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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3176866" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 410: AssistanceThere was a small shockwave through the Force as the Amunet was engulfed in both flames and the swarm of coralskippers. Marix closed her eyes and forced the deaths out of her mind, trying to keep both herself and the Network as peaceful as was possible at the moment. A great many Knights died in that moment, and it was likely that many more were soon going to follow.    The Amunet had led the defense, pushing in with two of the other Mrrakesh cruisers, the Horakel and the Dresian, and had taken the brunt of the Vong’s forces. Two of their cruiser-analogs had charged in with waves of coralskippers, and though the three ships put up a significant fight, the smaller fighters were too fast to hit. Which meant they had to be ignored while the three cruisers fired on the Vong capital ships. And, so, it wasn’t a surprise to see the swarms of tiny asteroid-like ships tear apart the Amunet.    It reminded Marix so much of what she had seen at Agamar. The green blasts from the Mrrakesh weapons on the ships were constantly firing, but few shots seemed to do any damage...and it was too hard to tell if they were actually causing any real damage to the Vong ships anyway. But while this was not a surprise, the loss of the Alraxians aboard that ship caused a deep scar in the Force and in the Alraxian Network. This was something new. Something their people had not encountered in thousands of years. And now, after so long, they were fighting, and dying, again.    Marix closed her eyes a moment. She would not falter from this decision. It had to be done. The Knights on those ships knew it had to be done. And while she could feel the panic of the Alraxians aboard the Horakel, which was now the one under the swarm of coralskippers, she knew they would fight to the deaths. It was a symbol that the Alraxian people would not lay down when they were threatened. They would fight, and if they had to, they would all die. And these Knights, with many former Tam’Day’U among them, would be the first to fall.    A ringing sound from behind her caused Marix to open her eyes and turn away from the viewport to look at the Knight operating the sensor station of the Gate...which was surprisingly similar in design to what Marix had seen aboard the Mrrakesh ships. A simple ripple through the Force was enough to get his attention, and he immediately turned to look at her, a pair of deep silver eyes meeting hers and showing he was one of the many Tam’Day’U now among the Alraxian Knights.    In a calm, almost cold voice, he answered her unspoken question, “Another group of ships has appeared, Commander.”    Marix raised an eyebrow at that, but stayed focused on the Alraxian sitting at the station in front of her. She always found it interesting that the Tam’Day’U still called her ‘Commander’, despite the fact that she technically did not lead them, as they were now a part of the Knights and not a single, hidden away, group. Their loyalty was disturbingly strong...and Marix couldn’t help but find it interesting that many still expressed the same cold, emotionless attitudes as they had before. Such strong conditioning didn’t seem to leave very easily...    “Yuuzhan Vong?” she asked simply, knowing that she did not need to elaborate at all for this Knight...who’s face she found herself recognizing but, as with all the former Tam’Day’U, one that she had no name to attach to.    There was a pause from the Alraxian, as he turned to look to the screen, his bare hand touching the metallic surface with no hesitation at all before his ear turned slightly in the thick mess of grey, mottled hair. He then said in the same tone, without even turning to face her, “I do not believe so. They are broadcasting on an encrypted frequency, but our systems cannot decipher the encryption.”    Marix had to think about this a moment. But before she could say anything, the Knight’s ear twitched back to the forward position and he added quickly, “There is another signal coming through...” he trailed off, then looked up to her again, “It is on the frequency used Kanyaks and the systems are automatically bypassing it to Alraxia...”    “Keep it here and put it on,” she said flatly, knowing exactly what they meant. Well, no, she didn’t. The thought crossed her mind that there were two people that could do that, not one. But she sure as hell had a feeling of who it was...especially considering the link had gone ablaze the second the Knight had reported the arrival of the other ships.    It took a moment for the Knight to complete the task at hand, but soon a familiar voice sounded through the Gate’s control room...and it was speaking Trade, “...there, and I know you’re getting this. I had to pull way too many strings I shouldn’t have to do this and you damn well better accept the help.”    If she hadn’t been surrounded by so many Knights, Marix might have smiled. She didn’t want to look outside the viewport again, for fear of what she would see, and knowing that it would destroy the happiness brought on just by feeling Jyren in the same system again. It was still a bit distant and weak, but it was there, and she could feel him. It was...only emotions due to the distance, but that was more than enough.    And then, of course, the moment was ruined when the Tam’Day’U spoke up, “The transmission is coming from a battlegroup roughly the same size as the Vong fleet. They are...holding position at the edge of the sector.”    Inwardly, Marix cursed. She didn’t need to look outside to see what was out there, and likely couldn’t see it with the naked eye anyway. But a short glance to the sensor screen confirmed it. Jyren had brought that damned New Republic fleet with him. Now, not only had he given his secure comlink to some random Jedi, but he’d brought an entire fleet to the exact location where the Gate was! She was going to kill him!    But the rage disappeared in a flash. Another shockwave went out through the force, and Marix turned quickly to see a flash of fire disappear into the vacuum of space. And that was the last of the Horakel and her compliment of Knights. There were only two Mrrakesh ships left, with the Dresian holding the front line by itself, and the ‘flagship’, the Sekhmet, towards the back as a sort of rear defense, if it could have been called that. But now, that ships was turning to face the rather large New Republic fleet that had just jumped in system.    Immediately, Marix stepped past the Knight in front of her to one of the comm stations and hit the crystalline switch to activate it on a return channel, “You know you’ve done something very stupid.”    Jyren’s voice returned like he was right there, snapping back, “The Admiral will have no problem leaving, I assure you. But I won’t. And you need us.”    Marix bit her lip, not looking out to the viewport again but instead reaching out with the Force. She could feel the Alraxians of the two remaining ships...she could feel the panic...and, farther off, she could feel the New Republic fleet, with so many aboard the ships. And she could even pinpoint Jyren, but that was due to their link, and her being so used to exactly what he felt like. They did need the help. It was true. She knew it, and so did every single Knight on those ships and on the Gate.    That was not the issue.    The issue was the sudden loss of the one protection the Alraxians had...their secrecy. And now it was gone, in a second, thanks to Jyren. She wanted to blame him for it all, but knew she couldn’t. He had, as always, done what he felt was right and, not like always, actually been right to do it. It would make some situations difficult, but it would also give them a stable defense rather than a show of force while they got wiped out.    But she didn’t get a chance to say anything like that. In fact, she knew she didn’t have to. The link was enough at this point that the feelings of it all flowed through, and Jyren knew. She could feel that, too. And so, when his voice returned, his tone wasn’t nearly as combative, “I sent a short burst transmission with the New Republic battle codes. The Admiral won’t make a move until he knows he has the support of the leader here.”    Marix let out a sigh. At least, with that, Jyren had done something right. She despised it, but it was the right thing. Some might scream the rest of the galaxy were coming to take them over, but this would show them listening to the Empress and might just smooth out the extra chaos all of this was going to cause.    With a quick glance, she saw the transmission from Jyren, and watched it get encoded into the Gate’s comm system. The Knights that operated the station worked fast, especially in such a situation...and especially the ones that spoke Trade.    When it was all in, she hit the small activation switch again, and said in the most firm voice she could manage, which sounded, to her ears, at least, disturbingly like her mother’s, “This is the Empress of the Alraxian Empire to the New Republic fleet...” she paused a moment, noting that all of the eyes of the Knights were suddenly on her, as even the ones that didn’t speak Trade could understand what was happening through the Network, “Our ships cannot hold back this attack. We welcome any assistance you can provide.”</blockquote>

Verification