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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2914974" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 339In many ways, Yavin IV was a lot like Alraxia. The temperature was warm, it was very humid by Human standards, and the thick jungles that covered the entire surface made it so much like the Alraxian homeworld that the only way to tell the difference was the lack of extremely dangerous predators. Well, that and the only buildings were pretty much ruins, where Alraxia at least had the Palace and its surrounding area that was enclosed in the large shield to protect the city from the predators of the planet.    As Loki set down in the small clearing in front of the Great Temple that served as the main building for the Jedi Academy, Marix carefully watched the approach of a few New Republic troops in addition to the Jedi that were coming to greet them. She sighed and glanced to Jyren, “It would probably be a good idea to not tell them that Loki is alive.”    “Agreed,” he nodded and then patted the bulkhead next to him, “I get the feeling that they wouldn’t take too kindly to that idea. It feels tense enough out there, probably best not to add anything we don’t have to.”    Just as he was speaking, Marix was acting accordingly. It took barely a second, but soon she was considerably shorter, and there was a definite lack of tail also...and lack of stripe. In fact, she was Human. The same she’d always looked as a Human: relatively short, with short, straight, jet-black hair and a small build. After giving him a long, slow look that was just as effective in any form(as somehow, her eyes seemed to actually grow more piercing as a Human) Jyren gave in and followed suit. It was...strange to be Human again, really. While he knew his Alraxian body had changed, even if it was really just the length of his hair, the morphs were always the same...unless, of course, effort was thrown in.    But because that little extra effort was, technically, unnecessary it wasn’t used...and that meant Jyren looked exactly the same he had close to eleven years earlier. Thankfully, it wasn’t such a young look that people would get suspicious. He had been at the right age to be able to look like that for a long time and get away with it without much more than a careful look from a few people.    “I guess I get to do the talking this time,” Jyren mumbled as he followed her out of the cockpit.    Marix glanced over her shoulder and smiled, “For once. Just don’t get us killed.”    “I never do that on purpose, thank you,” he grumbled while they rounded a corner in the corridor to the hatch.    “Of course not,” she rolled her eyes as she spoke while reaching over to hit the switch to open the hatch, “It just happens that you have a way of getting people to shoot at you before you say ‘hello’.”    Jyren grinned and shrugged, “What can I say? A special talent of mine.”    And the conversation ended there. Not that much else needed to be said...it was nothing new. If it went on much longer it would end up in something that most people would call a brawl, but Marix and Jyren had a habit of calling ‘fun’. They never really meant to cause harm...but if the other didn’t move fast enough...    “This is not exactly the best time for visiting,” the thoughts were cut off by the strong voice of Kam Solusar. He was one of the Jedi that Jyren remember very clearly...and, truthfully, was hard to forget. He was tall, strong, and despite probably being close to middle-aged, didn’t look it one bit. He wore simple robes that most of the Jedi seemed to have adopted over the years and had his arms folded across his chest.    Jyren stepped up next to Marix and found that he had to look up slightly to be eye to eye with the Jedi...which was a good way to avoid the six New Republic troopers that were eyeing them closely, “I assume you greeting me like this means that Skywalker isn’t here.”    Solusar raised an eyebrow but shook his head, “If I’d known it was you I’d have brought more, actually. And no, Master Skywalker isn’t here but it has nothing to do with this security.”    “Right,” Jyren added just enough sarcasm to show he wasn’t happy, which was, of course, nothing new. But then he changed to a more casual tone, “I’m not here for another fight, if that’s what you’re worried about.”    The Jedi’s eyes darted down for a moment to the lightsaber on Jyren’s belt, but then back up to his eyes, obviously trying to read him. This became even more apparent when Jyren felt a slight brush in the Force, which he did his best to push back...too much of that and the strong connection he had with Marix might be noticed. That was just one of those things that both he and Marix knew was best to avoid. Sure, they could explain it off with as the Force, but it wasn’t and that could be easily noticed if looked at just a little more carefully.    The moment passed, and the Jedi then asked, “Then what are you doing here?”    Jyren glanced to Marix for a moment, then back to Solusar, “We need a safe place to stay for a couple of days.”    Such a simple request, but the tension in the air still remained. After another long check through the Force, Kam asked, “Forgive me for being surprised that you’d come here.”    This time it was Marix who spoke up, now annoyed with the hidden meanings being passed back and forth without anyone getting directly to the point, “You can just say ‘no’ and we’ll find somewhere else.”    There was a certain tone to that sentence that put a wave of silence over the area. After finally seeming to notice that she was even there, Kam sighed and shook his head, “You came here because you knew we wouldn’t say that.”    “See?” Marix sighed back, “Simple as that.”    Now fully turning to face her, the Jedi looked down to find her staring right back with much more intensity than should have been possible. It actually got a slight smile to his face, “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”    “And if that’s an attempt to get more information out of us then I’d suggest giving up right now,” she rolled her eyes and glanced over to Jyren. He was actually grinning now, which didn’t exactly help things. But that was Jyren, of course...never helping. She then looked back to the Jedi and added, “Though if it helps, we won’t stay long. Just long enough until we’re sure its safe in this part of the galaxy to go home.”    It was actually a large amount of information, but worded just right to bury any questions meant to dig deeper. Marix had learned the fine art of giving just enough information to satisfy people without giving away anything at all. And it definitely worked from the look that came over Kam’s face. He seemed to relax and actually nodded before motioning towards the Great Temple, “You may not have picked the best planet, then.”    “I guess I wouldn’t be able to have a look at the latest reports,” Jyren said as he fell into step next to the Jedi. Marix was right next to him, and the troops, unsurprisingly, followed relatively close behind.    Looking over to Jyren, Kam Solusar actually looked neutral on the suggestion before saying, “Depends on where you call home.”</blockquote>

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