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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2949570" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 381: Traitor“It’s a beautiful planet.”    Rulae Nok turned to the man standing next to him in the small, forward briefing room that was just below the Star Destroyer’s bridge. The man was staring out at the green planet hanging in the viewport in front of them, staring with an intensity that Rulae had only ever seen during a battle. Through the years, he’d served with Ven Tarus many, many times...but he’d never seen the human in such a way outside the bridge of a starship.    So, the first thing the Duros could think to say was, “Are you alright, Admiral?”    The slightest of grins could be seen tugging at the side of the Admiral’s angular features, but the man did not turn to face Rulae, “That’s a foolish question, Commodore.”    At that, Rulae couldn’t help a nod. It was. Not five minutes before, the briefing for the first preparations had ended. As the other important members of the attack fleet’s command staff left, Admiral Tarus had asked for Rulae to stay. Then, the human had simply walked to look out at the planet. But, considering the tone of the discussion, it was obvious what was wrong.    No one trusted the Vong to hold to their word of single combat deciding the fate of the planet. Four different fleet groups had already arrived to defend the planet, with at least another two on their way. There was, however, no word on the involvement of the Imperial Remnant, and from the sounds of things, they wouldn’t be helping this time...some kind of bureaucratic nonsense, as usual. But, despite the fact that this was the largest defense of a planet to be amassed since the start of the war, no one felt like it was enough. The Vong were just...always too much. And, after losing planet after planet, it was hard to argue that anymore.    They had to protect Ithor.    “You...asked me to stay, sir?” it was as foolish a question as his first, but Rulae had learned that it was the best way to provoke a response from most commanding officers. It was a trick he’d only learned after being given his first command, and all of the recruits had used the question against him.    Finally, the Admiral turned from admiring the planet at the edge of the Star Destroyer’s pointed nose that was far ahead of them and looked to the Duros. With a simple nod, he reached into the jacket pocket of his red-grey uniform and produced a datapad. After touching the screen once, he looked to read something before asking, “Have you ever heard of a man named Akan Tavos?”    With as good a memory as he had, Rulae needed no time to think about that. Immediately, he shook his blue head, “No, sir...” he paused a moment, noticed that the Admiral seemed a bit distracted still, and then added, “Why?”    “He’s one of the few bounties that the New Republic has out...” Admiral Tarus commented, his eyes scanning whatever was on the datapad’s screen, “Stealing a prototype starfighter...attacking and destroying many of our own starships...assisting in the escape of at least two very dangerous captives...” he trailed off a moment and then the two green eyes finally looked up to Rulae, “That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The bounty’s been out for almost twelve standard years now.”    Rulae met the Admiral’s gaze, unsure of where this was going. He managed a slow nod before trying to coax more out of his commander, “I’m sorry, sir...but...I don’t see how this is relevant to our current situation.”    To his surprise, the Admiral actuall nodded, “I understand...” he then turned the datapad around to show the screen to Rulae, “This is the list of charges and the clearest holo of Akan Tavos that was ever captured.”    It wasn’t terribly clear. However, the dim, blue-tinted image showed a human looking around over his shoulder towards the general direction of the holocam that had captured the image. And, immediately, Rulae recognized the face. Duros’ eyes could not widen, so instead he simply opened his mouth slightly.    After a few moments of simple confusion, Rulae tore his eyes from the datapad to look back to the Admiral, “Sir...I...I’m not sure what you want me to do about this.”    “I am in the same position,” Admiral Tarus nodded, then put the datapad back into his jacket pocket, “Unless he has a twin, your XO has not been entirely truthful with any of us.”    “But why would he come back?”    The Admiral shrugged and turned to look out at the planet again, “Only he knows that. I should arrest him on the spot and have him thrown in the brig...” he sighed and shook his head, “But morale is low enough as it is. Even before Agamar, he was a very strong presence aboard this ship...now he’s a symbol of survival among the fleet. Take that away, and everyone in the fleet will lose the will to fight.”    It was dramatic, probably too much so, but straight to the point. Most Admirals would likely have simply arrested the criminal right away, but Rulae had always known Ven Tarus to be a man that relied on the strength of his crew and pilots. He would never do anything that would hurt them if he didn’t have to. And, for some reason, that brought up another question...    “How many people know about this?”    Even the Admiral was surprised at that question. The quick glance to Rulae said that, but then he looked back out to Ithor and said quietly, “Only the two of us.”    Ven Tarus truly was a man from the Rebellion days. He had a great military and tactical mind, but at the same time had the secrecy and protectiveness that the Rebellion bred amongst all of its fighters. Twenty years later...after all of the fighting, including infighting even, it was a refreshing thing to see that some in the New Republic still hadn’t changed. Perhaps it wasn’t the safest thing in all cases, but it always seemed to mean that the officers knew what they were doing and understood the men fighting under them...not like some of the politicians that were running things these days.    But, before Rulae could ask another question, the Admiral spoke up again, “The two of you were the only survivors in your squadron over a decade ago...he trusts you. What do you know about him?”    This time, Rulae, too, turned to look out at Ithor, “Honestly...not much. When I’ve asked him where he disappeared to after he left Starfighter Command, he’s very careful about what he says. This would, of course, explain why...but he’s a good man. I can see it.”    “Good men can do very bad things.”    Rulae couldn’t help nodding at that, “I trust him.”    “You know about the Peace Brigade, yes?” the quick change of conversation through Rulae off for a long few moments.    Finally, though, he composed himself and nodded again, “Yes, sir...I’ve read all of the reports.”    “Then you know that there are reports of plants among many ships in the fleet,” as he spoke, the Admiral once again turned his head to look at the Duros standing next to him.    Quickly connecting these pieces, Rulae was able to finish that thought, “You think he’s a Peace Brigader?”    “They’re mostly pirates...smugglers...terrorists...” the Admiral shrugged, “The profile fits surprisingly well.”    “It does...” Rulae couldn’t help but agree with that, “But why would his wife bring in a Peace Brigade man and turn him over to us so easily?”    “A trade off, perhaps,” Admiral Tarus suggested, though he didn’t seem completely sure of that, himself, “Or, perhaps, she’s not even involved.”    And then, Rulae said something that even surprised himself, “Morale of the crew or not, if he is Peace Brigade he has to be detained immediately.”    “You know him better than anyone else here...while I do not want to harm our effectiveness, if you truly believe that action must be taken, then I will authorize you to do so yourself.”    Noting that the tone of the conversation was changing, Rulae turned to face the Admiral and adopted a more formal stance, “I will travel down to Ithor and...deal with this situation, sir.”    The Admiral turned to face Rulae and just gave him a simple nod, “Do so quietly. If we must do something about him, then the less that know about it, the better.”    “Yes, sir,” Rulae saluted, turned, and left the briefing room.    He started straight for the hangar, knowing that his fighter would be ready for a quick trip down to the planet. Jyren...Raan...Akan...whoever he was, had gone down in that strange transport with his family two hours earlier. Rulae did not want to consider the option that Jyren truly was working for the Peace Brigade, but the precautions had to be taken to protect all of them.     The simple fact of the matter, and the most terrifying part of it all to Rulae, was that it really did make too much sense. It would explain so much, and considering the small amount of explanations that Jyren had given since his sudden return, they were even more likely to be correct.</blockquote>

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