Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 354

Marix shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, idly watching the black strands fall in front of her face before just pushing it all out of the way and turning to look to her side, where Tobias sat in Jyren’s seat. It was...strange. She was so used to turning and seeing Jyren staring right back to match her gaze when she looked that somehow it felt wrong to have Tobias there, staring off out the viewport at the nothingness of hyperspace.

It had been a fairly long time since she’d really looked at the young Alraxian...and seeing his profile now was almost haunting. He had the sharp features that were eerily similar to Ket Halpak’s, something that hadn’t appeared until recently. But there was something else, too...a softness in the eyes and the general shape of his face that reminded Marix more of her mother than anyone else. Of course, she was intelligent enough to know that it was her own features(or rather, that of the clone Delta Nine), but Marix still did her best to avoid those thoughts as much as possible.

And yet, defying all logic, there was more about Tobias that she couldn’t help noticing. The way his hair looked, including the metallic blue stripe down the center of his jet black hair, looked just like Marix knew Jyren had looked many years before she’d ever met him. And his attitude was also very disturbingly similar...though those two were likely due to Tobias’ very strong attachment to Jyren, it was still not something that Marix had expected at all.

“You are not a Jedi, Toby,” she finally said, in a calm voice that she was doing her best to hold...knowing that any adversarial tone would develop into a screaming match faster than if it was Jyren.

Tobias finally turned to face her and gave her a sharp look with two blue eyes that were, again, almost exactly the same colour as Jyren’s, “I know that!”

Alright, so it didn’t seem to matter what tone she used. Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if she had been that bad at that age...and then Marix quickly reminded herself that she had been much, much worse. There were many reasons why she’d left Alraxia when she was Toby’s age, and attitude was definitely not the least of them.

More carefully, Marix tried again, “This is not a game, Toby. We aren’t here playing around like back at home. There is a war here, and we’re trying to stop it from reaching our home...and like it or not, you are still a child. You cannot jump into a fight thinking you’re Jyren and expect to survive. Not here, and not now.”

“But when you were—“

”When I was your age, I was trained to be a killer,” Marix cut him off sharply. Not giving a chance for him to argue that, which he couldn’t, of course, she took a deep breath and attempted a more civil tone again, “You are not me. You are not Jyren. You are yourself, and trying to be either of us is just going to get yourself killed. I know you want to help, and I’m thankful for that, but you aren’t ready yet.”

Tobias sighed heavily and looked down at the deck, “Then why did you even let me come with you...?”

“Because you’d have snuck onboard Loki, anyway,” she answered flatly, giving a quick mental glare to the ship around them which would have easily allowed Toby in without letting her know, and then added, “And you can’t learn what its like out here without seeing it for yourself first. Stories can only teach so much.”

Through the Force, there was a sudden burst of at least slight understanding from Tobias and he looked up at her with a new brightness in his eyes, “You mean...?”

Marix nodded, holding back any hint of a smile, “Yes, I do. Both Jyren and I have taught you to defend yourself, but you won’t know how to use any of that until you’ve seen what things are actually like.”

[We’ll be ready to exit hyperspace in another five minutes.] Loki cut in at the best time he could find, speaking only to Marix at this point.

She glanced up, again out of habit, and then responded the same way...despite knowing that Toby would know he was keeping him out of the loop. [Its going to be up to you when we get there, Loki. I figure we’re looking for something big, but in all the mess of the Cron Drift it’ll be hard to spot anything.]

[You know I don’t miss anything.] the ship answered confidently.

Marix couldn’t help a smile at that.

But then Tobias cut in with a word that still, after eleven years, made her feel uneasy, “Mom?”

At least she didn’t outwardly cringe at that anymore, “What?”

“You don’t really think this is going to help us at all, do you?”

The question was as simple as the answer. In all honesty, Marix was amazed he’d waited that long to ask it.

No. No, it wouldn’t help. They could get a thousand ships to defend the gateway, but there simply weren’t enough Knights to crew them all...not even counting the amount of time it would take to both desensitize them to the fact that the ships were metal and then actually train them to use the systems. Sure, the Empire was full of different species, but it was the Alraxian Empire. The Alraxians were the strength and the point to which all the others held, and the Knights were, almost exclusively, Alraxian. Even changing that would not save the Empire from the Yuuzhan Vong if an attack really came.

The Mrrakesh were not stupid...they would be watching what was going on just as much as the Alraxians were. An offensive on the gateway and that side of the Alraxian Empire would mean that the Mrrakesh could easily attack the border on the other side and divide the small defense force that the Empire had between two overwhelming fights. Not that the Mrrakesh were that belligerent anymore, but their leader changed so much that it was hard to tell what kind of maniac might decide that it was finally time to get rid of those damned felines that had been a constant bother for thousands of years.

Marix sighed and leaned back in her seat before looking back over to the young Tobias, “If you ask that question, you already know the answer.”

It took a moment, but eventually the young Alraxian nodded slowly. And, of course, a question was quick to follow, “Then what are we really doing out here?”

“Giving the people of the Empire hope that it will help,” she said in a slow voice, almost sounding like she didn’t believe her own words.

That, Tobias understood, but he still was able to pick up that she wasn’t being completely truthful, “That can’t be all.”

Finally, Marix allowed herself another smile aimed towards Toby, “It isn’t. Jyren is off doing what he thinks is the right thing to do to stop this war before it gets too big...and you and I are doing the same. But, hopefully, you know that I’m not nearly as jumpy as he is. Before I act, we are out here finding out as much information about this situation as we can. You can’t fight an enemy you know nothing about, and until we really understand what these Yuuzhan Vong are and how they work, every single attack against them will fail.”

The serious nature of her voice brought a single thought to Tobias, “...is Jyren going to be alright?”

“He can take care of himself,” Marix answered quickly enough to not hint at any possible doubts that just might be hanging around in the back of her skull, “But he also doesn’t think things through before he does something.”

Suddenly, Tobias started to grin, “You’re watching his tail, aren’t you?”

“Someone has to watch it for him since he forgets its there half the time,” she answered with a grin, “But before we worry about him, we need to find this Rodian.”

“But I thought the ships wouldn’t help.”

Marix shrugged, “Its worth looking into...and besides, this is exactly the kind of person we need to find to get good information from that isn’t filtered through a panicked government.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 355

Jyren was definitely alright. It was hard not to be alright when in a mock dogfight where he was the only one with any actual combat experience. Not that the rookies were bad, but it was quite obvious they were simulator trained. Despite the fact that he was following to the side of his wingmate, Zephyr Four, the two of them had already taken down one of the other pairs...Six and Eight. It had been Four’s choice to lock onto those two first, simply because they had come straight at them first.

The remaining two were playing it safer, looping down while the four others ‘fought’ it out and trying to get under both groups. When both of their targets were ‘killed’ it took all the willpower that Jyren could manage to not maneuver to away and get a lock on the next oncoming targets. Somehow, though, he managed to hold himself at Rea’s wing, waiting for her to maneuver so that he could follow her lead.

A series of annoying beeps began to sound in his headset as Zephyrs Ten and Twelve attempted to gain a target lock on him...which forced a smile on Jyren’s face. They were focusing fire on the most dangerous target. Not always the best tactic, but it at least showed that they could think a little different...as Six and Eight had simply attempted to take on the two others one at a time, allowing for Four and himself to take them down one at a time with relative ease.

“Below us, Four,” he said quickly over his channel with Rea. It was as much as he would say at this point, knowing that this was not his training, but theirs. He was, however, not going to lose to a bunch of rookies if he didn’t have to, and alerting one’s wingmate to possible problems was just something that was always done.

It was why he’d lived as long as he had...thanks to Liz Mare’s sharp eyes on his tail engines while he dove straight in like the rookie he used to be...

“Break right and wrap around,” the soft voice of Rea snapped him out of the old memories, which was, of course, a good thing. Even though she was using rather interesting terminology, it got the point across and he had little trouble staying on her wing.

But as they made a long turn, Jyren decided it was time to show the rookies just why they were still rookies. It was a bit cold, true, but his old commander had done it to him more times that he liked to count. So, halfway through the turn in which the two other pilots would have had a clear shot at their flanks, Jyren cut his main starboard sublight drives for a few milliseconds...just long enough to whip his X-Wing completely around to face the two oncoming X-Wings.

The most obvious result of the maneuver was that the target locks attempting to be made on his own X-Wing continued to drift off to where he should have been, giving him the precious few seconds Jyren needed to ‘shoot’ down both of the remaining pilots...and without even using the Force to help out.

The second that their HUD displays read them as kills, a series of groans echoed through the comm channel.

It wasn’t long before the voice of a young human male, which Jyren was able to identify as Zephyr Ten with the help of his HUD display, cut off the groans, “Sir, that wasn’t fair.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Jyren replied, doing his best to not sound too insulting.

The comm clicked off, and then the voice of Rea sounded on the comm again, but this time on the open channel, “How did you do that, Two?”

“Something I don’t recommend any of you attempt until you can make a quick turn without it,” his response was simple enough, but he made sure to add, “That, I can show you how to do. Form up on me and I’ll give you a quick run through of that while we head to the moon’s surface for some real target practice.”

“Sir...”

Jyren glanced at his HUD display again as the other five X-Wings fell into a very loose formation around him, “Yeah, Eight?”

The voice was a bit more distinctive than the others, due to the fact that Zephyr Eight was one of the two Mon Calamari pilots in the squadron...meaning than an already gravely sounding voice got extra help from the not-too-clear comm system, “I’ve heard...stories...about the Vong ships eating laser fire. How are we supposed to get through that?”

Jyren did not smile at that, only because he normally would have expected to have eyes on him. This was one of the more important parts of the briefing he had received earlier in the day. Freeing up a finger from his stick to hit the comm switch, Jyren said, “We’re about to get to that, Eight. Once you power up your weapons you should see that there is an unusual setting present. This will stutter your laser fire so it will get through their ship’s defenses. Its just a matter of spreading out your fire, and once you get that down its simple.”

“...doesn’t sound simple,” that was the relatively bland sounding voice of Zephyr Six, who Jyren was fairly sure was one of the other humans in the squadron, but wasn’t all that sure. He really did need to get to know these kids better...

“You’ll get it,” Jyren answered before any agreements could be voiced over the channel, “But one thing at a time. Lets get to that maneuvering while we head for the targets, and then you can worry about that technique.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 356

“Never heard of no Rodian out here,” the gravely sounding voice on the other end of the comm system replied for the third time.

Marix simply glared at the small speaker that was a part of the center panel in Loki’s cockpit, part of her contemplating hitting the thing...but that wouldn’t do anything but annoy the ship as much as she was getting annoyed by whoever the hell it was on the other end of the comm.

Instead, still managing to keep her voice level but making sure to make it plainly obvious that she was not in a good mood, she said, “Fine. I don’t care if there’s no Rodian here,” she waved around at the space in front of the viewport, “This place is obviously what I’m looking for. There’s derelict starships everywhere. Now if you’re the person in charge, I’ll talk with you, but if you don’t start being helpful I’ll trace the damned signal myself and find you the hard way.”

A snicker from her side indicated that Tobias was enjoying this a little too much. He didn’t seem to have a problem with her threats when they weren’t directed at him...which, normally, they were. Even Jyren didn’t get as many threats as Tobias managed. This was, of course, because Jyren didn’t have a habit of detonating, burning, or otherwise completely destroying parts of rooms or other important things within the Palace. Tobias, on the other hand...

“I don’t take kindly to threats,” the voice responded, sounding a stern as before and just as annoyed as Marix was.

“And I don’t make threats that I don’t plan to follow through with,” Marix growled...which was true. Tobias had only escaped death many times due to the simple fact that, when yelled at(or screamed at), he was intelligent enough to stop and not continue anything that might get him killed.

Before there was any response from the voice on the other side of the comm, Loki cut in. [There are three objects on an intercept course with us.]

Marix’s eyes tore away from the view of the dead ships around them and locked on the makeshift sensor panel, “Trace the comm signal. We’re going to have to do this the hard way,” she then reached over to the comm switch and hit it again, “I apologize, but I don’t think I mentioned that I don’t take kindly to threats, either.”

A new voice, one that didn’t sound like anything Marix had ever heard before, cut in on a slightly less clear comm channel, “Unidentified vessel: power down your engines and prepare to receive a boarding party.”

“When Alraxia freezes,” Marix grumbled, off the comm, of course, then looked up at the ceiling again, “Got the source yet, Loki?”

[Yes.] the ship replied, just as a new, larger blip appeared on the screen amongst the few...thousand others. [The approaching ships are powering up weapons.]

“Bring up your shields and put everything else into the engines,” she said quickly as she shifted her seat forward to take the controls herself. Loki worked fast, and by the time her hands were on the controls, he’d done exactly as she’s asked...well, told, but it was more of a request stated like an order than an actual order. Her eyes glanced over to Toby, who was leaning forward to get a good look at what was going on, “Sit back and don’t touch anything.”

Giving him no chance to respond, Marix hit the sublight drives(or, at least, the Alraxian equivalent). Loki immediately shot forward, straight under the nearest of the derelict ships at the edge of the Cron Drift. It looked like a miniature Star Destroyer, and older than most of the other scraps of metal in this graveyard of starships that would probably only be useable with many years of maintenance. But in a matter of seconds, it was past them, and Marix was maneuvering the Kanyak between a series of smaller freighters that looked in better shape, all the while noticing that the actual visibility in the area was dropping rapidly.

It almost looked like a fog in space, but Marix knew better. It was the remains of the Cron Cluster, a series of ten stars that had been completely obliterated four thousand years prior by a powerful Sith fleet. Marix knew the story well...all Alraxians did. It was a story brought to them by many of the Jedi of the time who discovered the Alraxians all that time ago...and stepped in at just the right time to save the species from falling to the Sith attackers during the last Darkwing War.

Somehow, the air within Loki began to feel heavier and, at the same time, more hollow as they shot further into the Cron Drift(which spanned at least six very dead star systems). Marix could feel the weight of the hundreds of millions of deaths that the destruction had caused...both of the Jedi warriors trying to fight the Sith and the innocents on the nearby planets who likely never knew what killed them. It took a strong concentration to fly after not too long, as her actual visibility was almost completely gone, leaving her with only a strangely coloured haze...meaning that Marix was using the Force to fly, and therefore, feeling the weight of the deaths even more openly.

But she was strong. She had been through far too much to let such a simple thing as the echo of deaths effect her performance.

Tobias on the other hand...

A quick glance over to him noted that he had a shocked look on his face. Gritting her teeth and quickly dividing her attention, Marix said quickly, “Draw yourself inwards. The Force is strong here. It can be very overwhelming.”

There was a tentative nod from the younger Alraxian, and she could feel him doing his best to follow her instructions. It wasn’t the best solution, but would work for now. Marix them immediately turned her attention to the matter at hand, and while diving under an old Lancer frigate, caught sight a pair of red laser blasts shoot straight over them in the ‘fog’.

“How in the Force are they seeing in this?!” she growled out of frustration more than an actual question, noting that the sensor board was pretty much useless any farther out than she could already see with her own eyes...with the Force, of course, being much better than anything else anyway.

[We are being scanned constantly...] Loki seemed to mumble somehow, obviously thinking ‘out loud’. [I think they have modified scanners.]

Marix rolled her eyes. Of course they would have modified scanners. Probably had modified weapons, shields, and about anything else that was on whatever the hell they were flying. And then her mind locked onto the target...a fairly large collection of life in the relative emptiness of the Cron Drift around them. It had to be the source of the comm signal...whatever it was. One way or another, she was going to board them and have a good long talk with whoever was in charge, likely with the use of claws and very angry words.

Four streaks of red at different angles crossed over the front viewport again, and thanks to the Force, Marix was easily able to slip the large but maneuverable Kanyak to the side, while also rolling to avoid what looked like half of an old Dreadnaught cruiser. At least one of the shots hit the thing, as she caught sight of a flash of something out of the corner of her vision before the ‘fog’ of the Cron Drift blurred it out completely.

Sometimes, she regretted not convincing Loki to install weapons again. Long ago, back in her days with the smugglers, she had...but that was a long time ago, and not long after they’d reunited, the weapons had been removed. But it was a small thing, really, and the ship was just fine with out them...there were other ways to deal with pursuers rather than Jyren’s method of fancy flying to show off and shooting all the while...fancy flying on its own was actually quite effective.

“What’s that?” Tobias’ hand jutted out into the other side of her vision, pointing at a faint discolouration in the ‘fog’ somewhere in the distance(the actual distance was hard to determine).

“I don’t know,” she immediately snapped back, using the Force to bat his hand down and out of her vision so that it didn’t distract her anymore. Her Force sense forced outward farther, quickly noting that the...thing, was the target she was aiming for. And, from what she could tell, there wasn’t anything in the way. A straight shot...

In a matter of seconds, the dicolouration grew into a muddy looking form that was like most of the starships from a distance, but was definitely much larger. It also had some kind of blinking lights here and there, and a soft glow just slightly down away from their current course towards it. It could have been a hangar. In the ‘fog’ around them, it was impossible to tell, and likely would be until it was too late to turn around at this speed. Which meant a choice had to be made.

And despite all of the years close to him, Marix still did not hesitate in such situations like Jyren did. She made the choice, and Loki adjusted course just slightly to put them dead on with what could also have been a slight change in colour of...well, anything. But there was no turning back. The ships behind them were still firing, forcing Marix to put Loki into an erratic spinning and weaving path, but she continued aiming straight for the thing.

Marix did not, of course, tell Tobias or Loki that there was the slight chance they were going to slam into a heavy hull of something in a matter of seconds. It wouldn’t have been worth it. Instead, she gripped the controls tightly, gritted her sharp teeth again, flattened her ears against her skull, and waited the tiny few seconds it would take to charge straight into it...or inside it.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 357

“They won’t be ready in time,” Jyren stated flatly, looking across the desk to where Rulae Nok sat. Technically, it was Commodore Nok, but Jyren couldn’t get used to that anymore than his old friend could get used to calling him ‘Jyren’. It had been two days since the first training exercise, and after another five of them things were looking better, yes, but it was still plainly obvious they needed much more time than they were being given.

The Duros sat back from his desk in the small office he was given aboard the Araddon, “We won’t have much of a choice if the Vong attack nearby...the fleets are small and stretched and we’ll likely be called in to assist in any nearby sector.”

Jyren ran a hand through his brown hair, noting just how odd that still felt to him, and closed his eyes, “We really don’t know anything, do we?”

“Everything I know, you know,” Rulae said quietly, “And, as far as I know, Admiral Tarus doesn’t know anything else either.”

“Is he trustworthy?”

Somehow, the Duros’ large red eyes managed to narrow just slightly, “I’m going to forget that I heard you say that.”

Jyren returned the sigh from earlier and tried to shake off the resentment in his old friend’s tone. It really had been a long time since he’d been in the military. Still, he caught himself having to keep back thoughts like that every day since he’d come back. For some reason, Jyren just had trouble trusting someone he wasn’t even able to speak with and learn to understand on his own terms rather than the blank acceptance of any orders that was essentially required for being a part of any military.

And then, suddenly, he felt something strange. At first it was simple a wave of indescribable feeling through the Force, but soon it washed over Jyren completely. In a matter of short seconds, he saw a thousand images...very few making any sense, but nearly all involving the war in some way. He saw starships, Jedi, Yuuzhan Vong, and...other things. The seemingly random assortment of everything disappeared suddenly, snapping Jyren back in his chair and back into the moment.

Rulae was, not surprisingly, staring in surprise. He had watched Jyren simply freeze in his chair for a good minute and a half before jumping back and nearly falling to the ground. Like many people Jyren seemed to find himself around, Rulae was no idiot and didn’t ask the stupid question...obviously, from the shocked look on the human’s face, Jyren was not alright. So, instead, the Duros asked, “What is it?”

Truthfully, that was a bit of an obvious question, also, as Rulae was fairly sure it had something to do with the Force...something that had not left his mind since his talk with Jyren about it before. He had, however, not said anything to anyone, just as Jyren had asked him to do.

Jyren blinked a few times, then leaned over to rest his head in his hand and shake his head. Through it, the Duros across the desk managed to hear his muffled voice, “I don’t know.”

“Anything I can do...?” Rulae asked quietly, knowing that there probably wasn’t. Part of him wanted to call in a medical team, but Jyren didn’t look like he really needed that...still...

“No,” Jyren waved him off, then immediately got to his feet...a little too quickly, but he ignored the slight dizziness and turned around(without saluting, Rulae noted) to head straight out of the office. It took Jyren barely five minutes to head down three decks and navigate the maze of corridors within the Star Destroyer to reach his quarters. Thankfully, because of the large amount of space on the ship, he had his own private quarters rather than a large, shared bunk space with half the squadron...not that some pilots weren’t stuck in that situation, but his rank seemed to help out there, at least.

Once inside, he made sure to lock the door before slipping over to his still small bunk and sitting down on the edge of it. His head went back into his hands, which eventually ran through his hair before he looked up to the small desk to his side, where Jyren’s eyes locked onto the holos that sat there. The old one of himself and Mare was not alone...next to it sat the holo of his mother than Navik had snuck into Jyren’s pack, another of his father holding the twins that had been captured not long after they had been born(and, in which, they were small enough that it was hard to tell they weren’t human), one of Tobias from when he was much younger, idly pawing at Jyren’s lightsaber(and, again, in such a way that it was difficult to tell the child was Alraxian), and, finally, a holo of himself and Marix that Tobias had somehow managed to capture when neither of them were paying attention and...both human. That was more than convenient, as the way they stood would have made it plainly obvious that they weren’t human, otherwise.

Jyren sighed and shook his head. How had he collected all of that? He’d never been one for holos but...somehow...they just gathered. His father had a lot to do with it, yes, but they were still everywhere, it seemed. However, he forced himself to look away and close his eyes, hating the sharp pain of being away from all of his family, even if it had been his own choice to do so.

Calm. Focus.

After a few deep breaths, Jyren opened his eyes again and looked over to the desk. Behind the holos, was a small cube...the holocron that his mother had left for him. Extending an arm, Jyren called the small object to him with the Force, not particularly liking the lazy action but deciding that it wasn’t going to hurt anything to just do it the simple way. When the familiar metal object was in his hand, he looked down and started to feel around for the tiny activation switch...

But the door to his quarters opening stopped him. In fact, it made Jyren jump and nearly start for the lightsaber that was carefully hidden between the bunk and the wall. He wasn’t even able to utter of noise of surprise before Rulae Nok stepped in, wearing the same grey and red-piped uniform over his dark blue skin. At least the door shut behind him.

“You should know I can override the locks without problem,” the Duros announced without a pause, “Somehow, I didn’t think it was good to let you just run off on your own again.”

Jyren simply nodded, understanding that his friend was just trying to help, and knowing that he was also doing the right thing by not letting Jyren hide. Before he could respond, though, Rulae stepped over to the desk and had a seat in the horribly uncomfortable chair that was next to it, eyeing the holos as he did so, “Your family?”

Again, Jyren nodded, but this time added, “Yes...”

“I remember this,” Rulae grinned, an interesting feature on the usually expressionless Duros face, and picked up the small holo of Jyren and Mare, “Its been a long time since we were recruits, hasn’t it?”

“About fourteen years,” Jyren answered with a smile growing on his face as he, too, looked at the old holo, “Kind of makes you feel old, doesn’t it?”

“Not a bit,” Rulae’s grin did not fade, “And from the looks of it, you don’t either...at least, you don’t look it. I’m no expert on humans, but you look like you’ve aged a great deal better that most.”

“Thanks,” his response was a bit tighter, however, as he tried to keep as straight a face as possible. Part of him knew that a more accurate morph was appropriate if he wanted to become his old self again...but he just hadn’t done it. Besides, some people simply did age well...why not him? It would only be a noticed by people that really knew him, which only amounted to Rulae in the end.

Of course, the Duros definitely seemed interested in the subject.

“So where’s this wife of yours, anyway?” Rulae asked, as he put down one holo and then reached for the one of Jyren and Marix together in the mountains on Alraxia.

For a moment, Jyren simply bit his lip, but a smile somehow forced its way through and onto his face again, “Probably off doing something crazy but doing it much better than I ever could. She doesn’t share my habit of getting shot.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 358

In reality, Marix was actually just as good at getting shot as Jyren was. However, unlike him, she was much better at dodging said shots that he was. Thankfully, this was remaining true for the moment in the thick stellar fog of the edge of the Cron Drift, with Loki, of course, helping to dodge many of the shots from the pursuing ships that had given up on attempting to aim not long before.

But that had only been a matter of seconds...and there were suddenly much more important things to worry about than being shot.

Tobias managed a yelp of surprise when the form became visible out of the blank, strangely coloured ‘fog’. Marix, on the other hand, was wondering just when it would appear, and instead just snapped at him to shut up while both her eyes and her Force senses reached out right in front of the ship to find, hopefully, something beyond a large, flat hull. It was definitely the source of the original comm transmission, and was too big to be anything but a station of some sort.

And most stations had some kind of hangar.

Most.

Marix was counting on the fact that this one was, in fact, one of the types with a hangar. And, of course, that they were actually aiming slightly close to where it might have been. It really was one of those times where yet another long streak of good luck would have been horribly helpful. Again, though, Marix was not Jyren, and therefore, was not plagued with the same doubts that seemed to always be stuck in his mind. That hangar was going to be there for the simple reason that it damned well better be and whatever created the universe would be sorry if it wasn’t.

So, it came as no surprise to Marix when a vague opening that was just large enough for most small freighters appeared out of the nothingness. Of course, while it may have been there, it was also a good distance down...but that was something that could be fixed.

Another noise escaped Tobias when both Marix and Loki worked together to correct the problem...which immediately sent the ship into a violent spin downwards at such a sharp speed that it was nearly impossible for Loki’s inertial dampers to keep up. Especially when, another micro second later, Loki flipped up again, righting himself in relation to the hangar’s position and, at the exact same moment, Marix threw all of the thrusters into reverse to slow their momentum and stop the ship from slamming into the opposite wall of the not-so-deep hangar.

Loki’s interior was different from that of metal starships in many, many ways...one of the chief differences that was also the least noticed was the lack of any kind of restraints or crash webbing. This meant that while Loki roughly charged into the (thankfully) empty hangar, scraping his underbelly across the deck as one other little thing to help slow him down. Both of the Alraxian’s inside the cockpit had sharp enough natural instincts to extend their claws deep into the chairs to hold them in place instead of sending them head first into the large series of consoles between the two chairs and the viewport.

Not that it didn’t hurt their arms, of course, but even Tobias was strong enough at his age to fight back the pain and ease it once the strain was gone. The fact that their stopping wasn’t with any other loud crashes was a good sign, and looking up to the viewport to see that they weren’t crushed up against the opposite wall of the hangar. They were, however, very close to it...

“Loki..how are you?” Marix asked in the strange silence that had arisen after the scraping sound under them was gone.

[...I will be alright...] the ‘voice’ sounded a bit pained, which wasn’t surprising. Unlike Alraxians, the Kanyaks could not remorph their wounds. Loki would simply have to heal the old fashioned way, with possibly a little help from some patching up. [However, I do not think we are out of this yet.]

His last comment came along right as the muffled sounds of blasters could be heard outside the ship. It was also fairly easy to tell they were hitting Loki.

In a quick motion, Marix was up on her feet and heading out of the cockpit. Over her shoulder, she growled sternly, “Stay here, Toby.”

She did not turn around to make sure he did. Instead, she went straight for the hatch, taking only a few moments to reach it at a brisk walk. No preparation was necessary, so she simply hit the switch and the two ‘doors’ to the hatch irised open in that very unique way and Marix simply walked straight out and onto the metal deck, feeling it so strange against her feet compared to what she’d gotten so used to over the past years.

Her eyes were scanning the immediate area right away, and she counted only six slightly raggedly dressed individuals of very species standing around in random spots aiming their blaster rifles up towards the large form of Loki...and all of whom had stopped to stare in surprise at the way Marix had just walked out without even a hint of fear in her step.

A few seconds of silence passed before her icy stare locked onto the nearest of the armed humanoids...one that was some kind of humanoid. Tall, thin, gaunt even, and a very pale skin colour, Marix did not recognize the species. Her tail swished behind her as the humanoid’s blaster rifle finally was aimed at her. In a voice to match the glare, Marix said simply, “This is the only chance you have to put those weapons down and bring me whatever idiot was on that comm system.”

Nothing happened.

Marix took two more steps forward, her eyes narrowing slightly, “Now.”

Three of them ran for the nearby turbolift, while the other three(all of whom just happened to be the farthest away) stood and tried not to look threatening at all.

Well..at least that had worked...for the moment.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 359

“Right there,” Jyren paused the holorecording of the day’s earlier training exercise and then looked to the ten young pilots sitting in the formal looking briefing room, “Can you see what went wrong?”

All of the pilots remained silent. They’d only spoken up twice in the past ten minutes of the debriefing, but even then it had only been to greet each other and then to ask what, exactly, they were doing up at such a late hour. It was well past midnight, Coruscant time, which was the standard for all of the fleet. Not that this was terribly late, but after being in the cockpit for hours on end, sleep became much more attractive. They were up this early for a reason, of course. It was Rulae’s idea, however, to wake them up and do this...though the Commodore was suspiciously absent.

“Alright,” Jyren broke the silence to rewind the holorecording and play the last few seconds gain, “All of your fire is converging on the same point. You won’t get through the Coralskipper’s defenses this way...in fact, you do that and you’ll be dead. This was your third pass and you mucked it up.”

“You can’t expect us to be perfect!”

Ahhh, finally. It had taken long enough.

The one to speak up was the young human male from Corellia, Tarn Soles. He also happened to be one of the two pilots in question at the current moment. Jyren turned to bring his gaze on the clean cut looking cadet, using a look that he’d learned long ago from Marix, “I do expect you to be perfect. If you’re not perfect, you’ll be dead. But that is why you’re training now, and not being thrown into the fight. If you’re going to make mistakes, you make them now, and then never again.”

If Rulae had been there, Jyren would have probably gotten a long talking to out of sight of the cadets. But Rulae wasn’t there, and he’d obviously trusted Jyren to do this...and so, Jyren was doing it. Even if it wasn’t the best way.

When no challenge came, thankfully, Jyren simply nodded and then hit a switch to change to another recording. This one was also from the nosecone of one of the X-Wings, and was similar in its pass over one of the targets. However, in this one, a series of stuttered laser fire quickly scattered across various points of the surface of the target. While the first few shots did nothing, a few moments later, the entire target lit up and was gone.

The recording stopped, and Jyren spoke up again, “That is how its done.”

“Excuse me, sah,” this one to speak up was another human...female, though. Jyren had made sure to go over the roster more carefully being this, and was able to easily identify the fiery-haired young woman as Adria Harken, who Jyren assumed to be from Coruscant from her very thick, almost hard to understand, accent. She also seemed to have had it out for him since the very beginning...

Jyren locked his gaze with her and fended off her attempt to stare him down, “What is, Cadet?”

She sighed and pointed at the screen, “You can’t expect us to fly as well as you right away.”

“That’s not me,” Jyren said simply, knowing exactly what she had been implying, “And since you brought it up, that was Cadets Odres and Nain,” he paused a moment to turn and nod to the remaining to humans in the squadron to give them an approving nod, then looked over the whole group, “Now we are not here to point fingers at anyone. All of us, including myself and the Commodore, are having to learn how to fight the Vong. This is not easy on anyone here, but that is why we aren’t working alone. We are a squadron, and we should start acting like one.”

When he trailed off, a few of them seemed to catch the grin present on his face. Jyren was able to pick out the worried looks on those who caught his expression, and then quickly shut off the holoprojector. He took a moment to reach out through the Force, then said in a more quiet voice, “The Commodore is going to be here in a few minutes. We have that long to set the trap.”

While motioning them to get up and come over to where he stood, Jyren reached down behind the podium where he had put his stash of supplies. To the first who’d approached, the Duros pilot, Cevik Stanla, and Jyren’s wingmate, Rea, Jyren immediately handed two plates of food, saying, “Find safe spots near the door.”

A grin suddenly appeared on their faces as the quickly understood. Both took their weapons and headed up the steps of the amphitheater style briefing room to the single entrance. Others seems to be getting the idea, and quiet laughter could be heard as other tools and weapons were given. Another pair, the two Mon Calamari, fittingly enough, got large buckets of water, while four others were handed a sticky, gel-like substance usually used for field repairs on starfighters. Two other pilots were handed boxes of some very delicate looking feathers. The last of the squadron, Jyren put with himself...and that happened to be the red-haired Adria Harken.

To her, he handed both his blaster pistol and then a small projectile gun that had once been used for training, but had gone out of service years ago. Interestingly enough, the armory aboard most ships still carried a few of them...and Jyren had made sure to load the cannister with the appropriate, red paint based dummy rounds. He showed her another of those guns, this time in his hand, then pointed to the blaster, “Make it look good, and don’t let him see the other.”

A very large grin occupied the face of every single pilot in the squadron by the time Jyren called out, “Lights!”

When the lights dimmed, and everyone figured out exactly what to do with only seeing what they’d been given, Jyren sat back against the wall and Adria pointed the blaster pistol at him. Jyren had, of course, removed the power pack...just in case. But in the dark, and at the distance there was from the door, it would look perfect.

“Here he comes!” Jyren called out, just as the unsuspecting commander hit the switch and opened the door.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 360

It came as no surprise to Marix that it took very little time for a new group to appear in the hangar. It was also no surprise to see that they were, generally, very well armed. Not that she couldn’t handle any problems that might arise, but the group of ten armed guards of various species spread out in a such a way that it would take more time than if they just stood next to each other.

From the back of the hangar, surrounded by three of the new guards and two of the ones who’d remained and just stood around in the awkward silence, was the only person other than Marix to carry no visible weapon. It looked to be a human male, roughly Jyren’s age and with thinning, light brown hair. He wore some kind of fancy looking tunic that was covered in layers of dirt and muck...obviously, the man had once cared about his appearance, but being out here in the middle of no where had a way of reworking one’s priorities.

His voice was relatively strong, considering what Marix had done to get to the hangar, when he called out, “You’d better give me a damn good reason why I shouldn’t have you killed right now.”

Even from halfway across the hangar, Marix was able to look down at him. Since the man was average height for a human, even a small adult Alraxian had a way of towering. It was one of those advantages Marix was not going to let escape...same with the fact that she made sure to wear the right kind of clothes over her morphsuit to show just how strong an Alraxian looked...when standing still.

Speaking in a voice that she knew to be dangerously calm, Marix said, “You would be dead before you finish ordering them to shoot me,” the words were allowed to hang in the air for a moment, before her tone became less icy, “And I am not here for a fight...even if you are.”

“Then what are you here for?” the human had done a very good job of not even responding to her first comment. This implied that he didn’t doubt she was telling the truth. Good. That would make this easier.

Her answer was simple, “Ships.”

“I’m not in that business anymore.”

The ‘I’ in that sentence said more than the man had probably wished to say, from the overall guarded nature he was giving off...both outwardly and through the Force.

“Those ships out there tells a different story,” Marix idly indicated out of the hangar and into the fog that made seeing anything else practically impossible, “In fact, I only had a small look at most of them, but those look operational to me. Not the scrapyard I was told about.”

Her last words caused the tension in the air to become suddenly more tangible. It was...surprising, really. Marix was simply trying to get to the point where she could talk with these people and get any information she could, and getting straight past the inevitable ‘How did you find this place?’ seemed logical enough. Obviously, that had not been the correct answer to the unspoken question.

The man’s eyes narrowed a moment as he seemed to attempt peering into her. It did no good, of course, as even Jyren had trouble reading her at times...and that was with the help of the link they shared. Without that, or even the Force, this man would find out more talking with duracrete.

And yet, after a moment, the intense look softened and much of the tension, most of which was emanating from him, faded slightly. After a small step forward, he spoke in a more calmed, and somewhat less demanding voice, “I believe this would be a matter best spoke of in a more comfortable location.”

There. Finally.

[Loki.] Marix called out to her ship as she walked over to fall into step with the multitude of guards. [If they even so much as touch you, let me know.]

[I plan to.] the ship grumbled back, obviously not in the best of moods after being shot several times. Not that the blasters really harmed him, but it was the principle of the thing. Loki, like most living things, simply didn’t like being shot.

While being led down a series of nondescript corridors, the man introduced himself as Taril Orbanen, and then attempted some mindless chatter that was obviously a front to find out whatever information from her that he possible could. All he got, however, was that her name was ‘Marix’ and she had gotten her information from someone on Ord Mantell. She gave him nothing else, and was especially careful to glare at him even more when he attempting to pry about her species.

Feline humanoids were not, of course, uncommon in the galaxy...near three meter tall felines that were much more human looking than most, however, were a very unique sight. Through some would initially compare the Alraxians to the lion-like Cathar that were fairly reculsive, but very well known in most of the regions of Known Space, the differences were so many that the only actual connection between the two was the slightly feline origins. It was, in all honesty, like comparing a Bothan to a Chandra-Fan simply because they both had fur, large ears, and snouts.

When they reached a small conference looking room, she was offered a drink and a seat...though Marix took neither, preferring to stand behind one of the chairs for the simple fact that these were not designed in any way with tails in mind. That, and it was much easier to look intimidating when standing over a chair like she was doing.

Taril, however, did take a seat across the oval shaped table from Marix and looked straight up at her, seemingly not noticing the height difference beyond the fact that he had to tilt his neck, “Who sent you?”

“They would not appreciate it if I told you,” Marix answered calmly, “And if you cannot understand that, then I believe we have taken this long walk for no reason.”

The human managed a slight nod, though he was definitely not happy with that. This didn’t seem to be the kind of person who liked surprises. As Marix carefully did her best to pry through his mind(a task at which she’d never been too much of an expert at), he tried another angle, “As I said before, we are simply not in the business of selling ships anymore.”

‘We’ this time. Someone else was likely watching from the formalities that Taril was seeming to put on now, and from the way his voice was much stronger than it had been through the corridors.

“I can pay much better than I expect you are used to,” she attempted her own attack with that, now completely beyond the point of caring at all for buying ships. Something was odd here. No...wrong. Something simply felt wrong. It was not coincidence that she was led here after Ord Mantell...of that, Marix was sure. But it was now a matter of finding out what was really going on here, and why it was causing an uneasy feeling in the back of her mind.

“Nevertheless,” Taril waved a hand, “The ships here are no longer available.”

At that, Marix raised an eyebrow, her silver-in-violet eyes peering in a little more at the human, “Someone bought all of them?”

A pause...and the man glanced off to the side for a fraction of a second before turning back and answering, “Yes.”

That was not his answer. He had asked permission on that. And Marix knew right away why. She had asked if one person had bought all of the ships, and there had been a sudden pang of worry through the Force from Taril before he’d glanced away. Yes...yes, apparently it was alright to let her know that one person had, in fact, bought all of the ships. But why would that even matter...?

“Too bad,” she trailed off and ran a hand along the back of the chair she was leaning again, idly wondering how this human would react if she ran a claw through it instead. With her next question, Marix drew the Force to her and into her voice, a technique that, thanks to being the Empress, she had perfect years ago, “It wouldn’t be too much to ask who bought them all, would it?”

Taril shook his head, his eyes looking a bit glazed as he answered far too quickly, “Not at all. They are an organization who wish to end this war before it goes any farther...they do not believe in all of this needless fighting.”

“And yet they buy a fleet...” the Force was still flowing through her voice then, and caused the unspoken question to be easily obvious to the only other person in the room.

He simply shrugged, “Sometimes force is necessary, I suppose. When one helps a great deal of people, one must accept that certain things will be lost...” he trailed off for a short second, then picked up after a Force-nudge from Marix with something she had definitely not expected, “...it is something the Jedi could learn. They will do nothing but prolong this war and kill billions more with senseless fighting.”

It was one of those times that Marix was very glad to be herself. Very few other people could hear that in her situation and not even blink. There were much, much more in those words hidden away, and it struck Marix right away. Anti-Jedi sentiment...and an entire organization with the power to buy a fleet and, most likely, use it. Her thoughts were not at all with how this would affect the galaxy as a whole, but to a more personal situation.

Jyren.

He had a way of running into trouble like that far too easily. If this was what it sounded like, then she knew it would only be a matter of time before he got himself in over his head with whoever these people were.

And then the door slid open at the other side of the room. Four of the guards from before, all immediately aiming their blaster rifles at Marix, moved in and were followed by two large Trandoshans with even larger weapons. Angrily, one of the walking lizards hissed, “Fool! Ssshe isss a Jedi!”

She was not, of course, but Marix knew this wasn’t exactly the time to argue technicalities....which is exactly what it would have been with these. And when the blaster rifles lit up and red bolts of energy arced at her, she knew that these were, in fact, exactly what she feared they were.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 361

An hour had passed since the ambush and Rulae Nok was still peeling the adhesives off of his skin. After managing to get a rather large clump of it off of his neck, his large red eyes managed to shrink into what was most likely a glare, “Tsun would have murdered us if we’d done that to him.”

Jyren leaned back in his chair across the small desk from the Duros and folded his arms across his chest, doing his absolute best to hold back the laughter and just grin, “But you aren’t Tsun.”

“You’re lucky for that,” Rulae snapped, waving a long finger at the human and then sighing, “Very lucky, actually. You would have gotten it much worse if those kids didn’t need a little lightening up.”

The Duros had motioned to the scuff mark across Jyren’s forehead that he’d gotten from one of the training guns ‘missing’ their target. He was sure, however, that Rulae had gotten a hold of it and gotten at least some revenge. But his friend’s words were more than a simple jest, and Jyren caught it right away. His grin faded in a second, and he raised an eyebrow, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We received orders to join the defense fleet at Agamar,” Rulae answered a little more quietly than normal.

Jyren knew why, and even he was speaking in a near whisper for some odd reason, “They aren’t ready.”

“I know,” the Commodore sighed again and shook his head, “But it isn’t our choice and we are only one squadron. The others are ready, and we will have to be.”

“Why Agamar?” Jyren darted to the next thought on his mind suddenly.

Rulae shrugged at first, but then glanced down to a datapad on his desk before saying, “A small flotilla attacked there just a few hours ago...cruiser analog and some coralskippers.”

Leaning forward, Jyren ran a hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes, “Scouts.”

“That’s what Command is thinking,” Rulae agreed with a nod, “If there’s going to be a push on Agamar, its going to need more defense than just the tiny fleet they have and the local forces.”

Another thought hit Jyren, “What about Vortex?”

Again, Rulae shrugged, his long limbs taking a little while to find a comfortable spot afterwards, “It’s a bit more Coreward and should be safe for now.”

“That’s one hell of a gamble,” Jyren said quietly, more to himself than to his commander, “For all we know an attack on Agamar is just a diversion to pull us away and allow their forces to skip straight to the Core.”

Rulae took another glance at his datapad before addressing that, “Our own scouts are reporting that the Vong fleets are still a little small for that kind of attack.”

“You trust those reports?”

That got a silence in the small office. The two old friends held each other’s gaze for a long enough time that the question didn’t need to be answered, but eventually, Rulae spoke anyway, “No...but it is all we have to go on. We are fairly sure, however, that the Vong are still moving forces into the galaxy.”

Jyren waved a hand, “What you’re saying is that its bad now, but its going to get worse.”

“No, I’m not saying that,” Rulae shook his head, but then paused and sighed heavily, “But you’re probably right about that. “

”So we’re right back where we started...” Jyren trailed off, then sat back again, “Vortex unguarded and Agamar, a relatively unimportant strategic planet, overly defended thanks to a small scouting ship. And then, of course, there’s still Ithor not far from either planets...”

Rulae, this time, said nothing. He was thinking the same thing that Jyren was, but could not bring himself to say it. So, for a long moment, the two sat in silence in the utilitarian office aboard the Star Destroyer. But it didn’t last too long, because Jyren finally spoke the thought out loud, “We’re overstretched. This war has barely started, and we already stuck trying to hold more planets than we can...” Rulae still said nothing, and so Jyren went on with something that even he didn’t like to speak, “...and the only solutions to this are to guess at the motives of invaders we nothing about and hope we know what they want...or fall back to the Core and hold the planets we know we can hold instead of jumping around the galaxy wildly everytime a planet encounters a scout ship.”

Still, nothing else was said. Maybe if he had been talking to Marix, there would have been a response...but he wasn’t, and the very thought of that hurt. Closing his eyes, Jyren got to his feet and managed a weak salute before turning and heading out of the office.

It was then that Rulae finally spoke up, calling out across his office, “Where are you off to, Raan?”

Still ‘Raan’. Jyren couldn’t blame the Duros, really, but it was strange hearing that after so many years. He did not turn around, but simply spoke to the still closed door standing there in front of him, “I’m going to go get the kids into the simulators.”

“Going to shoot them down some more?” to that, Rulae managed to add a weak laugh. It was forced, but the gesture was something that Jyren found slightly comforting. His friend knew humans well enough to have some idea of how to ease tension. Of course...Jyren wasn’t exactly human anymore...

“Nah,” Jyren cut his own thoughts off and shook his head, “I need to talk to someone before we all get in over our heads too much.”

And then, without wanting to answer the questions that would obviously bring up, Jyren hit the switch to open the door and headed for the turbolift.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 362

The sound of the blaster rifles firing wildly was gone in an instant, replaced by a loud, violent crack. Eyes darted through the chaos to see one of the Trandoshans fall, its blaster rifle having just slammed into the side of its skull. The eyes then caught sight of Marix, who had not had to use the Force for even a second, and who had also not stopped moving. Another crack echoed in the room, this one from her arm catching the second Trandoshan in the gut, breaking at least two ribs in the process before she tore the large weapon out of its reptilian hands and spun to use it as a club against one of the human guards behind her.

The Trandoshan only stumbled back, hissing in pain and clutching its chest, but the human was flung back into the bulkhead, the back of his skull hitting it first. But the larger reptilian humanoid was not as easily taken down...and attempted a strong punch aimed straight at Marix’s face. But it was all brute force, and nothing else...meaning that she had little trouble in ducking under the strike, then rising up in time to grab the large arm, snap its wrist, and rake her now-unshearthed claws across its face.

That was enough to send it down, though it was definitely not dead, the intense pain had sent it into a state of shock. It had also sent all of the remaining guards into the same state of shock. All of the violence had taken place in only a matter of seconds, and now two of the large Trandoshans and one of the human guards was already down...the other three, a Rodian, Twi’lek, and another human, were suddenly not so eager to press the attack.

Instead, each of them took careful steps back, blasters up and ready, though their arms were shaking noticeably. Marix knew that in a few more seconds, they would open fire again. Panic had a way of causing awkward moments of nothing at times like this...especially when most weren’t used to the kind of actions Marix was willing to take to end things quickly.

And so, before the blasters opened up again, the large Alraxian woman was moving again. Claws now gone, as she was not currently attempting to kill them if it wasn’t necessary, Marix instead connected with the human’s face with a strong punch, sending him against a chair and down without any trouble. The Rodian actually brought his blaster around to swing it at her, but Marix had no trouble kicking the weapon out of his shaking, long fingers before shifting her balance and delivering another strong kick, this time to his small chest, and sending him against the table. There was a snap from his spine thanks to the strength of the kick, but Marix took no real notice of it.

The remaining Twi’lek, however, did. He fired off three panicked shots from his weapon, none of which came anywhere near her and actually got closer to shooting his downed companions. Marix reached out and wrenched the weapon from his hands before using it as she had before and knocking him to the ground with the butt of the weapon.

She then casually dropped the weapon to the floor and turned to the remaining source of noise in the room. Taril was standing exactly where she’d left him, up from his chair but looking like a statue in some kind of violent earthquake. His eyes were so wide it looked like they were going to pop out of his head. And, of course, his mouth was wide open.

A few quick steps and Marix was next to him, grabbing his arm tightly enough to get a yelp of pain from the small human, and before he could start begging for her not to kill him, she growled, “You’re coming with me.”

Then, without waiting on a response, she turned and headed for the exit, dragging the helpless man along right behind her. He managed to sounds of protest, but neither of which were words in any language that Marix had ever heard before, so she chose to ignore it...well, truthfully, she would have ignored it anyway. The door slid open after she slammed the switch and Marix was almost depressed to see no one waiting there.

“W-wait!” Taril finally managed some kind of word, then tugged at his arm, which caused him to yelp in pain again, before whimpering, “They’ll kill me!”

“I’ll kill you,” Marix responded flatly, continuing to drag him along behind her as she made her way down the corridor the way they had come before.

[Marix...]

Instinctively, Marix glanced up slightly. [What, Loki?]

[They are...attempting to break open the hatch...] Loki sounded slightly distracted, which wasn’t all that surprising.

[This is exactly why Jyren pesters you about having some kind of defense.] Marix commented with a grin on her face. Not that she agreed with Jyren, of course, but it was vital to take the time to taunt the poor Kanyak whenever possible...as he’d do the same, and worse, if her guard was let down even slightly. [Don’t worry, I’ll be there in a moment. Keep Toby sealed in someplace safe.]

There was a pause, then Loki seemed to mumble. [...should I be worried?]

Marix rounded a corner and glanced at the panicked looking Taril she was still dragging along behind her. [I’m bringing a new friend.]

[Yes, well, that sound good, but ah...] Loki paused again, then there was the equivalent of a mental whimper. [I believe I have made enough friends out here. These are bloody persistent enough as it is. Do we really need more?]

Marix’s smile finally faded as she started to hear the sounds of blaster fire echoing her direction. She sighed, and gripped the human’s arm a little tighter while picking up the pace. [Just hang on. I’m almost there.]

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 363

Jyren had spent a good half hour speaking with his ‘mother’ through the Holocron he still kept with him. It had become, over the years, a way for him to put all of his thoughts in order and make sense of all the chaos that seemed to follow him around. Despite the fact that the image of his mother was just a holographic recording meant to sift through the information contained within the ancient data-storage device, it still had a way of being very helpful when Jyren needed it. He may not have remembered his mother, but now, at least, he had her help to guide him along...and not once had she led him down the wrong path.

But then something happened that should most definitely not have happened. The entirety of his quarters shook. Violently. Jyren grabbed at the wall instinctively, but managed to hold back the urge to morph claws for grip. They were odd enough on an Alraxian, and he was definitely not going to deal with that in his human form..especially when so many people had the chance of finding out exactly what they didn’t need to know.

Two more shakes rocked through the ship, but by now, Jyren was up and staggering to his door. He hit the switch and turned into the corridor, immediately heading through a group of panicked looking marines towards the nearest turbolift. In the few minutes it took him to get in the lift tube and arrive on the bridge of the Star Destroyer, the alarms had kicked in. Because of this, Jyren was not surprised to see the black of realspace outside the many viewports of the Star Destroyer rather than the swirling blue of hyperspace that should have remained for at least another hour.

The bridge, itself, was ablaze with activity. Crewmen ran from station to station, and a few even jumped down into the two crew pits, obviously no longer able to enjoy the break that hyperspace provided most of the pilots and sensor operators. Orders were being barked from one side of the scanner and communication stations just near the lift, and, recognizing the voice, Jyren headed right for it.

“Admiral!” he managed a quick, if not fairly pathetic, salute at the sight of the tall, angular-faced human, “What’s going on?”

Two dark green eyes landed on Jyren, and Admiral Tarus took a moment before pointing back to the turbolift, “Agamar is already under attack. We’ve hit some kind of gravitic mine on the outskirts of the system.”

“A trap?” Jyren asked, already knowing where he needed to be and turning back towards the turbolift.

He managed to catch sight of the Admiral nodding, “Two cruiser analogs and swarms of coralskippers. Get to the hangar and get the Zephyrs in the air. Commodore Nok should already be there.”

No response to that was necessary, and besides, Jyren had no time to give on. His eyes caught a bright flash from the front viewport as the shields took a heavy impact of some sort, and then Jyren was in the turbolift. It was a surprisingly short trip down to the hangar. The large, main hangar of the Araddon was even more chaotic than the bridge. A group of A-Wings was just leaving as Jyren ran straight for where his X-Wing was. At least he was already wearing his flight suit...a habit that had come back very quicky after returning as a pilot.

“Half of your squadron’s already out there,” the technician said as he pulled off the fueling cables and grabbed the ladder that Jyren pushed away from the cockpit.

Jyren quickly pulled on his helmet, strapping it on while leaning over the side, “Where’s the Commodore?”

“Already out,” came the quick response, “You’re clear, Captain. Good hunting.”

“Thanks,” Jyren hit the switch on his canopy to bring it down and then turned on his comm to find it already filled with voice. Finding a break in the voices, he said, “This is Two, who’s still in the hangar?”

There was a short silence before he got a report that the half of the squadron still there was the same group that had trained together. Just as the report finished, the sound of Commodore Nok’s voice came over his headset, “Get out here and form up on us. Stay close to the Araddon until we receive orders.”

A series of double clicks sounded over the comm, and in another few moments, the remaining six X-Wings left the hangar and headed for the rest of the squadron. It didn’t take long for them to form up together, and just as they got into formation in front of the large Star Destroyer, Jyren got his first real sight of the Yuuzhan Vong.

Two asteroid-like objects hung a good distance away, spraying some sort of red-orange fire straight into the Araddon and the other ships in the small fleet...two of which were already burning. Near the two Vong cruiser analogs, Jyren could see a multitude of small objects that had to be the coralskippers...small, Yuuzhan Vong starfighters.

“What’s the situation, One?” Jyren asked after only another second, not sure of what to make of everything as he could barely make out the tiny dot of Agamar’s star in the distance.

There was static for a moment before the Duros’ voice returned, “The Vong attacked about twenty standard minutes ago. The fleet here is overwhelmed, but they’re holding on. It looks like the Vong were waiting for reinforcements are arrive...we can’t help Agamar until we break through their rear defenses.”

Jyren nodded to himself, not liking how this was turning out one bit. He glanced out the canopy to his side, seeing where his wingmate hung next to him. In her cockpit, Rea looked, and felt, slightly nervous, but ready to act. All of the squadron felt that way. But when Jyren reached out further...it was strange. There should have been something there, but instead there was nothing. No...not nothing. It was the absence of anything, even a nothingness. Like an intangible hole in the Force, a black, emptiness so cold that it sent a shiver of Jyren’s spine, the wall of Yuuzhan Vong sat between their fleet and the life of the planet beyond.

It was...wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

“Coralskippers incoming,” Rulae’s voice only partially broke Jyren out of the emptiness. It was enough, however, to get him into the moment, exactly where he needed to be, “Lock you S-Foils into attack position, Zephyrs. We’re on guard duty for the fleet until the Corellia and Taelon have their engines back online.”

The two damage ships in the fleet...engines out already? The Vong had really caught them off guard. But it sounded fixable, which was something. Those two ships were meant to stay behind and guard the Araddon from waves of starfighters, but without their assistance, X-Wings and, from the looks of it, a squadron of newer E-Wings would be doing that job.

His eyes widened as a reb-orange blast shot over the squadron, and not a second later, Rulae called out, “Flight One and Three on me! Flight Two stick with Zephyr Two! Don’t wander off from the fleet!”

There was no time for any other words. In a wave of red-orange flame, the coralskippers charged through.