Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 546: Reach Out With Your Feelings

Tobias looked up beyond the canopy above to the sky dominated by the orange gas giant, Yavin. There were no signs of any ships now. They had all passed minutes before, descending through the atmosphere towards the Great Temple and the main Academy complex. Of course, by now, it would be empty of all but the Peace Brigade and the Vong.

The Jedi Academy...gone. Another casualty of the invasion.

“We could steal a ship,” Tobias suggested, talking over his shoulder to where Master Ral sat, within a small cave of sorts beneath the ancient rubble of an ancient Massassi Temple. The bombings that had crumbled the stone building a decade earlier had also created a sort of cave-like structure beneath, where some of the old corridors used to be. Though they didn’t go very deep into what was left of the structure, it was enough to provide shelter and safety.

Without even seeing his Omwati Jedi Master, Tobias could feel the man shaking his head. It was in the way he spoke, “It is too dangerous. The amount of ships we saw was enough to house an army. You and I are no match for an army of Yuuzhan Vong on their own...not counting the Peace Brigaders also on the surface.”

It was hard to resist the urge to point out that, just a month or so previous, he and Master Ral had landed on a Vong ship at Fondor. It had to have housed more than were on the surface here on Yavin IV...but what was the point in arguing? It did seem more dangerous, somehow.

As Tobias turned to walk back down the small hill that led into their shelter, Master Ral continued to speak in his usual airy voice, “We may have to remain hidden for a long time, Tobias. At least until the majority of our enemy leaves...if not for the Peace Brigade here, we could send a comm signal out and hope someone picked it up.”

Stepping into the dark, cave-like corridor, Tobias slid down the stone wall until he was seated in the dirt. They didn’t turn on either of their glowrods for fear of it being noticed. So he just looked towards the black silhouette of Master Ral, “The Peace Brigade will monitor comm channels, I guess...”

The figure of Master Ral nodded, “It is likely. Even if they do not, we cannot take that risk. Sadly, all I have is a short range transmitter that would easily be picked up if we attempted to contact anyone offworld.”

Tobias nodded, looking down at arms that rested on his knees. Hiding from the Vong on Yavin IV, in a hole in the ground for who knew how long and with no way to get off or even contact anyone. Sure, that smuggler Kaarde and the other Jedi Masters would know they were on the surface, but Yavin IV had a lot of surface and even the Force wouldn’t be able to pinpoint two people.

There was nothing they could do but wait, sadly.

Master Ral’s shape shifted in the darkness, “Continue with your exercises, Tobias. Stay alert and aware, though.”

“What?” Tobias mumbled the question as Master Ral walked out of their shelter and out into the jungle, “Where are you going?”

Master Ral stopped, now fully visible in the fading sunlight as Yavin’s sun set over the horizon. Looking over his shoulder, blue features as hard as Tobias had ever seen them, Master Ral said simply, “I am going to check the area one more time. I will not be long. If I am...do not try to find me. Stay here and stay safe.”

“Yes, Master,” he nodded, got a slight glare from Master Ral, then tried again in a more sincere, less dismissing voice, “I won’t go anywhere at all, even if you don’t come back.”

“Good.”

And then Master Ral was gone.

Now left alone in a dark hole in the ground with ancient, molding stones above him, Tobias slumped over and sighed heavily. When the air left him, though, he sat up straight and began to take slow, deep breaths. Eyes did not close, but if they could have been seen by anyone Tobias would have looked distant. Staring off into the middle distance in the dark in front of him, Tobias did as he was told, reaching out with the Force.

In the brightness of the world around him revealed by the Force, Tobias easily could seen the shining light of Master Ral, moving very slowly through the very lively jungle. But Tobias didn’t stop at that. He could go farther. He could go much farther...maybe even find a way to let someone know he was there.

It was hard to concentrate when a sound would cause Tobias to nearly jump, but somehow the focus didn’t leave him. His senses stretched out, slowly, but soon he could ‘see’ more and more of the jungle...to the point where Master Ral was a dim light in the overarching brightness. It was...beautiful really. All of that life, some animals, most of it plants, but all of it very much alive and very strong in that fact. The feeling seemed to strengthen Tobias in a way he didn’t understand, but that didn’t matter for long as he reached out even more.

There was Yavin, the orange gas giant above, glowing dimly far above...and another of its moons, as bright with life as Yavin IV was...and another, and another...and then...

Something familiar.

A sense of surprise jolted through the Force right to him, but Tobias still held firm onto his concentration, lost in the feeling of all this life so many thousands of kilometers away from him..not realizing just how far he was stretching himself. And it was that familiar feeling, well beyond the Yavin System, that kept Tobias concentrated...because he was curious, and suddenly, so was it.

[Sye us e’che!]

Words.

Actual words through the Force from that thing so very far away. Hearing them caused Tobias’ focus to waver, just enough that he lost it completely, had to calm down, and took another ten long minutes to find it again. And there it was, a soft light due to the distance...a soft light that had spoken to him through the Force in Alraxian.

It was so far...but Tobias had to try. The voice had said ‘Identify yourself immediately!’ in Alraxian. If words could reach him from so far, then he could do the same...

[Dui Enai’ar. Blesta arnaa chisnerra. Soorate]

‘I am the Empress’ Son. Please send help.’

The last word was something that only Marix, Jyren, Tobias, the twins, and the Knights knew. It didn’t actually mean anything in Alraxian. In fact, as far as he knew, it wasn’t anything in any language. To the Knights, though, it was a word of confirmation that he was who he said he was.

[Kanyak us lac ked. Ian asha na tornil.]

‘My Kanyak has identified your location. We are on our way.’

And then Tobias finally pulled back to himself.

A gasp escaped him and he nearly collapsed onto the ground, sweating and suddenly exhausted. His head hurt so much. And yet...he grinned. There was a smile on his face that made Tobias look as if he’d gone mad, but he couldn’t help it. There were Knights all over the galaxy, quietly watching the events and reporting back to the Empire every so often, of course there would be one near Yavin IV while Tobias was there. And he’d found him. Tobias had managed to reach out and find help...and it was coming. They were going to be alright, and Tobias had done it.

What Tobias didn’t realize, though, was that the Knight he had managed to contact was nearly eighty lightyears away.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 547: The Greatest Show Off of Them All

Managing a very careful glance around the corner, Marix managed to get an updated look at her situation before she had to duck back behind the wall due to a volley of blaster fire coming straight for her. Pieces of rock exploded from the corner of the wall as blaster bolts slammed into it. Causing her to shift slightly and nearly drop the unconscious Yuuzhan Vong she still carried. This would only have been a bad thing due to the fact that it might somehow shake him back into consciousness, and that was the last thing she needed right now.

More yelling echoed her way, but Marix still couldn’t make out any actual words. That didn’t matter, it told her something else. The voices were closer, and the pitch was odd...they were running straight for her, or close enough to get a clearer shot if she popped out again. Where the hell was Loki?!

A rumbling echoed through the building suddenly, shaking the walls just enough to send a layer of dust down from the carved ceiling a meter above her. There was a shout from Torno’s men, and then another rumbling that was much louder and much deeper.

And then came half-second long, roar that was nearly deafening, which also violently shook everything, nearly throwing Marix to the ground. She managed to stay put against the wall, free hand digging claws in just to be safe, but still not moving. Vaguely, she could hear more shouts and yells before another, much louder roar exploded through the main entranceway to the mountain stronghold, this time joined by the distinct sound of metal buckling.

There.

Her head was spinning due to the sound, her legs barely able to keep her up thanks to the structure losing a great deal of its strength, and her shoulder was aching thanks to the damned Vong, but Marix knew exactly what that sound was. It was time to move.

Marix didn’t use the Force to keep her steady and to compensate for the heavy-headed feeling and ringing in her ears. She could have, but instead she just did what she was best at: gritted her sharp teeth, stood up straight, said a simple curse to gravity, and then ran.

Despite having a heavy, unconscious humanoid to carry, Marix bolted around her cover at an amazing speed. Her eyes took in the sight as she was moving. Far ahead, her destination, the huge main doors to Torno’s little stronghold had been completely smashed, the corners still red-hot. Dust and ash and smoke blanketed all of the entrance, with bodies littered everywhere. A few stood, but only the ones that had been coming towards her, and even then they were hunched over, clinging skulls or wearily and unsteadily getting to their feet.

Marix leapt easily over a downed Rodian as she sprinted for the opening, seeing a slight dark colour growing in the distance through the light that came through the doorway’s new opening. The sound of a blaster bolt behind her caught Marix’s attention, but thankfully the shot went well over her head. Marix gripped the Vong with claws now, her free hand pushing her off one of the crates that had been used as cover by Torno’s men not seconds earlier.

Through the light and the dust, the large object in the sky continued to grow at an amazing speed. Loki was diving at a speed that was very dangerous in an atmosphere, and Marix could see red streaks coming up towards him from the ground. That was why he was having to move so fast.

Reaching the remains of what had once been a barricade, Marix was greeted by burning crates, bodies, and an absolute mess of molten durasteel. Behind her, one of Torno’s men was still firing a weapon, but he was so bad a shot she didn’t bother paying him any attention, instead focusing on climbing through the mess to get outside right away.

She was halfway through the remains of the barricade when the not-so-distant shape of Loki made a very dramatic and sudden shift. He spun around ninety-degrees, cutting thrust so that his momentum now carried him right for where she was...sideways.

[Oh, you show off!] Marix growled.

[Don’t yell at me until after we’re not dead!]

Marix rolled her eyes as she got to the ground again, realizing that standing right in front of the doorway with the speed Loki was going at was not the best of ideas. She looked to the side and made her way as quickly as she could for the side entrance just to use it as cover. [That wasn’t even a coherent sentence!]

And then the one constant stream of blaster bolts towards her became much, much more. Marix was alerted to the danger through the Force, turning her head to see through the ruined crates and boxes and bodies to see at least twenty of Torno’s guards charged right for her, blasters blazing. Apparently some of Torno’s men only came to play after the rest were dead and dying.

Finally, Marix relieved her shoulder of its pain and dropped the Vong to the ground beneath her, getting a grunt of out him but nothing else. She dove down at the same time, landing face first against hard, duracrete at such force that she managed to get shocks of pain through everything from her knees to her chest to her face. But at least the blaster bolts all went over her and hit what was left of the huge, durasteel door.

A few seconds of constant blaster fire continued, but then it suddenly stopped. When that happened, Marix knew what it meant, so her hands quickly went to the back of her head, protecting herself as best she could physically while she readied herself to draw on the Force for some extra protection.

Loki hit the duracrete stairs outside the main building first, with a violent shake to the entire building’s foundation and a loud crashing sound. The entire ground under Marix continued to rumble under her as Loki slid against the duracrete, throwing chunks of it into the air which slammed into the durasteel door in loud, worrying pangs. It wasn’t long at all, barely a second, before more pieces of the door began to collapse inwards, and much of the ceiling began to come with it as the foundations lost much of their strength.

But before anything could hit the ground, Loki hit the door.

Whatever pieces of it had been left standing lost their strength, coming crashing down as Loki’s starboard ‘wing’ cut into the remaining frame, with the bulk of his body following. But the momentum was gone, and the impact after impact was enough to slow him down to the point where, finally, the ship came to a stop with a loud groan.

Of course, the ceiling and the door was collapsing inwards still. The first sounds of impacts were heavy thuds on Loki’s starboard side, denting and cutting into his thick hull before bouncing off and slamming into the other rubble caused by his shooting at the door before charging straight in. Marix had managed to shift to her side, seeing Loki’s main body stopped a good seven meters from her, but the shield of his wing well away from her. Eyes shifted up to see much of the ceiling and door coming for her, and the prepared and very natural reaction in the Force was not that much of a strain for her.

Reaching out with her arms and then the Force, Marix managed to stop many of the pieces that were right above her a good three meters above her. Around both her and the Vong, the rest of the debris hit, bouncing away and some nearly slamming into her but somehow managing to miss. Still holding a handful of large pieces of debris above her, Marix could see that much of the rest of the ceiling was coming down, too, but the initial wave had just hit...

A free hand lashed out and grabbed the nearest arm of the Yuuzhan Vong as Marix darted to her feet, letting go of the debris above her finally. She ran, literally dragging the Vong across the rubble behind her but fast enough that the debris above hit just behind him instead of crushing him and making everything a waste of effort. Her eyes had a new goal: the suddenly open main hatch on Loki’s underside.

A few smaller pieces of ceiling hit her as she ran for it, but they were easily ignored and in matter of seconds, Marix was inside screaming at Loki to go right now before people realized he was still in condition to fly and started shooting again and oh are you actually okay enough to be able to keep flying because if not I’m leaving you!

When the hatch closed behind Marix, the one in front to the main corridor irised open and Marix charged in, Vong still dragging right behind. She opened up a nearby room, threw him in, sealed the door, and ran as fast as she could to the cockpit, getting thrown from one bulkhead to the next as Loki shifted suddenly and definitely was being shot at again.

“Go go go go go!” she was yelling the words without realizing it just as she entered the cockpit and literally jumped into the pilot’s chair.

[Going as...as fast as I can...as fast as I can...] Loki’s ‘voice’ sounded pained, which was not that surprising. [Kind of...a bit...numb right now.]

That wasn’t good.

Marix reached forward and took hold of the controls herself, “I told you not to show off!”

[Not until we’re...until we’re not...we’re not dead, remember?]

Through the viewport in front of her, Marix could barely see anything but red and green bolts of energy. Obviously, Torno was a bit angry and had managed to get some ships into the air because they were nearly already into low orbit. Marix’s eyes darted to the sensors. At least four ships were after them, and gaining...or, no, Loki was losing speed.

“C’mon, Loki, hang on!” she tried to encourage the ship, not liking what she was seeing on the monitors that showed his vital signs, “You can do this. We just need to get to hyperspace.”

The control yoke wasn’t responding well to her, which meant that Loki was hurting pretty badly. She could barely maneuver him enough to dodge the turbolaser fire from behind them, and it was getting more and more sluggish. A violent jolt rocked the ship and nearly sent her head first into the controls. Marix glanced to the vital signs again to see the damage done and couldn’t help but cringe. But they were in orbit now, and despite the risks she put even more power to what was left of Loki’s engines.

Loki rocketed away from the small planet at a speed that was very dangerous for his current state, with three similarly sized transports firing turbolaser batteries at them, and an even larger freighter doing the same, but with more guns. Marix’s limited control thanks to Loki’s injuries meant that the best she could do was just push forward faster, shifting the Kanyak slightly from one side to the next and in soft rolls to avoid the clumsy shots...

A light came on just in front of her, a soft blue-green colour to indicate they were free of any nearby gravity wells. Marix nearly pounced on the hyperspace controls, and in a sudden, wonderful moment, the stars began to twist and stretch...then Loki shot off into hyperspace.

But Marix didn’t let out a sigh of relief and collapse into the chair.

Instead, she twisted the seat around and then bolted out of it, scrambling down the corridor towards Loki’s aft section where all of his organs and vital systems were. He was bleeding internally according to the vital signs in the cockpit, with the entirety of his underside nearly gone and much of his hull so damaged that it was amazing he hadn’t come apart in the atmosphere.

Their escape wasn’t going to matter if he died now, and Marix wasn’t going to let that happen.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Just a quick heads up for everyone...

I am, in fact, still alive! Mostly...

Still on a sort of vacation right now, mostly sans computer. But, if all goes well, I'll be back home in about another week or so and updates shall resume as per normal...finally! Until then, I'm off to chase after a girl I should have chased after years ago!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 548: Herding

After over two decades of service, the X-Wing Starfighter was still one of the best ships flying in the galaxy. After so many years, it still was one of the only starships in the service anywhere in the galaxy with a perfect mix of armament, speed, maneuverability, shield power, and, of course, a strong enough hyperdrive to take it anywhere in it needed to be without the need for a carrier...well, the pilot not be comfortable, but the ship could do it. Attempts to replace the ship with newer designs always failed, partly due to the X-Wing’s actual merits but also largely due to the legendary status the starfighter had achieved over the years. And so, eventually, the X-Wing itself was redesigned, keeping the frame and most everything that made the X-Wing an X-Wing, but adding in newer technology to make the ship, once again, state of the art.

But none of that mattered anymore.

What good were four laser cannons against the dovin basal singularities that simply ate the energy up? What use was a larger capactity for proton torpedoes if they couldn’t detonate? What were speed and maneuverability when the enemy could simply swarm with unimaginable numbers? What was the point of even having shields if those same dovin basals could be used offensively to simply rip the shield away if the X-Wing got too close? And what good was a hyperdrive when the starfighter was stuck in a gravity well surrounded by enemies and with no real support from carrier?

And that was just compared to the Vong’s Coralskippers, those tiny, teardrop shaped, asteroid-like ships that were causing many in the New Republic to scramble for new ways to fight now that all of their advantages seemed to be completely gone. But there were so many more problems now. The Vong cruisers and capital ships presented similar difficulties, but simply multiplied them. So many other weapons that the Vong used presented even more problems, but there was one thing that truly made the X-Wing completely useless against the Vong: it was the Yuuzhan Vong warriors’ complete disregard for their own lives.

There was no real way to defend against an opponent who had no problem with death and would send his ship right through another. And yet someone had to try...thousands had to. If they didn’t try, if they just threw their hands into the air and gave up, then...well, Rulae wasn’t sure how that thought ended, because he’d never taken it that far. It just wasn’t an option.

Maybe that was why he had was now taking his X-Wing back into a hopeless fight, where two thirds of his squadron were currently surrounded by a literal swarm of Vong skips. His sensor board could see the 6 remaining starfighters clearly, but when he looked through the canopy in front of him, all that Rulae’s large, red eyes could see was a mass of moving black and grey against the backdrop of one of Rodia’s dark green moons. Here and there, red lances darted around but always disappeared. What was terrifying to Rulae was that he didn’t see the distinct, red-orange glow that would signal the Vong firing back

Why weren’t they shooting?

One of Rulae’s long fingered, black gloved hands hit his comm switch, “Zephyrs, form up together and punch your way out of that formation now! I can’t do you any good if you keep flying in circles!”

On his sensor screen, Rulae couldn’t see much change...well, not beyond a few of the skips beginning to come his way as he approached the swarm. So he wasn’t very surprised to hear the Coruscanti accent of Adria Harken reply through the comm, “Its not that blasted simple, sir!”

“They’re herding us!” that was a different voice, somewhat gravely even through the usual static of the comm channel. It was Zephyr Eleven, an older human from the Core who’s name currently escaped Rulae as he tried to figure out what exactly that sentence meant.

A shrill noise cut in on his personal channel as Rulae’s astromech screamed at him. There was no need to look at the translation for that in front of him, as Rulae knew exactly what the alarm was. Immediately, he pulled his X-Wing into a tight snap-roll firing off a barrage of laser fire as the wave of at least twenty Coralskippers flew right through his previous path. He didn’t actually hit any of them, but it felt good to shoot.

Glancing over his shoulder, Rulae caught a glimpse of the skips whipping around in a maneuver that would have torn his ship to pieces. They spread out in mid-turn, forming a sort of net of Coralskippers behind his X-Wing and approaching quickly.

So that was what Eleven meant by ‘herding’. This was something new, and somehow extremely worrying. This didn’t fit into the Vong’s profile...

Rulae’s mind was working overtime now. He had to figure out a new plan and very quickly or they were all going to end up in a very bad situation...worse than it currently was. Looking around him, at the speed the skips were approaching, he was going to be good and surrounded by them in a matter of seconds. Obviously, they didn’t want him leaving the system. Three of the Zephyrs had escaped, at least, but they rest were being prevented escape.

So where were they being herded to?

“Plate,” Rulae practically yelled at his astromech despite the volume of his voice being completely unnecessary for it to hear him, “Have the Vong been moving the rest of the squadron anywhere?”

This time, as the astromech answered in its beeps and whistles, Rulae did read the translation: THE CURRENT LOCATION OF FLIGHTS TWO AND THREE IS FOUR HUNDRED KILOMETERS CLOSER TO RODIA THAN THEY WERE IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE AMBUSH.

Rodia.

They were moving them towards Rodia.

The skips were around him now, not firing but flying so close that to avoid a collision Rulae had to change his course just slightly. Then again. Then again. They were turning him, obviously not afraid of an impact themselves but relying on his own fear of that very thing. The Vong were manipulating them all perfectly. But why? And why towards Rodia? And why had they all come from the moon?

Two sudden thoughts jumped into Rulae’s mind at the same moment. The first was that there was one very simple way out of this trap, which it definitely was. And the second was that they hadn’t detected anything of worth on the surface of Rodia during a brief scan. Then maybe they weren’t being taken to Rodia, but rather, away from something important on that moon. It didn’t explain why they weren’t simply dead, but it did tell him something at least. That, and caused him to make a decision after a quick glance at his sensors again.

“Zephyrs, change of plans,” he spoke into the comm quickly, not knowing how much time they really had and so delivering the orders at lightning speed, “On my mark, make a break for the moon. Don’t let them get in the way either, just ram right through them if you have to. There’s something down there the Vong don’t want us near.”

“Sir, we can’t—“

”This is not the time, Twelve,” Rulae snapped angrily, shutting up the rest of Harken’s complaint, “We’ll regroup on the surface of the moon but right now we need to get there alive. Does everyone understand?”

A series of double clicking sounds through the comm confirmed it.

Rulae’s eyes darted around him, identifying a spot in the formation around him that only contained two skips. A section he might be able to break through. Then, one last time, he checked his sensors. It was still a good distance to the moon for him, but the rest of the squadron was still closer...it was crazy, but it could work. It was the only thing he could think of, though...surprise. It would, hopefully, surprise the Vong. For once, they’d turn the tables and have it to use against the Vong, only to run down to an alien moon in the enemy’s hands...

Oh well. His gut told him there was something on that moon the important to the Yuuzhan Vong. Getting close to something like that was a rare opportunity, and not something that could be passed up with how badly the war was going. Besides, Rulae didn’t like the idea of what might be on Rodia waiting for them.

“Mark!”

Before he’d finished the word, Rulae diverted as much power as he could from his weapons to the shields, then yanked his X-Wing hard to starboard. Immediately, both starboard S-Foils collided with the nearest of the skips, causing a bright explosion and sending his starfighter into a violent spin...which sent the nose into another skip. With that impact, the nose cone of the X-Wing with its sensor equipment ruptured, causing another explosion much closer to the cockpit. Despite the crash webbing holding most of him into his seat, the pair of violent impacts caused Rulae’s head to slam into the canopy, then snap back into the headrest behind him.

His X-Wing burning and in an uncontrollable spin, moving towards Rodia’s moon only due to momentum and its gravitational pull, Rulae lost consciousness.


Aaaaand, I'm back again and mostly alive.

 

[tmaaas]

So... did you catch her?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

So... did you catch her?

Haha.

Not really yes but not no, either. Going to take some time and effort and all that fun stuff but I'm game for it. Should be an interesting few months on that end.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 549: When I Grow Up

A tall, well dressed Alraxian stood idly by a tree in the courtyard of the Palace, looking off towards the faint shimmering of the shield and not seeming to pay much attention to anything else around him. He was an easy figure to spot. Ignoring the fact that there was no one else out in the courtyard, he wore a black suit of sorts, with a high collared jacket. While the black alone was enough to make him stand out against the green grass and the whites of the Palace, the suit itself was lined in a silver material that caught the light from Alraxia’s setting sun and made it seem like his outline was glowing slightly. Of course, even without that, he was one of the most recognizable Alraxians in the Empire. That metallic blue stripe through white hair really wasn’t like anyone else.

“Aren’t you supposed to be upstairs?” Jyren spoke over his shoulder quietly, but he was easy to hear in the general quiet of the courtyard.

Tobias, dressed in a similar outfit but without the silver lining, took a few casual steps towards his father though still kept a couple of meters back, “Aren’t you?”

Jyren’s shoulders rose and fell in a small shrug, and he turned his head slightly to give Toby a sideways glance, “I’ve already done my time at a gathering like that. This one’s in your honour, apparently...” he paused a moment, and a grin tugged at the corner of Jyren’s mouth, “Besides, your mother is more likely to notice if both of us aren’t in there. And if we escape without her...well...might have to kick you out of your room to take that bed for a few decades.”

A short chuckle escaped Tobias, but it ended when he realized that Jyren wasn’t actually being sarcastic. He paused a moment, then gave up on that line of thought to ask, “What are you doing out here?”

“Aren’t you old enough that you shouldn’t be running to find me every second of the day?” Jyren asked idly while he turned back to look off towards the jungle outside the Palace.

That bothered Tobias. He bit his lip and looked down at his feet, which were currently covered by a pair of grey boots. Eventually, he said towards the ground, “I just...you seemed...I was...”

“You were worried?” Jyren’s voice immediately lost the slightly biting tone that it had contained a moment before. His head tilted upwards, and then just shrugged again, “I’m just not a fan of crowds.”

“But mother...”

“Is able to completely separate herself from the moment and just go on autopilot,” Tobias was cut off by Jyren finishing the sentence with an answer to the question that hadn’t been completely asked. After a moment of a somewhat awkward silence, Jyren turned around completely to face the younger Alraxian, shifting so that he could lean one shoulder against the tree next to him, “You know, little guy, you really should be up there. Apparently this whole thing is supposed to be about you coming of age. Not that I really understand it, but it seems important.”

Tobias nodded, looking back down to his feet. While Jyren might not have grasped the whole thing, Tobias did. It had been explained to him in great detail by Jyren’s father, who had been the one to suggest it in the first place. It was a rather ancient ritual of sorts, a celebration of the oldest child of the Empress reaching an age that had them eligible to join the Knights. Not many ever did, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that the child was not supposed to be a child anymore...well, not mentally. Physically, of course they were, but they were supposed to have reached a point in their life where they had a direction.

Maybe that was what bothered Tobias about it...he didn’t have one. He just...wanted to be like Jyren.

“You know what I wanted to be when I was a kid?” Jyren interrupted the thoughts with the perfect question.

Looking up, Tobias shook his head, “What?”

A broad smile formed on Jyren’s face, “I wanted to be Luke Skywalker. I wanted to be the hero that saved the galaxy with a single proton torpedo. I wanted everyone in the galaxy to know who I was because I was the one who had saved it all,” he laughed softly to himself, “Course, I was probably twelve or so at the time and didn’t really understand how anything worked but that was what I was going to be.”

Tobias stared at his father. This was the man that had, on many occasions, told Tobias that the reason he couldn’t train to be a Jedi Knight was because Luke Skywalker had no idea what he was doing and was a narrowminded idiot. Well, no, that was the polite version. Usually Jyren used the kind of language that would have the Redstars glaring at him for using around children. In fact, never in his life had Tobias heard Jyren say one kind word about Skywalker.

“Stop staring at me like that, little guy,” Jyren’s smile was still just as wide as before, and he pointed back towards the entrance to the Palace, “You got a surprising story out of me so now you have to turn that tail around and get back up there before someone notices you escaped.”

Still somewhat shocked, Tobias managed to ask one more question before he headed back to the huge crowd of people he didn’t know, “You coming, too?”

“I’ll be up in a few minutes,” Jyren motioned again towards the entrance, “Now quit worrying about me and think about yourself for once in your life, little guy. Go have some fun.”

* * * *​

It was raining.

This was not unusual on Yavin IV, but it was depressing for some reason. Tobias stared out of the small cave beneath ancient ruins into the jungle around him. It was hard to see anything through the thick, torrential downpour. The rain was so hard that the world was mostly a haze of blurred colours and the dirt under his feet, which was a good distance away from the entrance to the cave and well sheltered, was turning beginning to soften into mud.

“Still can’t take that advice,” Tobias mumbled to himself.

Maybe that was it. The rain reminded him of Alraxia...and Alraxia reminded him of Jyren. Tobias was supposed to become a Jedi. He wasn’t supposed to dwell on death so much. It was dangerous. And yet...and yet he did. Every time he turned around, it seemed like another memory would pop up and reopen the wound that had never even been given a chance to heal.

But now was not the time to dwell on the past.

It had been two hours since Master Ral had left and since Tobias had made contact with an Alraxian Knight. He’d sat there alone, staring blankly in front of him trying to regain his strength. Stretching out with the Force like he that had trained Tobias considerably, and he was still feeling exhausted. He couldn’t even find the strength to reach out with the Force to find Master Ral nearby. In fact, all he could do was keep his ears good and open for anything out of the ordinary. Tobias was still very worried about being discovered by the Yuuzhan Vong, despite how far he and Master Ral had escaped from the Great Temple.

Sure, help was coming, but how long would it be? What if the Vong found him before then? Had they already found Master Ral? He wouldn’t have been gone for this long...would he? No. No, he had said it wouldn’t be long.

Gods, what if they had found him?! What would the Vong do to Master Ral? Would they just kill him...or...or...

If they’d found Master Ral, it would only be a matter of time before they found Tobias, too. It wasn’t as if he had the best hiding spot, either. The shelter was beneath very obvious ruins in a very obvious cave opening and he was in plain view even with the darkness. And even if he had the strength to reach out with the Force and check his surroundings, Tobias wouldn’t even be able to feel the Vong...

Where was Master Ral?!

Tobias stood up and looked outside through the torrential rain. Which was had Master Ral gone? Right? Yes...but where after that? Did it matter? If the Vong had found him...

If the Yuuzhan Vong had found Master Ral, then he was probably dead. But if he was dead, Tobias would have felt it. Or, he should have felt it. No, no he would have. Which meant Master Ral was still alive. And two hours gone...the Vong must have found him.

Tobias had to do something. He could just sit here! It wasn’t right. And besides, it was dangerous! If the Vong were nearby they’d find him sitting in one place...but if he was moving around, it would be harder, especially in this weather. And maybe he could find Master Ral. Then...then they could get off Yavin IV because the Knight he’d contacted would arrive at just the right moment like they always did.

Taking his lightsaber off his belt, but not activating the weapon, Tobias ran out into the rain and went to find his Master.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 550: Desperation

Marix flopped back into the bulkhead behind her with a loud sigh before slowly sinking down to the deck plates. Technically, they weren’t deck plates. Deck plates implied metal connected in sheets on the floor of a starship. Loki’s interior was in no way metal, nor were there any lines to indicate separate sheets of material. But the terminology held well enough.

Everything around her was no longer the usual muted colours of Loki’s interior, but instead covered in a mess of deep blue splotches. It had the consistency that would normally be classified as ‘goo’, but it wasn’t. It was, in fact, the equivalent of blood for Kanyaks. Currently, it covered everything within the small access way that Marix was now sitting in next to most of Loki’s vital organs. The everything it covered also included her.

Finally able to give herself a moment to breathe again, Marix tried not to dwell on the fact that she was absolutely drenched in Kanyak blood and that Loki would, hopefully, be okay. Lifting her arms up, Marix looked at them, sighed, then flicked them at the floor a few times so that she could at least see a little bit of the grey of her morphsuit. Part of her was glad she couldn’t currently see her face...or her hair for that matter. She was going to need a good long washing.

But Loki wasn’t bleeding anymore.

The first thing Marix had done when she’d reached this small, usually sealed-off section of Loki was to literally rip out the section of tissue that was connected to his hyperdrive system. It had pulled them out of hyperspace violently, but they were safely out of Hutt Space by then and being in hyperspace was much more dangerous for Loki in his current condition. That had also been the largest source of the mess around her, but now it, along with the injuries that were already there when she’d arrived, was patched up cleanly.

While Marix was neither a medic or a technician, she could do what was needed to repair and treat these kind of injuries. In fact, it was something that all Kanyak pilots were taught from the beginning. Rarely did such training become necessary, but then times like this came up and it was invaluable. The only real problem was that, currently, Marix couldn’t get outside to check the extent of Loki’s other injuries. Not that she could really do much about those, but she was worried about him now.

Tilting her head back to rest it against the bulkhead behind her, Marix idly looked at the series of objects lodged into the ceiling above her and the opposite wall of the small corridor that were all Loki’s vital systems and internal organs. Gently patting the floor under her, and then trying to ignore the slight squish sound her hand made in the process, Marix said softly, “Next time you want to show off, just do a flyby of the Palace and scare the Knights.”

[Not...not as much...as much fun...] Loki’s ‘voice’ nearly caused Marix to jump. He still sounded terrible, but it was the very fact that he was conscious again that surprised her. He had been completely unresponsive since just after they’d made the jump to hyperspace. Sure, Marix had been talking most of the time since then, but it was more to herself or screaming curses at things for not doing what they were supposed to.

“We need to find a place to set down so you can get some rest,” Marix eventually said towards the ceiling above her.

[Nothing nearby...in...in...empty space...]

Again, Marix sighed. Right now, the last thing she was going to do was put Loki through the stress of another jump to hyperspace. At least there wasn’t anything around. For the moment, at least, drifting seemed the safest option. It wouldn’t be something they could rely on for long, however. They were out of Hutt Space, yes, but the jump hadn’t lasted long enough to bring them out of Yuuzhan Vong occupied space. It would only be a matter of time before someone found them...space was big, but not that big.

The silence that now occupied the small corridor was surprisingly calming. Marix could feel the adrenaline fading and pains in her limbs and chest beginning to become noticeable. She had taken a bit of a beating, too. It wasn’t anything worth remorphing, just a bruise or two that would heal on its own quickly enough. Still, she hadn’t noticed them at all until now.

Eventually, though, Marix had to remind herself that they weren’t out of this just yet. Loki wasn’t bleeding internally anymore. He would begin to heal now, too. But the external wounds were extensive according to the reading she’d seen before charging back to repair the internal damage. He was likely bleeding externally, too, but there wasn’t nothing she could do about that for the moment. In fact, even if she morphed human and used one of Jyren’s old flightsuits to head outside, she didn’t have the equipment to repair any of the damage. Not to mention that she was worried about his ability to re-enter an atmosphere to even set down.

Slowly, Marix pulled herself up to her feet and tried to ignore the slight stickiness. With one last look at everything in front of her to make sure it was, in fact, good and patched up, Marix then turned and headed out of the cramped corridor. She made sure to seal off the access hatch once she was out, then made her way to the cockpit. Ignoring the trail of blue left behind her and the not-so-pleasant smell surrounding her, she quickly dropped into the pilot’s chair and reached for the comm system.

She didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much choice left but to send a message back to the Gateway.

But then a new problem arose.

Hitting the comm switch, nothing happened. Immediately fearing what that meant, Marix turned to her other side and looked at the readouts for the Loki’s main systems on one of the small, green-glowing screens to the right of the pilot’s chair. It told her that the communication system was badly damaged, just like she had expected.

With another sigh, Marix rested her head in her hands, suddenly regretted this due to the wonderful stuff still covering her, and sat back up straight again. So she couldn’t call home.

There was another option. It was one she liked even less, but with Loki’s life still hanging in the balance, Marix wasn’t about to turn down what was, at this point, the only option she had left save for drifting in space and hoping someone that wasn’t the Vong or the Peace Brigade just happened upon them.

Once again getting to her feet, Marix headed for her quarters. Buried away in the small closet that held just a few changes of clothes for both her and Jyren was something he’d stashed in there years ago. It was one of those things that Marix had begrudgingly accepted, deciding that it didn’t hurt to just leave it there, just in case. The how relating to his acquiring of the comm package was something that Jyren had never answered, instead always grinning at her and shrugging. Not that it mattered how he’d gotten a hold of it or if the Jedi even knew about it.

The simple truth was that there weren’t many comm packages in the galaxy that had the Jedi emergency encryption frequency locked into it. That was something the Jedi would respond to immediately. Sure, it would be a surprise when there wasn’t a Jedi on the other end, but they were supposed to be naive, helpful idiots. They’d let Marix at least explain why she was contacting them, she’d dance around how she got the frequency, then they’d do the noble, but stupid, thing and fly all the way out into enemy territory to save her.

The last part bothered her the most.

To the day he died, Marix despised Jyren’s need to always save her. She could take care of herself, thankyouverymuch.

But now it wasn’t herself that was Marix’s concern. She wasn’t the one who needed saving.

And she wasn’t going to let something so trivial stop her from saving Loki.

Of course, it all banked on the hope that the damn comm package worked...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 551: Battered but Alive

“Sir...?”

A voice.

Why was there a voice?

There hadn’t been anything before. Wait...had there?

“It looks bad. Will you give me a hand?”

There was that voice again.

It wasn’t really distant, but somehow it didn’t seem all that close. Wait wait...that didn’t make any sense. Maybe if he just opened his eyes and...

He.

Okay. Maybe a voice did make sense now. If he was a he then he was thinking and he was alive. Why wouldn’t he be alive? All that black...that nothing...no, no none of this made sense. It was all a headache. Or was the headache already there?

Light slowly crept into the previous darkness as one of the eyes opened very slightly. Had he done that? Maybe...try...

Slowly and unsteadily, Rulae Nok opened both of his eyes to take in what was around him. Most of his currently-blurry view of the world was colours. The edges of his vision showed dense, dark greens and then lighter yellows mixed in. Moving inwards, greys and silvers overlapped with the greens and yellows, and then there was a very large shape that was a light blue colour.

“Sir...?” the blue shape shifted slightly. Or, rather, a small opening towards the bottom of the shape that was probably a mouth did.

Sadly, the only response Rulae was able to manage wasn’t really a word, “Nnnghh...”

“Stop it,” the voice became a bit firmer and Rulae began to take notice of his surroundings more clearly. He was...on the ground. Or, at least on his back looking up at the sky. And there was a pressure on his chest that was strangely heavy.

“Nnn...” Rulae attempted again to speak but, again failed. Instead of trying a third time, though, he allowed himself to begin to recover. After a few moments, the blue blur formed into the face of the Twi’lek Rea’tin Lor, which shouldn’t have surprised him. She looked concerned, but wasn’t actually looking back at him. No, she was looking down...well, down to him, at least, towards the pressure on his chest.

Resisting the urge to move as he knew nothing of what had happened and couldn’t quite grasp any memories that would lead him to where he was. But Rulae’s thoughts were beginning to become more coherent and less...less...well, less confusing and fuzzy. As he began to think in more complete sentences again, Rulae opened his mouth and attempted, once again, to speak...but very slowly, “Si...sitrep...?”

At first, Rea looked surprised that he had said anything, her head suddenly turning with wide eyes to look at him. It did not take long, however, before her military training kicked in and the young Twi’lek understood that she had been asked an important question by her superior officer. Immediately adopting a formal tone of speech, Rea said, “We landed on Rodia’s moon...well, some of us did. Most of us crashed and hit pretty hard. We’re uh...we’ve only found five so far. Adria...” she paused, realized familiar tone, then changed it quickly, “Cadet Harken is treating Rast and Sansont. They’ll be alright...nothing but minor injuries. Same for Harken and myself...”

Not a fool, Rulae knew exactly why she had trailed off after that. Still not moving, Rulae took hold of his voice again, “And...me?”

Rea bit her lower lip a moment then sighed, “You’re lucky to be alive, sir. Your...your X-Wing didn’t make it. It got through the atmosphere of the moon in pieces and we saw you eject, but it was a rough fall. When Adria found you she had to pull you out from under a tree that had come down and your ejection seat. The crash webbing had you good and stuck and...well, neither of us are medics or at all trained in Duros biology but you’ve definitely broken your right leg and badly hurt the left. And your chest...we think you broke a few ribs and from the...from the blood you’ve been coughing up since before now I think you’ve got a punctured lung. I...I really don’t know, though. We don’t have anything beyond a basic medkit so we’ve done the best we can and...”

“Calm down,” Rulae strained the words out, now understanding the pressure on his chest and why it was difficult to talk. It hurt, “What about...the Vong?”

At the last word, Rea turned to look over her shoulder a moment, then quickly looked back, one of her two head tails sliding over her shoulder in the process, “No sign for now, sir. But...well, we saw a few ships set down not too long ago. It was dangerous but we’ve moved a good ways from any of the wreckage so we won’t be that easy to find in this mess of a moon. But I’m...I’m worried about the others and how we’re going to get off this planet now that pretty much all our ships are useless...”

“Right now...right now we lay low...” Rulae trailed off slightly, closed his eyes a moment, then went on, “There’s something here...something the Vong don’t want us to find.”

Though his eyes were closed again, Rulae could tell Rea’s expression from the way her voice sounded. She didn’t like what he’d just said, and she obviously thought he had hit his head harder on impact than originally expected, “Sir, we’re in no shape to search an entire moon for some Vong thing based on a...based on a hunch.”

The small mouth on Rulae’s mostly featureless face formed the best smile it could considering how he currently felt, “That’s why...that’s why we lay low first. Which means if we have to move again...then we move again.”

A sigh escaped Rea. She looked ready to argue with him, but was intelligent enough to hold it back. Apparently, she hadn’t been Jyren’s wingmate long enough to pick up his defiant nature when it came to orders. That was good, as Rulae had worried about that and, especially at a time like this, defiance was the last thing they needed.

There was something on this moon that was important. Rulae was sure of it. He didn’t have the Force or anything mystical like that, but Rulae did have years of experience that gave him strong instincts. Tactically, it made sense for what he saw happening, especially when compared with the usual battle tactics of the Vong. Of course, there was one problem with his theory: the fact that there was also something on Rodia that the Vong had been driving them towards.

One thing at a time. They’d made it to the moon, mostly intact, so that was the focus. Well, after staying alive.

“Rea!” that was Harken’s voice, not very far away at all but out of Rulae’s line of sight. He still wasn’t moving, and wasn’t going to risk it if he didn’t have to. Without a full knowledge of his injuries, Rulae wasn’t about to make things worse. It damn well hurt enough as it was...

Quickly, the Twi’lek in front of him disappeared from his vision, getting to her feet and quickly running over towards Harken’s voice. Rulae could hear them speaking in quiet voices, but couldn’t make out the words. Barely a minute later, Rea returned and had a mask of concern on her face, “We’re going to have to move again, sir. This is the uh...hard part.”

“What is it?”

Glancing upwards slightly and reaching for the corner of a thin object that Rulae identified as a stretcher that he was lying on, Rea spoke swiftly, “Adria’s astromech has detected lifesigns a few kilometers north of us. That’s...that’s about where my X-Wing went down so its not another of our’s. We need to move before any Vong find us here.”

Then, Rulae felt an odd sensation. With a gentle whirring sound, he felt, and saw, the world change slightly as he lifted nearly a meter into the air. This made sense quickly enough, as Rulae remembered that the small, extendable stretchers packed into most medkits for X-Wings also had small repulsorlift generators. That, at least, explained how Rea and Adria were able to move three other pilots by themselves without simply dragging them along the dirt.

“Give me...give me my blaster,” Rulae said as Rea started to move him through the not-so-dense forest they seemed to have crashed into. When the Twi’lek looked at him and was about to say what he could tell was going to be a ‘not right now’, Rulae forced himself to raise his arm and open his hand, “I can still shoot if they find us.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, finally, then reached down to the holster on his belt and removed the weapon before placing it in his outstretched, gloved hand. By that time, Harken had moved over to them and Rulae turned his head very slightly to see she was pushing two stretchers in front of her.

Noticing he was conscious, the red-haired human woman nodded slightly to the two other pilots, both of whom were humans of roughly the same age, “Rast has been in and out and Sansont hasn’t done anything but breathe since we pulled him out of his X-Wing, sir. That means your our only gun if they find us right now.”

Tilting his head to look up to Rea, Rulae mumbled, “Then I’ll try to aim around you two if I have to shoot.”

Managing a half smile, obviously forced but helpful nonetheless, Rea nodded and both of the bruised-but-standing pilots began to move again, “How about we just avoid the Vong and none of us have to worry about being shot...or worse?”

“I like that plan,” Adria said in the same kind of forced, joking tone, “But on that note...” she glanced down towards Rulae for a short moment to ask, “Would it be too much to ditch these bright orange flightsuits at the first chance we get so we don’t stick out so much here?”

“Consider it...” Rulae cringed suddenly as he felt something dig into his chest, paused a moment to regain his composure, then forced the rest of it out, “...consider it an order.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 552: In the Rain

Tobias knelt behind one of the larger trees about a half kilometer from the destroyed temple that was meant to be shelter from two things that were currently a little too close to him: the rain and the Yuuzhan Vong. The former was all around him, still falling from the clouded sky above so hard that it was hard to see very far in any one direction. Tobias was, of course, drenched because of this, his ears flattened to his blue-black hair by the weight of all the water and the fact that it wasn’t letting up one bit. He was still in his Alraxian body, knowing that since he was unable to detect the Yuuzhan Vong through the Force, he would have to rely on his other senses. Logically, that meant he needed to be Alraxian, with a much better sense of smell, more acute hearing, and better eyesight in the dark as it currently was thanks to the clouds and the jungle trees. Of course, the rain meant his sense of smell was no good, but his ears worked...

...and that was why he was down on one knee by the largest tree he could find. Tobias had heard movement not far from him, and considering the circumstances, he wasn’t about to assume that it was any native life, which usually steered well clear of him, or Master Ral. So he’d found a spot to hide, identified the rough direction of the sounds, and reached out with the Force again. It was harder than before...Tobias was still strained, but he felt nothing. Maybe he didn’t reach far enough, but maybe...

There.

About seven meters away from him, Tobias could see the movement. Sadly, through the thick trees and underbrush of this part of Yavin IV’s planet-stretching jungle mixed with such a torrent of rain, it was hard to make out any details at that distance. All Tobias could make out were tall, maybe humanoid figures carefully moving through the jungle.

Multiple figures meant it wasn’t Master Ral. So it was either Vong or Peace Brigade and Tobias just wasn’t strong enough to sense them. The former was the most likely, but Tobias wasn’t about to rule out the latter. Unconsciously, he ducked down a bit lower towards the ground, sinking his boots a bit deeper into the mud that the ground had become.

What was he supposed to do now?

Tobias hadn’t been gone from the small shelter for long at all, and there was no sign of Master Ral. He’d seen a few small animals scamper for cover, but most of the intelligent creatures were out of the rain and away from the Vong. He’d run out here to...to do what, exactly?

Suddenly, Tobias began to consider the option of retreat. He’d gone against what common sense and Master Ral had told him to do because he was still a child that just wanted to be like his father: the impulsive hero that charged in and saved the day despite all the odds.

But...but that wasn’t Tobias. He was still a child. Sure, he could protect himself well enough, but he sure wasn’t a hero. He was Tobias. And...though, for some reason, he didn’t like to admit it, he did the one thing that Jyren didn’t really do: Tobias listened to that voice in his head that said “Wait...”

So he knelt there, waiting for...something. No, no he was waiting for those Yuuzhan Vong warriors to move very far away. And he was sure they were Vong now. Through the haze of rain and the trees, he could make out more details now thanks to the fact that the figures, while not moving straight at him, were coming closer to him while still moving off in the other direction. They had that very distinct, spiky, crab-like armour and black tattoos on pale skin that easily identified them as Yuuzhan Vong. And to think, Tobias had always been terrified of the Mrrakesh. They may have been larger than Vong, but at least they made sense! The Yuuzhan Vong were just...completely alien monsters that he just couldn’t understand. Seeing them up close had made it worse, those scars and tattoos all over their bodies...why in the name of the Force would any sentient being scar themselves like that?!

And then something happened that caused Tobias’ blood to freeze. The Vong stopped.

“Bos sus si?” through the roar of the rain, Tobias could hear one of the Vong speaking in their native tongue, a harsh voice cutting through the air like a weapon.

He saw one of the other figures shift its position slightly, looking back the direction they had come from, “Remaga?”

“Guvvuk!” a third voice cut in harshly, and its source motioned with an object that had to be an amphistaff.

The three Yuuzhan Vong began to move again, but they had changed direction.

“Oh, gods...” he whispered the words without realizing it, seeing the three warriors walking straight towards him.

And then, a second time, they stopped.

Had they heard him?!

He should run. Right now, he could bolt up and run away, use the Force and just go! But...but he couldn’t move! Fear gripped Tobias so strongly that he could do nothing but kneel there behind a tree and stare in horror at the three Yuuzhan Vong warriors, the closest of whom was only a few meters away from him.

The lead warrior of the three was looking forward, right over Tobias. He hoped to the Force and any Gods that might exist that the warrior continue to look straight over him and decide there was nothing there. Tobias had no idea how good Yuuzhan Vong eyesight was, but he also was desperately hoping the heavy rainfall impaired it even more...

That was when the warrior in the front leaned in slightly, then snapped back, raising his amphistaff and called out straight to Tobias, “Qe’u!”

The other two Yuuzhan Vong then locked onto Tobias’ location.

Time froze in that moment for Tobias as he stared down three Yuuzhan Vong warriors. What could he do? He sure as hell couldn’t fight them! But he couldn’t run! What kind of Jedi would Tobias be if he ran?

A live one.

Suddenly, time was moving again. So were the three Vong, charging straight for him with weapons drawn and a battle cry in their throats.

Tobias was on his feet in a second, spinning around and running as fast as he could the other way. To hell with being the hero! What good was any of that if it got him killed?!

“Yuuso ba toras!” one of the warriors cried from behind him as Tobias darted around a tree, nearly tripped over a branch, but kept going without even looking back. He could hear their heavy footsteps behind him, almost like the rain hitting the leaves but so much heavier and much more terrifying.

And then Tobias heard an odd buzzing sound. It was growing quickly. Instinct took over and he glanced over his shoulder to see the source. Before he could see anything, however, a palm sized...beetle of sorts flew right at him, catching Tobias across his left side and slicing in with sharp fangs before flying past and slamming into a tree.

The jolt of pain nearly forced Tobias to double over. Other instincts, though, those beat into him by Marix, took over and quickly remorphed the wound as he continued to run. It still hurt, though, and that was the worst part. But he couldn’t stop. They were still after him and he could hear more of those buzzing sounds behind him.

Reaching out his left hand, Tobias grabbed onto a nearby tree and pulled himself around it, hearing two heavy thuds as he went past. But he kept running, jumping over a large section of roots and then landing awkwardly in thick mud that made running that much more difficult. Behind him, Tobias could still hear them yelling. He was getting tired quickly, and the mud was making it so much worse and he could barely see through the rain and somehow the damned Vong were keeping up with him...

“Don’t ever be afraid to retreat, Toby,” Marix had told him firmly. It was after one of the many training sessions she’d forced him through, and then after yelling at Jyren for telling Tobias to stand his ground.

Jyren, of course, hadn’t backed down and ignored the sharp glare he was getting from Marix to repeat himself to Tobias, “Sometimes you can’t run, Toby. Sometime you have to stand your ground.”

Marix actually had growled very slightly at that, “And is that how you want him to get killed? Trying to be some damned headstrong idiot like you and then getting his throat clawed out because he didn’t know what he was getting into?!”

“I didn’t say he should never retreat,” Jyren growled right back at her, then looked back to a suddenly terrified Tobias and spoke sharply, “But sometimes you can’t run. Sometimes running will just tire you out and whatever you’re running from will have you the second you slow down. Instead of killing yourself you stand and you fight.”

Sometimes you have to stand your ground.

Tobias wasn’t going to outrun these Vong.

He didn’t stand a chance in a fight with them either...but if he ran, if he tired himself out just running with them keeping up the entire time, they’d have him anyway. So Tobias was going to at least give them a fight.

It was sudden, but Tobias stopped himself, spinning around in the current mud pile he was running through while pulling Jyren’s old lightsaber off of his belt. The snap-hiss of the blue-green blade coming to life cut through the sound of the rain just as the blade itself dissolved the water that fell onto it.

And the Vong came straight at him.