MEMORIES IV

Vigan'ara

"Gravity generators malfunctioning!"

Narah felt the hallway lurch and whine as she grasped ahold of the side wall, her feet beginning to slide from what used to be the floor, and her body lying against the new center of gravity. Her equilibrium struggled to make the adjustment as she heard loose objects crash into others, giving in to the Vigilance's now frantic state.

It was utter chaos…but chaos was what she had been trained for.

Lucky for her, the alien boarders with rifles in their hands were just as affected by the change as she, some falling into now sideways rooms through sliding doors. Drawing her blaster pistol as soon as she was level against the wall, she fired multiple killing shots while her enemies struggled to regain their balance. She advanced, jumping over doorways-turned-trapdoors and keeping herself prepared for the next fluctuation.

"Commander, status?"

Narah grunted as Ar'alani's strained voice came through, obviously laboring from the shifting gravity strapped down in her chair. "On my way. These bastards just keep coming!"

"Hold them back!" she ordered. "We can't reset the generators from here, you'll have to do it manually!"

Manually. Great.

"You want me to run across the Vigilance while the gravity generators are constantly shifting?" she confirmed, still running along the side of the hall.

"If you do not, we're dead! Get to it, Commander! Now!" she shouted back, not an inch of give in her voice.

"Yes ma'am," Narah huffed, forced to stop as she reached a junction, which was now just a very long fall to the other side of the ship. She watched some alien boarders fall down that pit along with some chiss officers dead at the bottom of it…making her blood boil with anger at the sight. Whoever did this was going to die…but for now, she'd settle for these disgusting aliens.

Engineering was a long way from where she stood, but more importantly it was through one of the hallways down the pit. Unless she could find good climbing holds…

Abruptly, the gravity shifted again, and now the ceiling was the floor as the ship once again filled with the sound of crashing objects. Taking her chance, she regained her balance and sprinted down the former death pit and whirled around the corner down the correct hallway. Spotting a stumbling alien, she crashed into them, grabbing ahold of their clothing as she plowed her fist straight into their skull. Riding the momentum, she pulled his limb down with her as the gravity shifted again, placing her on the opposite side wall and her boot into their face.

Unconscious, she pressed past him and jumped to the original flooring, her sprint picking up speed before the next shift, making sure to run in a diagonal route to counteract the constant spinning gravity.

Through a few more fist fights and careful footing, she reached engineering. To her distain, the door was in lock down, and she was forced to shoot open the panel and hope Ar'alani wouldn't bill her for it later. Opening the door, she had to hold herself steady to avoid blacking out, looking into the massive, open room where the drive core and fusion reactor pushed the ship along. Situated in front of that was the contained singularity of the generator.

"I'm in," she grunted, leaping out to grasp ahold of the sideways catwalk railing. Hanging on for dear life, she clung to the rail and slowly climbed her way down to the control station. "Stand by!"

"Hurry, Commander!" Ar'alani shouted back.

I'm working on it!

She let out a scream as the grate broke loose, nearly severing her arms with its sharp edge as it fell, slamming into the chamber's ceiling. Still, she pressed on, nearly reaching the pulsating singularity as the gravity shifts began to be more severe.

With a final effort, just as the spin reached normal, she jumped up from the catwalk and cranked down the reset lever.

The singularity unleashed a burst of energy within its containment as it released itself, and the excess generated was enough to force the failsafes to unleash the energy and send Narah into a weightless spiral towards the back of the chamber. Disoriented, she flipped around and grasped ahold of the maintenance overlook railing, and felt her weight return as the generator completed its reset.

Everything slammed into the proper flooring while Narah hung, desperately catching her breath. Pulling herself up and over the rail and onto the overlook, she keyed her comm. "Gravity generator reset, Admiral."

Ar'alani seemed to be catching her own breath. "Very good, Commander…very fine work. Now, if you could please get the invaders off my ship, you may consider your duties for today complete."

Narah huffed, picking herself up and drawing her blaster. "Consider it done, ma'am."


The doors of the Syndicure council opened with an old squeak and loud doom sound, and Admiral Ar'alani strode out in her white-clad uniform looking just as confident and neutral as Narah remembered. Rising from her seat in her marine-designated red uniform, she offered the woman a crisp salute.

"A slap on the wrist, nothing more," Ar'alani said as Narah returned to ease. "They said I was careless to wander too far into alien space…and I suppose they are right."

"As long as you keep your ship and rank, I call that a win," Narah shrugged, matching her step by step as they strode through the long hall back the way they had come in. "You were just doing your job…and the Syndicure always has something to say about that."

"Indeed…although thanks to you, I have a ship to keep in the first place," she offered Narah a small smile of genuine gratitude, a gesture the stern commanding officer rarely bestowed to her.

"Least I could do," she tipped her head as they continued their walk. "Ma'am."

Narah knew she was only here for escort duty, a common practice for her since she accepted the Admiral's offer, which afforded the pair plenty of chances to talk. Since their meeting in the academy mess hall, she'd got a chance to pierce the veil of that harsh exterior to learn that Ar'alani really did care about her subordinates…and had a heart more open than most officers she'd ever met. She'd shoot out her orders and expected them to be followed, but she was willing to listen, and that trait had served the two of them quite well, especially with Narah's rather open personality.

The decision, of course, did not come without cost…and hardly to herself.

"Something on your mind?" Ar'alani asked, her gaze somewhat intense, but it was more inquisitive than intrusive.

Narah stopped her walk down the hallway, and the Admiral did the same, giving her a chance to turn towards the arched windows that displayed the snow-covered city. "I…never actually thanked you for all you've done for me," she said, keeping her eyes on the scene outside. "No one has ever…"

She trembled slightly, her eyes shutting as her head bowed. To her surprise, she felt a hand grip her shoulder…and her trembling slowly ceased.

"Your father is a menace," Ar'alani said, a growl lining her tone. "But he's gone now. He can't touch you."

"And Nerah?" Narah turned, feeling a tear well up under her eye. "Is there…is there really nothing you can do?"

Ar'alani's expression was grave…and a sigh broke her stern look. "No. I tried, Narah. I really did. Mitth'raw'nuruodo has taken a liking to her, as a matter of fact…but I could only save one…and I chose you."

"But I…" Narah breathed, another tear seeping from her dry eye as she could only imagine what her 'little' sister was going through. "But I can defend myself…and Nerah…"

Abruptly, Narah wiped her tears away, shaking her head. Was this really happening? Was she crying in front of Admiral Ar'alani?

Now she just felt pathetic, and tried to make up for it by standing at attention. "Ma'am. I can continue escorting you, if you wish."

"At ease, Commander," she insisted, her hand still on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Narah. If I ever get a chance to release your sister…I promise, I will."

The concern in her tone…it reminded her so much of the mother she'd only known for so little…and by then, she didn't care how pathetic she looked. She cried; the tears she'd stored flowing uninterrupted as they soaked the Admiral's white uniform in an embrace.


"Useless!"

The impacts hurt much less than the words did, as Nerah had come to realize over the years. She could train her muscles to be stronger, train her brain to fight though and ignore pain…but words cut straight into her heart, the one thing she couldn't just train to ignore. Whether the sting of the backhands against her cheeks existed or not, her tears tended to break as she felt her own heart wither into nothing. Narah had always been there to help with that part.

But Narah was gone.

"The stim just won't take, sir," the doctor said, his eyes somewhat worrisome looking down upon Nerah's nearly nude and shivering form. "Her…her body is just—"

"Not good enough!" her father shouted again, swiping instruments onto the lab floor as he paced. "It never was anyway. Try a higher dose!"

Nerah shivered, already feeling her muscles begin to wither under the strain of such constant change between dead cold and searing hot. She couldn't even speak, her throat unable to form the words of pleading she wanted to utter…but it was no use. No one cared about her. No one was going to feel pity…so there was no use in fighting it anymore.

"Aristocra Nator…I must insist," the doctor turned to the fuming man. "If we go any further…it could kill her."

Nator marched forward in a harsh pace, pushing the man aside and wrapping his hand around Nerah's head, pushing it harshly aside. She tried not to cry, but her muscles weren't even strong enough to hold back the tears as she shut her eyes…her trembling its worst she'd ever felt it.

"Stand aside, then!" Nator growled, and she heard him take the next dose in his hand. "I have no time for weak-willed, short-sighted cowards!"

His hand jerked her head, forcing her to look into his furious, monstrous eyes as her sobbing worsened. She couldn't even scream anymore…and perhaps that was what terrified her most.

"This is your last chance to prove your worth to me, worm," he growled. "You can blame your sister for forcing me to turn to you instead."

She knew she couldn't…and she just knew it wouldn't work.

Today was the day she died…and as she closed her eyes, she accepted that painful oblivion.

"Sir—"

"What is it?!" her father roared, jerking her head painfully to the side in his grip, unable to see what had made him stop.

"There's…someone here to see you."

"Tell him I will meet him once I've finished here," he ordered, pulling Nerah's head back straight as he tightened his grip, pressing into her bones. "This ungrateful parasite—"

"That's quite enough, Aristocra Nator."

Nerah's eyes widened…and she felt her father's grip loosen slightly. "Excuse me?! Who the hell—who let you inside?!"

"I let myself in, as a matter of fact," the man said, his voice cool…almost soothing in Nerah's strained ears. "I bring word…and perhaps even a proposition to solve your little…problem."

"To what do you—" Nator began, and then snarled, tightening his grip again. "Who even are you?!"

She heard the man step forward. "I am Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss Defense Fleet, and today I would like to make you a deal…in regard to your daughter, Vigan'era'hro."

Nerah trembled evermore, feeling a spark of hope at the sound of Thrawn's voice. He had come for her…to save her from this terrible fate.

But…how?

Nator scoffed. "A deal? If House Mitth believes they can adopt my house's Blood without great cost…they will find themselves sadly mistaken."

"No adoption," Thrawn said. "I have traveled beyond the Chaos, and found a suitable expert to complete your aspirations. Granted he is an alien, but proven to be quite proficient in the expertise of…advanced soldiers."

The hope faded…and Nerah felt herself fade with it, her hearing and sight tunneling away as her head fell limp to one side. Her father released his grip, but her heart was shattered to the point in which her resistance was nonexistent. Instead she laid limp against the operating table…unable to move…unable to speak. Whatever conversation was taking place…she could not even perceive it.

A cool, soothing hand brushed up against her face, and she looked up.

It was Thrawn.

He said nothing, only looking down upon her with his usual stoic gaze…but reached into his belt pocket, and fished out a totem of some kind. Placing it into her weak hand, she looked down to see it was a small trinket carved out of some kind of marble. It depicted an avian creature rising defiantly before its nest, its mighty beak pointed towards the sky with its wings spread wide.

She looked back at him, unable to even ask what it was.

"A vanguard of posterity," he explained. "A common depiction in the world beyond the Chaos. It will suit you well one day."

So…Thrawn thought he could get her through this…please her father…and free her?

She felt her tears return, her head resting against the pillow as the relief began to finally seep its way into her heart.

Her sister might have been gone…but Thrawn was here.

Big brother.