Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2915000" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 345Coruscant seemed to be the one planet in the galaxy that could not change. No matter what was going on in the rest of the galaxy, it was still a chaotic mess of speeders, people, and massively tall buildings. All of the metal shining in the sunlight was such a different sight from the forests and fields of Alraxia. It was strange to come back to a place that was the center of the galaxy and suddenly feel like it was a completely alien world...but that was how it felt for Jyren.    Thankfully, though, he was still able to find his way around without any trouble. And, because of this, the New Republic didn’t have long before they found out that a Captain in their special forces had returned from being presumed long, long dead. There was even more chaos within the building near Imperial Center(which, despite the New Republic’s efforts, couldn’t seem to adopt a new name without it being forgotten in a week), as datapads went different directions, guards arrived, and he was escorted into a small debriefing room...the likes of which he hadn’t seen in nearly fifteen years.    The expected questions were asked. What happened? Why didn’t you come back? Why now?    And Jyren gave the planned answers. The sabotage went bad. He was captured. When he escaped, he sent a transmission to the headquarters that they somehow didn’t receive. He’d come back now because the New Republic needed help, and he was still a damned good pilot.    Only the last one was true. In reality, he’d arrived on Corulag for his mission to take out the planet’s shield generators and then...just didn’t do it. Something had struck him, and he walked away then and there. That was, of course, not the kind of thing to tell one’s superior officer when returning after a good ten years.    The debriefing/interrogation continued for roughly three hours before, to Jyren’s surprise, he was reinstated right there. When he asked why it went so quickly, the answer was actually not all that surprising. They really did need all the pilots they could get. The New Republic had just publicly admitted to the existence of the Yuuzhan Vong, and that meant an actual mobilization was beginning. But unlike the old days in the early New Republic, there weren’t nearly as many well trained pilots to draw from, and new recruits could only do so much good when compared to experienced starfighter pilots.    After a quick transit into an orbiting Skyhook where Starfighter Command operated from, Jyren was presented with something else that had been completely unexpected. His own choice of assignment.    A datapad was handed to him by some Admiral he didn’t recognize and he scanned it...seeing a number of Star Destroyers named and then some squadrons in addition to many other ships. He even caught sight of Rogue Squadron listed there, and actually found himself wondering if he should ask if that was a mistake. They were the best of the best...and it sounded like the right place for him to at least aim for...but then his eye caught another name. One that brought a smile to his face, and the decision was made without another thought.* * * *    Jyren took a quick jog down one of the corridors outside the huge mess in the Skyhook, glancing both direction and cheating by using the Force to turn him left and head that way. He passed by a few pilots and personnel, who all gave him strange looks...which made him feel even more self conscious than he’d been when he’d put on his new uniform. It was so much like the old one...it just fit better. Brown and red piped with a few patches of grey here and there, with a couple of patches on his shoulders to indicate both that he was a member of Starfighter Command and then, on his right shoulder, his actual squadron.    The only real difference between the new uniform and the old one(despite the fact that it was...well, new) was the name patch. There was no ‘Cpt. Maxwell’ there anymore, which had been an interesting thing to convince the people to change. He may have been returning to the New Republic, but that didn’t mean he was planning to bring Raan Maxwell back. That kid was, in fact, long dead. Instead, it read ‘Cpt. BlueIce.’     At first, it had worried him that using his real name would throw up flags, but Jyren had to remind himself that the bounties that were still out there were for ‘Akan Tavos’ and ‘Shadow’. BlueIces were safe. And anyway, the bounties were on a couple of ‘Cathar-like, feline humanoids’, not the relatively young looking human that was currently scouring the corridors of the Skyhook.    And then he found what he’d been looking for. Across the corridor, walking the other direction, was a somewhat tall, deep blue skinned humanoid with a large head that Jyren immediately new to be a Duros. The Duros wore the same brown uniform, and looked to be holding some kind of datapad at his side as he walked casually away.    So here it was.    Jyren sped up his walking pace to catch up to the Duros, and when he was only a few paces behind, called out, “Rulae.”    That got the Duros to stop in his tracks. A sigh could be heard before he started to turn around, saying, “Look, I know you’re probably new, but its appropriate to address superior officers as, s—“    When Rulae had turned around completely to face Jyren, his small mouth stopped in mid sentence an he just stared, the already large red eyes somehow going wider. Jyren, of course, grinned at that, and shrugged, “Of course. I’m so sorry, s’.”    “Raan?!” the Duros mumbled the name at first, but then gave Jyren a very quick look over. In all truthfulness, he didn’t look much different from how he had ten years earlier. But there was still a good three and a half year gap between then and when he’d last seen Rulae Nok. Hopefully that wouldn’t have the Duros being too suspicious as to why he didn’t look older.    Finally, Rulae managed to close his mouth a moment, and after Jyren smiled, just shook his head, “You’re supposed to be dead.”    “When did that ever stop me?”    A pause...then Rulae’s small mouth formed a grin of its own, “Where the hell have you been all these years?!”    “I was...very busy,” Jyren said, not really lying but definitely avoiding the subject. Knowing that it was going to go on if he didn’t do something, he quickly attempted to change the subject, “So I see you’ve got a command now? Bringing back the Zephyrs, even. You’ve gone soft over the years. Weren’t we supposed to be the last Zephyrs?”    Duros could not roll their eyes, as they had no pupils...but they had a similar way of just staring at someone that managed to produce the same effect in the end. He glanced down a moment before noticing something, “It was lonely being the only one with that name. Figured it was as good a time as any to bring the name back before they tried to throw me in a desk job...and I see you aren’t exactly running from the name, either. Looks like I finally get to order you around, Captain BlueIce.”    “Just remember who saved your tail more than once and then we’ll see who’s order who around,” Jyren laughed.    Then another question finally came up, “So you going to at least tell me why that doesn’t say Maxwell?”    Still smiling, and in a surprisingly good mood suddenly, Jyren turned and put a hand on Rulae’s shoulder to lead him back to the mess, “That, my friend, I will tell you.”</blockquote>

Verification