All That Remains: On the Wings of Hope

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

It was an unassuming portion of space that they'd dropped into, falling out of hyperspace with ease. Sol's ship only barely shuddered, but it was enough of a tell for the Lupine to know that they'd left their hyperlane and fallen into subspace.

From her ever-constant presence at Zem's cot, s'Il sat up just a little straighter, blinking as she cast a quick look to the forward section of the shuttle. But it was only fleeting, and she returned her attentions to Zem. She gave his hand a squeeze.

""Not long now," she whispered, smiling an almost apologetic smile. She knew who had caused his wounds, and the guilt she felt would weigh upon her for a long time to come.

But, the time to act against the coming Darkness was now, and the time for reflection and penance would come later.

"I'll make everything right," she finished quietly.

[Zem Vymes]

He was grateful to bring her back from the brink, and yet the terrible machinations of the Sith Lord were still very much in motion. By her own words, she aimed to finish this the way she thought right. The narrow path that led back to Darth Decepis.

Zem shifted on his cot, grimacing as a pained rattle exhaled from dry lips. He scrabbled for better purchase, trying to sit up to better approximate eye level.

"How?"

Even on their best terms, Darth Decepis would tax them to the brink. And they were far from their best. Bruised, beaten, and worse, they were running from one fight headlong to pick another.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

His question only elicited a smile, and s'Il reached out to give a gentle pat to his cheek. Her hand stilled then, fingers resting softly along the side of his face.

"It would take so long to explain," she started, "... and our time now is short."

But the questioning glint in his eyes didn't die away, and the Lupine inhaled deeply; she could pick apart each and every scent that she now drew in - it was like some heady concoction that gave her hope.

Finally.

"I had a teacher once, who instilled within me the need for defense. He taught me that it was sometimes better to wait and watch, and build my safeguards and gates to stave off whatever oncoming evil I might face. To find my center and let my opponent come to me... " As she spoke, s'Il rose to her feet.

Her hand remained in his however, even as she stood.

"My teacher was one of the Order's best... "

She placed a small kiss to his forehead.

"... even if he doesn't realize it."

[Zem Vymes]

Uncomfortable by her flattery, Zem nevertheless tried on a reciprocating smile.

"Well then, I hope you learned everything you could."

He didn't need to say what was best left to eyes to explain. Lupines rebounded from injury easily. Humans were a bit more leisurely. If the confrontation with Decepis proved personal, and he believed it would, then she would face her ancient nemesis, her lover, and her one-time master alone. So fresh from the brink and so fragile. A burden so heavy, and yet no other way to carry it.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

A final reassuring squeeze to his hand, and s'Il took a step back before pulling away completely.

"Rest," was her only parting word as she moved away, heading the short distance to the cockpit of the shuttle, and where she knew Sol would be.

Her gait, though still tender, held a resoluteness that came only from the knowledge that there was a heavy task ahead. And as she stepped through the threshold, the Lupine furrowed her brow, her eye scanning the starfield now before them.

"Your long range sensors... have they picked anything up?"

[Rev Solomon]

The Exodus was an old Theta T-2c medical shuttle with a long service record and a sensor package that had seen better days. The scopes were still dazzled by the transition from hyperspace, but presently the static cleared. Before them lay an ancient and desolate wreck of a star system, too old and remote to be known by anything but its catalog number. A dim red dwarf smoldered at the center of a great, spiraling trail of gas and dust, the sole remains of whatever planets might once have orbited the star in a younger epoch and been warmed by its light.

Gripping the flight yoke in his remaining hand, Solomon guided the Exodus somewhere north of the ecliptic, squinting through the canopy glass into the glimmering rings of dust. "Nothing yet," he said, "but if they're anywhere near that cloud, they'll probably see us before we see them."

He throttled down and let the shuttle ghost over the glowing rings while Loklorien searched them for any disturbance, any sign of a passing wake. "We can't wait for them very long," Solomon said. "He won't be waiting."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

With hands gripping the headrest of his seat, s'Il let her thoughts drift outward in a moment of unchecked hope. There had never been aany definitive time, just a small window. A small window that they would all come together in a less-than-glorious coalescence of desperate intentions. She sought some manner of familiarity; some form of aetherial blossoming. The swirling ball of red energies that made up the system's star gave no hints, and the surrounding dust and spacial clouds held nothing but serene emptiness. It was a system so peaceful and so apart from the coming tumult. It was a place unto itself, without the trapping of conflict or hardships.

Bone-thin finger clenched the worn leather a little tighter as the Lupine closed her eyes, her head angled up as if trying to scent the very essence of the space around the Exodus.

"I cannot- "

And in a brilliant flash of unseen energies, she both felt and saw the sudden existence of a hope made manifest. It was like a shining beacon flaring up in inky blackness, to light a path previously unseen.

Outside, a massive ship cracked into supspace like a hawk, her hull both smooth and jagged. She sat in space like a bird of prey just emerged from some long stupor, yet alert and ready to hunt. She dwarfed the Theta T-2c, yet hung suspended above it like some mother hen protecting her young.

And in that moment, s'Il let out a long breath.

She would have spoken, but in this moment, there were no words to express her relief.

Instead, the Lupine opened her eyes, her gaze tracking down to the comm panel before Sol as it crackled to life with the reception of an incoming transmission.

[Kes Akiena]

He'd spent the last leg of their trip sitting in the captain's chair, settled above the pilot's station like some hunting bird's perch. Before them all was an expansive viewscreen that afforded an impressive view of the system they'd just dropped into.

Ship on our lower Z-axis, Major.

"Thank you KHER."

For a moment he said nothing, then stood from his chair.

"Keep us steady, Mr. Aamoran"

A sideways look to the mobile mainframe unit.

"Give me a channel."

A split second passed before the droid spoke once more.

Open.

"Theta shuttle, this is the Khera'Va'ss'io. We hope that we've not kept you waiting."

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon started in his seat when the massive, predatory ship burst into realspace above them, and he hardly noticed when the proximity alarm began chattering uselessly a few moments later. In his youth, he had served in the Clone Wars just as Loklorien had, and he had seen his share of warships, some that dwarfed even the monster that hung silently above them, but rarely had he seen so perfect a union of form and function. He had to crane his neck from side to side to see the Lupine cruiser's entire vast wingspan, nearly a kilometer all told, a mythic dragon from the legends of old.

"You didn't tell me she was that big."

The captain's hail broke the spell, and the Jedi preacher reached down to switch on the comm. "Khera'Va'ss'io, this is Exodus. We're on schedule, but time is short. With your permission, we'd like to come aboard immediately."

[Kes Akiena]

While he would have preferred a holo transmission, Kes knew time was of the essence. And truthfully, their shared radio transmission was all that was really needed.

He gave a nod that those aboard the Theta shuttle couldn't see.

"Permission granted, Exodus."

There was the barest of hesitation before he went on.

"Is she with you?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il gave a quiet hrmph before answering.

"Yes, 'she' is."

And yet still, she could not help the glimmer of hope budding just a little bit more; like a seedling breaking through the soil to stare up at the sun.

[Kes Akiena]

A smile creased his features then, and the redhead breathed a sigh of relief.

"Very good then, Old Girl."

He turned to KHER then, nodding to the avatar.

"Begin docking procedures."

Yes Sir.

"And make things quick. Our time is in short supply."

[KHER]

I am aware, Sir.

So many processors fired, issuing inner orders and setting old subroutines into action.

KHER steadied his larger half, allowing the Theta shuttle to orient itself with the yaw of the larger ship. Beneath the main body, a pair of monolithic bay doors vented pressurized gas out into space as they began the ponderous motion of opening. The belly of the beast opened like a yawning mouth, the massive sliding bay doors widening ever farther.

[Rev Solomon]

With a steady hand Solomon guided the Exodus up into the belly of the beast. Inside was a vaulting structure of hard angles and buttresses and bulkheads, dense and compact as befitted a vessel of war, but the hangar deck was mostly empty, lights low save for a single illuminated pad, and no flight crew to receive them. The hangar doors groaned shut as the medical shuttle settled onto its skids.

Solomon powered down the engines and rose from his seat, his nearly two-meter frame stooped in the confines of the cockpit. "This is your show now, Lok," he said. "Lead the way."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

What was there to say? What words could there possibly be to utter in this moment? The answer was a simple one.

None.

Instead, s'Il only nodded. She knew that what was called for now was action, and she stepped back as Sol rose to stand, his form towering over her yet stooped all the same. It was surreal in a way, and she pressed her hands together, both palms hovering over her chest in a cross pattern, bowing in deference to the Jedi Master. It was a short-lived moment, but important none-the-less. And as she straightened back up, s'Il turned on her heel to stride purposefully from the cockpit.

The boarding ramp was already descending, and as s'Il strode purposefully toward it, she paused only long enough to look to James.

"I need you with me," her voice was firm, but gentle all the same. The other woman seemed like a leaf, ready to blow away at the slightest bit of wind. But the trust that she had in James was unshakable, and the Lupine gave an encouraging half-smile. There was so much in James that was pure and wonderful and strong. s'Il didn't wait for an answer however, as time was so much of the essence, and she continued her clipped pace, heading down the ramp's length even before it touched the deck of the hangar.

What happened now was dependent on the will of those involved. She had trusted in the Force to bring her thus far; trusted in the abilities of a myriad of individuals who had come together to bring them all this far. The war was not yet won, but this battle... this incredible culmination of so many efforts brought to fruition...

The Lupine breathed in the recycled air of the Khera'va'ss'io as though she was pulling in the fresh air of Schwartzweld. Despite the newly refurbished air regulators that the Alliance had installed, there was still a twinge of home. It caused her lips to pull back in a somewhat predatory grimace, and she let her expression hold even as she traversed the empty hangar bay. So much was still left to be done, but the hurdles that had been surpassed to reach this point in time gave her hope. Hope for the herself, hope for the galaxy, and more importantly hope for the Jedi.

And while her thoughts also trailed to Byl and Zem... she knew that Sol would see to those matters.

[James Prent]

James followed Lok into the big ship they'd docked with, trying to keep her legs from trembling as she walked. The...whatever it was she had done with the Force that had brought Jedi Vymes and Lok back from the brink of death... it had taken a lot out of her. She didn't understand it, didn't know where it had come from, but she felt hollowed out and ...transparent, somehow.

"What is this place?" she asked. Her voice echoed, and she flinched.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il slowed her pace slightly, allowing James to walk side by side with her.

"It is an old ship," she started slowly as they stepped through a pair of opening blast doors and into the ship proper. It was a stark affair, the empty corridors that seemed bathed in an ambient red glow. Normally they glowpanels would put of a soft white, but as the ship had come in hot from hyperspace, and was no doubt preparing for the next jump, Kes had called for a red alert. It was a strange thing to do in a way, as the only crew aboard were no doubt on the bridge, but it was a shrewd move regardless. It gave gravity to what they intended to plunge headlong into.

This was no easy task before them. It would be terrible and racked with pain. Of that she did not doubt.

The two stopped in front of a lift, and when the doors opened, they stepped inside.

"I had it rebuilt in secret, for this day," the doors closed, and the lift shot upwards.

But the ship was the last thing that s'Il wished to speak of now. Alone with James, the Lupine bowed her head, her eyes closing.

"I want you to know... James... "

A deep breath in, then back out. Her voice dropped low and she fumbled at the fingerless leather gloves she wore. Trappings and remnants of a terrible existence so recently pulled from.

"Even if you never forgive me, at least know that I am sorry."

She undid the clasps of each one, letting them fall to the metal decking of the lift as it came to a stop.

The doors opened, and s'Il stepped over the discarded gloves. Her stride was filled with a singular purpose, yet still there was a small limp, a gingerly placed step here and there.

"And after all of this, if you never wish to see me again... "

Bare hands now reached up to the clasps holding her form-fitting leather top, and with a sudden jerk she tore each one apart. Like the gloves, the top was cast aside, dropping to the deck. And still the Lupine walked, her gait steady enough as she led the way deeper into the ship.

"... I will never think ill of you."

[James Prent]

James had the irrational impulse to pick up the things Lok was dropping on the ground, but she resisted, just walking by her friend...former friend? She hadn't had enough time to process everything that had happened in the last few hours. Hells, she was still wearing the cream colored cold weather jumpsuit she'd dressed in for Hoth. The parka was still on the Exodus, but with Lok walking next to her in just a thin tank top James was starting to feel overdressed.

"I don't even know what t' think, Lok." She hurried her steps a bit to keep up. The other woman was incredibly energetic, considering what she'd just been through. "Are y'sure y'should be, you know, runnin' around like this?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il had stopped short of undoing the buttons of her trousers only due to the fact that she was still walking. James' words were a jarring reminder of her own still-healing wounds, but the Lupine refused to accept them. She could not afford them any thought.

"I must."

It was spoken so plainly, with so much conviction. And for her, it was the terrible truth.

Another bend in the corridor, and s'Il finally slowed her pace, coming to a stop at a nondescript door. It opened with only a slight hiss, and stepping inside, she moved through the small quarters that they now both occupied. And for one blessed moment she stood inactive. As if her mind had gone blank and she had to catch up with her own actions. She blinked. Then swallowed. Then closed her eyes and bowed her head low.

"I can't stop," she finally spoke, and turning around to face James, she could only shake her head.

"If I do - if any of us do - he will win."

[James Prent]

"Okay," she said, and then she reached out impulsively to take Lok's hand. She hollowed out Byl and left him to die! her mind screamed, but she couldn't reconcile that with her friend, standing in front of her. She felt hurt, confused, a little angry, and a lot tired. Solomon had said she had used a lot of herself, her energy patching Zem and Lok back together, but to be honest she didn't really know what she'd done.

"What do you want me to do?"