Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 504: Coming and Going

Before he could get to the hangar and to his X-Wing, Rulae had been ordered to report to the bridge of the Gemstar. Technically, they were supposed to leave for another five minutes, but it bothered him. But even if Rulae had reservations about it, there was a hierarchy to follow. So even though he had to finish getting into his flightsuit on the way, Rulae made his way to the bridge as quickly as he could.

It was, as always, a chaotic place. Mon Calamari crewmen moved here and there, checking sensor panels and probably working out damage reports and repairs. Rulae navigated through them, finding it rather easy as he was a good head taller than most of them, though he probably stuck out...an orange and blue figure moving amongst the bright white and dulled, rusty reds of most of the Mon Calamari.

In the center of the oval shaped bridge was a chair where the Captain sat. The Mon Calamari captain got to his feet and simply nodded his head to Rulae as the Duros saluted, then said in a gravely voice as he offered a datapad, “I know you’re on a tight schedule, Commodore, but the Marines dug up a bit more information for you.”

“Sir?” Rulae took the datapad and glanced at it, though he didn’t really look to the information on it.

A finned hand motioned at the datapad, “It seems that our killer had some medical knowledge of his own. That datapad contains information found in his quarters. Apparently, he was very interested in bacta.”

This time, Rulae looked down at the datapad and gave it an actual look. There were various files listed, all of which had something to do with bacta, but Rulae quickly noticed that many of them were more slanted towards some kind of odd research. Looking back up to the Captain, he asked, “What does this all mean, sir?”

“No one is sure,” the Captain let out an audible, though slightly watery, sigh, “I would recommend you look over as much of it as you can while on your way to Thyferra. The medical technicians that had a chance to look at this became immediately, worried, however. They seem to think this man was interested in changing the chemicals within bacta to use it as a weapon.”

Rulae’s small mouth opened slightly, but he could find no words. Even though it still didn’t really make sense and there were definitely pieces missing, that was terrifying. Bacta was used everywhere in the galaxy. It was probably the most important medical resource in the galaxy, and without it millions would die, especially during a war.

But turning it into a weapon?

The logical thought was that it would be used against the Vong, but that just didn’t make sense. The Vong didn’t give a damn about bacta! Was this man insane? Doing this to bacta would likely harm innocent civilians!

“Commodore...I expect you should get to your ship.”

No longer distracted, Rulae nodded, managed a weak salute, and said, “Yes, sir...thank you, sir.”

He then turned to leave, his mind cluttered with hundreds of worries about this. One of the more important ones being the fact that they were fighter pilots, not security. But then again, Rulae had seen some action on the ground on Gyndine and they were technically all trained for various situations. And really, three pilots did not a squadron make.

And then, as he was walking through the main corridor to the turbolift, Rulae passed a young looking human that caught his attention. He had scruffy looking, unkempt black hair that concealed features that Rulae could identify as young for a human. The young man wasn’t in uniform, and instead wore a dark coloured tunic that was torn and had blood stains on it, which trousers in about as bad a shape. And there was no blaster on his belt like most everyone else, but instead a long, cylindrical metal object.

They walked past one another without a word, but Rulae was kicking himself inside. He’d seen that human before and it was...important! No, not just a human...a...kid...

“Tobias?” the word wasn’t a question directed at the human, but more Rulae outwardly trying to remember the name.

Rulae looked over his shoulder to see the young human stop, turn around, and look confused. Yes, that was it! Tobias was just standing there, staring at the Duros in confusion, but Rulae had it now, “That was right, yes? You’re Tobias?”

“Um...” the human bit his lip, and managed to look confused in a way that looked just like Jyren, “...yes?”

“You’re Jyren’s son,” Rulae hoped that would help, but the kid was just looking more confused, so he quickly added, “I flew with your father. Rulae Nok...remember?”

Tobias leaned forward as if to look closer, then his eyes widened just slightly and he nodded, “You were...were there at the Gateway.”

The words sounded shaky.

“I apologize,” Rulae attempted to end that memory right away. The poor kid didn’t need to be reminded of that. But it did bring up an important thought, “What are you doing out here? And what happened to you?”

“I...” Tobias mumbled nothing then looked down at the state of his clothes and managed a weak shrug, “I was...was on a Vong ship. We tried to save people but...but then everything just died.”

On a Vong ship?!

Jyren was dead, and his son was out here at Fondor and he had been on a Vong ship?!

Wait. He’d said ‘we’.

Rulae latched onto that, “Who the hell brought you out here? I thought you were going back with your mother.”

Tobias looked down at the deck, mumbled another something that Rulae couldn’t hear, then looked back up and said more clearly, “I’m...I was...I’m training to be a Jedi. We went to the ship to get people off but we couldn’t.”

A Jedi? That explained the weapon at his hip. But it really ate at Rulae. Jyren...Akan...Raan...whatever his real name was, the man had been Rulae’s good friend. They shared a connection through the first incarnation of Zephyr Squadron that was unlike anything else. Seeing his friend alive after a decade where Rulae was sure he was dead was amazing...but now he was dead. Jyren was dead and he left a family behind...and Rulae felt strangely protective of that family.

Having Jyren’s son out on the front lines of a dangerous war went completely against that. And yet, Rulae couldn’t bring himself to tell that to Tobias. He just looked at the kid and saw Jyren in him. It was in the way he stood there, slightly lost but oblivious to any injuries of his own. Even in the way he’d spoke, nervous and confused, yes, but Tobias hadn’t said a word about himself, just about the other people.

And so, Rulae found himself speaking words completely against his original thoughts, “Tobias, I apologize for this being so brief but I have to leave. I know you barely know me, and I only know you through the stories your father told me...but I want you to be careful. The last thing he would want is for you to get yourself hurt, too...” the words hung in the empty corridor for a moment, then Rulae slowly said, “But if I knew him as well as I’m sure I did...I know if he could see you like this, he would be very proud of you.”

“T-thank you...” Tobias trailed off, then, as Rulae was turning to head to the turbolift, spoke up again suddenly, “Wait, Rulae! Anything Jy....anything my father told you about me was greatly exaggerated and probably a lie meant to embarrass me at a later time, you know that, right?”

Rulae grinned, though it wasn’t very big considering his mouth was rather small, “You come track me down sometime and tell me the other side of those stories.”

With a polite nod, Rulae then turned and headed as quickly as he could manage to the turbolift. Tobias was a good kid, and Rulae wished he had more time to figure more out about him...but it would have to wait. But he was glad to know that he’d at least left the kid with a smile on his face rather than the beat up look that was there when they’d first run past one another. The last thing Tobias needed was to have his father’s ability to mope.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 505: Of Philosphy

One day, Tobias expected that things would actually start making sense.

This was, however, something that Jyren had sworn every day of his life, and that Marix had just given up on years before Jyren would have even been born. But Toby didn’t know that, and even if he did, it might not have changed his desire for some kind of sense in the galaxy.

“He killed some medical crews and ran off towards Thyferra,” Tobias’ words were spoken in a stiff voice meant solely for reporting facts. It was hard to hold it like that, though. Not with what he’d found out about Tokarr...

“Thyferra?” Venda raised an eyebrow but only spared Tobias a glance. Her attention was on the viewport as she guided the shuttle that the Jendari had given her out of the Gemstone’s hangar. She began to plot a jump to Thyferra as a thought crossed her mind, “How did you find this out?”

Tobias sat back in the old, somewhat uncomfortable co-pilot’s chair and shrugged, “Master Ral told me to ask so I uh...went to the bridge and asked the Mon Calamari who looked to be in charge. I think I caught him off guard or something. He didn’t say much, but did mention Thyferra. Guess he was fine with telling me something when I mentioned Master Ral...”

It really had been that easy, though Tobias expected that he’d managed to catch things at the right time. Repairs were underway, as were a hundred other things he knew nothing about. When Tobias had gotten back to the medical bay, Master Ral had told him that Venda was in the hangar and he was supposed to go with her to Thyferra to bring Tokarr back. The Omwati Jedi Master ignored all questions about how he was doing, which was worrying to Tobias, and in a few short moments the young apprentice found himself being escorted to the hangar after getting lost in the huge Mon Calamari Cruiser.

And now they were in hyperspace.

“If I was a better fighter, this wouldn’t have happened,” Tobias said softly as he watched the swirling blue that was hyperspace.

Venda, who had her blonde hair down and was now sitting back trying to get comfortable, gave him a sideways look. She didn’t like the way that sounded, “What do you mean?”

Tobias turned and idly started examining the consoles next to him. Very little of them were identifiable, but it felt good to give his brain something else to think about, “I confronted Tokarr before the battle. He...he came at me swinging. I just...well...he got away, then the attack started and...and he killed those people afterwards.”

“That doesn’t make it your fault.”

Tobias then said something that surprised them both, “I know.”

When he said it, he stopped and looked forward again. Had he just...? Tobias shook his head, mind working through things. After a few long minutes of odd silence, he manage to mumble, “Guess that settles that.”

With a glance to Venda, he could see she was grinning. Eventually, the Jedi woman just said, “Seems it does.”

And then silence returned again. But it was a different kind of silence.

Very slowly, Tobias started to grin, too. He tried to fight it back for some reason, feeling like after the deaths of so many it was inappropriate to be like this but...but...

“I’ve never done that before,” he managed to say, his voice almost breaking into a laugh. Maybe he was just losing his mind.

Venda’s chair turned slightly so she could face him. The smile was still on her face, and she was in the process of pulling her hair back and out of her face again, “Better than just dragging your feet, isn’t it?”

“Huh?” there was only so much that Tobias could understand now.

She shrugged, “Saying it out loud like that. Not fighting it back in your head or trying to bury it with self pity or anything like that.”

“...huh?” Tobias was now sure he’d lost his mind. Not in the way that meant he was mad, but in the way that meant he couldn’t think and nothing made any sense to him.

“I feel it, too,” Venda waved a hand towards the viewport, “The echo of all of that death. Jedi all over the galaxy can feel that. Even for the strongest of us, it can be overpowering to the point where we question everything else that might be related. That kind of emotion can destroy us.”

Finally, Tobias managed to put a coherent thought together, “Wait...I’m lost. What are you talking about?”

Venda smiled broadly, “Not everything bad that happens is our fault, Tobias.”

“Well, of course, but...”

“No but,” she cut him off rather softly, though there was a slight edge in her voice that seemed to come from the Force, “Before we were on this ship you were blaming yourself for the deaths aboard that Vong ship, when you could have done nothing about it. And just a moment ago, whether you realize it or not, some part of you understood that and applied it to what Tokarr did.”

His mind began to put things back together, albeit slowly. No. No it wasn’t his fault. Tobias was responsible for his own actions, but the actions of others were not something he could take the blame for. Being a better fighter wouldn’t have stopped the Vong from attacking, and Tokarr may very well have still killed those medics. The important thing was that he had confronted Tokarr...he’d tried to stop him from crossing a line. It wasn’t Tobias’ fault the line was crossed. In fact, fault didn’t matter...

Sitting around just blaming himself, or anyone else, for something didn’t stop other terrible things from happening. In fact, they could just make things worse. Jyren had told him that once, though Marix had come in after and mentioned that Jyren never really followed that line of thinking. Something about him getting it but being too damned stubborn to actually apply it.

But Tobias began to understand his mother more. Action was needed. Action to stop anything else from happening. Direct action, even if it wasn’t combat, but some kind of action beyond sitting around and throwing blame that wouldn’t change a thing. He had to do something. He had to get out there and find Tokarr and do the same thing he’d done before...talk him down. If that didn’t work, he wouldn’t bring it to a fight...but Tokarr likely would.

And in that case, he would fight. He would fight because every second Tokarr was fighting him, he wasn’t harming anyone else. Tobias didn’t know it, but the pieces weren’t falling together just like he thought they were. There was a great deal of Marix’s philosophy in it, but she didn’t fight as a distraction. She moved to action as both as an offensive kind of defense, but she had no qualms with starting the fight, herself.

Somewhere, below the conscious level of Tobias’ thoughts, his brain was piecing things together very carefully. He was a Jedi...or at least, learning that path. He would not simply attack. He would not charge in first. He would stand and try everything he could before it came to a fight...then, if a fight did break out, Tobias would blend together what he’d learned from both of his parents. He would act, as Marix had always told him to do. But he would also do what she told him not to do, but was something that Tobias had always admired about his father...Tobias would not just kill Tokarr or maim him or anything to simply end the fight. He would stay on the defensive because he felt that there had to be another way to end it.

Marix’s practicality and realism blended not-so-perfectly with Jyren’s idealism and sometimes foolish hopes...and a touch of his Jedi teachings in there, too.

“Venda,” Tobias finally spoke up again, his voice much more steady again though he felt surprisingly calm, “Could you help me with...with my lightsaber technique?”

“I am no expert,” she admitted, though Tobias noted she was already getting out of her seat to leave the cockpit, “But I’ll see what I can do. C’mon.”

Of course, despite his sudden change in thinking, Tobias still had a great deal to learn.

Now, however, he knew it.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 506: Coming Back

The controls for the docking tube that was still connected to Loki were easy to find...they were on the other side of the airlock. Marix had run into no other Mrrakesh on that short trek, and quickly did her best to figure out how to work the thing. It was similar enough to the consoles and computer terminals the rest of the galaxy used, but that didn’t mean she could read Mrrakesh. So it took a few moments, but she found the right switches, hit them, and heard the mechanical sounds that indicated success.

When she looked out the viewport attached to the airlock, which was really a small slit at Mrrakesh eye-level (meaning she was on her toes to see through it), Marix could see Loki carefully drifting away. Good. He didn’t say anything but at least he’d listened. Loki wouldn’t have been stupid enough to just sit there, though, and if he was at least half as smart as she figured, he’d get into the fight and keep himself alive...while keeping close to the Mrrakesh ship she was on.

But Marix couldn’t blame him. He’d said something that had obviously been bothering him for a while and now it was starting to eat at her.

Jyren didn’t come back.

It was a reality that had far reaching consequences with both Marix and Loki. They’d always come back. Through the worst of the worst, if one of them was separated, they came back...somehow. Every single time something had gone wrong, they came back. Maybe it was luck, but Marix had never thought of it that way. It was just the way things were. They were good enough to survive.

But Jyren didn’t die because wasn’t strong or fast enough. While meant everything they had always counted on might not mean a thing anymore. For all the taunting and fun she had with Jyren about his skill, he was the only one who could keep up with her. Even the other Tam’Day’U couldn’t. And it wasn’t their link. He was just that good...despite all the idiocy, he really had been.

The thoughts were not as easily pushed away as they should have been. Marix couldn’t help but wish that her and Shadow weren’t so...the same anymore. Then, at least, she could stay focused on the job while a completely different part of her worried about everything else. But Marix was years beyond that now. Shadow was...not really gone, but at the same time, not really even there anymore. It was an odd experience, but it was inevitable. Shadow would always have been a child, and she was, essentially, Marix so it wasn’t that much of a...

Footsteps snapped her out of it.

They weren’t close, but the metal of the corridor around her made them easy for her to hear, softly echoing. Soft? That wasn’t Mrrakesh...no, no it was, but still a good ways away. Marix’s senses focused and she quickly took in the area around her. A Mrrakesh-sized corridor, wider and higher up than she was used to, it was the same boring looking metal design that the other ship she’d been on was like. The corridor also only went one direction: behind her.

So, in the interest of not remaining trapped, Marix swiftly headed out of the section she was in and began to formulate a plan as she moved. Get to the bridge. Kill the command crew. Then...then...then there shouldn’t have to be any more then. Just get to the bridge, which was, if her previous experience was correct for this ship, too, about ten decks up. A long way...

The footsteps were getting closer. In fact...

Marix looked up and found something useful. The ceiling of the corridor was actually thinner than the deck, as the bulkheads started to hit a slight inward angle just above Mrrakesh head height. Identifying a pair of protrusions that looked to house lights, she quickly jumped up, one hand grabbing onto the light’s housing. Marix didn’t need to dig claws in to take hold, and was able to pull herself up to get her other hand on the other side of the ceiling. With a few swings, she managed to pull her legs up, using the angled walls to pin herself to the ceiling as best as was possible. In her mind, Marix cursed having hair that hung down just enough to be annoying.

It had only taken a minute to reach the spot and hold herself there, but the footsteps were closer...and she could smell him. It wasn’t that it was a powerfully bad smell or something foul, but it was distinctly Mrrakesh. And that presented a problem that she had purposely put out of her mind because there was no avoiding it. Mrrakesh had much stronger senses of smell than Alraxians. If she could smell him, he could smell her.

The sounds of the footsteps had stopped, and now Marix could hear heavy breathing. Through the Force, she could feel a presence close to her, though directly pinpointing it wasn’t possible in her current situation. A very slight tremor moved through the bulkheads she was clinging to...that wasn’t damage to the ship. It was too soft, and she’d barely felt it.

Marix carefully tilted her head down to look down the corridor more. She felt the tremor in the bulkheads again and this time saw a foot and part of a leg come into view at the same time. The Mrrakesh was being careful. His steps were silent to her, and her only indication other than her eyes that he’d moved at all was that gentle tremor up the bulkheads that anyone else probably wouldn’t have even noticed.

He knew she was there. It would only take a few moments for him to pinpoint her. Mrrakesh sense of smell was stronger than their vision, and she’d heard of instances where Mrrakesh soldiers could exactly pinpoint Tam’Day’U in pitch black where they wouldn’t be able to see. She would be caught soon...

Another tremor, but this time she heard the step, too. Marix only heard it because she was listening more carefully for it. Now she could see him completely, though. In a moment he’d look up...

Marix acted.

Relaxing her leg muscles was enough to detach Marix from her hiding place. Her legs swung down, away from the Mrrakesh and putting her back to him. After barely a half second, her hands released the lights’ housing and she threw herself back towards the airlock.

By now, the Mrrakesh soldier had a weapon out...not a sword, but a large, black-plated rifle that was as big as his forearm. Marix landed, twisted her right arm around, and tensed her wrist muscle again.

Both weapons fired at roughly the same moment, their sounds mixing in the otherwise-quiet corridor. Both shots, the green blast from the Mrrakesh’ rifle and the blue from Marix’s small wrist-blaster, missed their target and left scorch marks on the bulkheads instead.

The screech of another shot from the Mrrakesh’s rifle was not met with the simple, quiet pulsing noise of Marix’s weapon, but instead of two quick steps that made gently clanging noises on the metal deckplates as Marix spun around to face the Mrrakesh completely. The green bolt of energy went straight over her left shoulder as Marix continued her motion, ducking low because Mrrakesh always aimed high due to their height. Marix also aimed high before squeezing off another shot of her own, which hit the Mrrakesh in his snout-like face and sent him to the deck with a loud crash.

Immediately, Marix ran to the body, checked to make sure he was dead, then dragged him out of the junction he had fallen into where the airlock’s corridor met with another pair of corridors going off in opposite directions. She pulled the body out of sight, checked it for anything useful, and when nothing was found, Marix moved to the junction.

Stealth was going to be impossible here. The Mrrakesh aboard would smell her before Marix could see them, most likely. That meant she had to rely on her speed. Ten decks to get to the bridge and she’d have to run the whole way...

Marix once again drew the blade sheathed on her left forearm, then shifted it to her left hand in a reverse grip. There would be no time to stop and fight. She’d have to just plow through...which was easier said than done with the Mrrakesh. Speed and size would mean everything. Being small did have its advantages, though she’d never, ever admit that thought to anyone at all.

After a quick glance down both directions showing nothing unique either way, Marix did what she did well and just made a decision. Marix went right, and she immediately broke into a run. Speed...speed and she would make it out of this.

Speed, and she would come back.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 507: Thyferra

“What kind of name is Xozhixi?” Adria grumbled as she stepped around one of the jungle trees outside of Thyferra’s capital city.

Rulae looked over his shoulder to her, glad that they had all changed out of their orange flight suits, which would have made them easy to see in the greens of the Thyferra, and now into more appropriate fatigues. Behind the red-haired human was Xozhixi, the city they had set their X-Wings down on and only spent a short amount of time in gathering information before heading out to the jungle.

“I believe it is from the native Vratix’s language,” he said eventually, having found a spot to look over the terrain ahead of them and, sadly, seeing nothing beyond the trees. He then looked over his other shoulder to Rea, who looked somewhat odd in the green fatigues with her blue skin...though he likely had the same strange mix of colours, “Anything?”

The Twi’lek was looking down at a large scanning package she had taken from her X-Wing, “A couple metal signatures not far off, but probably just bacta storage units.”

“What possessed these people to just store bacta out in the middle of the jungle and hills?” Adria asked, still sounding annoyed and obviously not liking the humid air. She took a few steps over next to Rulae and tilted her head to the side as she waited for an answer that she wasn’t going to get.

Well, not from him. Rea, on the other hand, said with a shrug, “I believe there are defenses around all of them so we should be careful,” she lowered the scanning package and looked over the half-jungle, half-grassland that extended out in front of them, “Sir, not to be difficult, but are you sure they said a ship came down near here?”

Rulae allowed himself a slow nod of his head before saying, “The local authorities said they lost a ship matching our target not long before we jumped in system. Apparently he dropped the ship low enough to duck below their scanners before he set down...somewhere.”

Adria crossed her arms over her chest, “So he could be anywhere out here. That’s a lot of ground to cover.”

“At least they said there’s nothing out here but a few Vratix settlements,” Rulae found himself being a bit more casual than usual lately. That was going to have to be corrected soon, but he couldn’t bring himself to just yet. These two were still just kids and now that Loro was gone...

“Sir,” Rea spoke up again, and he was glad she was keeping the formal tone, “About five kilometers north of us...its too small to be a bacta storage facility.”

Rulae got his bearings and turned to his left to look north. That direction was less jungle and more tall grass, though there were patches of trees here and there from what he could see, “Alright, it’s the best we’ve got so lets head that way.”

It would have been easier to take the X-Wings. But, then again, they would have been much more easily spotted. Apparently, Tokarr had not responded to the local defense fleet’s hails, avoided a starfighter compliment sent to intercept him, then managed to outmaneuver them and lose them completely. He was a better pilot than had been expected. So they were doing this much more low-tech and keeping to the ground.

Rulae had a feeling that Tokarr was off finding whatever it was he had come looking for the second he’d landed, but that wasn’t a problem. Time to search the ship and, maybe, set up an ambush for when the Miraluka returned. There was the technicality of him not returning to the ship, but that would have to be dealt with when, and if, they found the thing.

So the three of them walked through the rough terrain, keeping an eye out for anything that might mean they didn’t have to go the entire five kilometers. But all they passed was a single bacta storage unit, which was a circular building, roughly four stories high. Not far from it was a smaller building that looked like a bunker of sorts. They didn’t go close, just to be safe. It was unlikely that the people guarding the storage units were very welcoming to visitors.

“There’s our ship...” Rulae said quietly.

It had been well over an hour. Thyferra’s sun was setting on the horizon, with two of its moons already high up in the sky. It wasn’t much more comfortable, though. The direct heat of the sun was fading, but the humidity in the air remained the same, making the walk rather hard for all of them, as if they were walking through a thin wall of air the entire time. But none complained, and though there was light conversation, they mostly remained silent, focused ahead.

They had come to a section of hills with a thick jungle growing off to the east, and while many animals could be heard, they never saw any. The native wildlife seemed to be very willing to keep to themselves. The surprisingly natural area outside the planet’s capital city made it easy to spot their target.

At first, they saw simply a light, which was enough to catch attention. But, looking closer, they could see the light was reflecting off of a metal service. And once Rulae produced a pair of electrobinoculars, he got a very clear look. It was a modified Lambda-class, Imperial shuttle, except that it didn’t have three wings. The center, stationary wing was missing, but the two lower wings were folded up as they always did in the landed position, with its beak-like cockpit extending out towards the ground. The light was coming from the two floodlights on either side of the cockpit, meaning that someone was still there needing the light...or they’d left them on.

Adria lowered her own pair of electrobinoculars, “The boarding ramp looks to be down. You think he’s stupid or just careless?”

“Or overconfident,” Rea suggested helpfully.

Rulae confirmed this himself, then lowered his own electrobinoculars and stowing them back in the pack he carried with him, “Whatever the case, we need to be careful. I’ll head around and come in from the north...Adria, you move in from the west. Rea, stay here and cover us then move in from here once we’re all in position.”

“You two be careful moving around out there,” Rea said very quietly, her lekku twitching a bit. She seemed nervous, and Rulae couldn’t blame her. This didn’t feel very good. Something was off here.

“Lets move,” his voice remained stern and as it should coming from a commanding officer. He didn’t hesitate and got to his feet, glad to see Adria showing no hesitation, either. So the two of them began heading around, towards the west first so as to stay a good distance from the shuttle. By the time they were all in position, it would be completely dark.

Hopefully that would help, but Rulae had a feeling this was going to be difficult no matter what. Everything about this mission felt wrong to him. And now the shuttle found like this...easily, and with lights on. Not well hidden. It felt like a trap. It probably was a trap. Too bad the only thing they could do was walk right into it.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 508: Also Thyferra

Thyferra was even more like Alraxian than Yavin IV. From the air, Tobias could see thick jungles, a myriad of wildlife, and pockets of settlements all over the place. In fact, the entire time Venda was bringing them in to set down outside one of the larger cities, the name of which he’d not heard, Tobias had been glued to the viewport, staring down at everything like a child seeing something for the first time.

And then, after they’d landed near one the edge of one of the jungles, Tobias stepped off of the ship and was hit by the heavy wave of humidity and heat. And he smiled.

Sure, as a human, it was impossibly uncomfortable. It felt like his clothes were suddenly sticking to him, and every step was like walking through an invisible screen of water, but it was like home. If he’d had any less self control, Tobias would have gone back to his Alraxian body that second and found himself right at home. Instead, he simply turned around, headed back up the boarding ramp into the little transport, removing his jacket as he went. Tobias tossed the thing onto the co-pilot’s chair, then ran back out to see Venda rolling up her sleeves and adjusting her boots slightly.

She looked over her shoulder to see he’d discarded the heavy jacket and smiled, “Not a bad idea.”

He just shrugged and then took a moment to look around. All he could see was green. Grass, trees, planets...green everywhere. Without realizing it, he was smiling.

“Do you feel it still?” Venda asked, also giving the area a good inspecting, though not with the same happiness that had consumed Tobias.

Tobias stopped and made himself focus. Closing his eyes to drown out the wonderful view around him, Tobias clumsily began to reach out with the Force, stretching an invisible arm out and searching...

“I feel it...” he said softly, “He’s here.”

When he opened his eyes, Tobias turned and pointed towards the south, though he didn’t know it was south. It was along the edge of the forest, and so they began to follow it, with Tobias basically leading the way. There was a reason for that.

While Venda was very good at tracking people, Tobias had first hand experience with Tokarr. He knew what the Miraluka felt like in the Force...he knew what to look for. It made it so much easier to find someone if you had even a slight idea what they felt like in the Force. Otherwise, it was simply a see of life that all seemed exactly the same. So Tobias led the way, with Venda feeling it out in her own way. Truthfully, she could likely have done it on her own, but it seemed to just make sense to push Tobias to the front. Not to mention the fact that he was doing a good job of it.

“You’ve been smiling since we landed,” Venda said, eventually, “Not that it’s a bad thing, Toby, but considering the person we’re after...it does seem a bit strange.”

Tobias, at first, just shrugged. His natural inclination was to not bring up anything involving where he was from to anyone in this part of the galaxy. Marix would have been proud of that, at least. But, Tobias quickly remember it was Venda who had spoken, someone who had, apparently, recently been to Alraxia. His mind catching up to this, Tobias finally said, “This place reminds me of home.”

Venda reached up to brush a loose strand of hair out of her eyes before nodding, “It does feel a bit like Alraxia here. Make you homesick?”

Shaking his head, Tobias said simply, “I wasn’t born there.”

He wouldn’t have elaborated anymore if she’d asked, but thankfully, she didn’t. Venda had sensed something in his words and, intelligently, not pushed any further. The reason she was usually tasked to deal with people was because she could read them, and Tobias wasn’t exactly hard to. It was like he’d never learned, or thought about, hiding things. Not that Venda would pry into his thoughts...it was the feelings that were enough to tell her.

Conversation was hard with him. She’d tried it while they were sparring on board the transport, but Venda found that Tobias just didn’t seem to do very well with it. Which was odd to her. He seemed uncomfortable with most all subjects she tried to bring up. Venda couldn’t help but wonder about how he’d grown up, as he just didn’t seem to have much in the way of social skills. If she’d known Marix better, it might not have surprised Venda. But, instead, Venda simply found it a bit worrying, as Tobias was...well...she didn’t know how old he was, but he looked about sixteen, and at that age he shouldn’t just stand around staring at his feet when people talked to him.

And yet...

“Hold up a second, Toby,” she could see something now. Not far ahead, near the tree line, was a metal object. From the sky, they’d both seen multiple bacta storage units. They were large, cylindrical, and more black than silver. This looked like a starship...

Tobias had stopped to look at her and ask what she’d told him to wait for. But when he saw her looking ahead, he tried to follow her gaze...and saw the same thing. Without being prompted to, he fell back into the Force again, feeling it out and...

“He’s there,” Tobias said as he opened his eyes again. Then, he bit his lip and said quietly, “And I think he know’s we’re here.”

Venda nodded and then took the lead, moving closer to the trees to their left, “Draw yourself inward as best as you can.”

Nodding, Tobias fell into step behind her. As they moved closer, they could see the two lower wings of the ship folded up into the landed position, with one lower floodlight on, despite the fact that Thyferra’s sun was high in the air above. More importantly, the boarding ramp was down.

The closer they got, the more nervous Tobias began to feel. The last time he’d had a run in with Tokarr hadn’t been the most pleasant, and the feeling in the Force he was getting was worse than before. It was strong, focused, and very angry. But the anger was more like a laser point than an explosion. Tokarr had a plan.

“I don’t think we can talk him down,” now Tobias was whispering, despite the fact that they were still a good distance from the landed shuttle. The original plan was to talk, as Tobias knew it should be for a Jedi. Combat was never the first option. Only dive in with a lightsaber when it was the last choice left.

Venda gave him a quick glance over her shoulder, “We will still try.”

That was the sticking point for Tobias, and the part he knew Marix hated. A futile act to attempt talking down when they were bent on fighting, but that was the Jedi way...because there was always a chance. Always. A true Jedi would not make an exception to that. But still, Tobias found himself saying, “He is not likely to give us the chance to.”

The problem with Tokarr was that he had become needlessly violent. The fight that he’d gotten into with Tobias back on the ship before the battle was proof of that. He’d just irrationally attacked Tobias, and it seemed to just be going downhill from there. During the battle, he’d murdered New Republic medics and then stolen this ship. After actions like that, it was extremely doubtful he would say a word.

“They tried to stop me, too,” a voice called out. Tobias knew the voice, and knew it was Tokarr...but noted he sounded a bit...off.

Both he and Venda followed the sound to the shuttle’s boarding ramp, where Tokarr had just finished stepping down. He was wearing a grey technician’s uniform with a blaster at his belt and an object in his hand that Tobias knew had to be a lightsaber hilt. The cloth covering his empty eye sockets was still there, and it made it even more difficult to read Tokarr...ignoring the twenty meters between them.

Tokarr took a few more steps to bring him out from under the shuttle and motioned to the two Jedi, who had both stopped coming closer just in case it provoked him, “You’ve come to try the same, I assume. But you’re just like them...you don’t even understand how many lives we could save.”

“By doing what?” Venda asked. The problem both Venda and Tobias had was a lack of knowledge. They knew Tokarr had killed the medics, but not why. They knew he’d come to Thyferra, but not why...though Venda couldn’t help but wonder if bacta figured into it somehow.

“It could be our greatest weapon!” Tokarr did sound off. In fact, he felt off. Tobias was quite sure that something in the Miraluka had just switched off and caused the young man to simply snap, “The Vong wouldn’t know what was happening!”

Venda put the pieces together. What could be the greatest weapon? He was motioning around them...he had come to Thyferra...killed medics...it had to be bacta. But a weapon? Was it even possible to use bacta as a weapon? No, that didn’t matter! What did matter was...

“But the Yuuzhan Vong don’t use bacta,” she said in a calm, non-combative voice, “They see, obsessed with their wounds.”

A snarl formed on Tokarr’s face and he shook his head violently while swinging a hand in front of him, “No! You’re just like them! You don’t think! You want to just sit around and watch them kill more! I won’t let you kill more people due to inaction!”

Snap-hiss.

A blue blade sprung to life from Tokarr’s lightsaber hilt, and suddenly, the delusional young man was charging right for them. There was no time to make a witty remark about sparring on the way. Maybe Jyren would have squeezed one in, but Venda wasn’t that kind of person and Tobias was too baffled by just how...crazy Tokarr sounded. They had tried to talk, though. They had tried. And now that part was over.

Two more distinct sounds of lightsabers activating cut through the natural sounds of Thyferra’s wilderness.

 

[AKM]

First of... I apologize for butting in like this. I hate doing this. But let me explain. A friend of mine, going by the family name Lawson in many RPGs, found this and told me about it. The first thing I saw were two certain names, "Titus Voort" and "Jen Zaarin". Now, to be honest, my first reaction was "WTF!" And I thought that some halfwitted dumbass from a certain family in the Star Wars Combine (the family name starts with "T") was doing this.

But, as I read on, I saw more familiar thing. Marix. Alraxians. Hmmm... Then I had a look at Ankh-Morpork Guard's location. Florida.

I only know one person from Florida who would know about Voort, about Jen, about Marix and the Alraxians... I met him in a certain gaming clan that roamed the MS Gaming Zone many years ago. This clan used to play XvT at first, but eventually expanded into other games. Now, this clan... was named... EWOK Clan. Yep, Ewoks in X-Wings. And the guy's name was JediGoku.

Now I wonder... Does he remember old EWOK_Weasel, who later changed his name to... DarthVoort? Does he remember the short idea of a Jedi-Shadow-Sith clan?

Oh my god... the Topsiders are also still in use? I never told you, but I stole them from the German Perry Rhodan series *cough*

Anyway... if Ankh-Morpork Guard is really who I suspect him to be... Then let me just say... Holy leaping bassets! Where the hell have you been?! (more importantly, where am I) How are you?!

Well, honestly, since I just saw Landau and Hansen on the cast images... I must be right.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Holy crap, you're still alive! Its been a looooong time, hasn't it?

And yeah, its who you think it is. I've been all over, and I'm not exactly doing great. That's a big part of the reason this all happened, to get thoughts and things driving me crazy out.

But...more important...holy crap, you're alive! Please repeat that about...oh...a hundred or so times. Or more. Lots more. Gods, its been...what? 4? 5? Maybe even 6 years now? You dropped off the Earth! Then I did! And I stayed off! But...you disappeared first!

Holy crap!

Damn, man...send me a freaking message! Pick a way! AIM is JyrenB! Damn!

 

[Angcuru]

*cue warm fuzzy reunion*

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 509: The Blink of an Eye

Once, all she had known was death. Causing it, seeing it around her, and feeling like the very essence of it centered on her. First it was family, then strangers whose names she knew only for the purposes of tracking them down, then friends, something she was never supposed to have, followed by more family, and then...and then even closer family. So close that, even more than those friends, should never have been possible for her. And ever since then, it was strangers again. A cycle...a horrible cycle that wouldn’t end...

Marix ducked under the fist of a Mrrakesh twice her size, then used the Force to propel her body upward. She jumped up into his chest, dagger driving under his ribs first, and the Force helped her to push both herself and the Mrrakesh up to the ceiling of the corridor before she removed the dagger and dropped down first.

The second she landed, Marix his the ground rolling forward, and a thud behind her indicated the fallen Mrrakesh. Rolling up to her feet, Marix turned and fired a quick shot from her wrist blaster to finish off the warrior, then took off running down the corridor again.

Two more were behind her, unarmed as this one had been. She was likely passing by crew quarters from the way these Mrrakesh were unarmed and unarmoured. They’d simply caught her smell and looked outside to see if they were dreaming. The now-dead Mrrakesh had been the first to do so, and he’d managed to get in her way before she could dash past.

The other two, however, were farther behind down the section she’d already come from, and were now running to catch up. They were fast, with powerful leg muscles, but Marix was doing something that someone she knew very well had always called cheating. She was using the Force to push her faster.

One night, over a decade ago, she’d said something completely by accident. There had been a smile on her face, and she grabbed him suddenly, wrapping her arms around him in a tight, and terrifying for the sudden way it had happened, embrace. A light in her eyes that was as alien as a bath to a Hutt shined brightly as she told him she was free. She told him that everything could be different. And then, without thinking, she told him they could start a family.

Coming to a stop at a pair of large, rectangular shaped doors, Marix knew she’d found the lifts. Her eyes darted around, and then, at eye level, found a single console between the two. Thankfully, the switches and buttons looked straightforward enough, and Marix found the right switch right away, opening the left to reveal a rather boring looking lift.

She ran into the thing, hitting the nearest button just to get moving, as the two Mrrakesh were almost there. The doors slid shut, and she felt it moving. Good.

Marix then took the time to look at the console and try to figure it out. Find the bridge. Kill the commander and disable the ship from the inside. She’d done it before, and she could do it again. But by the time this lift got to its destination, they’d know, for certain, that someone was aboard that shouldn’t be. Those two Mrrakesh were the only two that had crossed her path and lived, and they would report the encounter right away most likely.

Start a family. She’d never figured out why that had been the first thing to escape. Maybe because it was normal. That had to be it. She had been freed, and that meant she could be like everyone else. And everyone started a family at some point or another...at least, that was what she figured people were supposed to do. Her experience with that was limited, to say the least.

A normal life. Looking back, she should have known that was impossible. All of the contradictions within her made it so hard to even bring her close to normal, and then putting her along with someone like Jyren? There was just no way. But back then...back then it felt possible. She could just settle down somewhere away from all of it with him right there the whole time, and they could start a family and just live quietly for the rest of their lives.

That was what people were supposed to do.

The lift came to a sudden, but not unexpected, halt. Marix steadied herself as best she could from the somewhat violent stop, and immediately noted that the door hadn’t opened. Of course that was going to happen. Marix looked up to see no hatch or any clear way to open the top of the lift. Then, just to make sure, she looked down. No...still nothing. Hm.

And that was when the lift started moving again.

Marix’s brain put the pieces together right away and she knew what was coming. Stop the lift in an empty area for long enough to decide on a good place to send it to, and then have the troops there to blast whatever was there when the door opened. Looking up again, she figured it wouldn’t be too hard to get up there and avoid the initial volley of fire, but it wouldn’t last long. With no where to go or hide in beyond clinging to the ceiling, which only a being of her small size could do, the Mrrakesh would know exactly where to look.

Not that she wasn’t going to do it. In fact, she was pulling herself up as her mind worked out the rest of the situation. It always came down to one important question though. How many Mrrakesh would there be?

The two she had escaped would have reported the death of one of their comrades. That meant it would be at least four. Three hadn’t been enough to stop her and the Mrrakesh would simply overstep the already proven minimum, even if the circumstances hadn’t amounted to a straight fight. So at least four...but what was the upper end? Only about two average sized Mrrakesh could stand side by side in their corridors. Four would mean they’d have to shoot over one another...two could charge in, two could stand back. Six meant two to charge in, two for the middle ground, and two more as a just-in-case measure. Considering how far she’d gotten, they’d likely be working on the upper end.

So six made sense. Plan for that and work from there. But that did present an important question. How many could she fight at once and survive? Two, definitely. Four, probably. Six...six would be pushing it. But if she was fast, if she was at her best, Marix knew she could do it. Despite how far she’d gotten, to the Mrrakesh, she was still just an Alraxian. She wasn’t the Empress, and she certainly wasn’t any good at fighting...just at running. That gave her at least a few seconds worth of an advantage. Long enough to drop two of them, maybe three.

Normal. That was normal. Life and death...weighing how much she could survive. It wasn’t odds, it was just...reality. That was supposed to have changed. Mothers weren’t supposed to be so focused on killing other beings. They were supposed to...to help the father raise the children. To enjoy the connection with the children in a way their father never could understand. To raise her daughter to be a strong Empress without forcing her to fight.

Eleven standard years. It had been like that for eleven standard years. But to an Alraxian, that was nothing. A species that lived centuries saw a decade pass in a blink. And when she’d opened her eyes to see the world again, Marix saw the Vong come into the galaxy and push the Mrrakesh across the border. They would have come eventually, but likely not that soon. And then it was back to what she and Jyren considered normal...fighting. Fighting and killing.

But it was different. It was one thing to be young and a fighter, back to back and making short quips about the other’s relative sanity. It was something else entirely, though, to be young, face to face, and with children to protect. At the same time it was so much easier and yet so much harder to fight. Maybe normal had found a way to hang onto her for once...

When she’d blinked again, Marix opened her eyes and there was no one in front of her anymore. Normal had lost its grip again, and Jyren had gone with it. And ever since then...

The lift stopped, and Marix had to dig her claws into the metal to keep from falling. The sound of the door opened was drowned out by a flurry of green laser fire, which completely covered the section of the lift below her. Thank the Force the lift was a half meter larger than the door. The weapons fire stopped as they attackers realized they had no target, and Marix heard metal sounds that indicated blades being drawn.

She let go and dropped to her feet, morphing as she fell. In a flash, a metal Alraxian was face to face with two large Mrrakesh soldiers coming at her with blades the size of her arm. But more important, the droid-like-Alraxian’s empty eyes looked past the two nearest attackers...

And they saw seven other Mrrakesh.

 

[AKM]

Yes, it is I! Behold mortals... I come to you to tell you about the light of truth, the light of the penguins!

Anyway...

If my conn ever stops crapping out on me for no real good reason (except for some idiotic tech from Telekom Austria, who damaged one of the cables in the wall on Tuesday while checking them) I shall pop up in AIM and stuff... But, as it is, AIM, atm, is crapping out every 5 minutes, thanks to having a 6 mbit connection that currently only gives me not even 1 mbit... thanks to our Telekom... (can't even update my anti-virus, servers in Germany, without timing out) The urge to kill is rising...

BTW... I do agree with one thing... Voort would have had an English accent. Definitely. Yes, I know, all the Imps have English accents in SW, but still. Can't see him with an American accent. That just wouldn't work.

Ah... memories...

EDIT: Funny to see all this old stuff again. And yes, there have been changes (we did drop on Arrakis (yes, Dune) for example instead of Arranis, we did find out that Coruscant used to be Earth (yes, our earth) at one point, stuff like that). But I actually like the changes. It fits. Heck, some of this stuff is 6 or even 7 years old. I'm old...

Voort later, in other games, used a white double-bladed saber. These days, ever since KOTOR, my Jedi and Sith (if they are my main character) use purple sabers. I wonder... how Yae would handle the conflicts in this one. Or worse... Nori... oiiiiiiii... that's a scary thought.