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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3631652" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 488: Alien Landing“Master, what are we doing?!” Tobias cried out as the entire ship shook again, sending him into the corridor’s wall. He was expecting it, though, and managed to catch himself on it rather than just being slammed into the thing.    Master Ral was already off the wall, running back towards the hangar. Over his shoulder, he called back to Tobias, “There are hundreds of people aboard that Vong ship. We’re going to get as many off as we possibly can!”    “That’s insane!” this was emphasized by another violent shaking to the Mon Calamari cruiser.    The Gemstone had moved straight for the large ship that Master Ral had pointed out, along with two Star Destroyers and three gunships for support. All of them were currently unloading their turbolaser batteries on that various Vong cruisers in the way.    “It is our duty, Tobias!” Master Ral hit a switch on a door and then ran into the hangar, with Tobias only a few steps behind.     Trying to keep up with his Master, Tobias also had to yell to be heard over the other people scrambling across the Mon Calamari cruiser’s hangar, “You said there are Jedi on that ship, too! Isn’t it their duty?”    “One of them has fallen, and...” whatever else Master Ral had said, Tobias didn’t hear it. A large transport ship that looked to have been fitted with a few extra guns rocketed out of the hangar and into the fight, its sublight drives roaring to life in the hangar and drowning out everything for a few seconds.    By the time he could hear again, Tobias was heading up the ramp of Master Ral’s ship, pointing out another obvious fact, “This ship can’t hold hundreds!”    The ramp came up just as Tobias was all the way in, and when he reached the co-pilot’s chair, Master Ral was already powering on the systems as quickly as he could, “We will get as many as we can.”    “What about that...thing you felt,” another important, but obvious, thing to point out.    Master Ral ignored that for a moment, spinning his chair to check the engine status. He took the controls, lifting them up off of the hangar’s deck and then cutting the sublight drives on, sending them shooting out into the chaos of the battle, “Even more the reason to go. We will move quickly, find what we can, and take as many people as we can fit aboard.”    There was one more obvious and important thing that Tobias felt he had to bring up, “Master I’ve...I’ve never actually fought anything before. Not for real.”    The viewport was chaos. Though Tobias could see giant, kilometers wide rock-shaped Vong ship that was their target, turbolaser fire and whatever-the-Vong-weapons-fired littered the blackness of space. Not to mention the countless number of ships, large and small, darting every direction. Because of it all, Master Ral was flying the transport as fast as it could go towards their target, while making very sharp maneuvers to avoid being hit by stray fire that made Tobias’ stomach lurch.“There comes a time when we must learn by doing,” Master Ral’s calm voice was completely at odds to the chaotic actions around them, and it was strangely fitting. One thing Tobias had learned early on about his Omwati Jedi Master was that somehow, Ral could become the calm within the storm, “Stay close to me at all times and listen to the Force.”    “But the Vong...”    “Do not exist in the Force,” the Jedi Master finished the sentence as the transport suddenly pulled up, a pair of Coralskippers that had been tailing them flying right past as he also cut their speed slightly. Master Ral quickly readjusted to a new coarse towards the large Vong ship and put as much power to the engines as was safe to do, “The Force will still guide you, though. It simply means you must rely on your instincts and your other senses as well. Keep your ears and eyes open and aware.”    Tobias nodded, though he had a feeling Master Ral didn’t see it. The Omwati was calm, but there was a very focused feeling about him. And the ship was growing in the viewport...growing to the point where Tobia realized just how big it was: more than twice the size of a Star Destroyer, and probably close to the size of the huge Kanyak, Thor...maybe even bigger.    “Master...” Tobias’ voice was low, not wanting to break Master Ral’s concentration, “Do you...know where to land on that ship?”    “Look directly ahead,” Master Ral said, nudging Tobias with the Force that made him feel like he was being pointed in the right direction, “Ships are leaving that point there. Going to head in and set us down before they know what to do.”    “Then what?”    Tobias could see the point. It was small, compared to the size of the Vong ship, but that might have just meant it was farther away than he thought. Master Ral was doing a good job at maintaining a straight course through the battle, and most of the Vong seemed to busy fighting the ships that were firing back to fire on a lone transport that was shooting through the battle faster than an A-Wing.     “Then we follow the Force to the people...or to the source of that thing.”    Now the point was larger. It was like a carved out hole in the ship, about the size of a small cruiser. No more ships were leaving it, and Tobias had the distinct feeling it was getting smaller, like an outer skin slowly regrowing over a wound. An image only an Alraxian would know without being sickened by the thought.    “Hold on to something,” Master Ral’s voice was sounding tense now...strained. And he wasn’t slowing the ship at all.    Tobias took the hint and made sure he was strapped into the chair and then took the extra measure to grip the armrests as tightly as he could without morphing claws. If they were slowing down now, Tobias still couldn’t tell, but he was sure the opening in the Vong ship was sealing...or...closing...or whatever the right word for it was. For an Alraxian, he wasn’t very good at describing organic technology.    And then, suddenly, they were inside. The hangar, if it could be called that, didn’t go very deep, and Master Ral had to not only cut the engines completely, but fire the reverse thrusters to avoid slamming into the spongy looking wall. As the ship lowered down to the ‘deck’, small dings and other noises could be heard echoing through the hull.    When they were down, Master Ral undid his crash webbing and got to his feet, lightsaber already in hand. As Tobias was getting out of his seat, the older Omwati gave him a very serious look, “Remember. Stay close to me. Trust the Force...trust your senses. Tobias just nodded, following the Jedi Master to the boarding ramp.    Holding up the hilt of his weapon, Master Ral thumbed the activation switch. A bright green blade of pure energy lit up the immediate area and the thrumming of it drowned out the sounds outside the ship. Seeing this, Tobias looked down at the lightsaber in his hand. Jyren’s. His family’s. It was just a piece of metal but...but there was somehow a great deal of significance to it.    The snap-hiss of the blue-green blade coming to life almost surprised Tobias. He’d always seen it as a toy of sorts. But now it was going to be used for what it was designed for. Now it was going to be the only thing that could keep him alive. Now Tobias suddenly felt like he wasn’t ready for any of it. He wanted to go back to Yavin...to Alraxia...anywhere but where he was.    And then Master Ral his the switch that lowered the boarding ramp. Gutteral, angry voices could suddenly be heard, and Tobias saw a black, flying thing shoot straight past the opening and dig deep into the hull of the ship. Without another look to Tobias, Master Ral charged down the boarding ramp and down to the alien ship below.    As Tobias quickly followed, holding his weapon up in a guard position and trying to stay close to his Master, the voices of the surprise Yuuzhan Vong ceased. For a short moment, there was silence except for the two lightsabers, and Tobias found himself standing on the odd looking deck right next to Master Ral, staring at ten scarred and tattooed Yuuzhan Vong.    “Jeedai!” one of the Vong screamed the word, suddenly drawing a miniature version of their amphistaff weapons that looked more like small daggers than the long, snake-like staves.    The others drew similar weapons.    And then, as one, screaming in their native tongue, the Yuuzhan Vong charged the two Jedi.</blockquote>

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