Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 364

In a matter of seconds, the blaster fire in the hangar stopped. It had only taken a stern, piercing yell from Marix to do that, and it was actually a bit surprising to find that none of the weapons immediately turned on her. But instead, when the various faces turned, the weapons were lowered. This was likely due to the fact that the near three meter tall Marix was holding Taril by the back of his neck, her left hand easily wrapped around his small neck, while her other hand held a fairly large blaster pistol, its barrel jammed so hard against the side of the human’s head that the pressure alone looked ready to kill him.

It was most definitely not loyalty to this man that had stopped the weapons. Of that, Marix was sure. These did not seem to be the kind of people loyal to one another, but rather, out for their own personal gains. It was, instead, the way that she had dragged Taril in so easily that had caused the shock in the hangar. The fact that all of the guards knew how many were sent to arrest her did not help their mood, either.

Through the silence, though, Taril managed a whimper of pain. Whether it was from the barrel against his skull or the tight grip on his neck, Marix didn’t know...but then again, she didn’t really care. She simply glanced down at him, then around the hangar, quickly counting the seventeen armed guards and at least two others that had no weapons...something that was actually more worrying, as she wasn’t actually sure what they were supposed to be doing.

“Get away from my ship,” Marix finally spoke, her voice calm and yet with the old icy coldness that hadn’t been used in a very, very long time. She didn’t even need to use the Force.

A few of the guards actually took some steps away from the ships...all of them, interestingly enough, being the ones closest to Loki’s hatch. Others glanced to their moving comrades, and finally raised their weapons to train them on Marix. They did not, however, fire. It looked to be more of a threat than anything. Either they were complete idiots or...well, know, they were complete idiots. The second thought of them being brave was quickly passed off as just a more polite way of calling them stupid.

Through the Force, Marix could feel the tension growing to the point where it would soon break. One of them was going to fire. Not that it would be a huge problem, but she was not exactly a fan of getting shot...and did her best to at least stay above Jyren in that aspect.

A slight shift in motion to the side caught her attention. One of the guards, a thinly build Rodian with dull green skin and holding a blaster rifle nearly as big as he was, called out in an annoyingly nasally voice, “Put the weapon down and stand back or we will shoot!”

“N-no!” Taril yelped, trying to wave his hands but getting a tight squeeze to his neck for it and causing him to shut up quickly.

Marix glared to the Rodian, her eyes matching his large, jet-black ones, “Move another step and this man dies.”

To emphasize the point, she pushed the blaster into Taril’s head a bit rougher, making sure it was noticeable to all of the others in the hangar. And then the Rodian said something that Marix was not all too surprised to hear, “He does not matter to us!”

It was in that moment that Marix was returned to the world she had left even before meeting Jyren. When dealing with people like these, she knew that, sometimes, any kind of talk was simple useless. In her years as Empress, doing her best to protect the lives of the Alraxian people and the others in the Empire, she had become much more...sensitive to such situations. But, again, sometimes it was impossible to avoid violence...especially dealing with beings in the lower rungs of society that the Alraxians rarely, if ever, were forced to deal with.

And so, it was no surprise that many old teaching came back in that second, when she simply said, “Fine.”

With a simple kick, Taril was thrown to the ground with a thud, just a half second before the sound of the blaster pistol firing echoed throughout the silence of the hangar, immediately followed by a cry of pain from the human. The next few moments were a complete blur, especially to the armed guards spread throughout the hangar.

The shock of her actions in shooting Taril had been enough to freeze the others in place long enough for Marix to act. The Rodian went down first, a long claw mark left across his chest before he was dropped by a heavy fist to the back of his small skull. Two blaster shots actually managed to go off before the next three were dropped, and there was complete silence beyond the heavy sound of bodies hitting the deck plates from that moment on.

When it was over, Marix stood next to Loki’s hatch, carefully remorphing a small vibroblade wound across her arm that had somehow appeared in the chaos. [Get ready to leave, Loki.]

[That was...quick.] the ship commented idly as Marix listened to the unique sound of his drive systems powering up

Walking back across the hangar, Marix glanced over her shoulder to Loki a moment. [You know as well as I do how badly trained most of these kind of people are.]

[Good point.]

Marix did not respond. She didn’t need to. It was, truthfully, unfair for a person like herself to go up against those that were now mostly unconscious in the hangar...they had been taught to point and to shoot, and that was about it. Whoever these people were, their roots were most definitely in one of the small criminal organizations that had grown out of the void created by the death of the Black Sun oh so many years before. Fear was the weapon they relied on the most, and when it failed, there was little left but random blaster fire and panicked attacks.

Stopping next to Taril, she reached down and pull the unconscious man onto his feet. She had shot him in the shoulder. It had definitely knocked him out, but he was alive. And that meant she could find out what was really going on. How a smuggling organization like this one had become some kind of anti-war movement was beyond her...but Marix was fairly sure this Taril could enlighten her. There was much more to this than a bunch of badly trained guards and definitely more than just an anti-war group.

Of that, Marix was sure.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 365

The small, A-Wing sized coralskippers came at the New Republic as one. They were shaped like craggy teardrops, coming to a rounded point where some kind of canon seemed to be...and, from the reports, could maneuver faster and better than anything the New Republic could throw against them. It was a matter of learning the fight...and the problem with that was that lives had to be lost to learn the fight.

And despite the simple fact that no one wanted that to happen, the charge through the line of starfighters had taken four A-Wings and two of the Zephyr’s X-Wings. Thankfully, three of the pilots had managed to eject, and that meant the Zephyrs hadn’t lost any pilots. Yet.

“Two Flight, form up on me!” Jyren yelled into the comm as he banked around to bring the wave of coralskippers into his sights. He hadn’t lost any of his four yet, and they were doing a damn good job at keeping with him, “Just like in training! Overlap our shields together and maneuver as one!”

“Its not that easy,” that was the watery voice of Zephyr Eight, the Mon Calamari named Obrack, if Jyren remember correctly.

Jyren couldn’t help a quick nod, “Just keep with me.”

Through the quick turn, flashes could be seen all throughout the area around them. The main comm channel was filled with a thousand sounds, many of which were impossible to distinguish. And then they saw the coralskippers. There was a reason that the pilots all talked of the Vong starfighters as if they were just one large ship...they moved like one. Maneuvering perfectly and reacting as one giant organism with terrifying efficiency. And, as one, at least ten of them turned on the four X-Wings of Two Flight.

“Shields double front!” Jyren grinded out as he quickly switched the settings, “Everyone on the center first, then follow my fire.”

Only two of the acknowledgments could be heard over the comm system before they were overwhelmed. At first, it was only a wall of red orange fire coming straight for the X-Wings, but a second later, banking to the side in the process, the quad laser cannons returned fire. Alarms went off in Jyren’s cockpit, and immediately, he reacted by pulling up. The Force told him that the others were still with him...but it told him little else. The utter emptiness of the space where the Vong were was all too obvious and like black holes in the Force.

Jyren silenced the alarms and then cursed. Shields were at half . One more hit would have taken them out...

And then Rea’s voice cut in over the comm, “My stabilizer’s been hit!”

Damn. He should have expected that had been too easy. Quickly, he eased up the maneuver, “Get your astromech on it!”

By now, the coralskippers were coming around again, moving faster and in ways that the X-Wings could never hope to match. It also meant that they were coming up right behind the four of them. Jyren wanted to check what was going on in the rest of the nearby area, but it was definitely one of those moments where staying alive was more important than...well...anything else.

But, as Jyren was attempting to lead the other’s out of the fire that was spraying their way while not losing Rea in the process, the voice of Rulae Nok came over his comm, “Jyren, the Admiral’s just confirmed that there’s a Yammosk out there.”

“A what?!” this was not the time to test Jyren’s knowledge of the Yuuzhan Vong. And, for his trouble, there was a yelp in the comm from the Duros pilot, Zephyr Seven, who had taken a hit to his rear shields...they held, barely, but the violent shake he was given caused a slight panic, and meant he felt of the formation.

“War coordinator,” the Commodore went on, sounding a bit distracted but not nearly as much as Jyren was.

“I’m a little busy right now, Rulae!” Jyren growled a little too angrily just as Rea sent a quick confirmation that her astromech had done its best. Immediately, he tipped the X-Wing as a signal to the others before banking as hard as he could force the X-Wing to go, while at the same time putting as much into the engines as he could manage, to hopefully wrap around their attackers. Again, the others stayed with him, though a second or two behind thanks to his sudden boost in speed...but they stay nonetheless, and it was a wonderful thing to see.

And, of course, Rulae’s voice returned, “We all are, Two, but you need to break off and cover the gunships and the Y-Wings as they head for the Vong cruisers.”

This time, Jyren switched to a direct line with the Commodore as his flight managed to get one of the coralskippers into their sights. Immediately, all four of them opened first just as they were taught. Though it was a bit odd, the first shots seemed to disappear to one side of the ship before the others on the opposite end sent pieces flying and, a second later, breaking apart the entire ship like a miniature asteroid.

Breaking away to throw off the Vong, Jyren finally said, “We’re barely holding our own against these skips, Rulae, we can’t get anywhere.”

After a pause in which two red-orange shots went by a little too close, Rulae responded, “Its an order, Captain. Get close enough to the gunships and they’ll take out the skips.”

The direct line cut, and immediately Jyren said to the rest of Two Flight, “Someone figure out where our damned gunships are!”

Thankfully, no one asked why. Instead, as they trained their cannons on another skip that quickly pulled away as a group of two others slipped in behind the X-Wings, the Zephyr Seven spoke up, “Just two clicks out from the Araddon.”

Jyren did not ask ‘where the hell are we?’, though he definitely thought it. Instead, he let the Force tell him where he was while his eyes and instincts guided the X-Wing. And then he found it.

“We’re going to pull the skips to the gunships and then keep the Y-Wings in one piece while they hit those cruisers,” Jyren said, immediately turning and starting a haphazard path through the violent melee ensuing around the New Republic ships.

The tension from the other three pilots was obvious....especially when they saw just how far away the two fairly small looking Corellian Gunships were from their position. It sounded so small of a distance, yet the gap between their X-Wings and the gunships was filled with not only a Star Destroyer, but masses of flashes that could only be fighters.

“Keep with me and we’ll make it,” the words escaped Jyren before he knew he’d even said them. The kids needed some kind of reassurance, and it was the best he could give. By now, all of them had been hurt to the point where another would likely kill them. The chaos was so great that none of them expected to be able to react fast enough to eject anymore.

To his surprise, though, as the vicious firing of the Vong behind them began to light up their viewports, Jyren heard the watery voice of Zephyr Eight again, “We’re with you to the end, sir.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 366

Leaving the Cron Drift was much less difficult than coming in. No one even arrived to pursue Loki until he’d already left the cloud and was ready to jump to hyperspace. It was a disturbingly easy escape, but Marix had a feeling it had a lot to do with the fact that whoever was really operating that station hadn’t been expecting any kind of escape...and, by the time it had happened, there wasn’t any time to react to stop it beyond the meager effort put forth by the guards in the hangar.

Immediately upon making the jump to hyperspace, Taril had been locked into one of the small, extra rooms that Loki kept out of the way of most others, and was questioned. Marix had a very deliberate way of interrogation. She asked questions until she got answers. There was no violence, nor any threats. She simply stared right into the man’s eyes and waited for him to answer. It worked disturbingly well...especially with someone as traumatized as Taril currently was.

It also meant that he didn’t provide much resistance to actually talking, though between all of the information he continually begged that she not kill him. That was something she hadn’t mentioned once, but decided not to deny, either, as it seemed to be a good motivation to keep him talking. It was amazing how much he was able to work himself up and how his own imagination made things out to be much worse than they really were. Not that Marix was complaining.

[I still don’t understand why a peace group would want a fleet...] Loki mumbled ‘out loud’ after Marix had explained the details to both the ship, who had been busy with repairing a few small systems, and Tobias, who was just far too curious for his own good.

Marix looked up and rolled her eyes, “Tell me you said that for Toby’s benefit.”

“...it’s a good question,” Tobias said quietly, sitting off to the side in the small living area not far from Loki’s cockpit.

She turned to the young Alraxian and decided not to blame Loki. Not only was the ship smart enough to know what they were really dealing with, but he’d been involved with as many illicit activities as she had over the many years they’d been together...so he knew it all just as well as she did. It was a matter, then, of prompting Marix to say the right things for Tobias so that he’d understand what was going on. This, she didn’t like, but apparently Loki had it in him that this was important for Toby to know about.

“It’s a front, Toby,” Marix finally said, noting that he didn’t look as surprised as she’d expected, “They’ve got other motives and are using this anti-war sentiment to put a good face out there.”

Tobias nodded first, but then glanced down at the large couch both he and Marix sat on, obviously dropping into deep thought. It only lasted a few moments, but, Marix grinned to herself, that was longer than Jyren could ever manage, before he finally said, “So then...they really want to keep this fighting going? Why...?”

From the look on his face, that question was really driving him crazy. Marix managed to resist the urge to shrug, knowing that wouldn’t be a good display, and instead held her usual neutral face, “Its impossible to say exactly why, Toby, but that human gave us more information than he probably meant to. They are very, very strongly anti-Jedi, and from the sound of it, this organization...this, Peace Brigade, is growing everywhere. Why would they do that?”

Finally, forcing him to think for himself rather than ask any question, Marix was able to sit back a moment and let him think again. This time, it took a little longer before he responded, his silvery eyes searching for something at the same time, “Spreading a thing like that could destabilize the New Republic...or...or weaken the ties it has to the Jedi?”

This time, Marix allowed herself a smile, “If that’s what they’re after. We can’t be sure of it, but it does sound about right, doesn’t it? But that still isn’t the ‘why’...”

That thought was left to hang in the air. The end of it was not something that needed to be discussed. All three of them knew exactly why, as they all ended it with the same thought...even Toby. In fact, he was already thinking it before Marix was speaking it.

If this Peace Brigade was real, and the small amount of information they had now was true, and they were actually attempting to destabilize the New Republic, or even drive a rift between them and the Jedi Knights, then there was one real conclusion that made any sense.

They were working with the Yuuzhan Vong.

But it didn’t make sense!

All of the information they had said that the Vong did one of two things to their conquered worlds. Either the population was utterly wiped off the face of their planet, or they were enslaved through some strange process that no one was completely sure of, save for the Vong and the slaves. But there was no evidence at all that any of the people on that station had a single thing to do with the Vong. Why would they? Could have they have struck a deal...?

How?!

The Vong were not the type to deal. Early attempts at even speaking with them were returned with promises of painful deaths. Nothing was adding up, and Marix knew this was because too much information was missing from the equation. And despite the fact that these days she was most definitely Marix, what was left of the child that was Shadow still had a way of popping here and there. It was the decisive voice that took her straight to the choice that needed to be made without any of the wasted time involved in thinking of ‘whys’ and ‘hows’.

In this case, it meant that she had only one choice. If any of this was true about the Peace Brigade, then it could have the possibility to make them a greater threat than the Vong themselves...and, by now, Marix understood that the Vong succeeding in whatever they were doing in this part of the galaxy meant that the Alraxians wouldn’t have much more isolation from the galaxy. War was something to be avoided at all costs...and that meant stopping it right here in this part of the galaxy before it spread.

So she would have to find out more about these people. It made Taril that much more important. Hopefully, he knew other groups on other planets...and if not...well...Marix could dig, but she had a good feeling he did know. Through the Force, she’d known he’d hidden some things, and that was probably one of them...but...

Her thoughts trailed off when she caught that look in Tobias’ eye again. He wanted to say something, but...but he wasn’t. That was the Tobias she knew. So much like Jyren she wondered if he was trying to do that or if it was just one of those things that had happened...and that meant he still wasn’t going to say anything until she did.

“What is it, Toby?” she didn’t feel like wasting time.

Marix didn’t need the Force to see how uncomfortable and nervous the young Alraxian was, but it sure helped. She watched him fidget nervously for a few moments before speaking down at the floor in a very, very quiet voice, “I...I...I want to...to...to...”

A sigh from Marix silenced his already quiet voice. She then decided to deal with him the same way she used to be forced to deal with Jyren. Marix turned to sit completely on the couch, adopting a casual seating position and a face of calm to match it and wipe away any kind of slightly dangerous hint that usually found its way into how she carried herself. It was also how she’d learned to be when being the Empress, and managed to fall into the same calm voice with the Force slightly layered in for a little help, “Just say it.”

That had an effect. This time, he looked up through the blue stripe of his jet-black hair and straight to her eyes, barely matching the look for long enough to speak in a slightly louder voice, “...I want to be a Jedi...”

“Toby!” the word escaped her before she could control her voice. After a quick moment, she just shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, “Toby, I thought we were done with this.”

They should have been. He’d gotten talks from both herself and from Jyren about it, trying to explain that all those fantastic stories were, in the end, just that...fantastic stories. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t fun, and it sure as hell wasn’t anything like Tobias seemed to think it was. Not only did the kid have the usual Alraxian stories of how the Jedi of old had saved their people from the Darkwings, but he’d had Jyren and his father to relate stories of actual Jedi...that usually ended up just as exaggerated. Jyren had tried to fix this, but it had been far too late. So, they’d simply made it understood to Tobias that he would at least follow that Alraxian way like Marix and the rest of the BlueIce family had done. He had, apparently, accepted that...or rather, apparently not.

“I’m serious!” Tobias blurted out suddenly, this time all of his nervousness washed away, “I want to do it.”

“Its not what you think it is,” Marix said flatly, doing her absolute best to keep all the annoyance out of her voice and keep a rational tone, “And you’re too young.”

“But Jyren was younger tha—“

Quickly, she cut that one off with a shake of her head and a stern voice, “Jyren was human! You. Are. Not. Human.”

The words were slow, deliberate, and definitely filled with that anger that had been growing. Which didn’t help Tobias’ quick response, “I know! But I...I feel...” he waved a hand vaguely, “...its what I need to do...”

There was a surprising amount of sincerity in the young Alraxian’s voice. So much so that Marix couldn’t find a quick retort to that. He really believed that...and, whether that was something he’d made up for himself or something he truly did believe, it was hard to argue against. It didn’t help that Marix was not the kind of person to simply say ‘no’ and then use the reason ‘because I said so’ afterwards. Why she’d grown so protective of the little brat over the years was beyond her, but it sure didn’t help things.

“Do you want to do this to prove something to me? Or to Jyren?” Marix asked after a long silence.

Tobias shook his head, “I want to do it for me.”

Again, he meant it. But...still, “You’re telling me this now because you know I won’t stop if you. But, Toby, if you’re going to run off and do this to show off or with some crazy dreams of being a great Jedi then you damned well better end this right now and never speak of it again.”

That did bring a silence into the room. It lasted for long enough that the flared tempers were able to calm down and calm, if not slightly hesitant, tones of voice came into play.

Very carefully, and obviously choosing his words wisely, Tobias attempted to make sense of a thousand thoughts and put them into one coherent idea, “I don’t care....I don’t care what anyone says. Jyren is my father. And...and he comes from a family of Jedi. His mother...himself...I...I don’t want that to die because he’s Alraxian now.”

“But, Toby,” Marix said, reaching over to rest a hand on his shoulder and trying to put it lightly, “Jyren wasn’t ever a Jedi. He’ll tell you that himself.”

She was carefully avoiding the idea that it sounded like he was, in fact, wanting to do this for Jyren.

Tobias just shook his head, “His mother said otherwise...” trailing off, he let that hang for long enough so that Marix knew he’d been using that damned Holocron without either herself or Jyren knowing. Before she could say anything about that, however, he added, “But that isn’t the point, mother. I want to do this...I...I need to.”

Marix also avoided that word ‘mother’, still uncomfortable with it after so long. She knew, though, that this was already a decided issue. She wanted Tobias to be trained in the Force, but had noticed recently that he was resisting all of the Alraxian teaching just like Jyren had done. And...not to offend him, but she didn’t want Tobias ending up in the same middle ground. She wanted Toby to actually make a choice.

And...he’d made it. The problem was he made one that they thought was just some damned fantasy. But it wasn’t...and she knew he’d find someway to do it. But she did have an idea. At least something to delay the inevitable...

“We have other things that are important and need to be dealt with right now,” Marix spoke very calmly, and made sure not to sound at all angry, “Until we both can talk with Jyren about this, you’ll stay right where you are. Understand?”

Tobias nodded, holding back a smile. He knew he’d won, and knew that if he tried the same kind of ‘charm’ on Jyren, he’d manage to convince his father, too. It just made him wonder how long it would be until they saw each other again...a thought that was also haunting Marix, and had been since they’d gone off on their separate ways.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 367

Though it was rough, Two Flight managed to get into the covering fire of the two small gunships’ batteries in a few long, but at the same time disturbingly short, minutes. By now, all of them were at least slightly rattled from either neither misses of strong hits to the shields. Jyren’s X-Wing was holding together thanks to the quick reactions of his astromech readjusting a few systems. Rea’s shields were at half and, while her astromech was working on it, it was likely to remain that way for a long while thanks to her taking a good hit to the rear generator. Seven and Eight were in similar shape, with weakened shields and somewhat off stabilizers, but all were able to keep up with the hectic pace set by the squadron of Coralskippers that were having serious trouble taking down just four X-Wings.

And in a blaze of turbolasers, rock, and flame, the skips disappeared. Or at least, the group that had been pursuing Two Flight did. There were still hundred more littering the Agamar system, moving in perfectly coordinated waves and mowing through most anything in their path. A few small groups managed to stay alive, but it was mostly thanks to the larger capital ships that were able to blast straight through the Coralskippers’ defenses instead of needing the precise aiming and firing techniques that the starfighters required.

“Thanks, Talon,” Jyren said over the comm to the nearest of the two gunships after the pursuing skips had been taken down, “Where do you need us?”

The comm cracked for a few long seconds before there was a response, “We’re going to make a run for the Vong frigates and try to catch them off guard....” static took over the line a moment, then, “...skips incoming straight for us.”

Jyren quickly switched over to his flight’s comm frequency as he led the X-Wings down to come up in front of the two medium sized gunships and the squadron of sluggish Y-Wings in between, “Eight, give me a bearing on the skips.”

The Mon Calamari pilot, Zephyr Eight, didn’t take more than a few seconds to do a short scan of the nearby area, “Looks like twenty or so breaking off from the Araddon and coming in from behind us.”

“And another large group coming out from the Vong’s cruisers,” Zephyr Two cut in quickly, and Jyren couldn’t help a quick glance over to where his Twi’lek wingmate was. Why he continued to do that was beyond him...old habit, maybe.

After switching back to the main frequency, Jyren said, “Talon, we’re just four X-Wings. We can’t hold off all of these skips on our own.”

“We’re too close to the Vong to turn back now, Zephyr Two,” came the response from the Corellian Gunship, “Already sent out a call for some extra help but we’ll have to make do until they get here.”

Jyren did not like that. He also didn’t like that, from the sound of it, whoever was talking to him from the Talon seemed to have no problem with it at all. Had they not been paying any attention to this fight at all?!

But there wasn’t really much of a choice, anyway. Even if he wanted to break away and call of this attack on the Vong cruisers, they were cut off and would have to fight it out anyway. Jyren bit his lip and shook his head to himself, trying to hold himself inwards in the Force as reaching out with that just made the whole situation that much more unnerving. He knew what it felt like with all those Vong out there, but there was no way in hell he was going to have that constant feeling of emptiness surrounding him when they were about to be overwhelmed with skips.

“What are we going to do, Two?” the nervous, but still strong voice of the Duros pilot, Zephyr Seven, cut Jyren’s thoughts off. It was probably for the best. At least it was an easy question to answer.

“We’re going to stick together and we’re going to keep the skips off of the Y-Wings and the gunships until we get some help,” Jyren said simply before doing a quick check on his own sensor panel. Then, confirming that the skips coming from the Vong cruisers would reach them first, brought his X-Wing up towards the front of the two cruisers, which weren’t even adjusting their courses to bring the majority of their batteries to bear on the attackers.

Oh well. After a while, it just didn’t matter anymore. They would do what they could.

Glancing back to the other three X-Wings, Jyren said, “Stick close and keep your eyes open. Our best bet is going to be using the gunships cannons...so we’ll try to draw the skips straight into their lines of fire. Got that?”

All three responded quickly. That response was all their was time for, as it was suddenly apparent just how fast the Coralskippers could move. The brief moments of relative peace they’d been given vanished in a blaze of red-orange flames that erupted in a huge wave straight for them.

The viewport became a blur as Jyren maneuvered to avoid the stream of fire coming from who-knew-how-many skips. There was a yell of surprise over the comm, which Jyren interpreted as some kind of orders on where to maneuver. However, he couldn’t make any sense of it in the sudden eruption of chaos. And he didn’t want to, either.

Instead, Jyren’s focus came on a single voice that cut off the one from the Talon. It lasted only half a second, but it was just long enough for Jyren to identify it as Zephyr Seven. He didn’t need to check his sensor panel to see that the rear X-Wing in their formation was no longer there. He didn’t even need the Force. Jyren knew that sound all too well.

The new Zephyr squadron had just taken its first casualty. Another kid that would be forgotten even by his own squadron was dead. Jyren didn’t know whether to blame the command structure, himself, the Duros pilot who’s name he couldn’t even remember, or the Yuuzhan Vong for starting this damned war. It didn’t matter, though. Blame wouldn’t change the fact that he was dead and wasn’t coming back.

And all of a sudden, as the wall of Coralskippers closed in and Jyren did his very best not to lose the two other pilots with him, Jyren just wanted to be anywhere else. He wanted to see his family again...he wanted to be back on Alraxia just for one more day. Just one more day to spend with Marix, Toby, and the little twins. But...but those were the kind of thoughts that had plagued him many years ago. These days he was no foolish enough to think he could just wish for something and have it come true. He was going to have to make it happen.

If he wanted another day with any of them, Jyren was going to have to stay alive...and he wasn’t going to just ditch these kids in the Zephyrs with him. They had as much of a right to make it out of this as he did...maybe even more.

And then the second group of skips came in from behind to flank the small group of ships.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 368

Hyperspace was always empty. Outside of realspace and locking the ship and its crew in its own little universe away from everything they new, save the Force itself. But even the Force felt slightly hollow as Marix stared out Loki’s viewport and into hyperspace. Everything felt that way lately...and it seemed like there was nothing at all to fill the emptiness that actually managed to cause some kind of physical pain. Minor, yes, but nagging. The reason for it was quite obvious, of course.

There were very good reasons why the many Alraxians that shared a Link always stayed together. Or at least, near one another. The science behind the hows and the whys of it were fairly well known, but it was never anything of interest to Marix. A Link had never been in her thoughts, as it was not something that would ever happen for a Tam’Day’U...who would be dead before it even became close to becoming an issue. But it seemed that Marix always found a way to go against the expectations of...well...everyone. Including herself.

To think that she had ever reached adulthood was amazing enough. To go on and realize that she had freed herself and her fellow Tam’Day’U from their literal slavery to the few Alraxians who would admit they existed was even more amazing, to the point of being completely unimaginable. Not to mention the fact that these Tam’Day’U were now Knights of the Alraxian Empire and helping to train the rest of the Knights in combat techniques that were becoming more and more necessary as the years went by. And a Link? With, of all people in the galaxy, an idealistic human who she’d somehow gotten herself attached to and then become a bit more than attached before running into the one thing that helped to finally break the training she had been given: Emotion.

To Marix, the emotions were the most amazing things. She had grown up without any, though she did know the textbook definition of an emotion and how to use against her targets, it was never something she was actually exposed to. But then, first thanks to the smuggler, Max, and then Jyren...something had happened to break it all. And from what was something that even she could admit was a wonderful thing, falling in love and even(this she admitted quietly even to herself) having a family, the opposite end of the spectrum came along, too. And it was this utter emptiness that Marix felt now that she couldn’t get out of her head...sitting around didn’t help, of course...and she couldn’t sleep. Didn’t want to, actually...but...

Something hit her. A flash of everything at once, completely out of no where, causing her eyes to jolt open as she knew exactly what it was. In a rash move, she yelled out, “Get us out of hypspace!!”

[What?!] both her tone and sudden reaction got a strong shock from Loki, as he was just as unused to seeing her act like that as she was.

“Get us out of hyperspace!” she repeated again, this time sitting up in her chair and scrambling across the controls to find the damned thing herself since the Kanyak wasn’t cooperating.

And he wasn’t planning on it, either. [I can’t do that! Who knows what we could—]

“Fine!” Marix growled, having found the controls herself, “I’ll do it myself!”

And she did.

Four very violent jolts rocked the ship from the sudden reverting back to realspace, and while they were suddenly out in the black emptiness between the many starsystems of the galaxy, Loki was sure they’d come very, very close to hitting...something.

[Marix, what is wrong?!] Loki was now distracted, immediately attempting to make sure everything was alright with both himself and his old friend who seemed to have completely lost her mind.

Her silvery-purple eyes looked straight up for a half second, an icy determination in them, “What’s the nearest system?”

Loki didn’t miss that she failed to even acknowledge his question. Deciding it was nearly pointless to fight this, he did his best to find out, checking stars against his internal databases, if they could even be called that, for a few short moments before answering. [Agamar is just a few light years from here.]

“Take us there, now,” Marix’s voice held that same stern tone, and while Loki started making the preparations for the jump, he couldn’t help noticing that she felt fine through the Force...in fact, she felt better than she had been in a long while.

Just as they were making the short jump, Loki decided to attempt once again to understand why she’d nearly gotten them killed. [What is it, Marix?]

When the lines of the stars extended and they shot forward, a calming wave seemed to sweep over the entirely of the ship. And yet she didn’t answer.

She didn’t answer for the simple reason that she wasn’t actually that sure why she’d acted like that. She felt...something. Something strong, and something very close. It was so strong in both the Force and through her very being that it pulled her to it. Marix had never experienced such a strong feeling before, especially coming out of no where and hitting her like a tubolaser blast. And, after only a few moments of managing some rational thoughts, she knew exactly what it was.

It was the link. Somehow, it had gotten stronger. The absence of it for a long while caused the sudden return of it to overwhelm her to the point where, right then, Marix knew she couldn’t allow it to go away again. Or at least, some unconscious part of her did, and made sure the rest of her was going to go along with it...though, now that she truly understood what had happened, Marix definitely agreed. They had tried it, and she had known the problems that might come up...but maybe she hadn’t really known them. It was not something that was viable anymore. It made it harder for her to do her job and find a way to protect her people from this war.

And, very quietly, Marix said, “Jyren is at Agamar...” she paused a moment, feeling the familiarity of the link but realizing that there was more than just the wonderful feeling of having it back, “...and he’s in over his ears again.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 369

“How the hell are they moving like that?!” the panicked voice of the Mon Calamari pilot of Zephyr Eight cried out for the third time.

Jyren grinded his teeth, looping his X-Wing around to get a pair of skips off of him while spraying off a series of somewhat random shots to try to put up at least some kind of fight...even if it was miserable, “I don’t know and I don’t care, Loro! Just stay on me and try to take them out!”

A muffled grumble returned over the comm, but it was understandable. The waves of Vong Coralskippers were overwhelming, but the majority were focusing on the two gunships that were now caught halfway between the Vong cruiser analogs and the New Republic attack force. It meant that their mission to find the Yuuzhan Vong cruiser that was most likely carrying one of their war coordinators and take it out was over...or at least, should have. The Y-Wing squadron that was with them had managed to break off just as the two waves of skips came in, and would soon be in range to at least give the Vong cruisers analogs some trouble.

Which meant it was three X-Wings and two Corellian gunships left to deal with at least forty Coralskippers. Both of the gunships were managing to pick off a skip or two here and there, but they were having more and more trouble as the minutes passed by. The Talon’s shields were out already, and two of its aft drives were down...meaning it was stranded right there likely for the rest of the fight. The other gunship, Fareera, was in slightly better shape, but was going to lose its shields in a few more moments.

The only current saving grace that was keeping the five starships up was in the positioning of the two Corellian gunships. Both of which were able to bring their main batteries that lined the sides of the cylindrical ships to bear on the other’s flank. It created a small corridor in between of extremely heavy fire that the three remaining Zephyrs in the vicinity were attempting to draw the skips into without getting shot, themselves. It was...to a point at least, working. That point being that fewer skips would come in after the X-Wings and meant that it gave the three of them more of a chance to concentrate their own fire and stay alive.

“Got one!” it was the first sound of elation to come over the comm system since their arrival in the Agamar system, and Jyren’s eyes quickly darted to his side to see Zephyr Four’s X-Wing fly through a shattering of rock and flame.

Jyren brought his X-Wing up to hers, just slightly back to cover her, and followed her in a tight turn around a series of red laser fire from the gunships, “Nice shooting, Rea.”

They were doing disturbingly well at staying alive. It was a morbid thought, but Jyren knew it was true. They’d only lost one starship when overwhelmed by a huge number of Coralskippers. Luck only went so far, and this was far beyond just luck, in his opinion.

And then, right on cue, Jyren’s eyes caught sight of a sudden burst of flame from the Talon, and a half second later, as more red-orange blasts impacted the gunship, watched as the front cone of the ship broke off. Through the Force, despite being drawn into himself, he could feel the jolt of the death of the crew. The few escape pods that he saw flying away were easily picked off.

“They’re coming!” Rea’s voice jolted Jyren back into the moment as the wave of Coralskippers shifted from the now-dead Talon to the remainder of the ships. It looked as if they broke off into two distinct groups, and as Jyren saw this, he knew they were suddenly in serious trouble.

Trying to get his shields back to full, Jyren pulled his X-Wing down and closed to the Fareera, “Fall back to the cover of the Fareera. We stay out here alone and we’re dead.”

Together, the three X-Wings banked down and to the still-shielded gunship that was suddenly pouring out even more laser fire from its flank. But then something hit Jyren. At first, he felt like it was a punch to the back...no...no, to the inside of his skull, if that made any sense. Which, to him, it didn’t. Not that thing usually did, but all of a sudden the calm he’d managed to maintain was gone in a second...flooded with...with...

[Shady!] he didn’t even mean to send the thought over the suddenly-returned link. It just...happened. He’d been so focused on everything else that the lack of the link became normal...but now that it was back and he never wanted to feel it go away again.

His entire body nearly froze up with the most elated feeling he’d experienced since the twins had been born when, over the link, the familiar ‘voice’ of Marix joined the flood of thoughts moving back and forth between them. [What in the Force have you gotten yourself into now?]

[Oh, the usual. Just a—] Jyren’s was cut off suddenly by a sudden, violent impact to his X-Wing that would have sent him face first into the console in front of him if not for the restraints. Alarms screamed at him and the consoles showed the engines were hit and both the shield generator and stabilizers were burned out...if not completely destroyed. It seemed to happen in slow motion...he could see, somehow, his X-Wing breaking apart like the Talon had moments earlier...and the yelling of both his wingmates over the comm.

But Jyren heard none of it. His hand somehow managed to find the ejection lever, and in the same second as his X-Wing broke apart in painfully hot, though short-lived, flames, the canopy shot off and seat’s small thrusters shot it up and out of the destroyed starfighter. The speed at which everything happened to him caused his vision to blur...and the small amount of oxygen his suit was now supplying him with was only going to be enough to last half an hour at most...and that was at much lower levels.

Low enough levels that, as was normal for most pilots who managed to eject from their starfighters, it was only a few short seconds before the starship-pocketed blackness of space relented to the utter black of unconsciousness.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 370

Looking out through the viewport, Marix decided that the Agamar system would be best described as a mess. The worst she could think of didn’t have an equivalent in Basic, and so she simply left that out of the link so as not to confuse Jyren.

Loki had reverted to realspace just on the outskirts of the system, with the hundreds of bright flashes all over the area between two of the planets in front of them. Marix had never actually been involved in any major fleet battles...a good thing, considering that if one was smuggling and in such a situation, it rarely went well. Though she had the link with Jyren to give her some idea of what to expect, it was beyond all of that...as memories usually always are.

As she was trying to take everything in(and managing to identify the Vong cruiser analogs that were holding back a Star Destroyer and some support ships from reaching the planet), they were hailed. First, over the link by Jyren, but then, just a half second later, the comm beeped and a distracted by panicked voice cut into the cockpit.

“Unidentified vessel this is the New Republic ship, Araddon, please leave this system at once.”

Marix rolled her eyes. At least they were alert enough to catch that she wasn’t an enemy. Hopefully that had to do with the fact that they were a good distance off, still, and not currently on an approach vector. Or at least, not for long. Marix didn’t even have a chance to respond over the comm before the link went completely insane.

She blinked, then tried to calm herself before realizing that she couldn’t feel Jyren there. First instinct screamed that he was dead...but rational thought managed to kick its way in and note to her brain that she, too, would be dead if that were the case. But her second thought was that he was unconscious, which, during a fight as chaotic as the one she could see was, was something probably just as bad as death.

Silently, Marix thanked the Force that Tobias was still, somehow, asleep, and then took the control yoke and started straight for the battle ahead of her. She wasn’t quite sure what she could do just yet, but when her eyes caught sight of a small transport moving into an unoccupied portion of space where she could feel something in the Force, she had an idea, “Araddon, I can help recover pilots.”

There was a pause...it was only a few seconds, but felt like an eternity.

Marix was no expert on fleet maneuvers or even how things really worked during a battle, but she was damned sure they could take any help they could get. There was still, though, one problem that she could think of.

“I can’t authorize that,” the voice sounded suddenly more nervous than before.

Biting her lip, Marix wondered if she should scream at them that her mate was out there and she’d be just as dead as he was going to be if he was actually unconscious. Thankfully, she didn’t. Instead, she switched off the comm angrily and reached out with both the Force and the link.

It didn’t take long to find Jyren. Despite being unconscious, his mind was so strong in the link after it being so silent for a long time that it was like a bright beacon in the blackness of what had to be the near invisible Vong forces and the ‘lights’ of the other pilots. When she realized just where he was, though, Marix couldn’t help a groan.

[What is it?] Loki asked, knowing what was going on but trying to take everything in so he could assist her when they got into the heat of things...which he knew they would.

“He’s in between the fleets,” Marix grinded out through sharp, gritted teeth, “Next to that small cruiser.”

[...and the swarm of starfighters?]

Nodding, Marix gripped the controls a little tighter, “We won’t be able to stop. Have to fly right through and grab him.”

A slight wave of unease washed through the Force from Loki. [Marix I...cannot fight back...]

“Then we have to move quickly,” her voice was stern and Loki knew she had already made up her mind. Maybe there was another way to get this done, but Marix had assessed the situation and her usual stubbornness had cemented the action that was to be taken.

The comm beeped again as they shot past the Star Destroyer and its small cruiser escorts that were picking off some teardrop-shaped starfighters and slowly moving forward, but it remained silent. Marix had no idea how to explain to these people what she was going to do without angering them anymore than they were going to be with her doing it anyway. So...despite the fact that the thought made no sense, Marix was going to do it the easy way and just ignore them. She could deal with that problem later.

Of course, it might be something that needed to be dealt with immediately.

[Three X-Wings are on an intercept course with us.] Loki announced.

Eyes darting down to the sensors, Marix bit her lip, “Can we get to Jyren before they reach us?”

[...maybe.]

“Do it,” she then went to the next problem. There had to be some way to grab Jyren without stopping or even slowing down without getting the both of them killed. Maybe... “Can you refit the hangar and catch him without killing him?”

[I’d have to slow down.] Loki answered simply, though, from a quick glance at the consoles, she could tell he was working on the hangar as they spoke. [Or slow him down.]

“I can do that,” Marix nodded to herself, already having Jyren in the Force and knowing she could get him to a speed that would have him just slowly hit whatever Loki managed to get up that most likely wouldn’t be too solid.

And then Loki shook, with a strange reading coming over the sensors that monitored his own health. Marix’s eyes widened a moment before glancing down to see that the X-Wings hadn’t reached them, “Are you alright, Loki?”

The ship managed a mental nod. [They do not use energy weapons...it burns.]

For the first time in at least a minute, Marix looked out the viewport to see a swarm of Vong starfighters everywhere. Here and there, she could pick out a New Republic ship, but they were so few and far between that it was almost not worth trying. And yet, Loki was plowing straight through for the spot she was guiding him to.

Two more shots hit, nearly throwing them off course, but Marix managed to hold them while Loki tried not to let the pain distract him. Using the Force, she lined their course up with where she could feel Jyren was, “I’ve got him, Loki...”

[There are four ships following us.] Loki announced in a voice that didn’t hide the pain he felt. It wasn’t any help that more shots were hitting...but they didn’t seem to be breaching the hull as much as hitting and simply sitting there to burn its way through the layers of Loki’s ‘skin’. It was, to a living starship, much worse.

“Just hang on,” she said without realizing it, trying to reassure her ship through the Force while still holding onto Jyren and very slowly starting to try to move him so that they wouldn’t hit him at a standstill, “Will have him a in a few seconds.”

Loki knew what to do. Just as Marix watched two huge explosions from the cylindrical shaped New Republic cruiser erupt from its engines as Vong starfighters overwhelmed it, the view spun around. In a matter of moments, she was now staring at the four ships pursuing them, spraying red-orange globs of something...with Loki barely maneuvering to avoid them so as not to lose their ‘aim’ on Jyren.

It was just going to take a few more seconds and they would have him. But Marix could see they didn’t have that kind of time. The hits Loki had taken were hurting him badly, and they were not only losing speed, but she could tell he wasn’t going to be able to take many more hits. And the four Vong ships were not planning to leave them be, either. They weren’t going to make it...and even if they did, they were caught in the center of at least fifty enemies. It was foolish to think they would actually make it out of this alive. Simple proof that she’d been around Jyren too much...it was a choice like he would usually make. Not at all well thought out...

And then two of the Vong ships detonated in a burst of rock and flame, with the other two suddenly banking away to avoid another stream of red laser fire. Marix’s eyes watched as two X-Wings dove straight through the rubble, pulling around and, quite obviously, moving into a position to give Loki some semblance of cover fire.

But there was no more time to think about that.

Jyren was right there ‘behind’ them and about to hit the makeshift wall Loki had managed to put together. As quickly as she could, Marix allowed the Force to flow through her and then though the link. She gripped him tightly, not letting go and shoving him...forward, with them. The strong Force push would have probably knocked him unconscious if he hadn’t been already, but that didn’t matter.

[Got him!] Loki cried out, all the pain out of his ‘voice’.

That was what mattered.

“Get us out of here, Loki!” Marix yelled, trying not to grin too much as she hit the switch to close the hangar for Loki so the ship could focus on...not getting killed.

She would get to the comm that was still beeping in a moment...first she had to be sure Jyren was alright, and said into the ‘intercom’ system in Tobias’ room very loudly, “Get to the hangar now!”

He would figure out the rest.

...and probably go crazy, as Toby had no idea what was going on.

But that didn’t matter. Jyren was alright...and now she just needed to make sure they were all going to be.

Marix hit the comm switch just as Loki spun back around and started a new, much more erratic, course back out of the fight.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

And now...finally, its all back up.

Not only that, but the last couple of entries are new.

Regular updates to resume as normal now!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 371

The ‘intercom’ system that was set up in Loki was not really an intercom system at all. It was more of a bypassing of a few of his own systems to let him focus on whatever needed to be done. Essentially, the words were sent through his own speech systems and sent wherever in the ship they needed to be. So, even though Tobias was jolted out of his sleep by Loki’s voice...the extra-loudness and the sharp tone told him right away that it was actually Marix yelling at him.

Any usual argument he would have had faded quickly, though, when Tobias felt the strange mix of tension and elation in the air. Something was up...and...

The room shook as Tobias was heading for the door, so much so that he had to brace himself against the wall. The slight wave of pain from Loki that followed had the young Alraxian’s hearts racing. With a new sense of urgency, Tobias hit the switch on the door and slipped through before it had even finished it opening. Right away, he got his bearings and headed straight to the meager sized hangar near the rear of the ship.

The years of the huge, open hangar that actually could fit two ships in it and deserved to be called a ‘hangar’ were long gone. Without the need to house an oversized X-Wing, Loki had taken the chance to shrink it down to a bit more manageable size and provide more space for more living quarters and larger spaces. It was a welcome change that even Jyren had been happy about, as even being in charge of an Empire, they found themselves aboard Loki a great deal of the time.

Of course, it also meant that it took longer to actually reach the so-called hangar, but Tobias got there shortly by running as fast as he could manage. Something was telling him that whatever it was that he was being yelled at to do was urgent. The door here was much larger than the one to the small quarters, and because of this, took longer to iris open...giving more time for Tobias’ mind to go through the thousand possibilities of what was going on.

The hangar was barely large enough to hold an airspeeder now, and off to the left side was an interesting looking extension of sorts of the wall. Unsure of what to make of this, but getting the feeling this was probably why he was supposed to be down here, Tobias headed straight across the empty hangar for the odd looking extension...somewhat like a blocky arm of sorts obviously made of the same material as Loki’s insides...it also looked oddly soft to his eyes, but that made little sense to him.

Another strong shake rocked through Loki, and this time there was nothing to brace Tobias save for the floor underneath him. It did a good job of catching him, and he was lucky enough to fall on his side rather than his tail. Doing his best to ignore the sting from his arm that got the brunt of the landing, Tobias got to his feet again and scrambled for the odd section in the hangar, deciding that it was the closest thing he could use to hold himself up, anyway.

Getting to the thing, he stepped around it to see that it was more the shape of a cupped hand, and was definitely softer than the rest of the walls. Whatever the hells this was...

Tobias eyes suddenly locked onto the object that was resting on the floor against the wall’s extension. It was a chair, laying on its side and facing him so that he could see the bright orange flight suit-clad figure still strapped to it. Tobias knew that uniform better than an Alraxian Knight’s. And the second he identified the uniform and the helmet(which had a crest on its sides that reminded him very much of the Alraxian Empire’s Insignia...), it took only another moment before he knew who it was.

Alraxian or not, Tobias could identify Jyren better than even Marix sometimes.

A million questions rushed through Tobias’ head, most of which centering around how this was even possible and what was going on, but he was intelligent enough to ignore most of them and run, as best as he could, straight to where Jyren was and get him out of the restraints.

“What’s going on, Loki?!” Tobias yelled towards the ceiling, having also picked up the habit of looking that way to speak with the ship, while at the same time noting that Jyren was unconscious and, in a few places, injured.

For a few long seconds, there came no respond but two more violent tremors and a surge of pain through the Force. But then he heard the voice of his mother through the Alraxian Network...which, currently, only existed between the two of them this far away from home.

[A little busy right now, Toby.] Marix’s ‘voice’ sounded more distracted than it usually did in situations like he assumed they were currently stuck in, and yet held none of the usual anger...which was, in itself, almost terrifying. [Just get him to a bed and do your best not to hurt anything.]

Tobias was still fighting with the restraints on the ejected chair, though he had taken a quick moment to get the helmet off of his father and note a couple of already-blue bruises. [I help him remorph. I remember how!]

[No!] the response snapped back at the younger Alraxian in a way that nearly made him jump back in surprise. [Just get him to a bed and then get up to the cockpit!]

Mind whirling in circles but knowing that a ‘why’ was not the right thing to be asked right now, Tobias just tried to reserve himself to doing as he was told. Usually, this would never happen so easily...though with the pain coming from Loki and Jyren being unconscious, not to mention actually there, Tobias was not in any mood to argue until he was damned well sure of what was going on and exactly what was best to argue about.

Finally getting the restraints off, Tobias did his best to pick up his father, suddenly glad that he was in his human form and roughly the same height and build as Tobias...meaning it wasn’t nearly impossible to carry him. As he got to his feet again, Tobias just hoped to the Force that Loki wouldn’t take another strong hit from whatever it was that was obviously shooting at them...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 372: Of Orders

“We’re disobeying orders!” Zephyr Eight’s voice came through far too loudly in Rea’s headset, causing her to wince slightly as she did her best to weave and maneuver her X-Wing out of the line of fire of...of...an uncountable number of Coralskippers pursuing them.

Rea’s eyes darted to the side, looking out through the canopy of her X-Wing and to the oddly shaped ship next to her. It looked like...like...a small Mon Calamari cruiser almost...but not really. There was the organic design, the swept back look, but none of the seemingly random bubbles and other ‘structures’ that pocketed the giant cruisers...this was, also, much smaller. More like that of a medium sized transport. But what it was didn’t really matter just yet...and really, neither did who was piloting it.

“Would you rather be dead?” she snapped back angrily, having had enough of her Mon Calamari companion’s constant complaints. While he seemed to still be in a state of shock at the loss of one of his wingmate and the sudden hit that the Captain’s starfighter took...the destruction of the two gunships had sent the young pilot’s mind spinning every single direction except to survival.

Rea, on the other hand, was managing to keep her head. She knew that the Captain was alive, and that whoever was piloting this transport was going to need help to keep things that way...and staying in that swarm of Coralskippers with just another X-Wing was asking for death. And the Twi’lek woman was in no way prepared to just die if she didn’t have to.

As they were weaving a random, but rather effective, path back towards the Araddon and the Coralskippers continued their pursuit, Eight’s voice mumbled over the comm, “I just don’t like running.”

“You want to fight?!” Rea yelled at him after taking yet another hit to her rear shields, “Obrack, my shields are going to drop in another hit and two and this thing’s S-Foils aren’t even responding anymore! I doubt you’re in any better shape!”

There was no response over the comm system this time, and for that, Rea was thankful. It was one less thing to worry about...and there were already far too many things topping that list currently. Staying alive was chief among them, but right next to that was making sure Obrack and, now, this transport alive, too. Of course, that meant flying as fast as they could manage while just trying not to get hit by the many pursuers and hoping the other two with her would be doing the same...

Suddenly, the comm channel crackled and she heard a stern, somewhat airy voice cut in through the static, “Unidentified vessel, set your course for the Araddon and prepare to be boarded.”

It only took a short glance down at the comm system for Rea to notice that the broadcast was on the open channel, rather than any that the fleet was using exclusively. In another second, she heard a voice that sounded like it could cut down the Star Destroyer all on its own, “I’ve recovered one of your pilots and if you’ve got anymore drifting I suggest you tell me now.”

This caused an uneasy silence over the comm channel, leaving time for Rea’s attention to be directed back to actually staying alive. With a quick adjustment and sending her X-Wing down underneath the interesting looking transport, the Twi’lek managed to throw off the Coralskippers enoguh to give her a few moments before they repositioned themselves to continue firing. From the looks of things, Obrack was doing the same wild maneuvering and managing to keep himself out of the streams of red-orange fire, whlie the transport itself was moving more like an A-Wing than anything else its size.

“Our recovery crews are doing their jobs,” the airy sounding voice from the Araddon returned, this time sounding much more neutral and less aggressive...though, honestly, the voice that had responded back was the kind that could cause anyone to rethink their tone.

Rea nearly made a comment on the open comm channel about the recovery crews ‘doing their jobs’, but managed to stop herself somehow. If not for this transport, the Captain would likely be picked up or destroyed by the Vong like the escape pods from the two gunships that had been left to die without any support. What happened to the Y-Wing squadron sent after the Vong cruiser analogs was still an unknown, but Rea had a very good idea of what had happened...and was fairly sure that they wouldn’t be seeing any of those pilots ever again.

“Four, this is One,” the voice of Commodore Nok cut out her thoughts and drove her focus back into the flying, just as another red-orange blast streaked far too close past her X-Wing, “We’re heading in to give you some cover. Form up on that transport and hold tight...we’ll bring you home.”

While her mind screamed a thanks, Rea could only outwardly manage a nod. Eight, on the other hand, spoke over their squadron’s frequency, “Thank you, sir.”

There was really no need for thanks...but it felt good to hear the Mon Calamari say it since she couldn’t seem to find her voice in the wave of relief she was feeling.

Through the orange-tinted visor of her helmet, Rea caught sight of the incoming starfighters...at least...by the Force! It looked like all of the squadrons that had been back defending the Araddon! Had they dealt with the skips that were attacking the fleet...? Did it even matter?!

In another second, it didn’t.

The streams of red-orange fire from behind the three fleeing ships was suddenly answered by a wall of bright red, shooting past them and straight into the pursuing Coralskipper formation. On her sensor board, Rea could see the dots disappearing, and through the comm, she could hear the cheers of the pilots as they took out of the skips...and in another second, a good thirty starfighters, X-Wings, A-Wings, and even a few E-Wings, rocketed past them and straight into the formation of skips, laser cannons alight the entire way.

As they headed for the Araddon’s main landing bay in relative safety, Rea noticed that the turbolaser cannons of the huge Star Destroyer and the remaining ships in the fleet were suddenly pouring out bright green fire towards the Vong cruisers. Finally in range...too late to save hundreds...but maybe soon enough to save Agamar.