a way of getting stronger and stronger, which meant that their respective personalities were getting much better at rubbing off on the other...or, more accurately, imprinting on the other. It did make many things easier to deal with when the link was so strong and even more open than before either of them knew how to control it. But now they were half a galaxy apart for the first time since they’d met and it was...surprisingly difficult. She knew that if Jyren was there, he’d someone talk her into staying and getting the word out and other completely stupid and impossibly idealistic things...

But he wasn’t there. Jyren was off doing his thing, trying to protect their people in the only way he knew how to. Sure, he might have yelled about it being just for their family, but Marix knew better than that.

And because he wasn’t there, it wasn’t worth dwelling on what might be happening, because it simply wasn’t. Marix knew well enough how to deal with things on her own, and if that meant being practical and at a least a little cold to others, then so be it. It was part of her duty as the Empress to protect her people, even if it meant putting their lives about those of the rest of the galaxy. Which meant they needed to get off this damned planet...

And then there was a groan.

Marix twisted around to look over to where Toby still lay, seeing his eyes were half open and seemingly unable to go any farther. Reaching over, she carefully rested her hand on his forehead and tried, yet again, to send a little help through the Force. It hadn’t looked to have done much help the other times she’d attempted it, and she’d never claim to be a healer, but by the Force it was worth trying. She also leaned down slightly and, knowing he could hear her and at least hoping his brain could put words together, said very quietly, “Remorph what hurts...do it slowly. Don’t rush it, or you might pass out again.”

There was no outward indication that he heard what she’d said, but through the Force she could tell he did what she had told him to. Not long afterwards, his eyes, which were, disturbingly enough, the same colour as Jyren’s, opened all the way and turned to give her a dazed look. Tobias’ mouth opened, but only another groan escaped.

With a sigh, Marix helped him to sit up straight and spoke in a stern voice, “You’re lucky you didn’t get yourself killed. This is exactly why Jyren wanted you to stay at the Palace.”

“...Jyren’s here...?” Tobias’ voice was quiet, a bit confused, and scratchy enough to not sound at all like him...well, not at all like him in his human form, which was quite different from his normal voice.

Obviously, he’d hit his head very hard. Marix shook her head, “No, he’s not. We’re on Ord Mantell still...but not for long. Draw on the Force like we’ve taught you, Toby. Clear your mind and focus...use it to get your strength back so we can leave.”

Though she could tell he was doing this through the Force, Tobias still sounded and looked like he’d been hit by a turbolaser blast, somehow survived, and wasn’t sure what exactly was going on anymore, “...thought you said...you said...Jyren didn’t know you let me....you said Jyren didn’t know.”

This was not the time to discuss that, of all things. Sure, taking Tobias had been something that Jyren was very adamantly against, but he’d left a good while before Marix had and she had...caved. Well, no, not caved. It was more of a simple understanding that the kid was starting to act like she had at his age. Cooped up in the Palace with too much energy and not enough ways to release it that didn’t get people yelling at him. Marix had hoped that at least a short trip out of that place would do him some good.

But despite his foggy thinking, Tobias was soon able to sit up of his own strength. And, in another few minutes, was up on his feet...somewhat. Marix promised to explain what was going on when they got out of the system, telling him to just focus on walking straight and not drawing too much attention their way. Anything that would make either of them look weak on the streets of Ord Mantell made them a target...and that could further delay them from getting off of the planet when the Force(or maybe it was just her own natural instincts) was yelling at her to leave as soon as possible.

There had been no real last words to the two Twi’leks, not even a ‘thank you’ or a ‘goodbye’. Simply an acknowledgment that she and Tobias were leaving as the two cleaned up the majority of the mess that had been created in their shop. This meant that it was easy to get back on the streets, and though their pace was slow so that Toby could keep up, they were moving. At this point, that was all that mattered to Marix.

[Loki, get ready to leave the second we’re on board.] she called out to her ship, half a city away.

Of course, that didn’t slow down the bored ship’s response. [Going home?]

[Not yet. Heading out to the Cron Drift.] Marix did her best to not shake her head while responding, as she knew how strange that would look when she was obviously not talking with Tobias. [Be ready to prepare the jump to hyperspace as soon as possible.]

Loki was no fool. He could detect the sense of urgency in her ‘voice’. [...are we expecting trouble?]

[Always.] was the quick response, but Marix soon added. [I can’t tell you for sure, Loki, but we need to play this safe and leave now. The fighting is trying move Coreward faster than even Jyren worried it would.]

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 353

Home to the avian species, Vor, the planet of Vortex was truly a beautiful sight both from orbit and on its surface. Though, truthfully, they weren’t actually being allowed to set foot on the planet, all of the Zephyrs had seen holos from the surface...both of the native Vors an their huge, multicoloured towers that covered much of the planet. To think that, just a few systems out beyond the Mid Rim, some completely and utterly alien species was destroying everything in its path was...almost unimaginable.

But it was exactly what was happening. Yes, the Yuuzhan Vong had not advanced farther than Dantooine, but there were reports...rumors...stories. The Vong would not stay where they were long. Ithor was the next most logical step for their continuation to the galactic Core. It had been the tactical assumption by nearly all of the New Republic’s leaders that Ithor was next...but they were not sure. It was too hard to predict exactly what would happen.

However, prediction was no longer necessary.

When the Zephyrs and their fleet arrived at Vortex, a message was recieved from the Bothan in charge of the entire New Republic Navy, Admiral Kre’fey. Apparently, not a few days earlier, a small group of Jedi had gone to the planet Garqi, which was a relatively small world taken from the Vong not long after their assault on Dantooine. Along with discovering that the Vong were using both the planet’s resources and their newly acquired slaves begin construction on what could only be a gigantic fleet of...living ships, they had also found a possible advantage to be exploited. As all the ‘technology’ of the Vong were actually living creatures, it should not have been very surprising to find they had their own problems. More specifically, the pollen of the Bafforr trees that were across much of Garqi caused a fatal reaction to the armor of the Yuuzhan Vong warrior, killing it and crushing the warriors encased in its shells.

But the Bafforr trees were not native to Garqi. They were transplanted from Ithor. One of the only advantages that the New Republic could possibly hold against the might of the Yuuzhan Vong was on a world that was perfectly lined up as the next target for the Vong. It was not something that could be lost...and so the fleet was gathering there as a defense.

Their fleet, apparently, was not going to be heading to Ithor, however. They would wait at Vortex and be prepared to jump to hyperspace if any other planets were also attacked...it would not be an intelligent move to simply send all of the New Republic fleet to one planet. Some had to remain ready for anything else that could possibly occur.

“Alright, Zephyrs,” the voice of Rulae Nok sounded over all of the comms of the rest of the squadron, “We’re going to split into two groups for the this. Odds, I want you on me. Evens, you’re with Two. Our astromechs will transmit the comm frequencies to you.”

Only some of the pilots heard the clicks as their comm frequencies switched over so as not to distract the other group. Not that they were cut off from the others, as it was no problem to transmit to everyone if something came up...the thought of anything going wrong, however, was left out of everyone’s minds at this point.

Jyren left one hand on the control stick(apparently, an unusual way of flying these days) and hit the comm switch at his side as he pulled away from the main group, “This is Two. Evens, form up on me. We’re heading around the moon and then its time for a little fun.”

There was a series of double clicks over the comm, and Jyren counted them until he heard all five acknowledging that they had heard him. Just to make sure, Jyren leaned over and looked back behind him and to the sides of his brand new XJ X-Wing, and was glad to see the five others formed up in a somewhat haphazard formation behind him.

Well, at least they were following him. And, as Jyren watched them in the short flight to the nearby moon, he was glad to see that they all seemed to have a relatively strong grasp of basic flight techniques. Just to test this, Jyren took them through some very basic maneuvers along the way...also taking in the amazing response that this new model X-Wing had. It was nothing like that older two-seater version that was still sitting back on Alraxia and getting cautious stares from everyone that walked past the gigantic metal...thing.

It took just a few minutes to reach the opposite side of Vortex’s long dead moon, and when they reached it Jyren reopened the comm channel, “Okay, now for what you’ve all been waiting for. Time to break into pairs and get you all some dogfighting practice. First, however, just to keep things safe, try to keep your distance from everyone else...all you need to do for the ‘kill’ is acquire a target lock. This is just to get you used to what this really feels like...simulators can’t teach that.”

There was not silence afterwards. Jyren didn’t expect it.

Instead, the comm clicked and the voice of a young human male sounded in his helmet, “Uh, sir...I don’t want to sound like I’m whining but, uh...doesn’t this mean you and Rea are going to win?”

Jyren couldn’t help a smile at that, though he was still pulling away from the main group, and a quick glance to his side showed that his Twi’lek wingmate was keeping up, “This wasn’t going to be about winning or losing, Four,” Jyren was only able to identify the pilot by the little console next to his sensor panel that he had rigged to tell him who was transmitting. It was the best he could think of to do while he was still learning all the pilot’s voices, “But since you put it that way. I’ll buy the last two that ‘live’ drinks for the next week. Of course, if Rea and I win...you kids get to do the same for the next two weeks. How’s that sound?”

All he got in response was a series of double clicks over the comm.

As Jyren led his wingmate out a bit before they turned and came at the other four, he switched over to a personal frequency that only he and Rea shared and said, “You’re leading this time, Three. I’ll stay at your wing and watch your tail.”

“Uh...sir—“

”Jyren,” he cut her off, not liking hearing ‘sir’ anymore than Marix liked to hear ‘sorry’. But then, remembering that they were, technically, in the military, added, “At least on this frequency.”

“Sorry...Jyren,” Rea seemed to stumble over that for a moment, obviously not sure what she was supposed to say to that, but then went on with her original comment, “Won’t we...lose if I lead?”

Jyren shook his head, and though he had a feeling she was close enough to see him do it, also said, “No, Rea, we won’t. First instinct is usually to target both of the wingmates together...but we’re going to do this one at a time. You find a target, get on it, and I’ll follow you. We’ll take them down faster by focusing out attention on them.”

Through the Force, he could feel that Rea was actually starting to like this. The fact that he was, essentially, putting her in charge definitely helped. It was a trick that Rulae had told him to try after the briefing they’d both gotten about the Ithor situation.

“Alright, kids,” Jyren said after another few minutes to allow the three pairs to get a good distance from each other, “Open your S-Foils and lets see how much you learned from those simulators.”