Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[AnonymousOne]

and everytime it seems like they've been figure out...well, they give someone a set of coordinates that takes them to the right place at exactly the right time.

Maxed out ranks in Clairvoyance eh?

I honestly really like this story ... shame to see Jyren go, and Voort kinda grew on me ...

I just hope Toby shapes up. He seems more like comic relief than a serious player, and I know that sounds harsh (yes I know he's suffering from a level gap) but I mean come on .... he's going toe to toe with the Vong and he doesn't take his true form which would greatly increase his lethality. *sigh*

I'm also waiting for the Jendari to dish it to the Vong.

You've inspired me to take notes on my campaign next semester and try to synthesize them into a small story hour. As if I need any more work next semester!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Maxed out ranks in Clairvoyance eh?

Something like that.

I honestly really like this story ... shame to see Jyren go, and Voort kinda grew on me ...

I miss Voort. I really miss him. While technically Jyren was mine and, in a lot of ways, an extension of myself(hence why I can explain his stupid decisions so easily), Voort was just such a great character. I always liked that he was really a good, honourable man who was stuck in some terrible situations and made a few bad choices in life. Something I think I painted him in a bit too negative of a light, but when I read comments earlier about Jyren/Akan/pickaname coming off as a jerk, I think I might have gotten things right enough.

I just hope Toby shapes up. He seems more like comic relief than a serious player, and I know that sounds harsh (yes I know he's suffering from a level gap) but I mean come on .... he's going toe to toe with the Vong and he doesn't take his true form which would greatly increase his lethality. *sigh*

Technically, he's a kid. By Alraxian standards, Toby's only about 15 or 16 years old. Though he IS more than twice that age, he's got a much younger mindset. Kids do a lot of dumb things. Constantly. All of the time.

Toby happens to be a kid filled with stories of over-exaggerated Jedi stories, a strong connection to the Force, and a desire to be his hero. Cept, unlike most kids, he CAN be that person...he gets that wonderful realization of how different things are from stories, though, so still has a great deal to learn about that. He'll learn.

...hopefully...

I'm also waiting for the Jendari to dish it to the Vong.

The Vong have to make it to Alraxian space first!

You've inspired me to take notes on my campaign next semester and try to synthesize them into a small story hour. As if I need any more work next semester!

Do it! Sure, its a ton of work, but its fun! One of the best parts is finding out other people enjoy it, too.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 498: Recovery

Tobias sat quietly in the small room that Venda had turned into a medical ward. Next to him, on a small bed, was Master Ral, unconscious still but stable. Venda had tried to get Tobias to rest, also, but he wouldn’t and she’d given up after pestering him for only a few minutes. When she left, he remorphed the wounds he hadn’t had time to fix, cuts across his forehead, back, and left arm. The blonde-haired Jedi woman had left to send a message to the New Republic fleet so they wouldn’t be shot at, but that was a good five minutes ago and Tobias was staring at the closed door trying to collect his thoughts.

There was a great deal to collect, too.

He heard the swish of the door opening and looked up to see Venda quietly enter the room, giving him a smile before moving over to check on Master Ral. After a moment, she said softly, “I wish I were more of a healer, but I believe he will be alright.”

Tobias just nodded.

Venda raised an eyebrow at this, then stepped around the bed and pulled one of the free chairs over to sit in front of the young man, “Are you going to be alright?”

He shook his head.

Trying to get a feel on him through the Force was difficult. Tobias was doing a fairly good job of keeping himself internal and well shielded, and it was fairly obvious to Venda that he was doing it on purpose. She had dealt with people attempting to conceal information most of her life, and she was good at getting what she wanted to find out, but this was different. She wasn’t tracking anyone down or trying to find anything specific out...Venda was actually worried about the kid. He didn’t look hurt anymore, but he still looked a mess.

“What happened?” Venda decided to just go with the direct approach.

Tobias let out a sigh and looked down at the deck. Staring at the top of his head wasn’t exactly wonderful, but he did start talking at least, “I killed a man...and...and I didn’t mean to...” he shook his head, then looked up at her, obviously realizing that wouldn’t make any sense, “We went to one of the Yuuzhan Vong ships. Master Ral...we both felt something there. But when we got there a human came up to me. He...he had something sticking out of his face, like a rock, and he was talking fast and and...and then more Vong showed up and he screamed something and came after me and I...I just...reacted...”

It was a vague description, but Venda was putting pieces together and drawing conclusions from it. That reaction probably had saved his life. She’d heard about what he had described. Yuuzhan Vong implants they placed in captives to control them. But the fact that he’d killed a man that wasn’t, technically, an enemy was definitely eating away at Tobias, and asking about it wasn’t helping.

So, she pushed in another direction and asked, “How did you end up in that escape pod?”

“Master Ral felt something else as we moved in more,” Tobias glanced over at the Omwati and was silent for a few moments before going on, “We’d barely gotten anywhere and he insisted we get out. Something was happening. We ran back, but more Vong got to us before we got back to our ship. S-six of them...or seven maybe...they overwhelmed Master Ral and...I killed them but...but he was hurt so badly and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t feel anything like he did! We’d left so many people behind and they were being tortured and I wanted to go back and save them but...but when I ran back I ran into more Vong. I don’t think they were warriors but they still fought hard and I killed them, too. And then I heard Master Ral yelling at me and he sounded like he was dying so I ran back again and...and got us into the ship.”

Tobias had to take a breath, as he wasn’t really taking a break between sentences, just speaking in one long, confused and terrified sounding explanation. After he took the time to breath a bit, his voice evened out at least slightly but his face showed he was still just as distressed, “I don’t know how to fly a ship! I don’t...I didn’t...I tried. I tried and all I could do was power it up and when I finally did alarms started going off. All the noise just made it worse. I managed to get the ship up but there wasn’t anyway out and then the whole hangar just turned to fire. I...I grabbed Master Ral and got into the escape pod. I don’t know how we didn’t burn and I don’t know what happened...but I felt all the people die,” at this point, Tobias was clinching his teeth and failing to fight back tear, “I felt them all screaming out for help and I was right there and I couldn’t do anything. They all died...and I was right there...they’re all dead...”

He was working himself up more and more, and Venda could hear in his voice that he was starting to panic. Through the Force, she could feel he was far beyond panic. Her first thing to do was to do her best to calm him through the Force, which was something she was good at. As she did this, Venda reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder to try and help him calm down more, “There was nothing you could have done.”

“There should have been!” Tobias growled through gritted teeth.

Venda paused to put more effort into presenting a soothing presence in the Force. She was skilled at this technique, but that didn’t mean it was easy or had immediate results. He’d been right in the middle of that blast she’d seen from a distance, on a Vong ship even. The fact that he was alive was amazing, but the ripple in the Force from all of the deaths had been a heavy blow to her. It was hard for her to imagine what it felt like to Tobias, who still had a great deal to learn about the Force.

“Tobias,” she said the name with as much force as she could manage. It wasn’t like when Marix was angry with him, but it got his attention. When Venda saw this, she softened the tone, “Calm yourself. If you cannot control yourself you will only make things worse.”

Tobias bit his lip and hung his head, “...its so hard...”

Even though he could see her facing the floor like that, Venda nodded, “Yes, it is. But you cannot use that as an excuse to not do it.”

Slowly, his breathing was starting to calm down. It was working finally. Again, he looked up at her, “Jyr...my father made it sound so easy.”

“I don’t think he did,” Venda shook her head. She was going down a path she knew little about, but after a bit more information about Jyren she’d learned while at Alraxia, Venda felt like she could make a few educated guesses, “I think you did what all little boys do when their father tells them a story. You heard what you wanted to, and left out the rest.”

Tobias opened his mouth, started to say a word, then stopped himself. She was right, of course. He couldn’t argue that anymore. Not after what he’d done and seen and now what he was feeling. His body was human, yes, but Tobias was still an Alraxian at heart. Emotions were strong for him, and very hard to control. Of course, he was also currently in the body of a human teenager so that didn’t help, but that wasn’t something Tobias really even considered.

“Good...that’s good,” Venda sounded like a Redstar to him all of a sudden. It was surprisingly helpful to think that. This Jedi woman had a way with using her words in just the right way in just the right voice, “I felt them die, too. I still feel it and I think you do, too. But it isn’t your fault. What happened here was beyond your control and beyond mine. You did the best you could and you saved your Master.”

“What’s one person compared to hundreds?” Tobias mumbled it, shaking his head.

“Two people,” Venda quickly corrected him, “And what is none compared to two?”

Tobias still couldn’t accept that, and gave her a very pointed glare, “Two lives don’t outweigh or even balance out hundreds more.”

So that was it. It was a common feeling, and actually very logical. She wished it was Master Ral that could help Tobias right now, but that wasn’t the case. Venda would simply have to do her best and remember how her Master had been, “Its not about balance, Toby. Every life is valuable and we do what we can to protect as many lives as we can...but you can never save everyone. You can’t protect everyone. You have to listen to the Force and let it guide your actions. When you were on that ship, why did you not go to save all of those people?”

“I...” he had to stop to think, which was a good sign, “I was scared. I just wanted to leave and go back home so I...ran...I ran away...and tried to just hide in that escape pod.”

Gently, Venda squeezed his shoulder. This war was no place for someone his age. There were many Jedi apprentices younger than him fighting, but Venda still didn’t believe they should be. It was hard enough to be a Jedi as it was, but to still follow the right path during a time of war? And then to be so young to barely understand everything that was really going on?

It wasn’t right.

This was definitely not the place for her to push any farther. Hopefully Master Ral could help when he was able to. So, instead, Venda went back to simply trying to make sure he as calm and alright, “I just returned from Alraxia, Toby.”

That got his attention.

Tobias’ eyes widened and he looked up at her expectantly, “Is everything okay there?”

It was time to lie to him a bit, “It is tense, but your family is all okay,” she managed to put a smile on her face, “Your mother’s worried about you. She told me to keep you out of trouble.”

Finally, Venda got through. Tobias grinned, it was slight at first, then grew and he almost laughed, “So are you going to tell her about all of this then?”

Venda did allowed herself to laugh, finally standing up again and deciding that it was time to properly communicate with the New Republic and get some actual information. As she got up, Venda pulled Tobias up to his feet, too, and started to lead him to the cockpit. He didn’t need to sit by Master Ral like this. Gently leading him out of the small room and down the short corridor to the cockpit, Venda smiled and said, “I don’t know your mother very well, but I know enough to not tell her that I found you in the middle of a battle.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 499: From Skirmish to War

Despite the fact that Kanyaks were not warships, they were excellent when confronted with a dangerous situation. Mixing the natural speed and agility of the Kanyaks that served the Knights with the reaction time and senses of their Alraxian pilots meant that even in the rare firefights they were involved in, the ships and their pilots worked together perfectly. Their natural connection developed over years of companionship was something that was impossible to reach for pilots of other ships throughout the galaxy.

Of course, none of this meant that any of them actually had any combat experience.

“Stay together!” Marix angrily yelled at the consoles in front of her as she helped Loki maneuver through the green energy blasts spewing from the Mrrakesh ships. Light blue streaks were theirs, coming from all different directions and not really hitting much, save for the larger blasts from the Jendari cruiser that was closer to Alraxia.

The problem was that the Mrrakesh had starfighters. They were about the size of an old Z-95 Headhunter and only seemed to be armed with a single nose-cannon, but they were faster than most of the Kanyaks and much, much more maneuverable. Their appearance from the hangars of the Mrrakesh cruisers had caused most of the Knights to react as they normally would...but most of the Knights normally worked alone. There were so few in comparison to the size of the Empire that, while trained to work together on the ground, space combat had never been something to worry about...and so they reacted as they were used to. Meaning that it was currently a mess with Kanyaks everywhere just trying to get clear shots on the fighters while just sneaking in a few shots on the advancing cruisers.

In hindsight, so much of what they did seemed foolish. But that was only because Marix had seen the rest of the galaxy. She’d seen what, for everyone else, was reality. Constant, unending conflict. Wars fought in space and on the ground. Huge warships that could level planets from obit. The Alraxians always simply thought of that as far away, ignoring the fact that they knew the Mrrakesh had developed the same way.

For the billions of beings that lived in the Alraxian Empire, none of this was the case. They were a safe, peaceful little bubble in the insanity of what the rest of the galaxy contained. The only conflicts they ever saw were tiny skirmishes with very rare pirates near the Mrrakesh border or small, local uprisings from unhinged individuals much like Ket Halpak, but far less capable. To the citizens of the Empire, peace was how the galaxy was. There was no reason at all to imagine war.

And yet...

[The lead Mrrakesh cruiser is firing on us.] Loki was surprisingly calm. Though he did seem to either be extremely calm like her in situations of stress, or just laughed it off in the middle of things...like a mental patient. Even though he normally was the former, Marix never forgot the latter situations and never let forget them, either.

Marix quickly helped bank Loki to his starboard side as two of the Mrrakesh fighters behind them began to fire after finally getting in range. Then, suddenly, Loki banked to port without her control. Before she could yell at him, Loki yelled at her. [You shoot. I’ll fly.]

“I can fly better than you!” Marix commented as she shifted her hands to the makeshift firing controls, immediately targeting the cruiser in front of them and letting loose a barrage of blue-white energy. Most of the shots impacted on the ship’s shields, but at least a few found holes and sent up short-lived plumes of fire and metal. Superficial damage, mostly, but satisfying.

[You don’t have wings!] Loki’s mental voice had changed the second she started firing the weapons. He sounded strained, as if gritting his teeth. They really did hurt him...

Marix did her best to ignore this, “I don’t need wings to out fly you! Why haven’t you gotten those fighters off of your backside?”

At about that moment, she felt Loki decelerating and then pulling straight up. He was looping, and twisting from the spinning of the stars and flashes of light, to get behind the fighters now. [Isn’t it considered rude to force someone to stare at your backside? What’s the point of all of this if I can’t have a little fun?]

“Oh gods, Loki...” she wanted to hit him. A friendly, sighing, strong punch that would knock him off of his feet for complete ignorance but causing her to grin at the same time. Not that it would work with Loki, but she still wanted to, “When are you going to give up on that failed wit of yours?”

Before Loki could respond, the two small, dagger-like starfighters slowly began to sink into the viewport. Marix quickly adjusted her targeting, then fired again. The burst of fire first went low, but then, thanks to Loki’s skilled maneuvering, the shots hit the right fighter perfectly. Either they were unshielded, or very lightly shielded, as the pair of laser bolts were enough to tear the fighter to pieces, with Marix immediately switching to the second target and Loki bringing it directly into sight.

[At least four more fighters incoming...] Loki was back to business again, which was probably a good thing. [Three of the cruisers are continuing on their current course.]

“And the other four?” Marix didn’t have time to check the sensors for herself. She took the opportunity to fire on the lead ship again as Loki passed over its top side, and though shots were coming back up at them, the Mrrakesh cruisers definitely weren’t equipped to shoot down fast moving targets.

Loki suddenly dropped into a snap roll, pulling away from the cruiser and, probably, the other fighters coming for them. [Moving towards the north pole of Alraxia...I can’t tell why----]

That was about the time an extremely violent shock rocked through the entirety of Loki. Marix was glad to have been strapped in, as otherwise the force of it would have probably sent her straight out into space. Instead, she got a good case of whiplash and a spinning head. Loki felt worse, though.

“What...what the hell was that?” Marix’s vision took a moment to reassert itself. They hadn’t been hit by anything...no explosion....

[I...] Loki sounded injured, but Marix couldn’t find any actual reason for it. [We’re caught in a...a tractor beam.]

“No,” she said it immediately, because that was common sense, “Mrrakesh don’t have tractor beams!”

This was ignoring the fact that they were reversing direction despite Loki’s best efforts. [Fine...they don’t have tractor beams...] Loki was sounding worse and worse with each word. He was fighting hard. [But they have something close enough.]

She could feel his pain through the Force. It was tearing at him as he tried to pull away. Marix’s neck still hurt, but it was nothing compared to the strain on Loki, “Stop fighting...” she didn’t like saying that, but, “I was hoping to find some way to get on board anyway.”

[You could have told me...] at this point, Loki was obviously annoyed. [We could have blown a hole in their hull for me to throw you into rather than going through this.]

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 500: New Orders

It was Centerpoint Station that had fired the shot and obliterated both the Hapan and the Yuuzhan Vong fleets at Fondor. It had, apparently, also taken out a good chunk of one of Fondor’s moons and grazed the planet’s atmosphere. That had never been a part of the original plan, but then again, the Vong were supposed to have attacked Corellia, then Centerpoint would have been use to create a massive gravity well and trap them in the system. It meant there was a large team of technicians and soldiers aboard the station, waiting for the right moment to spring the trap.

But the moment never came, and they soon got the report that the Vong attacked Fondor, instead. There were, apparently, a pair of Jedi aboard the station who were meant to do the controlling of it all. But someone, who was left unnamed, probably due to a lack of intel, aimed the station towards Fondor and fired it.

Rulae placed the datapad with the report on his desk and sat back in his chair. Some idiot didn’t take the time to at least aim. Now the Hapan were out of the war after just having committed to it. They didn’t seem to be placing blame, at least, but there was nothing they could do now with the majority of their fleet completely destroyed. The only good news in all of the reports for the day was that Fondor was still in the hands of the New Republic. Apparently the Vong were impressed that the New Republic would fire through their own forces and retreated to reevaluate their tactics.

“Sir...” Rea, who was standing on the other side of his office next to Adria, spoke up softly. They were both still in their flight suits, though they looked to have removed most of the life support parts before reporting to him.

He had asked them both to come to his office for a reason, and it wasn’t one he liked. Rulae let out a sigh then raised his head to bring his two large, red eyes to look over the other pilots, “The recovery ships have brought in all of the pilots they could find. Loro was...was not among them.”

“But I saw him eject!” Adria’s temper matched her hair, fiery. If it was any other situation on any other day, Rulae would have reprimanded her for the outburst. But not today...

“And he probably did,” Rulae simply nodded before raising a hand up to rub his blue skull, “There were reports from some of the other squadrons of medium sized Vong ships picking up EV pilots.”

Rea’s head-tails twitched noticeably at that, “You think he was captured?”

Rulae nodded, “It would not be the first time they have done this. It seems that the Vong have been doing this more and more recently. I couldn’t tell you why, though.”

Neither of the other two pilots could find any words to respond to that. There were only three of them left. A forth of a squadron. There weren’t enough free pilots in Starfighter Command to fill that much of a squadron and they all knew it. The question of what would happen next was in all of their minds, including Rulae’s, but there wasn’t any answer and none of them bothered to speak it.

“So now what?” Adria asked with a hint of annoyance in her strongly accented voice. Her arms were crossed and she was giving Rulae a critical look, but he knew by now that this was simply how she reacted and he couldn’t blame her. Rulae really wanted to find someone to punch about right now, too.

At least he had an answer to the question, “Well, believe it or not but we’ve actually got orders. Its not exactly what I would have expected but apparently Command has decided we’re good for more than just flying,” he paused a moment to grab a second datapad off of his desk and give it another glance so he didn’t get anything wrong, “During the battle there was an internal attack here on the Gemstone. Admiral thought it was Vong and sent the Marines. They found five dead bodies in one of the medical wards, all killed by blasters. The computers had been searched and sensitive information had been removed. Not long after a ship left the hangar...there was nothing to stop it in the middle of the battle, and one of the sensor operators reported it jumped to hyperspace not long after.”

“So we’re supposed to be a police force now?” surprisingly, it was Rea displaying her displeasure at this assignment. Adria was looking annoyed, though, so they were obviously both feeling the same about it.

“It would seem that way,” Rulae could do nothing but nod, “The report doesn’t say what information was taken, but that probably means its classified and dangerous. We’ve got a name to go on, too, and a ship. The second the battle was over the Admiral was intelligent enough to check all personnel aboard and figured out who was missing. We’ll be tracking a Miraluka named Tokarr Anansin. He was attached to Hawkbat Squadron as a crew chief and the ship he took was their support ship, a small transport called the Rustbucket.”

Adria rolled her eyes, “Rustbucket? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Rulae shook his head and was tempted to hand her the datapad, “I wish I was, but that’s what the report says. We need to get moving now. We have a vector he left on and the only system that direction is Thyferra. So go get those flightsuits back on. We’re back in the air in ten minutes.”

The saluted, then left.

Rulae looked at the datapad in his hands again. He didn’t like this at all. It wasn’t the fact that they were being used to track down someone. That, he understood. For a squadron so low on pilots but with good experience, not to mention their commander now having a good bit of experience on the ground, this made sense despite feeling like a waste of their skill. It was what they were going after that bothered him.

A member of Starfighter Command stealing something from classified medical records and then going to Thyferra? That couldn’t be a coincidence. The planet was the hub of medicine in the galaxy, it was where bacta itself was produced. The fact that this Tokarr had shot five people to get it wasn’t exactly positive, either...and this was ignoring the question of how a member of Starfighter Command, especially a low ranking tech chief, got access to highly classified medical files.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Rulae muttered to himself as he got out of his chair and went to get his flightsuit back on.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 501: Between Life and Death

Master Ral didn’t regain consciousness until they’d gotten him to the Gemstone, and by then he was in one of the many medical wards that pocketed the Mon Calamari Cruiser. The medics only spent a short time with him, as he was relatively uninjured compared to some of the other patients, many of which were missing limbs or worse. Tobias did his best to just look forward and stay with his Master. Something about all the red coloured blood made him uneasy. Any blood, really, as Alraxians rarely bled at all anyway...but that red colour just made him feel sick.

The Omwati Jedi Master had bandages across his forehead and a bacta patch on his face where a amphistaff had cut him, not to mention a few others here and there, though the medics had said he was healing surprisingly fast and they couldn’t figure out why. Tobias knew why. Ral was a Jedi Master, and probably very good at healing, even if he was unconscious. He would, apparently, be fine and at most only have a few new scars.

“We’ll head back to Yavin IV as soon as they let me go,” the Jedi Master’s voice was strained and a bit raspy, but that was understandable.

Tobias, sitting next to the bed and tuning out the other noises all around them, couldn’t help but be surprised by what he did hear, “What...? Just like that? What about Tokarr? Or...or...”

The words just wouldn’t come out.

He couldn’t say anything about what had happened on the ship.

Master Ral leveled a calm look on Tobias, despite the bandages, “I believe it was...wrong of me to bring you here,” quickly, he raised a blue-skinned hand to stop the protest that was already escaping Tobias, “You can fight, you can defend yourself, and you can protect others...you proved all of that. I may disagree with some of your decisions, but you did what you thought was right in the short time you had, did you not?”

All that Tobias could do was nod.

“What you lack is experience. It is not your fault that you lack this, and some would say it is a good thing,” the Jedi Master let out a deep breath and shook his head, “I brought you into a situation you were not ready for. The choices we have to make when confronted with combat and saving lives are far more difficult, and far more important, than the simple tasks like floating rocks and reading thoughts. Much of the time, there is no right choice.”

That brought up something in Tobias’ mind. A question that had been floating around for the last few minutes but had finally materialized into something that he could understand. Before Master Ral could go on, Tobias cut in, “Master...I killed that human. He was about to kill me but he was still...still...he wasn’t Vong. I reacted and he was dead before I knew it. And...I...” Tobias sighed, the images coming back into his head and causing him to lose his voice for a moment, “How can I...how can anyone...kill people. How can you kill and call yourself a Jedi?”

Slowly, the Jedi Master began to smile. This worried Tobias for some reason, as did Master Ral’s quiet voice when he responded, “Toby, that is something that many Jedi never ask. Those that do are usually much older than you. It’s a good question.. We are protectors, guardians of peace, yet we always carry a weapon and are trained to use it. It is a contradiction that is a vital part of being a Jedi and something you have to learn to understand on your own. Lethal force, or any force for that matter, should be the last resort of a Jedi Knight, but that is a lofty goal that is unrealistic in the galaxy we live in.”

When Master Ral stopped speaking, Tobias just stared at him. He opened his mouth, then stopped, and his face started to shift to show a sudden annoyance, “That’s...that’s not an answer!”

The fact that Master Ral actually laughed quietly at that didn’t help, “No, it isn’t. Tobias, you must understand that the galaxy is not black and white. The Force is either light or dark, yes, but the rest of the galaxy is not. For that question, I do not have answer for you. However, maybe I was wrong,” he paused a moment to sit up straight and look Tobias in the eye, “I’m going to ask you something, Toby, and I want you to answer truthfully.”

That sounded worrying. But there was something else in that voice and in the Force that he couldn’t quite identify. There wasn’t much he could do but nod.

Seeing this, Master Ral asked, “Do you believe that you are ready to make choices about life and death?”

There was an answer already on the tip of his tongue, but Tobias didn’t speak it. He did as Master Ral had asked. Tobias closed his eyes and looked deep inside of himself for the answer. Pushing through the self-doubt and the egotistical thoughts that everyone had to find the truth. He took a long minute to do this, and when he opened his eyes, the answer he spoke was the same as the one he’d had before looking for it, “I’m not.”

“Do you believe you can learn how to make those choices?”

Again, Tobias took a moment to look for the answer, “Yes.”

“Do you believe you are ready to learn that?”

This took the longest. Tobias was silent for a good five minutes. In his mind, he was going back and forth. Stories of Jedi mixed with the reality he’d seen. Killing was necessary but it shouldn’t be. But shouldn’t didn’t matter. But there was always a choice. Always. And if he could make the right choices...maybe he wouldn’t have to react by killing someone again.

“I don’t know,” Tobias said finally, then quickly added, “But I want to try.”

Master Ral’s face took on a more stern look, “When life and death are in your hands trying isn’t good enough.”

Tobias was surprised by the sudden change in tone. As quickly as he could, he did his best to correct his previous words, “Then yes...yes, I believe I’m ready.”

This time, Master Ral’s face softened and he nodded, “Go to the bridge and check with the Admiral. Find out where Tokarr is in all of this and we’ll finish that piece of business before we head back to Yavin.”

 

[Krafus]

Glad to see Ral is going to be all right, as he's come to be my favorite character. And do I detect shades of Yoda's "Do, or do not; there is no try" in Ral's words to Tobias?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 502: Jedi to Jedi

They were kids...just kids. Two damned little kids with a name that made them famous. Not even Knights yet, they were on Centerpoint as the Jedi that were supposed to assist in the operation. It wasn’t their fault, directly, at least they both ended up deciding not to act and fire the weapon, but they could have stopped the one who did. Not by killing him, either, a Jedi Knight would have had that kind of experience.

But no.

No, the Solo kids were special. Despite the fact that the oldest of them was Tobias’ age and couldn’t have had the kind of experience necessary in such a situation. And now, their relative, who had fired the weapon, was being hailed a hero in the Corellian system. Sal-Solo was a monster and everyone should have known that by now but apparently that didn’t get through to people.

Venda sighed and stared at the blank holoprojector. After sending a report back to Master Skywalker on Coruscant, she’d been updated on what had happened. None of those thoughts were actually spoken out loud, that wouldn’t be polite. The kids were his nephews, anyway. It wasn’t the only thing she neglected to speak, as everything about Alraxia was carefully left out, too.

That, alone, had been an amazing work that Venda felt she deserved a medal for. While she didn’t actually lie to Skywalker, slipping any untruth past the Grand Master of the Jedi Order wasn’t exactly easy, or something Venda liked to do. But she was keeping her word about staying silent about Alraxia.

The hardest part about it was that she truly wanted to tell him about the Jendari. While Venda had only interacted with Master Skywalker in delivering reports and receiving missions, he had given her some very helpful advice through the years. On the Jendari, she really felt the need for it. It was bothering her more and more as Vend ahad time to think about it.

The problem of it that was eating at her wasn’t that they knew where to send her, or the fact that she’d need to be there to find Tobias and Corentan...it was that the entirety of that relied on her looking at the message in time to change course and get to Fondor quickly. And that was the crux of it, she had. Venda had looked at the cryptic message and figured it out at just the first time to drop out of hyperspace and change course. Any later, and she likely couldn’t have even safely dropped out of hyperspace. Sooner...and she’d have been caught in the battle or, worse, Centerpoint’s attack.

It meant that the Jendari knew exactly when Venda would look at it, and exactly how she would react. Venda was not very good at looking into the future, herself. She could see a few moments off, maybe slightly farther, but it was always hard to make sense of and never at all specific. From what she knew, there were some Jedi that were skilled enough to look days, or more, into the future...but it was never definite or, from what she was told, extremely accurate. But the Jendari had to have known the exact moment and exactly what she was going to do. For them to know that, despite the difficulties of the future always changing and shifting, almost worried Venda.

It would have helped if Master Skywalker had needed her to do something, but he hadn’t which meant Venda was on her own again. She liked having a specific task to accomplish, especially when her mind was latching onto thoughts that were distracting her.

Thankfully, her thoughts were ended by a ripple in the Force. It was familiar, and strong enough that she could identify it without too much trouble. Corentan was conscious again. Deciding she needed to figure out what she was going to do next, Venda got to her feet and left the small galley she had been wasting time in to head for the medical ward where the Jedi Master had been taken.

Venda found the Omwati sitting up and meditating, the Force flowing off of him strongly. He was healing himself. But when she took a few steps into the room, the feeling ended and he opened his eyes. Slowly, the Force withdrew from around him and he nodded to her, speaking in a voice that was weaker than she was used to hearing from him, “Tobias told me what happened. You have my thanks.”

Thank the Jendari.

“How are you feeling?” Venda kept her thoughts to herself.

Corentan took a deep breath and shook his head, “Its been a long time since I’ve had to use my lightsaber. This has taught me the lesson to stay in practice.”

Even though his voice remained rather flat, Venda could sense it was a subtle joke, and so she smiled, “A few scars are nothing to worry about. Besides, it seems to me that you’ve done a good job with Tobias.”

“He is learning,” Corentan nodded, “But he still has a great deal more to learn.”

“We all do,” Venda said with a shrug, then decided to cut the small talk and ask a question, “Where are you headed to next?”

For a few moments, the Jedi Master remained silent. After some of the New Republic medics passed by, he spoke up again, “Did you ever meet my first apprentice?”

Venda quickly reached through her memories, latched onto one, then asked, “The Miraluka? Once, yes.”

“Tobias and I came here looking for him,” Corentan was keeping his voice somewhat lower now, obviously not wanting everyone around them to hear, “Tokarr was...he is skirting a dangerous line. Speaking with him before the battle only proved this and he got into a fight with Tobias when I wasn’t there. And now...well, I can no longer feel him here on the ship where he should be. I would know if he was killed, instead he simply not here.”

It wasn’t hard for Venda to connect the dots that were being placed in front of her, “You think he slipped away during the battle.”

“I’m sure of it,” the Omwati nodded, “He is close to crossing the line, if he hasn’t already. He can’t just run free with the galaxy as it is...or something like what happened here will happen again.”

Corentan couldn’t know that the Solo kids were involved with Centerpoint. He was unconscious. But Venda wasn’t about to think that this Jedi Master didn’t feel that some Jedi was involved. She couldn’t sense it, but then again, Venda still found herself overwhelmed with the shadow of the deaths.

That was when the Jedi Master added, “It is going to be days before I am in any shape to chase after Tokarr. With that kind of time, he could easily disappear.”

“You want me to go after him instead,” Venda had always been good at reading people, and having the Force to assist made her instincts even more reliable.

“And take Tobias with you.”

Okay, so sometimes her instincts were completely off or missed something important, “Buh...I’m just a Knight.”

“And I am just a diplomat,” the Jedi Master smiled, “Tobias can learn a great deal from you...besides, if I remember correctly, you are very good at finding people.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Glad to see Ral is going to be all right, as he's come to be my favorite character. And do I detect shades of Yoda's "Do, or do not; there is no try" in Ral's words to Tobias?

Me? Hint at things that have happened in the movies?

Now, sir, you must be crazy.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 503: Breaking and Entering

“Why are they still shooting at us?!” Marix growled as she was thrown into the bulkhead near Loki’s hatch.

[You told me to stop fighting!] Loki sounded furious. [Apparently they took that as an invitation to take free shots!]

“Well...” Marix trailed off angrily, sighed and looked to the hatch. It seemed like she was always boarding ships one way or another. But that was where her skill was. Marix could only do so much piloting, and right now she needed to find a way to stop these Mrrakesh, or at least delay them for long enough to give the Jendari time to arrive. So, Marix attempted a different question, “How close are we?”

[There’s no hangar that I can see. But...I think there’s a docking tube or something similar extending.] Loki paused, made an odd mental sound as they rocked from another hit. [A few more minutes, probably.]

Despite the beating they were taking that was making it hard to stand, Marix forced herself upright and looked to the hatch in front of her. Out of annoyance, she grabbed the neckline of the armour she was wearing and had to tug it to the side and back into place. The old Tam’Day’U armour she used to wear didn’t fit anymore, so she had this new...thing. It was what the Knights had, but a black colour that she preferred and lighter so she could move. Really, it was just padding over the skintight morphsuit, and she didn’t need it that badly, but not having to remorph wounds wasn’t a bad thing.

While she was ready with claws, her left arm had a knife sheath on it. It wasn’t the vibroblade, that was back on Alraxia in a dead Mrrakesh still. Instead, it was one of the weapons that had been in her room in the Palace for years. Finely crafted metal, it was sized for an Alraxian and more a short sword than a knife. She’d never actually gotten a chance to use the thing. And then there was the weapon on her right arm, just underneath and causing her to actually have to pay attention to it. It didn’t weigh much, but it was enough to be a change. It was a very small, but also very effective wrist blaster. This, she’d used before, a lifetime ago.

[Marix.]

Her thoughts returned to the moment, and Marix realized that Loki’s voice was suddenly different than before. For some reason, it worried her, “What is it, Loki?”

[You were...you were right, actually...] he sounded nervous!

Curious, now, Marix decided a careful approach was needed, “I believe I am right on most things. But enlighten me...what, exactly, was I correct on this time?”

[There was...this...female...] the ship trailed off pathetically.

Slowly, Marix began to grin. It soon became a wide smile the likes of which very rarely crossed her face. But then she realized something and it suddenly caused her moods to completely reverse. Despite this, Marix managed to keep her voice even, “Loki...are you hurt?”

There was no silence in the pause. Instead, there was a loud mechanical sound that echoed through the entire hull of Loki, originating from the hatch in front of Marix. They were coming in...

[What if we don’t come back this time?] Loki’s voice was almost a whisper in her mind as she could hear the sounds of cutting at the hatch. Through the Force, she could feel the shocks of pain from Loki.

“We always come back, Loki,” Marix said as reassuringly as she could, adopting a simple readied stance and hating this. She could open it herself and spare Loki the pain, but she needed that short moment she’d have when it opened to attack. It wouldn’t be much, but it was something.

And then, Loki had to say the one thing she didn’t want to hear. [Not always...I...I thought we always did but...Jryen didn’t come back...]

The worst part is she had no time to say anything in response. There was an odd, orange spark from the hatch, a liquid that wasn’t exactly blood seeped out before solidifying. A metal blade came through, and then the hatch collapsed in on itself.

Marix didn’t wait to see anything. Extending her right arm, she tensed a single muscle in her wrist and fired the blaster. The small, blue bolt of energy shot into the suddenly-visible docking tube and caught the first Mrrakesh in the face, sending him back into two more and blocking the path. She was right behind the shot, drawing the blade from her other arm and charging in.

Pouncing on the first Mrrakesh, she finished the job by driving the blade deep into the Mrrakesh’s neck. But then the weight shifted as the two Mrrakesh under their now-dead companion forced the body aside. But Marix was already moving, pushing up off of the body and slashing with the blade. The force of the swing took off the wrist of another Mrrakesh who was trying to grab her with a free hand, and she immediately twisted back to avoid a swing of a large sword from the other.

Still bent back, Marix tensed the same muscle as before, and another blue blaster bolt shot out, hitting one of the two Mrrakesh in the upper chest and burning straight through the armour he wore. There was no time to finish that one, though, as she returned to an upright position, the currently one-armed Mrrakesh was swinging its own sword to take her head off.

Marix shifted as best she could to plant her feet and parried the strike with her own blade just over her right shoulder. There was a loud pang of metal clashing with metal, and then an ear piercing screech as the stronger Mrrakesh slid his blade down more and more to the point where it would go right below the tip of her’s and into her neck.

But Marix wasn’t going to let that happen. Her left hand now had claws extended and she wasted no time in slashing them across the Mrrakesh’s face. It wasn’t fatal, but it served the purpose of causing the Mrrakesh to lose his grip on the sword in his only hand. With that, Marix did finish him off, twisting her blade around and then simply driving it straight into his throat as with the other. It was best way to make sure they stayed down, and was also the only part of their bodies that was completely unarmoured.

When he dropped with a thud, Marix looked up to see...no one else.

Only three.

They obviously didn’t know what they’d grabbed.

Good.

Very quickly, she looked at Loki’s very badly damaged hatch. She’d never seen him hurt that badly before. Firmly, Marix spoke up, “Loki, seal of whatever you can and get out of here as soon as you’re free.”

[I’m not leaving without you.] he spoke just as firmly and sounded as stubborn as a little child.

“Yes, you are,” that was stated in the distinct tones of the Empress, not Marix, “You get out there and shoot as many of them down as you can. Keep them off of our home.”

[I won’t leave.] Loki obviously didn’t care who was giving the order, he was going to remain stubborn.

Marix looked over her shoulder to the other end of the docking tube. It was still closed. That likely wouldn’t last much longer. There wasn’t time for this...so time to say something important that she’d put off for a long time.

[Loki...] she shifted to a different form of ‘speaking’ mainly because she was already heading over to the rest of the Mrraskesh ship and preparing to find a way to open their hatch. [You won’t live long if you sit here stuck to a Mrrakesh cruiser. You get off of this thing the second you feel the tractor beam is gone and you do whatever you have to out there. But you stay alive and you don’t do anything stupid like I know you want to. If I don’t survive this, you have to...] she paused a moment, mainly due to finding a switch to open the hatch and then finding it was locked. [You’re the only one I trust to pair each of the twins with a Kanyak as loyal and as strong as you.]