In Stars: Part II
by: Asuka
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There was a battle waging around him . . .and his side was quickly beginning to lose despite their obvious advantages over the masses of metal warriors they faced. He stared at them numbly as his fingers felt for a pulse at the throut of the young man at his feet.

Unbidden, a quiet voice quickly gave him a name for them: Battle droids, they were called, and this unfamiliar red and dry planet he was on was Geonosis.

He had been caught, tried, and sentenced to a gladiator style execution for espionage. His apprentice and the young senator that his apprentice was sworn to protect had also been caught and were supposed to die with him. Only the ordeal hadn't gone quite like the separatists had planned: They had fought back, and others had come to join them . . .

And now there were only twenty of them left. All the rest were dead, all because of him.

Just like those little halflings back on Amon Hen. He had failed there too; he had tried to take the Ring from Frodo, and now Merry and Pippin were probably dead because of him. If only…

He shook his head, dismissing his thoughts. The young man at his feet was dead.

The battle droids were aiming their blasters at them again. He stood and ignited his weapon again in preparation.

It was light in his hand, completely different from another weapon he had used once.

Then the Senator shouted something and he looked up to see several aircraft landing in a formation around them. White clad warriors poured out of their sides and began to shoot at the battle droids around them. In a matter of seconds the battle had turned in their favor and now a full-fledged war had begun.

Yet war was nothing new to him...Hadn't he spent most of his life defending his people from the forces of Mordor?

He scrambled into one of the nearest gunships, grabbing the delicate feminine hand a person offered to him. He looked up to find a young woman smiling at him, her clear gray eyes full of amusement and a deep sorrow at the same time. He gave her a quick smile, both surprised and relieved she was here. "What took you so long?"

The girl laughed and brushed a stray strand of light brown hair behind an ear. Despite the complicated braids in her hair, several strands had somehow managed to escape. "You know how the Master's can be, debating over everything." She stumbled as the ship took off and he grabbed her around the waist quickly to steady her. She flashed him a quick smile before wrapping a hand around his belt: she had been tall once, but this new form, while far from short, couldn't quite reach the handholds set overhead. "And Master Yoda can be such a back-seat flier, and then there was all that traffic along the Rishee maze, and the Kaminoans..."

"All right, all right." While he loved to banter with her, now was hardly the time. He watched the ground flow by beneath them, more warriors of their type- Jedi, the calm voice said- leading the white soldiers into more battles. He slid his free hand over hers where she gripped his belt tightly. She'd been so lost for so long. "I'm glad you're back, Trista."

The girl- Trista, the voice absently corrected- looked up at him, but uncharacteristically didn't smile for once. "It's good to be back."

The vision was as gone as soon as it had come and he was floating in the thick heavy liquid he was it seemed he had always been in. He knew better, he had memories of other places and people, but some part of him unconsciously thought otherwise.

Sensing someone watching him, he jerked his head around towards the clear wall behind him separating this chamber from the next, the movement filling his mouth and nose with the substance. It was cloyingly sweet and he choked on it, swallowing more of it in the effort to rid his mouth of its taste.

A soft feathery presence reached out to him and he felt his panic dissipate like fog in the summer sun. The presence was peaceful much like the voice in his dreams, but far more feminine in essence. All he wanted to do was sleep; his eyelids already felt heavy like he had drank too much mead. He forced them to stay open, fighting with the feathery presence. This happened whenever he felt someone watching him, was it really all that harmful to know who his rescuer was? Hadn't he had enough sleep?

The presence consented that he had slept a lot, but there was still more work that needed to be done. He needed sleep to be able to recuperate, and this fighting was causing him more stress...couldn't he just obey her just this once?

But he had obeyed her, often in the past, and her promises were never fulfilled.

He could feel her frustration build at his stubbornness, but she was also very pleased with his progress. All in good time, she told him.

Sleep began to fog his brain, and he struggled to keep his eyes open.

The last thing he remembered seeing through the hazy pink light of the liquid was a pale feminine hand pressed against the glass. A hand he recognized from his dream . . . which was impossible. While the vision had been very vivid, he had had the impression of the events taking place long ago...

...And yet the girl in the dream had looked so like the rescuer he had only had a glimpse of months ago, when he had been lying at the bottom of the falls already dead.

His thoughts became too complex for him to remember and he mentally began to stumble over the image of the pale hand on the glass and the pale hand that had grabbed his hand in the dream.

It was impossible...only elves could live that long, and that girl was most certainly not an elf...and yet his coming back to life was impossible, was it not?

In the end the feathery presence in his brain won out, and his thoughts faded as he was wrapped in the comforting oblivion of sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Middle-Earth had grown larger; its Southern hemisphere now dominated the view-port showing oceans and land that was unknown. Her eyes were drawn to it unconsciously as she waited for the pilots she had chosen for the scouting mission landing team to report. A slight smile touched her lips as she imagined how they would react when they finally found out they would be her wingmates on this mission. General Antilles had done the same thing to her a few times when she had been in Rogue Squadron, and it had infuriated her everytime. While he had always told them it was for security she had never really understood. Not until now.

Galianna, the blue twi-lekk and Outrigger squadron's XO, stood next to the view-port. Her lekku danced and twitched nervously, the tattoos on them blurring with the movement.

Anagha sighed, wishing that she could take the ex-dancer with her. It would be odd not having Galianna to watch her back: they had been wingmates for nearly a decade now and friends for even longer.

She opened her mouth, starting to say something when the cabin's door opened with an audible whoosh and two humans came running in. One came to a quick stop before her and gave her a salute before dropping into attention; the other rolled his eyes at the courtesy and smiled rakishly. "So I was right, huh? We're going to be the ones that drop."

She watched them covertly from the corner of her eyes, and pretended to continue studying the world before her. The first, a girl just out of the New Republic Flight Academy, Flight Officer Leeni Onoy, was small and daintily made, able to fit into a fighter cockpit with tons of room to spare. Her eyes where a neutral hazel, set in a pixyish face framed by severely short hair. The other, formally known as Lieutenant Gryan Kenner, was only a head or so taller than his wingmate. His curly sun-bleached hair was made of varying shades of bronze and was long enough for it to just brush his jawbones. That feature, along with his golden brown eyes and too perfect tan, had led him to be forever dubbed Goldie by the squadron.

For a split second his wingmate forgot protocol and turned to stare at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. Anagha rolled her own eyes, wondering whom in starfighter command she had offended to get stuck with the flirt. Behind her, Galianna barely managed to assume a neutral statement, her lekku dancing with laughter.

"What d'you mean, 'drop'?" The female pilot demanded, whipping back around to stare at her commanding officer.

Anagha ignored her question and waited patiently while Lt. Kenner launched easily into an explanation. Though they weren't supposed to come into any contact with the planet's inhabitants, the only beings they would recognize should anything happen were Humans: "Which eliminates about three-fourths of the squadron. Of the fourth remaining, you and I are the only ones who are the most 'normal' looking and supposedly the least intimidating. Besides, we're the only ones who were given black flight suits and whose x- wing's and astromech droids are missing from the hold," He gave Anagha a quick look. " They're probably being painted right now, aren't they?"

Galianna nodded and glanced down at her data-pad. " They're waiting for you in the shuttle's hold."

"I love it when I'm right." He pumped his arm triumphantly and smiled at his wingmate who continued to stare at him horrified. " Oh, loosen up Leeni. The Commander here doesn't bite...at least not too badly."

Anagha rolled her eyes again at his conspirital wink. "So how big of a pot was there this time, Goldie?"

The girl, Leeni, chortled at the nickname, and a little muscle twitched in the man's cheek. It was fairly well known he hated being called Goldie as much as he had a soft spot for gambling, something that had gotten him kicked out of two squadrons before he had ended up under Anagha's command. "Twenty hundred credits and two sunfire jewels...if the pilot's homeplanet hasn't been invaded by the Vong yet that is."

"Which you won, of course?"

"Of course." His brown eyes were full of amusement. Anagha sighed; he'd never change. "Well then...since you've already figured everything out, I won't have to explain it all to you again will I?"

Goldie continued to grin and Leeni saluted her again. "No, ma'am."

"One thing, though, Commander?" Goldie piped up as she was halfway to the door.

She turned back to face him, "What now, Lt. Kenner?"

"We were chosen because we're `normal' looking humans right? Well, while your hair is natural for a Firrerre and is very pretty... shouldn't you try to dye it? Stripped hair isn't normal for a human." He continued to smile his idiotic grin.

Anagha glared at him, cursing the fact that she had been so busy making sure everyone else was prepared for the mission that she had forgotten her own preparations. "Well, as we won't be coming into any contact with the people of Middle-Earth, that shouldn't be a problem should it?"

"No, it shouldn't...but don't you think you should, y'know, just in case? Your blond and copper hair's gonna stand out awfully bright if we come across anything."

"Get to your ship now, Lt. Kenner. We launch in ten minutes." With that she turned and left the room, Galianna close behind her. She rubbed her forehead in an attempt to fight off the headache that she was beginning to get.

This was going to be a long mission....


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