NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2279532" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 223: First LegThe ship did have a hangar. Or at least...what went for a hangar when it came to Kanyaks. Truthfully, it looked nothing like what Jyren was used to. The only similarity was a large amount of smaller ships scattered about and the fact that he could see a star field out beyond. There were six small ships there...all of which Jyren assumed to be younger Kanyaks. But they all looked so very different it was hard to tell if they were even the same species or not.    But he was sure they were alive. He could feel them through the Force. It was...still something that took getting used to. But most of them felt dimmed. Not dead, no, but...almost asleep. Probably asleep. If Kanyak’s slept. He hadn’t known Loki long enough to actually ask that question.    Loki...    No, don’t think about that. Focus. Focus.    After a deep breath, Jyren stepped into the hangar itself and walked past the ships, allowing the Force to guide his steps as he really had no idea where to go. There was no one else in the hangar...likely due to the events that had happened barely ten minutes earlier. The entire Empire would likely be in a state of shock for the next...next...probably a long time. Especially if he screwed this up or Ket killed Shadow before he got close enough to do anything.    And then he noticed something. One of the Kanyak’s mind’s was whirring at the speed of light. Immediately, it reminded Jyren of how Toby’s mind felt most of the time. Darting from place to place with no real destination other than somewhere that wasn’t where it currently was. Finding the source of it was easy, as his eyes followed the feeling straight to a very small looking, slightly blue-grey coloured Kanyak. It was probably no bigger than an X-Wing. Maybe even a little smaller...like a miniature Mon Calamari cruiser, really.    Stepping over to it, he decided that there was only one thing he could think of doing, “Hello?”    The wild thoughts suddenly found a focus. Jyren. He could almost hear a little dancing voice in the vague speech that found its way into his mind through the Force. [Hellooooo!! Who are yooooouuu?]    Somewhat surprised by the sing-song, slightly feminine voice, Jyren didn’t know what to say for a moment. His mind quickly came to the conclusion that this was child...probably around the equivalent of Toby’s age. It was worrying. Worrying...but at the moment, it seemed like he was stuck with it, “My name is Jyren. I need to go somewhere but don’t know exactly where it is.”    [Jyren!] the ship echoed his name, obviously trying it out rather than recognizing it. [I take you!! No other faster than meeee! They all old and sleeeeeeping!!]    Jyren somehow found himself envisioning a small child motioning to a group of adults while dancing around a new toy. That was oddly appropriate for the current situation, to be honest. But he found himself waving a hand and shaking his head(hoping that the ship could actually see that), “I’d love for you to take me where I need to go, but I don’t even know where that is. Unless you know anything about a metal ship.”    Pause. Silence. Then, starting softly, the little ship’s voice returned. [I know ooooold ones all says I no allowed go to one place. They say something about metal...maybe that what you look for?]    Jyren opened his mouth, but never got a chance to answer. Instead, the ship answered for him. [It is! It is!! I know where they no want me go! I take you! It be fuuun! And no take long because I fastestest!]    A small access ‘hatch’ irised open on the ship, and Jyren could see in straight to what looked like the cockpit. So it definitely was a small ship. Part of him was trying to be rational...saying that this ship was likely dangerous. Jyren liked Toby, but he wouldn’t dare entrust his life to the little kid at this point. And he felt like he was doing something eerily close by stepping towards the small Kanyak.     But rational thought wasn’t getting very far anymore. This ship knew where his X-Wing probably was. With his X-Wing, he could get back to the Capital. There, he could get Shadow. After that...it didn’t matter. Maybe he should deal with Ket then and there...but Jyren was actually surprised with himself that he wasn’t even thinking about that. He was actually putting that off until later. Maybe even days later. The priority was to get Shadow. Both his and her life depended on that...as did most of the Empire, knowing their luck.     And he’d made promises. Not only to Toby, but to Shadow’s parents. Now, there was only one way to honour them. He had to get Shadow off of that planet alive. Anything after that could be dealt with when it came up.    So he walked into the ship, and had a seat in the only chair within the cockpit...a miniature version of what he’d seen in both Loki and Hermes. Once he’d sat down, restraining straps latched across him and he noticed the ship was already moving. At the same time, Jyren could hear a humming sound in his head. The ship was humming! Suddenly, this looked like a bad idea all over again...but they were out of the hangar now, and shooting off to the stars.    “How long will it be until we get to this place?” Jyren asked, hoping that it wouldn’t be anywhere close to even an hour.    The humming paused a moment. [Not long! I fastest! Minutes! Minutes minutes!]    The ship then went on to make a song out of that. Jyren couldn’t help but grin slightly, and sat back as he noticed that there was actually a planet nearby. Not only that, but multiple other Kanyaks of various shapes and sizes littered space. It hadn’t been a star field he’d seen...it had been a field of starships. Probably every single ship that had left the Capital was here. It was a fleet like he’d not seen since that assault on Coruscant all those years ago...and this wasn’t a war fleet.    Amazingly was the only word he could find. Every single ship was unique, even more so than the great Mon Calamari cruisers they so resembled. But the Kanyak’s were no only unique in shape, size, and colour. Jyren could also feel a soft presence from each of them, just like he could feel from every living creature. And all of them were just slightly different. Add to that the thousands of Alraxians aboard all of the ships and the dead of space was overflowing with a feeling of life.    Pained, lost, and panicked life, yes...but life was life.     They were descending down towards a yellow-green planet. No...no, they were descending towards a small, grey moon that was just off to the left of the planet. And they were moving fast. Though he sat in silence, the ship continued its little singing and humming to itself, which kept Jyren oddly entertained.    And then the moon was close enough that he could see the mostly dead surface. Not far from the horizon was a series of structures that was distinctly Alraxian. Though they were domed, it still retained the look of a planet of some sort, and gave off a feeling of life on the dead moon. It was only a few moments before they were setting down in a gigantic hangar, with even more Kanyaks all over the place. [We heeeere!!]    The straps over him let go, allowing Jyren to get to his feet, “Thank you for the ride.”    [Uh-huuuh...] this time, he noted the voice of the ship was trailing off in an almost yawn. It didn’t say anything else, and by the time Jyren had exited the ship, it was now a dimmed, sleeping presence in the Force.     Again, Jyren smiled, and patted the ship gently, “Good night.”    With a deep breath, he turned to take in the sights of the place. No metal in sight. So it wasn’t this hangar. That was a start. But from the look of the place he’d gotten from the outside...it was comparable to the gigantic Palace. This could take a very long time finding just one ship. So, Jyren decided to attempt a different means of tracking down if the X-Wing was even where he now was. He reached out with the Force to find the presence of an Alraxian. Latching onto it, he started a makeshift hunt. An Alraxian here would surely know of something made of metal.    Hopefully.    If not...and if the ship wasn’t even here, Jyren had a feeling that coming here would be his last mistake.((Oh, and on the note of Toby...I don't believe it was mentioned straightforward who his father/mother was, but it was hinted and vaguely poked at since Ket made his appearance.))</blockquote>

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