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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 4243270" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 586: Battle ReportCommodore Nok regained consciousness on the shuttle, halfway to the shuttle and out of the moon’s atmosphere. He was only conscious for long enough to hear yelling, metallic creaking, and look around to see a greyish blur. But then the shuttle was jolted violently, dropping Rulae back into darkness only moments after the blur was beginning to solidify into actual shapes and forms.    The next time he awoke, he immediately recognized that he was in a medical bay. The empty smell in the air told him that before he eyes did. All medical facilities smelled the same. Sterile to an extent that it was almost worrying. A moment later, a cold metal gently touched his shoulder. Rulae shifted his eyes to look and see a thin medical droid standing there, its emotionless face doing nothing to reassure, though its calm voice at least tried to, “You should remain still, Commodore. I have just finished treating your wounds, sir, but you must not do anything to reopen the wounds.”    “What happened...?” Rulae asked in a hoarse voice, having trouble getting his voice to work. The last thing he could remember was ejecting from his X-Wing, then a few brief flashes here and there that didn’t make any sense to him for the moment.     “I believe that is my question for you, Commodore,” that was not the medical droid, but a stronger, gruffer voice that Rulae knew very well. Admiral Tarus stood next to Rulae’s medical bed, his uniform as crisp as always and his sharp features revealing nothing at all, “In fact, the answer to that will likely be the deciding factor on whether I strip you of your rank and take that squadron away from you.”    That should have hit Rulae much harder than it did. But his head was still hurting and a few parts of him still ached, so Rulae figured that he wasn’t really completely aware just yet. Likely because of that, Rulae felt only that it was logical that he might lose his command after his actions at Rodia. He still didn’t know how many of the Zephyrs had survived, and ordering them to land on the moon would have been enough to get him into trouble considering it was just a recon mission. But with the way they’d ‘landed’, Rulae knew he wouldn’t be in the best position to argue for keeping command of the Zephyrs.    Rulae tried to shake his head, but couldn’t get his body to comply and just said weakly, “I don’t remember much, sir...”    “You sustained multiple concussions, Commodore,” the medical droid interjected softly, “Your short term memory may not return to you.”    When Rulae’s eyes shifted back to the Admiral, he saw that the middle aged human was actually looking at him with sympathy in his eyes. But when the Admiral spoke, his voice remained stern and strong as always, “Three of your pilots returned with their fighters. They told us of the ambush and I ordered the fleet to Rodia. When we arrived, we found debris in orbit around the moon and no signs of any of you. One of your pilots stated you were going to...rescue the others that were closer to the moon. We found more debris all across the surface of the moon, but before we were able to send search teams down the Vong launched multiple wings of coralskippers.”    Rulae was still not able to completely grasp all that was said. He did, however, latch onto the most important part of that report, “My pilots...only three survived?”    For a long few moments when the Admiral did not respond, Rulae felt his blood go cold and his chest tighten. It did not help that the Admiral’s tone remained hard, “Only three returned with their starfighters. Including yourself, Commodore, six of your squadron survived. In addition to that, we retrieved two Rodian mercenaries and...” Admiral Tarus’ voice trailed off, and he showed emotion for the first time. There was concern on his face, “One of your pilots that we had presumed dead at Fondor was also recovered.”    There was only one pilot that he had lost at Fondor.    “Loro is alive?” Rulae was very obviously confused. The Mon Calamari pilot had ejected from his damaged X-Wing during the fierce battle above Fondo months prior, and when he wasn’t recovered after the battle was rightfully presumed dead. To be picked up by the Vong wasn’t entirely out of the question, Rulae had heard about such things before...but that he would be on Rodia’s moon seemed almost too much of a coincidence to believe.    “Indeed he is,” the Admiral nodded, “He and the Rodians are being held in...secure interrogation rooms for the moment. We cannot be sure that the Yuuzhan Vong did not do something to them.”    That did make sense. It was not something Rulae wanted to think about, one of his old pilots being twisted by the Vong, but it was something that had to be considered. But at least he was alive. Rulae could only hope that Loro would turn out to be no more than shaken up from whatever he went through during captivity.    “The others?” there were still other concerns on Rulae’s mind, of course.    “Harken is in the best shape. She sustained a few bruises and cuts, but is currently working on her report,” it was at that point that the Admiral moved from standing to sitting next to the bed, “Most of the other young pilots are in their quarters, recovering from minor wounds that will heal. You and Officer Lor, however, are not likely to leave the medical bay for some time.”    Rulae knew he was not in the best of shape. He hadn’t bothered to look at himself, but he could feel it very easily. He felt weak and breathing was not as easy as it should have been. Most of him ached, too, though he was concerned by the fact that he could not feel anything at all from his left arm. He was not about to look to make sure it was there, for fear of not finding it, but even numbness was worth concern.    Hearing that Lor was not doing well was not comforting at all, however, “How is she?”    “Unconscious,” the Admiral looked beyond Rulae to some other part of the medical bay, “She lost a great deal of blood and is very lucky to be alive. From what Harken reported briefly, they were attacked by a great deal of Vong forces on the moon’s surface. Officer Lor was nearly killed during their escape to the shuttle we sent down. A pair of Yuuzhan Vong warriors cut her down with their amphistaves. Harken and Loro went back for her and with the help of our marines killed the warriors and retrieved Rea’s body. But...her arm was severed. By the time she arrived here and the medical staff started to operate the injuries she had sustained required them to take...drastic measures. One of her legs was amputated. She...has been unconscious since then and the droids are concerned that she may have suffered damage to her brain as well.”    The icy feeling returned to Rulae’s veins upon hearing that. Very slowly, and with a lot of pain, Rulae turned his head to try to look in the direction that the Admiral was looking. He could see other medical beds, and not far away one of them was occupied by a blue-skinned humanoid. Sadly, Rulae could not make out anymore details, though he knew it was her. Those kinds of injuries meant she’d likely never fly again.    And then he felt the need to defend his actions. Not to the Admiral, but to himself, “We were dead in the air, there was no escape for the majority of them with so many skips in the air. I ordered everyone down to the moon because we had a chance there. That and...well, there had to a reason so many skips were down there. I hoped we could find that out and put a stop to it.”    The Admiral shifted so that he was looking back down at Rulae, “The Rodians and Loro have stated that the Vong were working on something there, so your hunch seems correct. However, dealing with that kind of objective is better suited for SpecForces, not green pilots. You should know that better than most, Commodore. You put your squadron’s lives in danger in a situation they were not trained to handle and a great deal of them died. This was a reconnaissance mission, not an assault. The second you saw trouble you should have ordered that entire squadron out of the system.”    “By the time I knew it was trouble, half the squadron was already surrounded, sir,” somehow, Rulae managed to keep his voice calm. He expected it had a great deal to do with how weak he felt, as it was in no way comforting to have to think about what had happened, “I did what I thought was best. We were dead in the air, so I ordered the pilots that could jump to do so and the others to get to the moon’s surface in an attempt to survive.”    Admiral Tarus’ eyes narrowed and, for a moment, he looked less like a human and more like a very dangerous predator, “According to your wingmate, you could have made that hyperspace jump, too. In fact, you should have. If you had done that, we could have jumped back without a rookie babbling on to convince us we had to go to Rodia. I would have listened to you and immediately made the jump to save the rest of your squadron.”    Rulae managed to hold Tarus’ critical look without any difficulty. It was obvious the Admiral was angry, and for good reason. The Admiral had always been the kind of man to care for the people under his command. And, looking at it from the perspective of a commanding officer, Rulae had made a decision that had risked more lives than he should have.    Still...    “I stand by my decision, sir,” Rulae somehow managed to match the strong tone that the Admiral had adopted, “If I had left them and they had stayed in the air, there would not have been anyone to rescue. There would have been only four survivors in that case. And I...” he stopped a moment, suddenly realizing what it was and why he’d done what he’d done, “I will not abandon my pilots anymore, sir. I have seen us run time and time again after good people die in useless fights that get us no where. I have had to jump away from losing battles, leaving young pilots behind to be slaughtered again and again. I couldn’t do it anymore, sir. It wasn’t right and they needed me.”    For a long, silent minute, the Admiral watched him carefully. Then, he got up to his feet and took a few steps away before stopping, and looking over his shoulder back to Rulae, “When you are well enough, I expect that much and more to be in your report.”</blockquote>

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