Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 484: Gemstone

The world was currently a mesh of colours and blurriness. Slowly, it began to coalesce into a vaguely humanoid form. The wandering colours began to find single points instead of moving around, and there was familiar sight looking straight down at him.

“Come on, Toby...on your feet,” Jyren’s voice was distant, but that probably had something to do with the still blurry vision.

A few more seconds passed and Tobias realized there was a hand in front of him. He blinked, and the figure above him became clearer so that he could see it was Jyren extending his hand down and waiting calmly. Realizing he was on his back and his head was aching, Tobias accepted the help by taking the hand. In a swift, effortless move, Jyren pulled Tobias right up onto his feet, putting his other hand on the younger Alraxian’s shoulder to prevent him from falling over.

As his vision began to return to normal, again, Tobias’ mind caught up. He leaned back slightly and looked up to see a smile on Jyren’s face. Tobias had the sense to look confused, “How...?”

“You hit your head pretty hard there,” Jyren said, not seeming to notice the question, “You’ll be alright, though.”

Tobias shook his head, reaching a hand up to feel a bruise just under his hairline, “Be alright? I’m more than just seeing things I’m feeling things. And...and...” he trailed off and stared wide-eyed at Jyren, “I’m going crazy, aren’t I?”

A large smile formed on Jyren’s face and he reached up to ruffle Toby’s hair, “Its family tradition to be crazy, but you’ve got a few years left until then. You just hit your head pretty hard, little guy. Focus and get your bearing and you’ll be fine.”

As his head was still spinning slightly, Tobias decided that was probably a good idea. He closed his eyes a moment, took a few deep breaths, then felt his head settling. When he opened his eyes, Jyren was gone and he was standing on the bridge of the Gemstone, leaning against one of the rear bulkheads in the oval shaped bridge. Mon Calamari were everywhere in the white bridge, as were various human officers and, Tobias quickly noted, Master Ral.

His mind raced to catch up. They had headed to the bridge at the sound of the alarm, and were assisting the Gemstone’s commanding officer in coordinating with a group of Jedi aboard the largest of the Vong ships. Or at least, Master Ral was. Tobias had been staring through the large viewport at the absolute chaos around him. Flashes of green and red and orange were so abundant that it was actually hard to find blackness. As they’d moved in with the rest of the fleet, a few of the larger Vong ships had concentrated fire on the Gemstone and a strong hit had sent Tobias back and into the bulkhead behind him.

It was then that he realized there was a Mon Calamari holding him up. Tobias shook his head to shake off the last of the confusion and then looked to the orange-skinned medic to say softly, “Thank you...I’m alright.”

“You should head to the infirmary to have that checked as soon as you can,” the medic said, slowly letting go of Tobias’ arm. The Mon Calamari waited a few moments to make sure Tobias could stand on his own, then headed off to check with the minor injuries that others had sustained.

Quickly, he made his way back to Master Ral’s side. Still near the back of the bridge to stay out of the way, but apparently close enough to relay any important information to the commander in his chair near the center of the bridge with a good view of everything else.

Master Ral simply glanced down at his side to Tobias, but said nothing. Through the Force, Tobias could sense a bit of unease lifting from his Master, but it still felt a bit odd that the man didn’t say anything. But that was probably normal for him. But the silence from Master Ral didn’t last long. Through the orders being shouted across the bridge, the Omwati’s quiet voice was actually a bit hard to hear, “Focus on the Force...reach out and tell me what you feel.”

Of course he’d get a lesson at a time like this.

But Tobias was long past the days of feeling any urge to argue that. So he did as Master Ral said, first closing his eyes to cut out the visual distractions that were around him. Tobias made a conscious note to put his hands on the railing in front of him, just in case they took another strong hit, and then tried to bring his focus into a single point to then reach out from. That, alone, took a few minutes.

Slowly, though, he began to feel anxiety, panic, excitement, fear, terror, elation...and then something else entirely that he didn’t have a word for. It felt like a heavy, overbearing presence in the Force that extended like a blanket across Fondor’s outer orbit. And it was aware. Changing, reacting, adapting and...and angry. Very angry at something. Many things.

And then, in a sudden brief moment of near terror, Tobias realized that it could see him.

He jerked back into the world around him with gasp of surprise, immediately taking a moment to calm his breathing. When he was able to breath normally again, he looked to Master Ral and asked the obvious question, “What was that?”

“I am unsure,” Master Ral’s answer was not at all comforting, “From everything we know, the Vong somehow do not exist in the Force. They don’t even register as holes...if they did, we could just sense that to find them. Instead, its just nothing.”

“That was something, and it saw me,” Tobias mumbled, his voice not hiding the fear that feeling had elicited.

The Omwati Jedi Master nodded slowly, “It is also highly intelligent. I can sense it for short periods of time before it finds a way to hide from me again.”

That didn’t sound good at all. After another deep breath to finally calm himself as much as was possible, Tobias asked, “So you think its Yuuzhan Vong?”

“It is related to them,” that might as well have been a ‘yes’. Of course, Master Ral didn’t leave that vague statement alone, “It is centered around the Vong’s ships. I cannot tell if it is a single mind or more, but there is a relation to the Vong.”

“What does that mean?” Tobias’ question was asked as he looked out the viewport again. Fires were erupting from two nearby New Republic ships, but fighters were streaking all across the view and weaving through the asteroid-like wreckage of what had to be a Vong ship.

Master Ral looked down a moment as he thought on the question, then said in the same calm voice, “The Vong have no connection to the Force as far as we know. So unless that is false, which would be logical, they have either found or created something that can connect to the Force.”

“So...bad?”

That got a sigh from the Jedi Master, but Tobias sensed it wasn’t from the question, but rather the situation, “Quite. From what I can sense, it is also aware of the small group of Jedi aboard that large ship,” Master Ral pointed to the huge Vong ship that was near the center of the formation, “And it seems that most of its anger is directed towards them.”

Suddenly, a chunk of the large ship broke off. It wasn’t in an explosion, though, and there was no direct fire hitting the thing. Before Tobias could say anything, Master Ral held up a hand to silence him. Toby could feel his Master stretching out to the ship through the Force.

Seconds later, when Master Ral returned to his body and the emptiness faded from his eyes, a stern expression formed on his blue features. Leaning forward, Master Ral called out in a very loud voice to be heard over the rest of the various talk across the bridge, “Commander! There are two Jedi aboard the largest Vong ship and they’re going to need a way off!”

The chair that held the Mon Calamari captain of the ship spun around to face them and the aquatic creature waved a finned hand at Master Ral, “You know I can’t do that for just two Jedi, Corentan!”

The use of Master Ral’s first name surprised Tobias. Suddenly, he had a feeling that his Omwati Master had a few more connections on the ship than just a former apprentice. But Tobias didn’t say anything, and Master Ral was already snapping back at the Mon Calamari commander, “There are hundreds of captured New Republic citizens aboard that ship, too! Would you leave them all to die?”

The bridge didn’t go silent, but it sure felt like it.

Then, suddenly, the captain spun around in his chair to face what Tobias had quickly learned was the comm officer, “Relay that information to the Admiral immediately and see if he can convince another couple of ships to join us in punching through the Vong formation.”



I realized yesterday something that I felt might be worth mentioning here to add some clarity.

Many, many times I've made a comment towards a certain type of accent that a character speaks with. However, I haven't really changed spelling of words to reflect this too often, so its left as a rather vague idea and completely pointless if you don't know exactly what's what.

Soooooo...a little explanation since I have a strong connection to many of the characters imply BECAUSE of their accents and how they sound in my head.

One of the most common accents I've brought up is the Coruscanti accent, which could also simply be called an Imperial accent. Basically, its a British accent. Varying thickness depending on the character. Most all of the Core Worlds have a similar accent, and the best examples are most Old Republic Jedi(Obi-Wan, especially) and pretty much every single Imperial Officer. Kuati accent is similar, but with a bit of a thicker inflection.

Most of the Outer Rim worlds and most humans outside of the Core speak with North American accents of one kind or another. Corellian's especially, so you get a fairly American sounding accent with someone like Jyren, where Voort would have a more English sound to him.

Alraxians would also have a Coruscanti-like accent, though not as thick as many of the old Imperial Officers. The in-universe explanation for that would be the early contact in their civilization with ancient Jedi. The real reason is more of a 'just because'.

So there, 16 pages into it, after many, many mentions of accents...I realized people might have no clue at all to what they actually would have sounded like. Hopefully problem solved.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 485: A Long Day

The day just didn’t seem to want to end.

As Marix had been making her way to where the Mrrakesh was being interrogated, a Jendari stopped her and mentioned that Venda had been provided a ship to leave. Marix had simply nodded at that and continued on. She made it about five steps before feeling a strong gaze aimed at the back of her head. There was no need to turn around to see that the Jendari hadn’t moved and was simply watching her.

Fine.

Annoyance was building again, but Marix pushed that away and turned around to follow the Jendari. He was undoubtedly going to lead her to the hangar where she’d be expected to say something important to some Jedi woman she barely knew, or cared about. In fact, she didn’t really know anything about the woman beyond the fact that she was female, human, and a Jedi. Venda could fight, but not exceptionably well. She seemed to be the type that observed everything around her before actually acting.

Of course, Marix was thankful for the assistance in protecting Saaran. Fighting a Mrrakesh was definitely a task to be commended. For Marix it seemed almost routine now, but she knew she was unique in that. As a human who had no idea what the Mrrakesh were capable of, coming out alive was amazing enough. To survive with a couple of broken bones that were easily healed and a few bruises was even more amazing. That didn’t mean Marix had to like Venda. Something about the woman just bothered Marix.

She had a feeling it was the whole Jedi thing. Marix really didn’t want to see Tobias again and have him acting like a haughty little bastard. That was harsh. And Venda wasn’t like that...not really. But still. Something about the whole ‘We know the one true path to enlightenment through the Force, and if you don’t follow it you’re evil’ thing really ate away at Marix. Mainly because she didn’t follow it and wasn’t evil. Or at least, not the kind of evil that the Jedi were talking about. The entire idea that there was only one understanding of the Force was beyond her, as she’d seen a great many in her time and very few of their practitioners were the evil darksiders that the Jedi seemed to swear they were.

She sighed.

This was usually the point where Jyren would explain to her that she was being narrowminded. Or something else horribly insulting that he wouldn’t realize he’d said until she was glaring a hole into his skull. Though, in a way, she found herself doing the exact same thing internally, something about that was just horribly depressing. There was an obvious answer to why that was, but Marix chose to ignore it for the moment. It would only make things worse. And, currently, the last thing she needed was an endless bad day getting worse.

When Marix and the Jendari reached the hangar, she saw a transport ship that looked to be almost as old as she was. Probably older. But if the Jendari were giving it to Venda, then it was more than the flying piece of ancient junk than it looked to be. They wouldn’t send anyone off without being sure they’re make it. In fact, Marix suspected the Jendari wouldn’t be beyond simply taking Venda all the way to Yavin IV themselves if it came down to it.

The blonde-haired Jedi stepped around the ship. She looked to be inspecting it, or at least looking it over casually. For a short moment, Marix thought she was looking at Jen. The two women looked very similar, and having both the same colour hair and the same preferred style with their hair didn’t help. But Venda was a bit shorter than Marix remembered Jen being, and this Jedi woman had somewhat more angular features. Still, the resemblance was not lost on Marix at all.

She didn’t believe in coincidence.

“Come to see me off?” Venda asked in a tone that was far too happy for the day’s events.

“Apparently,” Marix mumbled under her breath as she nodded. She then raised her voice as she stepped closer to the human, “Thank you for protecting my son.”

The damned woman actually shrugged, “No need to thank me. I’m just glad the little ones made it out alright.”

Physically, at least. Marix could feel through the Force that Andrea was still scared...Saaran hadn’t been as close to the fighting, but he seemed to be picking up on the feeling from his sister well enough. At least they had the ability to forget everything when presented with toys. They just played happily. Maybe that was what toys were for...

“The Jendari say this thing’s ready to fly...guess I better go,” Venda started to turn and head for the boarding ramp that was extended from the side of the ship. But she stopped. Marix saw the woman’s shoulders rise and fall in a deep breath, then Venda turned around and said more quietly, “May I ask you something?”

You just did.

Marix hated that question. But she didn’t show this at all, and instead allowed herself to at least pretend to be curious, “What is it?”

Venda looked down a moment, obviously trying to figure out how to say whatever it is she wanted to ask. She then looked up to meet Marix’s gaze, “What did the Jendari give you as a gift?”

What kind of question was that?!

But while a part of her mind was confused by the origin of that odd question, the rest of her was running through her memories at lightspeed. The Jendari had given her many, many gifts through her life. Its what they did. But that was a specific question and there was one time when the Jendari pulled her aside and actually gave her...

“I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to...” Venda trailed off, and Marix suddenly realized that she was looking worried.

Marix then realized that the memory had brought up a very open reaction in her, having broken through the usual icy exterior she presented. As quickly as she could, Marix composed herself and stood up straight again. Her voice betrayed a hint of the surprise, though, “It was a sabaac card. From one of those special decks the crazy idiots in spaceports use to steal money from tourists by telling their fortune.”

“Oh...” the answer seemed to confuse Vend a as much as the original question had surprised Marix. Venda stood there awkwardly for a moment, then sighed and managed a shrug, “Guess I better get out of here before I wear out my welcome. Thank you again, and if you ever need anything...feel free to track me down.”

Marix watched the human turn around again and this time she made it to the boarding ramp before it was Marix that stopped her by saying, “I would like you to do something for me.”

Again, Venda stopped. She had gotten up the boarding ramp enough that only her lower half was visible, and so she had to duck down to actually be seen. When she just gave Marix a questioning look, Marix went on, “Make sure Tobias doesn’t get himself killed out there.”

It was Marix’s way of saying ‘Keep an eye on my son.’

Venda seemed to pick up on the real meaning, smiled warmly, and said, “Of course.”

And then she disappeared up the ramp, which soon retracted. Moments later, the Loki-sized transport was lifting up off the deckplates and flying away.

But Marix barely noticed it. Her mind had latched onto that question from before. She hadn’t thought about the sabaac card in years. She still had it, tucked away in a small box that the Jendari gave it to her in. The short explanation Marix had given Venda was so short, in fact, that it wasn’t any surprise that Venda had been confused.

When Marix was still Shadow, traveling with the old smuggler Max, they had made their way to Bespin. One of the floating cities held a few ‘old friends’ of Max’s, and while he was catching up with them(or rather, getting shot at and running to find her and leave), one of those con artist’s she’d mentioned to Venda had found her. Shadow had been fascinated by the old woman, who had, without actually asking for any money, decided to tell her future. Something about the woman made Shadow just sit there and let her do whatever it was she was doing.

She had a deck of sabaac cards, custom made, apparently, as none of the cards were anything she recognized from the normal decks. The old woman had done her thing, and told Shadow very generic things that could have meant anything to anyone. When she finished, Shadow politely nodded, stood up, and started to leave...but the old woman stopped her.

Holding the deck in her hands, the old woman extended it face down towards Shadow and told her to pick a card. Shadow had asked her why, as the old woman had already ‘told her future.’

“You didn’t believe my reading of it,” the little old human had said with a grin on her wrinkled face, “You’re smart. So you read it yourself...take a card.”

Now Shadow was interested. She reached towards roughly the center of the deck, let her fingers trail over a few of the thick cards before finding one that, for whatever reason, was to her liking, and withdrew it. Looking at the card, Shadow saw an image of two humanoid figures tightly embracing one another. The subtext of the card read ‘The Lovers.’

Shadow had rolled her eyes and handed the card back to the old woman, saying, “I liked your telling better.”

And then she’d left, never giving it a second thought.

That is, until many years later when she and Jyren were on the Capital world. It was the celebration for the two of them before the planet was invaded...before she was captured...before her parents were killed. It was a wonderful night that she could clearly remember all these years afterwards. There had been piles of gifts, most of which were useless trinkets that usually appeared at such celebrations.

But the Jendari had pulled her aside. They handed her a small, wooden box and asked her to open it there. When she opened it, she saw the same card looking back up at her. It couldn’t have been the same one...but it looked old enough to be. It looked exactly the same as she remembered it. She’d gone wide-eyed and stared first at the card, then at the Jendari, who simply smiled and said nothing else.

Somehow, they’d known. She was literally on the other side of the galaxy and they knew. Where she had passed it off years ago, the Jendari knew it and remembered it. Not only that, but they seemed to see a significance in it. One that suddenly grabbed her when she saw the card in that box...and it made sense. But she couldn’t believe it. It was another mystery built up around the Jendari for her, but one that she could never bring herself to ask them about for some reason.

Marix let out a long, deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. Of all the days, this wasn’t the one she needed to be reminded of that. Finally, she focused her thoughts on the present again, pushing away the lingering ones brought up by the memory, and headed back towards where the Mrrakesh captive was supposed to be.

She noted, immediately, that there were no Jendari in sight on the hangar anymore.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 486: Course Correction

To be truthful, Venda had seen much more uncomfortable send offs. She attributed Marix’s cold demeanor to the events of the day. Of course, Venda had been around the Alraxian woman long enough that she should have known better, but for whatever reason she was trying to think positive. It was something that she’d always considered a good thing, despite how much it annoyed some people.

The ancient transport was in hyperspace now, beyond the Gateway and on a direct course for Yavin. She probably should have gone to Coruscant and reported directly to the Jedi Masters there. Yavin was just an Academy, but it was also much closer to the Alraxian space. She had originally been sent by Master Skywalker to look into the information about the Hutts and the Vong, and to try and find a direct contact with the Peace Brigade, as they were becoming more openly violent against Jedi in the recent weeks.

Technically, she hadn’t done much of a job with any of that. Before being trained as a Jedi, Venda had worked for one of the many galactic news networks. She was good at tracking down information because of that, but dealing with willing participants and dealing with Hutts were different things altogether. To her credit, she had followed a fairly loose trail all the way to Ryloth, hopping from transport to transport across the galaxy on the way. But then Venda had run into Marix and other things had gotten in the way.

At least she had information on the Hutt deal with the Vong now, thanks to Marix. There had been Peace Brigade information, too, but nothing she didn’t already know. Ever since Ithor had fallen and the defeat blamed on the Jedi Corran Horn, the galaxy had been turning against the entire Jedi Order. In that wonderful atmosphere, the Peace Brigade grew quickly from its tiny beginnings, and now was able to operate openly on a disturbing amount of planets.

The Peace Brigade were worse than the Vong. Playing to people’s fears and then pointing the finger at an easy target, the Jedi, just because they were there. The failing public opinion also meant that the New Republic, itself, was weary of the Jedi. While it seemed like many amongst the military still stood by them, the government didn’t. It was one thing to have a group of traitors blaming the Jedi for the war and the failures, but the New Republic’s higher ups joining in did nothing to help.

Letting out a long sigh, Venda reached up and let her hair down. It was only just beyond shoulder length, but she had learned early on in the training exercises that keeping it out of her face was a good idea. It was hard to stay alive without being able to see clearly. The thought made her looked down at her wrists. Perfectly healed. In fact, there wasn’t a scratch on her that hadn’t been there before she’d come to Alraxia.

What was she going to tell people?

Though it hadn’t been said, Venda knew she couldn’t say a thing about the Alraxians. It would be betraying a rather flimsy trust to do that. Thinking about it, though, it was only an extra two or so days. It wouldn’t be too hard to just attribute that to traveling time elsewhere. The ship could be explained away, and she couldn’t think of anything that would raise questions.

Suddenly remembering something that had slipped her mind, Venda dug in her pocket to retrieve the small datacard the Jendari had given her. It wouldn’t raise questions because it was just a normal datacard, but that, in itself, was a question for her. She’d seen no technology from the Alraxians or the Jendari that were similar to what she was used to. Obviously, a great deal of it served the same functions, but it was all different...Venda hadn’t seen a single datapad.

As she was thinking about that odd fact, Venda checked over the cramped cockpit around her for some kind of place to insert the thing, as she didn’t have a datapad on her. Surely the ship wasn’t so old it didn’t have something...

Ah ha!

Venda had to shift into the co-pilots chair, which was, oddly enough, behind the pilot’s chair instead of beside it, but she found a section of the terminal that seemed to be what she was looking for. Sliding the card in, Venda looked down at the small screen and waited for the information to appear.

The screen blinked to life, a soothing light blue glow appearing, then displayed a series of numbers.

At first, Venda simply checked to see what all was on the datapad, but she immediately found that it was almost completely devoid of information. All that seemed to be on it were the numbers. That annoyed her, as she was never good at figuring out things like that. Either it was obvious and just beyond her, or it was some kind of code and Venda wasn’t going to get it.

For some reason, Venda decided to run the number sequence through the ship’s computer.

As it was working that out, she sat back and attempted to meditate. But a beeping from the computer just moments later forced Venda to open her eyes and look back to the screen. She hadn’t expected to find anything at all. But just a few seconds and it had found something?

There was an image on the screen now. It was a generic looking planet that could have been any one of millions among the galaxy. Next to the image was the series of numbers again, and then text that read ‘Fondor.’

Coordinates? The Jendari had given her a datacard with the coordinates of Fondor? Nothing about that seemed to make sense.

Yet...

Switching over to the pilot’s chair again, Venda checked the consoles for a moment before pulling the hyperspace levers back. The stars returned again, and Venda immediately found herself setting a new course and adjusting the transport’s vector. In a matter of moments, she was on the way to Fondor.

What was another delay in reporting back? Besides, the Jendari had given her that for a reason and there was something about it...Venda could feel the Force pushing at her to be there, too. Something important was going to happen. With the way it felt, though, Venda couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t going to be good.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 487: Skips

“Tell me we aren’t the only ones here!” Adria growled over the comm as the four members of Zephyr squadron reached the nearest of Kuat’s orbital shipyards.

Rulae glanced over to his X-Wing’s port side to see Adria’s X-Wing. There were a few scorch marks on the new starfighter and he made a mental note to get her to be more careful, “Just us for now. We’ll break off in pairs...try to intercept as many of those skips as you can.”

“They aren’t even firing on us,” Loro commented quietly as he and Adria banked away from Rulae and Rea, firing at a nearby skip.

That was odd. There were Coralskippers just flying right past them, firing forward at the shipyards but ignoring their four starfighters. Small explosions were easy to see at various points across the shipyards as the skips simply rammed into them. It was insane.

“Is anyone else bothered by how easy this is?” that was Adria again.

“A little, yes,” Rea finally spoke up as she stayed on Rulae’s wing, firing on another of the skips that wasn’t even trying to evade their attacks.

“Is it possible they are unpiloted?” Loro asked a very valid question.

“Its possible,” Rulae answered, banking to avoid the debris from another skip, “But I doubt it. That isn’t the Vong’s style.”

“They’re probably loving it,” Adria’s voice was no filled with a good amount of venom.

Suddenly, one of the Vong ships exploded and Rulae was fairly sure he hadn’t been shooting at it yet. This thought was confirmed when a pair of new ships flew straight past his viewport. He immediately knew they weren’t New Republic ships. They were pincer shaped, with curved wings tipped in laser cannons. As they passed by his viewport then banked around to take aim on another Coralskipper, a new, heavily accented voice cut into the comm channel, “You boys think you’re getting all the free shots, eh?”

Hapan.

Rulae grinned as much as he could considering his small slit of a mouth. Breaking off to move closer to the shipyards and catch more of the suiciding skips, Rulae switching on his own comm, “This is Zephyr One...Plenty here for everyone. Glad for the help.”

“Don’t thank us yet, Zephyr One,” it sounded like the Hapan was actually laughing, “There were a few skips on our tails and they seemed quite fine with firing while they flew, unlike these.”

“I see them,” Adria cut in again, “Bearing two one five and they’re coming fast.”

Rulae looked to his sensor board and, through the mess of ships all around, he found them. At least ten of them, coming in from roughly the same direction the two Hapan fighters, Miy’til fighters, if he remembered correctly, had come in from, “Zephyrs, form up on me again.”

“Sir,” Loro at least had the decency to remain formal and rather calm during battle, “There’s too many skips getting through as it is, if we break off...”

“Our new friends can keep up with some of the defense,” Rulae cut the Mon Calamari pilot off, and was glad to see the two other X-Wings were headed towards him despite the objection, “But we’re no good to the shipyards if we’re dead.”

In a matter of moments, the four X-Wings were close enough again that their shields were overlapping. It was one of the best defenses against the strong weapons of the Yuuzhan Vong. It was one of many new little tricks that the New Republic had learned over the few months of the war, though it still didn’t seem to be enough. At least it worked.

And then they could see the incoming Coralskippers. Immediately, the four X-Wings opened fire , quickly converging onto the same target to overwhelm the dovin basal defenses. The rocky ship erupted just as the others began to fire, the two groups of ships charging right for each other unloading laser and magma fire at one another.

There was a sudden, bright explosion off to Rulae’s starboard side, and he reacted before he realized what he was doing, banking away from it to avoid any debris striking his ship.

“What the hell was that?!” of course it was Adria that screamed over the comm first as they spun around in formation to get the Vong’s back into their crosshairs.

“I’m hit!” Loro’s voice no longer sounded calm. In fact, it was actually hard to hear and coming in and out through static, “Slammed right into me!”

It wasn’t easy to stay alive in a dogfight and see if Loro was alright. Rulae had to look up to see, but easily caught sight of Loro’s X-Wing...which was completely missing its two starboard wings and was spinning uncontrolled towards the shipyards.

That was also about the time that Rulae’s ship shook again, and he looked forward to see one of the skips firing on him, thankfully not getting through the shields. Rulae lined up his crosshairs on the ship and squeezed the trigger, glad to see both Rea and Adria also firing on the ship. In a flash, the Coralskipper exploded and they were soon firing on another.

“Two of the skips have broken off from the group, One,” Rea said, and Rulae noticed her X-Wing was slowing down and starting to turn at a much sharper angle because of it...looping around completely, “They’re heading for Loro.”

“Do not pursue them!” Rulae snapped, and thankfully Rea had the sense to listen, easing her turn so that Adria and Rulae would stay close enough, “Loro, eject!”

There was no response from the Mon Calamari pilot, and Rulae was too busy firing on another of the skips to look. There was another bright flash in front of him and Rulae followed his instincts and pulled his X-Wing almost straight up.

“Are you alright, sir?” though he could hear her clearly, Rulae couldn’t actually see Adria’s X-Wing anymore. He’d broken off from the two others too fast for them to react and they were probably below him.

Quickly, Rulae’s eyes scanned his systems, “Forward shields are down. Navigation’s a bit fried, but I’m alright.”

As he spoke, he went to diverting power from the starfighter’s engines to boost the shields a bit more and hopefully get the forward shields back up. The X-Wing slowed a bit, and in a second there was Rea and Adria, easily catching up now that he was flying a bit slower.

“Loro’s alright,” Rea said as her X-Wing spit laser fire at the rear of a Coralskipper, “Saw him get out.”

“Good,” Rulae really was glad to hear that.

And then, yet again, Rulae saw a bright flash in front of him, but this time it was in the distance. His X-Wing was banking away, pulling back in a direction to put the main chaos of the battle into view, but he knew what the source had been. The shipyards. Something big had hit them.

“Zephyr One, this is Teril One,” it was the Hapan pilot, “A large Vong cruiser has just broken off from the main fleet. Its firing on the shipyards!”

Rulae forced his X-Wing down, trying to shake off a pair of skips that had gotten behind them and failing to do so, “Are you two okay?”

“Not for long, Zephyr One,” the Hapan’s voice was strained and there was an odd noise in the background that Rulae couldn’t identify, “Looks like another couple of Vong cruisers are coming to join in and they’re going to take notice of us soon.”

There was a yelp of surprise from Rea as her shields took a strong hit, but she quickly reported that it was just minor damage as the three of them vainly attempted to get the rest of the skips off of their tails. These pilots were good. Staying together made it harder to shake them off because Rulae had to worry about slamming into one of the two other fighters. But breaking off meant losing the extra shielding, and that was something they all badly needed.

“Teril One,” Rulae’s head was spinning around to try to see the ships behind him to get an idea of how close they were, “If you can get to us we could really use some help right now!”

“What about the shipyards?”

Rulae spotted one of the skips. It was a good distance behind. Damn. That made it harder to outmaneuver them with so much room for them to react in. After a quick signal through comm clicks to Rea and Adria, they all cut their engine power down a bit more to force the gap to close, then turned hard to port as the skips fired wildly, “Get these skips off of us and then we can worry about the shipyards!”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 488: Alien Landing

“Master, what are we doing?!” Tobias cried out as the entire ship shook again, sending him into the corridor’s wall. He was expecting it, though, and managed to catch himself on it rather than just being slammed into the thing.

Master Ral was already off the wall, running back towards the hangar. Over his shoulder, he called back to Tobias, “There are hundreds of people aboard that Vong ship. We’re going to get as many off as we possibly can!”

“That’s insane!” this was emphasized by another violent shaking to the Mon Calamari cruiser.

The Gemstone had moved straight for the large ship that Master Ral had pointed out, along with two Star Destroyers and three gunships for support. All of them were currently unloading their turbolaser batteries on that various Vong cruisers in the way.

“It is our duty, Tobias!” Master Ral hit a switch on a door and then ran into the hangar, with Tobias only a few steps behind.

Trying to keep up with his Master, Tobias also had to yell to be heard over the other people scrambling across the Mon Calamari cruiser’s hangar, “You said there are Jedi on that ship, too! Isn’t it their duty?”

“One of them has fallen, and...” whatever else Master Ral had said, Tobias didn’t hear it. A large transport ship that looked to have been fitted with a few extra guns rocketed out of the hangar and into the fight, its sublight drives roaring to life in the hangar and drowning out everything for a few seconds.

By the time he could hear again, Tobias was heading up the ramp of Master Ral’s ship, pointing out another obvious fact, “This ship can’t hold hundreds!”

The ramp came up just as Tobias was all the way in, and when he reached the co-pilot’s chair, Master Ral was already powering on the systems as quickly as he could, “We will get as many as we can.”

“What about that...thing you felt,” another important, but obvious, thing to point out.

Master Ral ignored that for a moment, spinning his chair to check the engine status. He took the controls, lifting them up off of the hangar’s deck and then cutting the sublight drives on, sending them shooting out into the chaos of the battle, “Even more the reason to go. We will move quickly, find what we can, and take as many people as we can fit aboard.”

There was one more obvious and important thing that Tobias felt he had to bring up, “Master I’ve...I’ve never actually fought anything before. Not for real.”

The viewport was chaos. Though Tobias could see giant, kilometers wide rock-shaped Vong ship that was their target, turbolaser fire and whatever-the-Vong-weapons-fired littered the blackness of space. Not to mention the countless number of ships, large and small, darting every direction. Because of it all, Master Ral was flying the transport as fast as it could go towards their target, while making very sharp maneuvers to avoid being hit by stray fire that made Tobias’ stomach lurch.

“There comes a time when we must learn by doing,” Master Ral’s calm voice was completely at odds to the chaotic actions around them, and it was strangely fitting. One thing Tobias had learned early on about his Omwati Jedi Master was that somehow, Ral could become the calm within the storm, “Stay close to me at all times and listen to the Force.”

“But the Vong...”

“Do not exist in the Force,” the Jedi Master finished the sentence as the transport suddenly pulled up, a pair of Coralskippers that had been tailing them flying right past as he also cut their speed slightly. Master Ral quickly readjusted to a new coarse towards the large Vong ship and put as much power to the engines as was safe to do, “The Force will still guide you, though. It simply means you must rely on your instincts and your other senses as well. Keep your ears and eyes open and aware.”

Tobias nodded, though he had a feeling Master Ral didn’t see it. The Omwati was calm, but there was a very focused feeling about him. And the ship was growing in the viewport...growing to the point where Tobia realized just how big it was: more than twice the size of a Star Destroyer, and probably close to the size of the huge Kanyak, Thor...maybe even bigger.

“Master...” Tobias’ voice was low, not wanting to break Master Ral’s concentration, “Do you...know where to land on that ship?”

“Look directly ahead,” Master Ral said, nudging Tobias with the Force that made him feel like he was being pointed in the right direction, “Ships are leaving that point there. Going to head in and set us down before they know what to do.”

“Then what?”

Tobias could see the point. It was small, compared to the size of the Vong ship, but that might have just meant it was farther away than he thought. Master Ral was doing a good job at maintaining a straight course through the battle, and most of the Vong seemed to busy fighting the ships that were firing back to fire on a lone transport that was shooting through the battle faster than an A-Wing.

“Then we follow the Force to the people...or to the source of that thing.”

Now the point was larger. It was like a carved out hole in the ship, about the size of a small cruiser. No more ships were leaving it, and Tobias had the distinct feeling it was getting smaller, like an outer skin slowly regrowing over a wound. An image only an Alraxian would know without being sickened by the thought.

“Hold on to something,” Master Ral’s voice was sounding tense now...strained. And he wasn’t slowing the ship at all.

Tobias took the hint and made sure he was strapped into the chair and then took the extra measure to grip the armrests as tightly as he could without morphing claws. If they were slowing down now, Tobias still couldn’t tell, but he was sure the opening in the Vong ship was sealing...or...closing...or whatever the right word for it was. For an Alraxian, he wasn’t very good at describing organic technology.

And then, suddenly, they were inside. The hangar, if it could be called that, didn’t go very deep, and Master Ral had to not only cut the engines completely, but fire the reverse thrusters to avoid slamming into the spongy looking wall. As the ship lowered down to the ‘deck’, small dings and other noises could be heard echoing through the hull.

When they were down, Master Ral undid his crash webbing and got to his feet, lightsaber already in hand. As Tobias was getting out of his seat, the older Omwati gave him a very serious look, “Remember. Stay close to me. Trust the Force...trust your senses. Tobias just nodded, following the Jedi Master to the boarding ramp.

Holding up the hilt of his weapon, Master Ral thumbed the activation switch. A bright green blade of pure energy lit up the immediate area and the thrumming of it drowned out the sounds outside the ship. Seeing this, Tobias looked down at the lightsaber in his hand. Jyren’s. His family’s. It was just a piece of metal but...but there was somehow a great deal of significance to it.

The snap-hiss of the blue-green blade coming to life almost surprised Tobias. He’d always seen it as a toy of sorts. But now it was going to be used for what it was designed for. Now it was going to be the only thing that could keep him alive. Now Tobias suddenly felt like he wasn’t ready for any of it. He wanted to go back to Yavin...to Alraxia...anywhere but where he was.

And then Master Ral his the switch that lowered the boarding ramp. Gutteral, angry voices could suddenly be heard, and Tobias saw a black, flying thing shoot straight past the opening and dig deep into the hull of the ship. Without another look to Tobias, Master Ral charged down the boarding ramp and down to the alien ship below.

As Tobias quickly followed, holding his weapon up in a guard position and trying to stay close to his Master, the voices of the surprise Yuuzhan Vong ceased. For a short moment, there was silence except for the two lightsabers, and Tobias found himself standing on the odd looking deck right next to Master Ral, staring at ten scarred and tattooed Yuuzhan Vong.

“Jeedai!” one of the Vong screamed the word, suddenly drawing a miniature version of their amphistaff weapons that looked more like small daggers than the long, snake-like staves.

The others drew similar weapons.

And then, as one, screaming in their native tongue, the Yuuzhan Vong charged the two Jedi.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 489: Back and Forth

Marix didn’t make it to the interrogation room where the Mrrakesh was being held. As she headed through the corridors of the Jendari starship, not really lost but not knowing exactly where she was, an odd compulsion had taken over and Marix found herself not at the interrogation room, but at the quarters where the twins were. The two Knights were still guarding the door, and when she entered, there was Neasa Blackflame, the Redstar that had been a great deal of help through the years.

And Marix, for some reson, decided not to turn around. She sat down with the twins, who were both elated to see her, and did her best to...play. It was one thing she was never good at, as it helped to understand what, exactly, play was, and that still eluded her, to a point. But there was something about the twins when they were happy and laughing like they were that made the meaning of it all pointless. Where she had once tried to figure out what the point of a little toy was, Marix just found it didn’t matter when they were so happy with something so...simple.

She was currently completely lost as to whatever game the two children were playing, but Marix was sure that it centered around her...literally. Saaran was perched on her shoulder, peering down at Andrea who was curled up and in a position that showed she was ready to pounce. Saaran was laughing and grinning, and then let out a sudden yelp of surprise when Andrea pounced.

But Marix surprised them both, suddenly snatching Andrea out of the air, mid-pounce, “Gotcha!”

Laughing, Saaran leap off of Marix’s shoulder and bound across the room, running to hide behind the bed. Andrea squirmed, laughed, and did her best to escape Marix’s grip. But she couldn’t get free, and thankfully didn’t attempt to use her claws, though Andrea didn’t seem to give up, just finding new ways to try and squirm free.

That was also about the time the door opened. Marix turned to see Navik standing there, his face showing that neutral expression he always used when there was news to be delivered that might not be good. She let out a sigh, then placed Andrea on the ground, who’d gotten the hint that something had changed.

Andrea was a smart one. As Marix got to her feet, she managed a smile for the twins, “I will be back soon.”

“Awwwww...” the sound came from both of them at the same time.

But Marix was intelligent enough to already be heading out the door. She knew they would, somehow, be able to make her feel guilty for leaving them and right now she needed to focus on other things. Which was bad enough.

Once she was in the corridor, Navik said, “The Mrrakesh is dead.”

She had actually expected that, “How?”

“We aren’t sure,” that, too, was expected, “Its nothing we did, though.”

“Did he say anything before he killed himself?” the question was direct and made a bit of an assumption, but Marix knew it was true. It was what anyone in his position would do if captured. Tam’Day’U had the same policy.

Navik started walking, and Marix quickly fell in step with him. As Navik led the way, he shook his head and answered the question, “Nothing useful. He spouted curses, insults, and threats when he would talk, but was mostly silent.”

“The Jendari should have been using the Force, too,” Marix didn’t like that it wasn’t mentioned at all. She knew they wouldn’t torture like the Tam’Day’U used to, but the Jendari should at least know how to do their job.

“I believe they were,” that alleviated some of the worry that Marix knew existed because she wasn’t involved, which still bothered her. Navik then shrugged, “I couldn’t tell you if they learned anything, but I doubt it was much more, if anything.”

Truthfully, that didn’t surprise Marix, either. The Mrrakesh would have been trained to resist the probing in their minds. Or at least, anyone intelligent would have trained them to. But still, attempting it and failing to learn anything was better than not attempting it and possibly missing something.

“So we haven’t learned anything at all then,” she said that more to herself, thinking out loud as her mind ran through other things at the same time.

Navik sighed and nodded, “It seems that way.”

Thoughts that had been worked out came to the forefront now for Marix, “We will learn more soon enough. After the attack on their planet, the Mrrakesh will send a message.”

“They’ll deny the attack was provoked,” Navik said as they came to a door. When he stopped, there was a short delay before it slid upwards to reveal a small room with a few Jendari within.

Marix followed him into the room, seeing the Mrrakesh’s body in a chair off to one side of the room. From the places that blood looked to be seeping out of, he was definitely dead. Looking back to Navik, she finished the thought, “Of course they’ll deny it. But who denies it will tell us who was behind this.”

One of the Jendari, who Marix did not know the name of despite recognizing him as one of their high ranking officials, nodded a plumed head at her comment, cutting in with a soft, but somehow very pointed voice, “Your analyses is correct, my lady. Our communications channels are awaiting any contact...but the ships have not arrived yet.”

“We’ll hear something before the attack is finished,” Marix said, stepping over to inspect the Mrrakesh for herself.

As she looked over his body, trying to decide what, exactly, it was that had killed him, Marix found that her initial rage had calmed. Now it was more a very determined and focused emotion that she didn’t even have a word for. It wasn’t anger and it wasn’t rage. It just...was. She didn’t regret her actions, as the attack on the Mrrakesh world would give them information on who ordered the attack on the Palace. But now, as Marix tried to ignore the shiver that went up her spine at being so close to red-coloured blood(which always bothered her, for some reason), she tried to consider what to do next.

If they went to war, they went to war. Train as many of the Knights in better combat tactics quickly. Recruit amongst the other species of the Empire to form a makeshift army for the sole purpose of defense. Basic tactics. It wouldn’t be offensive, though. The important point would be to prove to the Mrrakesh that the Alraxian Empire would not stand for attacks, and could hold off the Mrrakesh’s supposed power despite being weaker militarily. After enough losses, the Mrrakesh would finally back down and the stalemate would return.

But there was the off chance that it wouldn’t lead to war, and this was the first time Marix had considered that. The Mrrakesh might not respond at all, surprised by a suddenly aggressive action by the usually passive Alraxian Empire. It would not be the first time. Ket’s war on Alraxia should have provoked an outright war with the Mrrakesh, as they had the chance to attack. But they didn’t. They ignored the opening, and, according to the Jendari, a pair of attacks by Ket’s droid army on Mrrakesh planets, and simply stayed where they were. Ket had tried to provoke them and they hadn’t budged. Marix was not trying to provoke them, but still had to wonder what it would mean if the Mrrakesh didn’t respond to the attack that was coming.

“It was a neurological implant that killed him,” the voice was familiar to Marix. She turned around to see the Jendari, Arelin, standing with his hands behind his back in a formal position. Seeing he had her attention, one hand was extended towards the corpse, “He did not commit suicide to protect any information. The implant was designed to detect a certain brainwave pattern when being probed by the Force. We killed him.”

That was even smarter. There was always the chance that an operative wouldn’t want to die. An implant like that assured they wouldn’t divulge information, one way or another. There was likely something similar for if he had talked, literally, though it may very well have been the same device.

Marix nodded, stepping away from the body and giving the Jendari leader her full attention with the question that was plaguing her suddenly, “Arelin, if the Mrrakesh do not respond to this attack...what do you believe that means?”

“It is unlikely, my lady,” Arelin’s voice had that soothing calm to it that all Jendari evoked. He made an interesting motion between his shoulders and the feathers that formed a plume around his head that was more a wave than a shrug, then went on, “If that does occur, however, it would be possible that the Mrrakesh are too busy fighting on their opposite border to fight on two fronts. There is also the possibility that whoever did order this attack has other plans in motion that deem its success unnecessary.”

The first one was what Marix figured was most likely. But even then, could the Mrrakesh just ignore an attack on their own planets when they were supposedly losing ground to the Vong? They needed every planet they could get. Not responding would be the same as Marix not responding to the attack on her children: showing weakness. The one thing the Mrrakesh wouldn’t do was show weakness...not if they could help it.

“Plan for the most likely scenario,” she said in the formal tone that sounded like her mother, which was what Marix always assumed an Empress sounded like when giving orders, “Prepare a message to the Empire addressing the situation and the need for a defense force. Any volunteers should report to Alraxia immediately. Any other kind of assistance will be taken into consideration. And...” Marix paused, not liking what she was about to say, but knowing it had to be done, “Also, we will need to speak with all of the Kanyaks. Find at least some that are willing to be fitted with weaponry.”

There was an uneasy silence within the room. Kanyaks being armed was, essentially, a last resort. They would do it, the entire Empire knew that, but the gesture itself said a great deal. The Kanyaks were peaceful, and the presence of weapons on them actually hurt them most of the time, as they weren’t at all natural and were one thing their bodies couldn’t seem to mimic. It meant that had to be grafted on. The only time that had ever been done was the Darkwing Wars, and even then it was only a handful of Kanyaks.

“Yes, my lady,” Arelin said with a bow of his head, immediately leaving the room and likely heading to the bridge to prepare the message himself.

Marix looked to Navik but said nothing. He nodded for some reason, then put a hand on her shoulder to turn her towards the door, saying quietly, “Come on...I think you need the twins as much as they need you right now. I’ll make sure that anything new gets to you immediately.”

“Thank you, Navik,” when they entered the corridor, they went two different direction. Navik, following Arelin towards the ship’s bridge to monitor the situation. Marix...back to the small room with her children. It was an odd moment for her, but for some reason, again, she was walking that direction without any desire to be anywhere else.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 490: Philosophy

In what had always been a chaotic torrent of possibilities, images, and emotions, there had been a single point instead. Everything, from the smallest action of an Ewok hunting with his brothers to a gigantic battle with the Yuuzhan Vong to protect a world, converged at one point. At the point, was nothing. Or rather, nothing that could be discerned. Perhaps it was due to the fact that everything came to that one point that made it impossible to see it, but it also meant that what that point was, what that one moment that everything in the galaxy was pushed to, was impossible to see.

And beyond the point, nothing was visible. It was as if everything simply ended where it all came together into a single moment. But there was a feeling beyond it. Not anything specific, and nothing that could be really described, just a feeling. And that, alone, meant the point wasn’t an end. It was a convergence that resulted in...something. The point was unavoidable, as nothing escaped it. That meant that the point was the determining factor. Not avoiding it, but what happened at it. And that would shape what came after.

Jyren had seen it first. He had never been the greatest with the more passive uses of the Force, but with help from Marix, he’d learned the basics. And then, it was there. Off in the distance, out of reach, but there. And when he found it, he looked everywhere to find a way out, because the idea of one point determining everything unsettled him. Destiny always got to Jyren. All that ‘will of the Force’ crap made him feel helpless and that was one thing he couldn’t stand.

Marix saw it first in a dream. The Jendari had taught her farseeing, though she’d had minimal training in it from Faban Sunrunner as a Tam’Day’U. Seeing what was coming in the near future was a vital aspect to being an assassin. Because of her experience with such techniques, she was able to meditate and fall back into the vision to get a calmer view of it...much more than Jyren’s panicked searching through the short seconds of the vision he was able to focus on. He knew it was there, and that was important enough. For Marix, she analyzed.

After a good amount of looking at it, seeing that it changed with each day that went by, she saw that the point still didn’t move. No matter what else happened, it remained. The random flashes of events leading up to it were always different. Maybe they were just different things seen each time, but then again, maybe it was simply the future shifting based on the choices of the billions and billions of people in the galaxy. It was likely a little of both. But what was important was that the point of convergence remained in the exact same spot, and had a vague feeling left beyond it...but nothing else. No events, no flashes of images, no emotions...just a feeling of something.

They had both seen it first just a month after the reports of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Whether anyone else saw it, they didn’t know. Marix and Jyren kept it between themselves. If anyone in the galaxy could see it, the Jendari would have, but they said nothing. They likely wouldn’t if they were confronted with it. Jyren had once mentioned that the Jedi should have seen it. But the Jedi had suddenly been thrown into a galactic war and had their own problems to worry about. So in all of the galaxy, as far as they knew, they were the only two beings in the galaxy who knew something big was coming.

Good or bad didn’t seem to matter. In fact, the point itself didn’t seem to be either. Marix was the one who suggested it was not an actual event, but a choice. A moment that the fate of the entire galaxy rested on the decision of one sentient being. The time beyond was blank because it was impossible for even the Force to determine. That, or, as Jyren suggested, they just couldn’t truly understand what they were ‘seeing’ beyond. It was possible that it could be ‘seen’ and understood, but it simply took a different form.

But that was a detail that didn’t matter. A choice. A second where all of the galaxy and everything after fell into, and everything afterwards was different. There was a reason Jyren worried so much about it. Early on, he wasn’t arrogant enough to assume that either of them were the ones to make that choice, and so the worry came of who’s shoulders that would rest on and what that could mean. But over time, the natural assumption came that it was one of them that would have to make the choice, and Jyren did his usual thing and assumed the worst: that it would be him, and he would do the wrong thing.

That made things worse.

Jyren worked himself into a dangerous cycle with thoughts like that, and it only infuriated Marix that, after all the years she’d known him, he still didn’t trust his own skills. After Sadrak, Voort, Ket, Nine, Jen, Darkwings, armies of Alraxian-killing droids, armies of six-armed bugs, and good old Stormtroopers, he still didn’t trust himself. And then they’d gotten involved in the war, and everything had deteriorated more...and they both began to focus less on the single point in the future to stay alive in those events leading up to it.

And then came the battle at the Gateway. Jyren saw the point. He saw it right in front of him with his own eyes, and Marix saw it, too. He made a choice, thinking it was the one. Knowing he was doing the right thing, what had to be done.

But afterwards, Marix could still see the point. There was, however, nothing leading up to it. Everything was right up against the point, with nothing beyond. Not even a feeling anymore. Jyren had failed, obviously. Sure, the Alraxian Empire was protected from the Vong but what did that matter when the Mrrakesh were becoming aggressive? War was war. And the Mrrakesh looked a lot more dangerous than the Vong all of a sudden.

Each choice she made, Marix stepped back and tried to see the point again, but they didn’t seem to move. No matter what happened, they were still there. Right in front of it, pushing into the tiny little black hole in the future but not getting any closer. And like a black hole, it sucked in everything. Marix would turn around to see behind, see the past, and there was nothing. So close to the point in the Force, everything else was impossible to see. It was still there, it was still coming, and it was something else. Something beyond what they had thought it was.

If Marix had gone with Venda, she would have seen a moment that very well could have been that choice. She would not have seen the choice being made, but the effects of it. A shift was coming. It could have been the point itself, or maybe the point was more than just one moment. But whatever it was, one choice had been made.

A refusal to murder. A young Jedi Knight and his brother, fighting over what should be done about a battle another system away. Debating philosophy when lives were at stake. Whether war justified outright murder. What the implications of a species like the Vong, not existing in the Force, had on the morality that the Jedi normally followed. If any of that even mattered.

But even though a choice was reached, and the two Jedi both decided against using a powerful weapon, something neither of them expected happened. It proved to both of them that Jedi were not the only ones who could cause a moment of great change in the galaxy, and the terrible thing that both of them had decided against was done...and the consequences of it would soon reach Fondor.

Though part of her played with her children, another part of Marix saw the point draw slightly closer, where they might have even moved into it. And she felt something odd. It was a feeling of not being alone. That someone else was there, seeing what she was seeing.

Some Jedi, somewhere, had finally stepped back from the war to see it. Marix hoped it was Venda, as the woman seemed to have more sense than most Jedi. Maybe she’d actually do something about it. Maybe she was the one to make the choice.

What Marix didn’t know was the Venda was going to exit hyperspace soon, and the choice made lightyears away would catch up to her very quickly.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 491: Self Defense

Tobias ducked under a swipe from one of the Yuuzhan Vong’s small, dagger-like weapon. There was a grunt of pain above him mixed with a deafening thrumming of a lightsaber passing too close, and when Tobias returned to an upright position, the Vong was on the ground with a slash mark across its chest.

He spun around to see Master Ral’s lightsaber a blur of movement, with the Omwati in the center relatively still. The Vong had quickly asserted that the Jedi Master was more of a threat than Tobias, who had taken a good cut across from the shoulder from one of the thrown razor bugs and then another slice across his arm when the Vong got close...only to have the attacked taken down by Master Ral. After that, they had gone for Master Ral, leaving only a couple of the Vong, who were wearing very odd looking clothes that looked to stick to their bodies at points on their shoulders and hips, coming for Tobias.

One of them was now dead.

The other was in front of Tobias, a safe distance from Master Ral and taking a short moment to gauge his opponent’s defenses. While he had to know that his opponent wasn’t exactly a master swordsman, hopefully the Vong had figured out just how inexperienced Tobias was. Currently, Tobias was holding his lightsaber up in front of him in the best defensive position he could manage with the sound of vicious fighting behind him.

Then the Vong lunged forward at Tobias, the dagger-sized blade shooting forward at surprising speed for his left shoulder. Tobias quickly reacted, spinning his lightsaber to cut off either the blade or the Vong’s hand, whichever the lightsaber managed to get. Instead, though, the lightsaber met with extremely strong resistance and just pushed the Yuuzhan Vong’s arm off to the side rather than cutting through it like it should have!

The Vong reacted quickly, spinning to the other side and then attempting a slash across Tobias’ now-exposed mid-section. In the movement, Tobias saw that the Vong was wearing some kind of shell-like armour in a few places...wrist, shoulders, and from the way the cloth ‘shirt’ was held, under that, too. And a strike from a lightsaber didn’t just go through it.

As the blade came in again, Tobias countered the only way he could. Hoping that he was faster than the Vong, he slashed upwards with his weapon. There was an odd sound as the lightsaber removed the Vong’s head from his torso and the rest of his body hit the deck with more of a thud than a clang.

Breathing heavily and now running completely on a mix of adrenaline and pure shock, Tobias spun around to see Master Ral...and instead saw another Vong coming at him. A flash of movement caught his eye, and Tobias quickly leaned left, hearing a buzzing noise slide right past his ear. One of those thud...or razor...whatever bugs. And a moment later, the Vong was bearing down on Tobias, sharp dagger thrusting at the young man’s chest.

This time, when Tobias swung his lightsaber around to parry the strike, he was ready to meet with resistance. Drawing on the teaching he’d received from Marix in close quarters fighting, Tobias spun with the momentum of his parry, pushing straight into the Vong. Tobias had the intelligence to shift the lightsaber into a one handed grip as he dug his elbow hard into the Vong’s stomach.

A shock of pain wracked through Tobias’ elbow as it hit the armoured chest of the Vong, but the sudden stop in his forward momentum combined with the surprise from a rather dangerous attack meant that the Vong stumbled back, slightly out of breath and recovering quickly. It was enough time for Tobias to do the one thing he knew could bring down a Yuuzhan Vong, and his lightsaber swung around to cleave this one’s head off, too.

However, this Vong ducked.

And then it drove forward at Tobias, tackling the smaller human and driving him down onto the ‘deck’. Tobias’ head spun from the force of the impact, and before he had a chance to even see what was happening, a sharp pain cut into his stomach.

Tobias made a noise that was both a gasp and a cry, leaving him at a loss for breath and desperately trying to convince himself that no, he wasn’t dead. While his mind was going crazy thanks to the intense pain, Tobias’ body took control and he kicked upwards, sending the Vong off of him and to the ground.

Gods that made it hurt worse!!!

The movement, especially using such force, had send another shockwave of pain through Tobias’ body, radiating from his stomach...and it felt like it was just pulsing constantly with pain. He didn’t know what to do! It hurt so much and it wasn’t like anything he’d ever...and...

Why wasn’t he morphing?!

The thought jumped up front and center, but through blurred vision, Tobias could see the Vong coming down over him again. And then his left hand reminded him that there was still a weapon in it. Immediately, Tobias swung the lightsaber across his body, trying to hit the Vong anywhere to just get him off long enough to remorph the wound. There was a cry of pain and a flash as the lightsaber made contact with something, and the form of the Vong was no longer visible through Tobias’ slightly red vision.

Okay. Quickly. Focus. Remorph. Quickly.

The pain didn’t go away. However, in a few short moments, it was an odd sort of pain that Tobias never really understood completely. It was like the brain telling the body that it was supposed to be in pain and hurting, despite the body having the evidence to back up its claim that it was, in fact, perfectly fine. The whole process seemed to be completely normal for Marix and Jyren but Tobias still found himself siding with his brain and being left in a state of confusion for at least a few moments.

But at least Tobias understood that this was one of the times he didn’t have time to be confused. As best he could manage, he pulled himself up to his feet and got the lightsaber up to defend himself again, eyes darting around. There were only two Vong around Master Ral now, each on opposite sides but still unable to break through the Jedi Master’s defenses...which was currently nothing.

Master Ral was simply standing between them, eyes on the one in front of him and green lightsaber held in front of him at a slight angle to protect his body. The two Vong were on either sides, dagger-like weapons in hand and crouched slightly, watching the Jedi Master intently. The bodies around them hinted at why they were suddenly being more cautious.

Tobias decided to tip the scales and use the moment of pause to his advantage, taking only three steps before swinging the lightsaber in a diagonal slash at the back of the Vong that was behind Master Ral. The Yuuzhan Vong spun around before Tobias reached him, the sound of movement and the thrumming of the lightsaber giving away any surprise attack, but when he raised his blade to parry the strike, he ended up losing an entire hand to the lightsaber thanks to the fact that Tobias was still moving forward and the weapon went past the defense.

Most things in the galaxy would take a moment to at least look down at their lost limb, but this Vong didn’t. Instead, its other, free hand, swung straight in and caught Tobias hard in the jaw. A crack echoed through his skull, but Tobias was fairly sure his jaw hadn’t actually broken, though a second later he felt a leg sweep under him and yet again, Tobias hit the ‘deck’ below hard. But this time he lost his grip on his lightsaber and it fell to the side, out of his reach.

But the Vong was only able to take a single step forward before a green lightsaber shot straight through its obviously-unarmoured chest. Master Ral removed his lightsaber and the Vong dropped hard.

And then it was silent besides the sound of the lightsabers.

“On your feet, Tobias,” Master Ral turned and extended a hand to help him up, which Tobias gladly accepted. Once he was up, Master Ral gave him a very serious look, “Are you alright?”

Tobias looked down, seeing the patch of red that now stained his tunic. His next reaction was to reach down and pick up his own lightsaber, saying as he did so, “I’m okay. But I...I don’t think I’m going to be much good here.”

“You underestimate yourself,” Master Ral motioned, with his lightsaber, to the bodies around them, “Surviving five to one odds would suggest that you have more combat training than you give yourself credit for.”

“Just...self defense...” Tobias shrugged.

“Obviously, that is enough to keep you alive,” Master Ral then turned and looked around the violet and red coloured hangar they were in. He seemed to settle on one wall, though Tobias could see nothing special about it, and started that way, saying over his shoulder, “Lets keep moving. The faster we find out what that presence in the Force was the better.”

Tobias fell into step behind his Omwati Jedi Master, still feeling slightly in awe of this man who he still knew very little about, “How do you know where to go in here?”

“Reach out with your feelings,” the response was expected. And as Master Ral said that, he stopped next to an oval shaped indentation in the wall that reminded Tobias, vaguely, of the doors in the Palace on Alraxia...only it looked more like an actual organ of sorts. The Jedi Master looked over the section of wall, or bulkhead if it could be called that, and then added, “The only thing you feel beyond myself will be where we need to go.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 492: Reflection

Marix stood with her arms folded across her chest in one of the small observation rooms aboard the Jendari ship, looking down at the green of Alraxia below. They were above the Palace, staying in a stationary orbit to watch the area from space...just in case. The attack on the Mrrakesh world was underway by now, and probably even over, but they’d heard nothing. It was an hour after she’d ordered it, and nothing.

Maybe that was a good sign, but she didn’t like it.

She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to retreat from the world around her, sliding back to a section that had once been where her link with Jyren was. In a sense, it was still there. Or rather, he was. An odd idea, really, but because of the closeness of their link, there really were only a few actual barriers that separated them as individuals. Because of that, if she dug deep enough, there he was...sort of.

He wasn’t really there in the sense that he could be seen or felt or anything like that. He was just...there. But it was hollow existence. Marix would reach to that area, searching for the link out of habit and find that echo of a feeling and then shut it off immediately. But now she didn’t. Now she looked to it and tried to...to do something.

“It is amazing to me how everything seems to go wrong at the same time,” Navik Keros’ voice caused Marix to open her eyes again. Yet again he’d entered a room without her noticing. Either she was losing her concentration, which was likely, or he was getting good at being sneaky...which, because he was Jyren’s father, was unlikely.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Marix glanced over her shoulder to where he stood and asked quietly, “Has something else happened?”

“Thankfully, no,” the answer was definitely a good one, for once, “But still no word from the Jendai ships. Or from the Mrrakesh for that matter.”

With a nod, Marix turned back to look out the viewport to Alraxia. Her gaze idly followed the coastline of the larger continent where the Palace was located as she picked out the islands that were just off the coast before finally finding the one with the old Jedi outpost, “If we hear nothing for much longer we may have to assume that the Mrrakesh launched a counterattack already,” she shook her head and reached out to rest her hand on the viewport, “Why the philosophical thoughts all of a sudden, Navik?”

“Its what we old men do,” there was a hint of a smile in that voice, though from his reflection in the viewport, Marix could see his face was weathered and looked extremely tired, “The Mrrakesh activity, the Yuuzhan Vong pushing them into our space and attacking us directly, the New Republic actually knowing where we are...losing Jyren...Toby running off into the middle of that war...now Mrrakesh actually on Alraxia and we’re on the brink of actual war. It seems there is no peace for us.”

These were all things that had not left Marix’s mind at all in the past months. She had gone over it all again and again and again and it was driving her insane. Marix missed the days when she was in charge of an Empire and decisions were easy. She also missed the days when she had more control over herself. It was still there, to a point, but she couldn’t help but blame Jyren for most of the changes...even though it wasn’t really all his fault.

But...

Wait.

Had he just said?

One of those odd feelings crept up and Marix couldn’t fight back a smile tugging at her face, “I didn’t realize you were so concerned about Tobias.”

In the reflection, Marix saw Navik shrug, “He’s my grandson, of course I’m concerned. Besides, the kid pretty much decided what he wanted to do based on bad tellings of exaggerated stories from Jyren. He’s still so young.”

Navik’s grandson.

Technically, Tobias wasn’t. Technically, Tobias wasn’t even her son. Well, no, technically, on the genetic level, he would have been, but that was the wrong kind of technically. He wasn’t her’s. The only people in the entire Empire that knew that, and were still alive, of course, were Marix, Tobias, Loki, and Navik. The last of which had only learned by accident and hadn’t been affected by it one bit.

Adoption was something extremely common in Alraxian families. So much so that the Empress took in all the wayward children of the Empire and they quite literally became a part of her clan. But they all received a ‘ka’ before their clan name to denote that. Tobias didn’t. And, technically, he didn’t need it since he was, again, technically, an actual BlueIce. Of sorts.

But Navik’s acceptance of Tobias so readily surprised Marix for the same reason they kept his true parentage silent. Being the child of Ket Halpak and a clone of Marix was not exactly something worth advertising amongst the Empire. And yet, Navik had never even seemed to notice it.

“It was his choice to go,” she finally spoke the words to Navik that she’d said to herself so many times, “The only way he’ll learn the truth of all those stories is confronting the reality of it all. It is a harsh lesson for him, but he is stronger than he thinks.”

“He’s a lot like his father,” Navik sounded more like he was thinking out loud with that.

And yes, Tobias was like Jyren. So much so that it worried her. That, in itself, was an odd feeling. It was his life to live as he chose, yes, but Marix didn’t want to see Tobias drag himself through things like Jyren had done. They were both stronger than they realized and had a bad habit of internalizing so much that it always came to haunt them later. For Jyren, it was a past he never seemed to let go of...and for Toby, it was his utter adoration of Jyren to the point that he wanted to be just like him.

Then, at a perfect moment, the door opened. Marix immediately turned to see one of Jendari giving her a serious look with a pair of orange eyes. He didn’t need to say anything, as she already knew what was coming. She felt it before he’d even started speaking in a calm voice that seemed wrong for the news being delivered, “My lady. The Mrrakesh have attacked two of the human worlds on the border. If there are any survivors they are few.”

“What about our attack?” she didn’t want to ask that, but it was necessary.

“The ships exited hyperspace moments ago and have reported a successful mission,” the Jendari paused, looked to the white floor a moment then back to her, “Two of them are currently en route here, with the third and another pair of ships headed to the human worlds.”

That was why she hadn’t wanted to ask the question. It brought up another question from the answer, and one she knew wasn’t going to be good. Keeping her face blank and her presence in the Force as dulled as possible, Marix asked, “Why are they coming here?”

“Multiple Mrrakesh ships have broken through our border defenses. At least one group of ships is headed here. They will arrive within the hour.”

So they were at war again.

 

[Angcuru]

This may work out to the Alraxian Empire's advantage, despite the whole being attacked by a warrior race thing. By pulling Mrrakesh forces towards the new Alraxian front, they are removed from the Vong front and/or from Mrrakesh Reserves, thus weakening the Vong front. From a tactical standpoint, that's a nightmare scenario. Even if the Mrrakesh take quite a few Alraxian worlds, they will have to garrison them in order to hold them. With the Vong fighting a war of attrition, the Mrrakesh are completely screwed from a tactical perspective.

Sooner or later the Mrrakesh will have to sue for peace.

Eeenteresting.