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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3564719" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 466: Coming and GoingRulae Nok stared blankly out the viewport to the scene in front of him. Hyperspace. Emptiness. Not an hour earlier, he had reached the transports on the ground and been taken, aboard a New Republic troop carrier, up to one of the Navy’s medical ships. He had been quickly treated, thankfully his injuries didn’t warrant any long term care, and by the time he was released from the ward they were in hyperspace.    He never even had a chance to see what the battle in space was like. He did know it was still going. The small amount of reports he was able to get said that the New Republic was doing their best to push the Vong back, and were even having success in some areas on Gyndine’s surface. Part of Rulae couldn’t help but wonder why so much effort was being put into defending that planet. It was a refugee center...get the people off and use the already stretched Navy to protect more important planets.    Rulae let out a sigh and shook his head. There was a reason he was just a squadron leader. Politics started to heavily weigh in any decision once the ranks went past that position.    But, at least there was some good news. While resting in this small observation lounge aboard the ship, an officer had stepped in and given him a datapad with rather important information on it. His two red eyes turned down again to glance at the screen on the small device.    So the New Republic was finally taking action. The higher ups had a plan. It looked like that, while the fighting would still continue on Gyndine, they were assuming it would be lost. From there, two very major planets were left open to direct hyperspace jumps: Corellia and Bothawui. Both very far Coreward compared to the current Vong activities. Both were planets that the New Republic couldn’t afford to lose. But instead of defending each planet, which would not be too difficult, High Command was setting a trap.    The New Republic fleet was currently at Bothawui to draw the Vong to a wide open Corellia. And it was a very large fleet. From the quick look of the ships amongst it, there were at least three fleets consolidated into one. Not only that, but the report said that other fleets from large systems were possible additions. The most notable was a possible Hapan fleet. Apparently it was still being negotiated, as the Hapan were attempting to stay out of the war if they could...some probably hated them for it, but Rulae couldn’t blame them.    Of course, the most interesting part of the entire report was the part specific for him. Apparently Zephyr Squardon would be in the air for the ambush. Or at least, the four of them that were around would. To his surprise, they would not be attached to another squadron but would operate as one despite being a third of the size they should have been. That told Rulae the higher ups were serious about this ambush. They were going to win this fight and cause the constant advance of the Vong to stop suddenly.    The hope seemed to be that recoil from a sudden victory would given the New Republic time to mount an all out offensive and take worlds back. It was a good plan.    Whether it would work, though, was another question entirely. Either way, though, Rulae was glad that he’d be back in the cockpit.* * * *“Don’t you have your own way off this planet?” Marix asked as she turned around to see Venda stepping out of Gorla’s little enclave deep under Ryloth’s surface. She’d made sure to check the remainder of the place, which was surprisingly small considering the amount of people that Gorla had working for him, and made sure to completely destroy every computer terminal. There would be nothing left to salvage. She hadn’t bothered checking them for information she could use, as she was simply not a slicer and wouldn’t be able to get around the defenses that would definitely be there.    The Jedi woman still held her lightsaber in hand, though it was deactivated. There was an almost disgusted look on her face, “What was that, in there?”    Marix rolled her eyes. It was like Jyren was back from the grave, except blonde, female, and somehow a thousand times more annoying, “That was doing what I came here to do.”    “You’ll just kill anyone that gets in your way?”    Again, she rolled her eyes. But this time she motioned past Venda towards where they had both just left with her vibroblade (it was a good blade and Marix didn’t have the heart to just leave it behind), “Those kind of people will kill you if you turn your back on them.”    “I left that group alive,” Venda said in a voice that was even more annoying than before. It was almost as if she was trying to prove she was on higher moral ground than Marix...damned Jedi, “And they didn’t kill me when I left.”    “They didn’t kill you because they couldn’t see me,” Marix growled at the woman, “Like it or not, its over with. I’m not some idealistic little idiot who’s going to get themself killed trying to hold to some stupid ideal without any thought to how the galaxy actually works!”    By the end of the sentence, she was yelling. The outburst caused Venda to just stare in surprise. But then, after a moment, the woman’s expression somehow softened and she spoke in a much quieter voice, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was that much like—“    ”If you finish that sentence I will cut your throat out,” her voice was ice cold. There was not a blank expression on Marix’s face. Instead, it was an obvious attempt at holding back something much closer to rage than anger. The silence held, and then Marix finally lowered the blade in her hand, turned, and started to leave. She clearly remembered the path to take to get back to where she’d come down into this level.    She also clearly heard footsteps behind her. After a few turns to reach the larger shaft that looked to be some kind of underground transport between Ryloth’s major cities, Venda finally spoke up from a meter or so behind Marix, “I came here on a civilian transport following the rumours about a Hutt that helped broker the deal with the Vong.”    So Venda didn’t have a way off the planet.    Marix’s mood had not calmed at all, but she still had enough control over herself to keep her voice perfectly even, “I must return to my home. I found what I needed to find.”    That was only partially true. To tell the full truth, she would have to openly admit that she had left Alraxia to find Jyren despite knowing he was gone. Maybe accepting that, despite the anger it was fueling in her now, meant she did find what she needed to. No. No that was just even more infuriating!    The Force damn him! She couldn’t even think straight...    “And its all his fault!” suddenly lashing out, Marix slammed her fist into the stone wall and dug a good sized hole into it in the process.    Again, she caught herself too late.    Marix’s mind was a mess. The usual calm was suddenly gone and she couldn’t stop the chaos. She barely understood any of it, and even after a decade of truly getting used to having...well...emotions and feelings, they still didn’t make any sense to her. Living without them had been so easy. Everything made sense. Do the job, come home. Repeat. No care about how people felt or any trash like that. Nothing ever got in the way.  She had been effective!     Even during that time she was effective enough...though emotions would get in the way she would still do the job! But now...now this damned emptiness was causing a pure chaos that was beyond anything she’d ever experienced!    Closing her eyes, Marix bit her lower lip so hard that she could taste blood. Quietly, she whispered, “Damn you, Jyren.”    “I can find my own way off of this planet,” Venda said from about the same distance back. Hopefully she hadn’t hurt the whisper...but she probably had...    “No,” Marix shook her head, wondering right away why she was saying it. She found a rational for the thought, though whether it was a lie she was telling herself or not, Marix didn’t know, “Word is going to get to Gorla’s lackeys soon that he’s dead and that we’re behind it. You stay, you die. Jedi or not.”    Marix said nothing else. She managed to compose herself, outwardly at least, and continued on. She was too busy trying to put her mind in order to care about the fact that she had just told Venda to follow her.</blockquote>

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