Cayden felt the shuttle hit the deck of the Chrome Fox and he sighed.  Bimmiel is going to fall soon... I'm practically broken... oh yeah, and I'm half-insane... he thought as he moved the chair down the ramp.

Immediately, a medical team took him out of the chair and threw him onto a stretcher.  He knew that he had to answer for his actions... hell, he'd probably be court-martialled... But I don't care anymore... all I want, is to see Bimmiel and Onderon free from Imperial rule... and to do that, I'm going to do something unexpected...

Cayden looked over to Lieutenant Jayda Rollan, the former captain of the New Republic DP-20 Silence, and waved her over.

Jayda walked over and stood next to Cayden as he handed her a datapad.

"That details a plan I need you to read and execute perfectly," he whispered.  "Failure to do so will be fatal... for both of us."

She nodded in acknowledgement and was escorted by two SFs to the holding bay.

Cayden watched the doctors, along with Sarah, take him to the medbay.

"Now Cayden, you are to stay in this room until I deem you fit for duty, is that clear?" she asked forcefully.

He smiled and said "Yes ma'am."

OOC:

WC: 210

Yes... not even 400 words... :P

I could have wrote more, but it would ruin what I have planned later on... and would make it harder for those who wish to visit me in the medbay... :P

Alrighty Regents, this story is going from when we return to the Chrome Fox to when we return to Abrae.  IF you want to go back into combat, for some hellish reason, you have to clear it with Drac first.  Only then, will I allow a Regent to post on A Page.

Once A Page ends, this story will remain active until we get a training mission from Command, or until we can get one approved.

So, in the meantime... have fun doing some CD! 

EDIT EDIT: I want to see some personal development here.  If you want to do a personal story, feel free to do so... just post something on here noting that your character is going off to do something... like, filing leave in the barracks, or mysteriously vanishing... though, you do the second one, know that I may pop in your story trying to find you.  :P

EDIT: Can I get this stickied please?  Thanks!

Vanity walked into the medbay as ordered. She sighed as she sat down and waited to be looked over. She had not been wounded as bad as a certain someone, but she was not a hundred precent better either. Sarah looked her over and then proceeded to Maroy. Both of them were soon declared fit for action, and she attempted to shoo them out of the medbay. Vanity refused, knowing she needed some time to talk with Cayden about what happened earlier. But when Maroy refused too, Vanity gave her a questioning look.

The three of them were alone. Vanity opened her mouth to speak, but a very shaken-looking Michele ran through the medbay and into Sarah’s office. She watched her and then looked away as the woman became sick. Poor girl. Cayden’s face was filled with concern even as the door closed.

“I hope she’s all right.” Maroy’s voice. Vanity looked to her as she looked to Cayden.

"I hope so too... I shouldn't have put any of you through that..." he said, looking out the nearby window.

"Oh come on, Cayden. It's not like this is supposed to be something majestic and sugar-coated," Vanity cut in, "Fighting is fighting. Death is death. At the same time though, I do hope she gets over this." Just as she said that, Michele stumbled back out and left the medbay without glancing their way.

"Hell, I shouldn't have put myself through that... and now I have other issues to worry about..." Cayden said, grabbing his datapad.  He began typing away furiously on it.

Maroy stood and went over to Cayden's bed. She sat down beside him. "What other issues?" Vanity suddenly tensed. That Twi'lek was unnaturally close to him. But then again, maybe that was just something in their species she didn't know about. Vanity tried to calm herself. She must just be really paranoid.

Cayden stopped typing and sighed.  "Some people in the galaxy just don't know how to quit... some people just don't know how to simpy walk away... I'm one of those people... and, because of that, I've endangered billions of people..."

"Stop talking in your cryptic language again." Vanity stood and crossed to one side of the room so that she wasn't looking at either of them. "I seriously doubt that EVERYTHING is your fault."

"As we speak, one Onderonian battlecruiser, the HMIS Atlantis, is on its way to Bimmiel.  We don't have the fire power to take it down.  If we fail, the Gree, Mandalorians, and possibly the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant , will all fall," he said darkly.

"That's terrible!" Maroy touched Cayden's arm in a sympathetic gesture. Vanity saw this from the corner of her eye. She clenched her fists and tried not to do anything. She was just being paranoid. She was just being paranoid...

Cayden looked to Maroy and tried to crack a smile.  "I have one trick left up my sleeve, Maroy.  I can assure you, injured or no, Bimmiel will not go down without a fight."

She was so close to him. The vibes she was feeling were just wrong. They had to be. And yet she could see maroy's eyes looking at him longingly. There was a connection there. "Cayden, can I talk with you privately?" Vanity tried to hide the emotion from her voice. She refused to look at him in case her face betrayed anything at all.

Cayden looked over at Vanity and said "Yeah, sure..."

Maroy took this as her cue to leave the medbay since Cayden could not leave his bed. She walked away, leaving Vanity alone with Cayden. Once the door was shut, Vanity turned and approached Cayden. "Tell me what happened when I was at the shipyard. Something is different and I can feel it."

"I made my escape from the medbay, took an interceptor, and entered combat.  After getting my fill of A-Wings, I recieved orders to board the Silence," he said.

"And after that?" She tried not to let her anger get the better of her. He couldn't avoid her question. She wouldn't let him.

"Sarah wouldn't let me join the combat, so I was isolated to the medbay.  You know everything else, Vanity."

"No. In fact, I don't. You were with Maroy. What happened then? Huh?"

Cayden sighed.  "I kissed Maroy..."

The silence in the room was deafening. The horror on Vanity's face was immense. "You. Did. What?"

"I kissed Maroy, Vanity!  I kissed my XO," he repeated.

Vanity lost it. She waked up to Cayden and grabbed his shoulder. "You betrayed me? After everything I go and tell you, you betray me?!" Her eyes were alit with flames of rage. "Do you not remember what you said?! You said you wouldn't be like Korinth! You said you wouldn't hurt me! You acted so nice just so you could turn on me and do this?!" She tightened her grip on him, knowing full well that she could get in trouble for hurting him, but she didn't care anymore. This was something she could NOT deal with, and she would NOT even attempt to deal with it. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

"You honestly think I planned this?!?  I'm probably going to get court-martialled for what I did today, not to mention what I intend to do if things go sour for me back on Abrae.  I have two planets depending on my sanity, and well... obviously, I don't have any of that anymore...  I tried to get myself killed today, Vanity... about three different times, actually..."

"Then maybe you should succeed for once! Maybe you should just get it over with! Do you think I'm any more sane than you?! Yet I don't go out betraying people I've told can trust me. Want to know why?! Because I know what it feels like to get my heart ripped to shreds!" She shoved him back, not caring about his pain. “You're just another example of how people never change. Everyone just goes around, lying to each other. Stabbing each other in the back. Even you, the man with supposed morals, even you are no different! You can't even consider anyone else's feelings in light of the situation because you won't let yourself. If I can do that, then so can you! So you have NO EXCUSES!"

Cayden pulled his pistol out of his holster, fingered it for a second, then set it on the bedside table.  "I have no excuses... I offer you the opportunity to kill me, again, Vanity."

Why? Why did he have to do this EVERY TIME? Vanity reached over and took the pistol. She felt the weight of it in her hands. She even considered pointing it at him and getting it over with. But again, something stopped her. So much of her just wanted to do it. But the other part of her, the part that actually cared, kept her from pulling the trigger. "No Amacuse," she used his callsign instead of his name because she couldn't bear to say his name now, "I will not do that. Don't get me wrong, you deserve it. Hell, that's what I should do. But not only will I have to live my life hiding from the VE, I will have to live with the thought that the one man I actually enjoyed being with was the one I killed. I already killed my father. Why would I kill you?" the feelings were frighteningly sobering. She could hear her voice as she shouted at her dad, in her head. She could hear the gunshot. She could see his dead body.

"Because, as your commanding officer, I am giving you a direct order," he said.

"And as your squadron mate, I can tell Sarah what exactly is happening so that they can consider your mental health."

Cayden sighed.  "Go ahead, Vanity... I know you want to... hell, there's probably someone out there who would pay good money for my head on a silver platter, which is probably seeming quite enticing right about now," he said, looking out the viewport.  "Hell... might even be Emperor Moore..."

"But he isn't getting you if I have anything to say about it. And if I could, I'd set out right now to kill him. I'm sure a lot of people would be happy about that. Including me and you." Vanity looked away as she spoke remembering her trip back to Onderon and seeing Emperor Moore.

"What if I want you to take me to him?  As a sort of last request, perhaps?  Either way, I am going to die, Vanity... whether by your hand or his," Cayden said, grabbing his datapad.  He looked at it, then smiled.  "I could pay you an unspecified amount of credits to take me to him..."

"It may surprise you, but I am not motivated by that kind of bribery. Amacuse, I am personally going to see to it that Moore does not get you. If I am here with you, he's not going to be able to do anything."

Cayden sighed then set his datapad on the table.  "'If you are here with me?'  What the hell does that mean?"

Vanity stopped herself. Should she tell him? Or was it better if she made up something that sounded like the truth? No. She couldn't come up with something intricate enough to pass Cayden by. She sighed. "I met with Emperor Moore twice. The first time was because I had stowed away, and Korinth cleared my name. The second time... Emperor Moore asked me if I knew you to which I answered yes. He asked me to spy on you, to find out your weaknesses. I refused at first, but then he said I could kill you. And I... I accepted." She sat down on the end of his bed. "And there was.... something else he told me...."

Cayden sat up and asked "What else did he say?"

"He said... that he was your uncle..." Vanity looked into Cayden's eyes. "And that your father, Dorn Tavers, is still alive."

Cayden's heart almost stopped, the only signal being the beeping medical equipment.  "He said WHAT?"

"That's what he said. Your father is still alive."

Cayden looked out the viewport and sighed.

"That's a good thing... right?"

"No, it isn't... my father is a brilliant military commander... that's the last thing I need this late into the war," he said, not turning to face Vanity.  "As much as I would love to see my own father again, I'd rather him be where he belongs right now: in the dirt."

Vanity was shocked. "But he's your father. He would fight for you.... wouldn't he?"

"If he would have, he would have attempted to contact Bimmiel by now... No, I'm afraid he works for Emperor Moore now."

Vanity felt a form of sympathy grow in her heart, but when she thought about the events that even brought about their conversation, she tore it out. No. She couldn't feel sympathy of all things towards this man. He was just as bad as Korinth. "Well, what're you going to do about it? Huh? Just sit here and love your little companion or fight a war worth fighting?"

"Bimmiel is about to be overrun, right now as we speak.  I'm stuck in a hospital bed, and most likely will be restrained in the next ten minutes.  I've done everything I can, save one thing.  The only thing I can do would most likely end my career here in the Vast Empire," he said through clenched teeth.  "Now, if you don't mind, Petty Officer, I believe I have answered all your questions sufficiently, and would like to be alone for right now."

She glowered at him. "Fine. Be that way. But no matter what, you have a choice. And I still have a choice too." She stood up. "Whether to side with Emperor Moore, or to actually help you and Onderon itself. On one hand, I get Korinth and I'd be working for Moore which could be good or bad. On the other.... I could get to be beside you even if it's just from a distance." She turned and crossed to the medbay door. "Have fun with your girlfriend you--" her derogatory terms degraded down to a mumble as she left the medbay, shoving herself past Maroy who had been standing there for who knew how long.

She wanted to be done with everyone and everything. She wanted to go back to when things weren’t complicated like the way they were now. Why couldn’t she just have NOT met Cayden? Why did he even have to exist? She let her heart open just for a second and suddenly he was there. In her mind. In her thoughts. In her dreams. Hell, even in her reality! Everywhere she went, there he was in some form. And then, the one time when she finally felt she could love someone again, he went and kissed someone else! Why was she to be cursed by his presence?!

Vanity had worked herself into such a rage. Her eyes began to tear up without her control. She lowered her head so as to look at the ground. No one could see her like this! But what she didn’t see was Coren up ahead. Vanity walked straight into him and made the mistake of looking up just long enough for him to see her face. Dammit! She quickly looked away.

OOC:

Bet you're ready for the WC
2,249!
Just when you thought it couldn't get more complex... it does. Been waiting to reveal this for forever.

The whine of the engines could be heard by those in the cabin, and Fyston was shaken awake by one of the other graduates. Fyston hadn't bothered to remember any of the graduates' names, and was silently regretting forgetting the names of those that were assigned with him.

"Hey, Fyston, we're almost there."

"Thanks, wake the other recruits."

"Bossing us around already? You pass the Academy and get promoted to Senior Crewman and you boss us around on the shuttle?"

The recruit smiled at the end to signify he was joking, then muttered something about following orders before he turned to rouse the other graduates. Fyston glanced out the window towards the frigate that was their destination. He heard the other two graduates wake up, both Twi'leks, both male. One was a dark green, the other one a light brown.

"Guys, get your stuff together, we're almost to the Chrome Fox"

"Alright. Thanks for the heads up, I didn't even feel it when we dropped out of Hyperspace."

Fyston glanced down at his bag, in which he had a copy of the Naval Officer's Manual on top. He stuffed the book back deeper into his bag and closed the open bag. He glanced down at his chest, where his first and only award shone proudly. He pressed down his dress shirt, slightly nervous about wearing his Class A's when meeting his first squadron.

"Why do you have your sidearm on your belt? You're acting like an officer already. Don't you have high hopes and dreams, already acting like you're better than us fighter pilots."

"Oh, yeah, like I really care about you guys. There's a reason you didn't make it this far, and it's because you have no aspirations, no plan. You told me I couldn't get far on the simulator, I got past all of you. Shut up."

"Oh, the big bad officer telling his underlings to shut up. I guess we better listen, we don't want a court martial."

"I thought officers weren't supposed to say shut up. I'm reporting you."

"You're about to be forced to report to the medbay if you don't shut up. Obviously it touched a nerve."

Fyston felt the ship land in the hangar bay and stood up. He flattened his uniform again, trying his best to make it look professional. He decided not to wear his hat, as the Academy gave him only the standard dress hat, forcing him to order his own. Since it had not gotten to him yet, Fyston didn't want to place his current hat on top of his horns to avoid looking incompetent. He watched the shuttle doors opened, grabbed his bag with his left hand, slipped his dress hat under his right elbow and stepped in front of the other recruits as they went to leave.

The Zabrak walked down the exit ramp calmly, each step clattering on the ramp due to his shiny dress boots. He looked like he knew what he was doing, and he had to try to keep his nervous thoughts off of his face. He walked calmly into the hallway and asked a passing crewman where he needed to report.

"Oh, Warrant Officer Cayden Travers is in the medbay, down the hall to your right, sir."

Why did he call me sir? I'm only a senior crewman, it's not like I'm an Admiral.

Fyston walked down the mentioned hall and turned promptly into the medbay. He saw who must have been the Officer he was looking for. He immediately dropped his bag and saluted the man.

"Senior Crewman Fyston Sutsgy reporting for duty, sir!"

Delete please...