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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2934939" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 377: OrdersThe second that the door to the squadron’s briefing room slid open and Jyren stepped in, he was greeted with a roar of laughter and cheers. It was surprising the amount of noise that just nine pilots could make(as, Jyren noted, Rulae was not yet present).    “Well, look who’s on his feet!” the red-haired Adria Harken laughed, stepping over to give his shoulder a good slap(which stung...she was stronger than she looked), “You know that you were supposed to be listening to the training exercises while you were teaching us, yes?”    Jyren couldn’t help a smile, “Well, it was getting a bit boring in that cockpit. Thought I’d just take it straight to the Vong the old fashioned way.”    The Bothan of the squadron, Cest, grinned and his cream-coloured fur rippled slightly, “Getting the wife in on the fight is pretty old fashioned.”    “A bit dirty, if you ask me,” Rea chimed in from behind a few of them. Jyren’s wingmate was still seated, but leaning slightly to make sure he saw her expression.    “You know,” Jyren said as he walked down the amphitheater-styled room to a mid-level chair, “If she heard any of you talking about her like that she’d kill you...well, if you were lucky.”    That got another good roar of laughter from everyone, but it was fairly obvious that Jyren was being serious when he said that. But celebrations were cut short as the door slid open once again to reveal the Zephyr’s Duros commander.    Everyone had a seat, knowing it was time to get down to business, and Rulae simply nodded in Jyren’s direction rather than saying any words. It wasn’t surprising...even when he’d been younger, Rulae hadn’t been involved in many of the usual squadron’s antics. He had always been the one to sit back and watch silently.    When he got to the podium at the bottom of the room, he looked over the remaining members of the squadron and said simply, “You all did a very good job out there. I know it didn’t look pretty, and we couldn’t save Agamar, but we did our best...and most of us made it out alive...” he trailed off a moment and the silence that followed was mainly due to the fact that everyone was trying not to count their numbers to easily identify their lesser numbers. But this didn’t last long, as Rulae went on, “We all know what happened at Agamar, and as I said, you did well. And I would like to congratulate both Flight Cadet Lor on her promotion to Pilot Officer...and out new Lieutenant, Obrack Loro.”    Rulae paused again to allow the rest of the squadron to congratulate the two pilots in the squadron that everyone agreed deserved a promotion above all others. They had both been stuck in the middle of the fight with the doomed gunships, and not only had they made it out alive, but they protected the still-unidentified transport on its mad dash back to the fleet.    But the moment last too long, as Commodore Nok was obviously not finished, “Now, there is one last thing I’d like to let all of you know. While Agamar was attacked, another Vong fleet assaulted Ithor. Despite the size of the fleet we fought, it was a decoy to distract us from their real target...however, thanks to the Imperial Remnant, the planet was defended and the Vong driven out.”    “...the Remnant?!” to most of the pilots’ surprise, that was Jyren.    Rulae, however, had expected that reaction from him, and nodded, “Yes. And without them, Ithor would have been lost.”    Something didn’t feel right. Jyren knew it wasn’t the Remnant that was really bothering him...more that they were so small that there was no way they could have sent a fleet of any sufficient size to help. Part of him thought it was a bad idea to speak his concerns in the open like this, but another took over and, proving that he’d been around Marix for far too long, got straight to the point, “The Remnant doesn’t have a fleet strong enough to do that without leaving their own borders unprotected.”    “Correct,” Commodore Nok nodded again, his blue skin catching the lights slightly before his red eyes locked onto Jyren, “They left themselves undefended to help us. Much of their fleet has returned to Imperial space, but they have left some behind at Ithor to assist.”    “Assist?” this time, it was the Bothan, Cest Uu’vel, speaking up, “Would the Vong really attack Ithor again?”    “They will,” the Duros answered again in an emotionless tone that was slightly unnerving, “When the Remnant fleet arrived, the Vong were caught off guard. They were not driven back due to fighting...an agreement was forged. The Vong commander withdrew his forces for a standard month. We have that long to fortify the planet before he returns.”    That got silence.    It didn’t take Force-enhanced perceptions to know something was wrong with that.    And Rulae didn’t even wait for anyone to ask the question, “Ithor’s safety is to be decided by a duel between the Jedi, Corran Horn, and the Vong’s Commander.”    Somehow, that only helped explain a small amount. Everyone understood the strong sense of battle-oriented honour that the Yuuzhan Vong had, but somehow that just wasn’t enough. The fact that the New Republic had even agreed to that kind of action...or had it? Had it just been the action of one Jedi?! It wouldn’t have surprised anyone if it was.    Again, Cest broke the silence, still looking somewhat confused as his grey eyes seemed to stare at nothing at all, “But why fortify the planet?”    “We can’t trust the Vong,” Jyren answered immediately, starting to understand the situation. He then turned from the Bothan to look back to Rulae, “I assume we’re part of Ithor’s defenses?”    Rulae nodded, “Correct. We’ll be arriving in system in another hour. Once we arrive, I’ve arranged for a day’s worth of leave for everyone. Get some rest or head down to the planet...but the next day we start our in-system training exercises,” after waiting for everyone to take this in, the Duros adopted a more casual stance, “You’re dismissed.”    There was very little talk as the squadron got out of their seats and started to head their separate ways. Jyren took his time, feeling that he needed to wait anyway, and thus, was not at all surprised when he heard his old friend call out as he turned to head to his quarters to find Toby, “Captain. A moment, please.”    By the time Jyren had stepped down to where Rulae was next to the podium, the rest of the pilots were gone. It was then that Jyren decided to speak his mind, “Its not going to be pretty when the Vong come back.”    “It never is,” Rulae agreed with a sigh, “We’ll do what we can to get the kids ready for it, though.”    “From the quiet, I think they all realize just how important Ithor is.”    Again, Rulae nodded, “Home to one of the Rebellion’s greatest supporters, a planet of unmatched beauty, and the gateway to the Core worlds. Yes...they know.”    An odd flash in the Force caught Jyren off guard and he had to ask the question it brought up, “You didn’t want to talk with me about this.”    “No, I didn’t,” the Duros shook his head, then took a step closer so he could look his old friend in the eyes, “The Jedi are gathering on Ithor just like we are. There’s supposed to be a joint meeting of sorts tomorrow afternoon, local time...I want you to be there.”    Jyren wasn’t an idiot. He knew there was a lot more to that than Rulae was telling him, “I’ll go as our squadron’s ears, Rulae, but not as anything else.”    “Our squadron doesn’t need ears,” Rulae nearly snapped at him, the stern, commander voice was back, too, “I want you to be there as yourself. They will be protecting the planet’s surface and the floating cities. You’re a damn good pilot, but from what I hear, you’re better with that lightsaber of yours.”    Suddenly, Jyren’s own voice reached a stern, almost angry tone, “I will not abandon these kids.”    “And I’ll make this an order if I have to.”    For a long few moments, the two simply stared at each other’s eyes. Deep red meeting the icy cold of Jyren’s blue...and neither could penetrate any kind of defenses. But, finally, Jyren relinquished and allowed himself a small nod, “Yes, sir.”    He stood at attention, saluted, and headed back up the steps to leave the room.    As the door opened for him to leave, Rulae called up to the human’s back, “It wasn’t an order yet, Jyren.”    Jyren did stop...and he stood in the doorway for a few seconds before glancing over his shoulder to where the Duros stood, “If it isn’t, I won’t go.”    And before Rulae could respond, Jyren left the Duros along in the briefing room. Rulae watched the door close, then glanced down at the datapad in his hand. Shaking his head, he sighed and started out himself. It was amazing how difficult humans could be...especially Jyren.</blockquote>

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