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Now, on to the chapter!

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Soft jungle loam pressed between her toes, warm and comfortable after so many years in armour. Revan picked a random path and let her feet lead the way, mind turned inward. It had been less than a week since their arrival on New-Krypton and she was already at a loss for what to do.

 

The living world under her feet sent a wave of compassionate support, a subtle hum that took the edge from her fatigued mind. With the birth of the young Kryptonians, the silence of the central city had vanished. Replaced by a hum of organised, devoted, little beings. 

 

In many ways, they reminded her of the other Hive minds she had encountered in her service to Krypton. They worked and moved as one, united in a near fanatical obedience to their founder. The teens that she’d helped raise were the same when she first met them, talented little drones that developed true individuality over time.

 

“I think I need a break from playing the teacher…” Revan sighed as she pushed through tangled vegetation, in search of much needed solitude. Jolee and the others had embraced their roles, even now, yet she felt out of place in front of a class. “I want to find my own path, a purpose that only I can fill.”

 

A bolt of emerald lightning crackled across her path, followed by a string of fanciful curses. Revan snapped back to reality and took cover behind a nearby rock. She ducked behind the stone, just in time to avoid a fresh volley of magically generated spears.

 

“I’ve finally got you on the backfoot, old man,” An unfamiliar voice, amplified and distorted, laughed as thunder bloomed through the jungle. “Five years of study, and I’m already your match… I thought you were an Archmage in your previous universe?”

 

Emerald light clashed with blue as an old man in faded robes appeared from the jungle. Pushed back, step by step, hands engaged in a masterful blur of spell work. His skill was far beyond May, the only teacher she had ever known for Krypton’s unusual magic.

 

“You’re as boarish as ever, Victor,” The old man snorted and a vast circle of runes appeared at his feet. It pulled on the Force like a syphon, channelled to create a transparent bubble of light. “Still as arrogant as some of my students and just as ready to overestimate yourself!”

 

The unknown Wizard clapped his hands and Revan’s heart fluttered in her chest. RUN!!! That was the warning the Force screamed into her mind, a prompt that she ignored. Crouched behind her half-broken cover, Reven scanned her surroundings for the threat.

 

“Please, we both know I’ll soon overtake you, Merlyn,” Victor stepped into the magically carved clearing in Krypton’s jungle, body wrapped in a green-black symbiote. Emerald bolts twisted around his hands, his fingers acted independently and carved several spells into the air. “Even with all your years of knowledge, I…”

 

The sky shifted its colour, gentle blue replaced by an ominous orange-red hue. Victor glanced above and Revan followed his gaze. The heavens had vanished, replaced by the molten face of some hideous otherworldly plane. She stood, ready to run, but the voice of the Force wailed that she was too late.

 

An inverted volcano, taller than any mountain could ever be, vomited a crimson pillar of lava from one world to the next. It dyed the skies of Krypton a terrible red and raised the temperature to an unbearable degree.

 

“Like all the others, you assume that because you have learned all I taught you, I’ve also taught you all I know,” Merlyn’s lips turned up in a smug grin as he opened his hands and pressed them toward Victor’s miserable expression. “Reality is far afield from that fantasy, I assure you!”

 

“Wait!” Revan forced herself from cover and waved to the two embattled sorcerers. If that attack fell, not only would she die, but much of the jungle-world would be reduced to ash. “Please stop!”

 

Her words went unnoticed by Merlyn as he directed his spell toward its target, but earned a confused glance from the armoured Victor. He split the efforts of his active spellwork, one hand extended toward her. 

 

His fingers blurred, fast enough that Revan suspected he was Kryptonian. Faster than her eye could follow, a green net of light wrapped the space around her in an impassable cocoon. The web sealed, just ahead of the avalanche of molten stone, a wave of light and nose that replaced the world.

 

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“So… you hail from another Empire within range of the Ascendancy,” Thrawn placed his fingers together in a steeple and frowned. “Forgive me, but I am unfamiliar with your species… a race of beings that can move unassisted through the vacuum of space would surely be well known to its neighbours, no?”

 

“We like to keep to ourselves, and hyperspace travel to our home system is impossible,” Dan shrugged, one eye on Anissa as she stared down Thrawn’s second in command. “Also, Anissa here isn’t a member of my species… more like a refuge that’s been granted temporary citizenship.”

 

“Interesting,” Thrawn tilted his head and returned his hands to the table. “I believe that you’re telling the truth, but the existence of two such races is quite the anomaly… perhaps we should move beyond introductions and into business.”

 

The Chiss Commander pressed a button and activated a display. It showed a live feed of the Outbound Flight, still blockaded by Thrawn’s fleet. The ungainly vessel still refused to respond to hails, no doubt waiting for Jedi Master Jorus C’baoth to commune with the Force and devise a plan of action.

 

“This ship seems determined to continue forward, into Chiss space,” Thrawn zoomed in on the twin markings that graced the vessel’s hull. “They seem affiliated with both the Jedi and the Republic… why would you have knowledge of its mission, let alone the current situation on board?”

 

Dan raised his hand, palm up, and projected a hologram of his own. At first it was an indistinct haze, but it resolved into a first person perspective of the briefing room. Dan let Venom display his own vision to the group and turned his gaze past the walls of the ship.

 

He scanned the halls of the Outbound Flight, until he found the Jedi Master. Seated in a meditative pose, his eyes snapped open the second Dan’s focus locked in. He shifted from the fallen Jedi, to the crew quarters of the Republic vessel. Another command to Venom and sound was added to the visual feed.

 

“I think Master C’baoth has gone mad… most of the supplies have been shifted to a single hold, and his apprentice doles out food like it’s not ours in the first place…”

 

“I know, but what can we do… anyone who raises their concerns gets called into a private audience… they come back changed, zealots for C’baoth’s cause…”

 

Dan dismissed his projection and returned his gaze to Thrawn and his second. The Chiss maintained perfect poker faces, but even the Commander’s heart rate increased as they processed Dan’s display.

 

“We can do whatever tests you’d like, to confirm what I’ve shown you is true,” Dan smiled and placed his hands onto the table between them. “But I assure you, I don’t need to have anyone else tell me what’s happening on that ship, I can see and hear it for myself.”