Vong War Annals – “Family and Friends II” 5.31.08

“So, ten more minutes?”
Cam was not entirely certain what his mother was talking about. He was pretty sure it didn’t apply to him, as he was actually up early. Not that he wouldn’t have minded another ten minutes of sleep; in fact, he’d tried to claim just that. For him, though, sleep would not come.
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Vong War Annals – “Surprise arrivals (Mikhail’s Legacy, part two)” 5.30.08

            “Dargan.”
            It was 0354 local on Xenen, and Izra Dargan had just barely crawled into bed after playing designated pilot for some of the guests for the Bel Iblis-Bullian wedding.  The small apartment he kept on Wayfarer wasn’t much to look at, but he stayed on-station so rarely it didn’t matter all that much.  It had been more convenient the night before to stay on the orbital station rather than fly back to his modest house on the surface, so he’d schlepped there and collapsed into bed about two hours before his comm went off.
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Vong War Annals – “Data run” 5.27.08

            Davil scrubbed the sleep from his eyes as he made his way resolutely toward Wayfarer’s operations hub where he prayed a cup of caf would be waiting for him along with the reports from Jargunda on the upgrades to the array of small ships of the line that would shortly be assigned to a new task force.
            Amazing how quickly things fall apart.  Just when we thought we might be all right…  He rubbed the last lingering sleep from his eyes as he stepped into the operations hub, tugging on the hem of his moderately rumpled jacket which still smelled of flowers from his sister’s wedding the day before.  They didn’t even get one full night’s sleep before…I wonder if that’s what it was like for Mom and Dad?  He winced at himself and cut the line of thought abruptly.

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Vong War Annals – “Loose ends tied” 5.26.08

    “Now if you have any more problems,” Jeir said, his arms waving around with great emphasis, “you know how to contact us.”
    Jeir’s voice trailed off as Kal’or walked away from the group of people towards the VCX-820, sleeping gently in a grassy field.  He couldn’t quite bring himself to acknowledge it’s beauty, though he could admit how soothing the place felt.  It was strange how everything seemed a bit softer; cleaner than it had been before, when the war was on.  The planet wasn’t so bad after all.
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Vong War Annals – “Rude awakenings” 5.26.08

              He came awake groggy in the light of a glowstick shining in his face, maybe an hour after falling into bed.  Cracking an eye open long enough to get a glimpse of Dorrin in the stick’s backwash, Davil groaned, pulling the blankets up over his head.
            “I don’t care what your sister paid you to do that, go back to bed.”

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Vong War Annals – “Past Life” 5.23.08

      It was late.  Later than Jeir should still be awake, at least…the lack of sleep that had become the norm for weeks now was being intruded upon, yet for all the wear and tear on his body and the heavy eyelids his mind raced through far too many thoughts to let him have such peace. 
    Not wanting to bring further attention to the growing assault force at the Citadel’s northern gates, Jeir had flown the transport farther south, well out of range of the Citadel’s sensors.  They would stay there with the seals open for air and all systems off for the night, then meet back up with the assault group in the morning.
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Vong War Annals – “Messages from Afar” 5.23.08

            The atmosphere, so heavily laden with moisture that the ghost-gray clouds that had eclipsed the sky sank lower and lower to the ground, so that by the time Les arrived back to the borders of Arradan, they seemed ready to touch the ground. The light mist that was falling did not drive Les immediately into the house, but he took a detour through the gardens, taking his time as he did, enjoying the familiar scent of damp earth and stone, and trees and plants anticipating the rain. He knew where his steps were taking him, yet continued onward. A few days ago he would have resisted going there, but now he obeyed the wandering of his feet in that direction without trepidation.
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Vong War Annals – “Longer Day” 5.22.08

      It was that last moment of the sun’s light for the day now, where it no longer filled you with warmth even though the warm colors it bled across the sky around you made it feel like it should be.  Instead, the cool air of the night started to sneak it’s way in, pushing the day’s heat aside.  Kiiara felt like she could identify with it more than any other time of day or year.
    She had been hiding inside of the small alcove for several hours know, her joints beyond the point of simple anger with her now and the unpleasant stench of dried blood and sweat creeping up her nostrils.  The blood wasn’t hers, which seemed to amplify the discomfort ten fold.  No, she had escaped relatively unharmed, just like she always did…a few scrapes, a good bruise on her right cheek, and her lekku–if one could call them that–a little tender.
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Vong War Annals – “Long Day” 5.22.08

    Jeir slammed down on the ground with nothing resembling grace, awkwardly bouncing on his tail bone before rolling onto his back in the mossy clearing.  The moisture soaked through the back of his sleeveless shirt, three pats on his chest from his right hand sending up small clouds of dust from the day’s work.
    As discussed earlier, the base camp’s security detail–seventy four men and a few dozen war droids–had marched off just before lunch to the staging point for the northern assault group.  The Citadel no longer had anything beyond basic speeders for air transport, which turned the battle into an old-fashioned ground fight.  Nearly all of the outlying security checkpoints had been taken out by the main assault group, which left just the last line of defense–the city walls–for them to deal with.
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Vong War Annals – “Viva la Resistance” 5.22.08

    Kal’or removed his helmet–buy’ce, in Mando’a–and tucked in neatly under his right arm.  Years ago he had learned the important lesson of never letting any piece of gear go you’d want in a firefight, and more important than even a sidearm to him was his buy’ce.  He had put enough credits upgrading the bucket over the years to buy a small luxury yacht, which gave him great advantage in any fight.
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Vong War Annals – “Wedding presents” 5.22.08

Twelve hours earlier

             “General,” Jim said, carrying his own glass of champagne, “they’re looking for you downstairs.  Something about needing more pictures with the families.”
            Derik managed a hint of a smile behind his long-grey beard.  “Is Aly Drake still holding onto Davil’s arm in a submission hold to keep him from running out?”
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Vong War Annals – “Wishes” 5.22.08

            Thunder rumbled in the distance, sun rising like blood in the sky.  The rain would come soon, the ache in her knee told her that.  She stood by the window and watched quietly as Chase and Slate set off on a morning jog, heedless or uncaring of the coming storm, putting feet to pavement.
            Arms slid around her waist from behind and she sighed quietly, smiling up over her shoulder at her husband.  “Admiring the view?”

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Vong War Annals – “On the South Side…” 5.22.08

    Kiiara frowned, fighting the urge to bite her lip with a healthy dose of animosity and instead chose to grit her teeth even harder.  While she tried to keep in mind the lessons Kal’buir had taught her about remaining inconspicuous, she had to admit her temper was getting the better of her.
    “Father would not be pleased,” she muttered under her breath.
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Vong War Annals – “A Far Off Place” 5.22.08

    The ground shuddered with a distant thump, cot slowly rocking back and forth and stirring Jeir Katarn in his sleep.  He cracked his eyes open slowly, the stress on his body protesting angrily and making the eyelids heavier than they should have been.  A blue-grey morning sky poured into his pupils which adjusted with a little resistance.
    Another happy morning.
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Vong War Annals – “No Drama Here” 5.21.08

              “Well,” Bren said as his flight stepped out into the cool Golgan air, “that was the sim session from hell.”
            “Speak for yourself,” Mikele growled. “I’d call that one worse than hell.”
            She plopped down on the steps outside the training facility and pulled off the scrunchy holding her hair back. Bren just stared at her as she shook the sweat from her hair and then re-bound it with the scrunchy. Then she shook her head again and fell back against the cool stone steps with a huff.

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Vong War Annals – “Letters to Atad” 5.21.08

Dear Les,

            Been boring since you left, really, except for Uncle Mike coming home, finally, and Davil having a meltdown that sent more than a couple ripples through the Force.  I graduated last week-wish you hadn’t missed it.  It’s okay, though.  Mac wasn’t there, either.  If my own brother can miss my graduation from med school, I guess it’s okay that my best friend wasn’t here, either.  You had your reasons.  Hope your folks are okay.
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Vong War Annals – “Mikhail’s Legacy (part one)” 5.20.08

              “It was a nice ceremony, wasn’t it?”
            Nylan glanced up from his console in the dim of base operations, still dressed in his Jedi robes, a half-eaten piece of wedding cake at his elbow.  He’d clearly dismissed the officer of the watch when he’d arrived-not long before, it seemed, because the mug of caf sitting with the cake was still steaming.
            The Jedi Master grunted in response to his cousin and longtime friend.  “It was.  Maybe a bit unorthodox, but…”

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Vong War Annals – “Gubernatorial flirtations” 5.18.08

  Kartuiin 

           “You’re moping.”
            “I’m not moping.”
            Tegan Dargan-Cannele rolled her eyes, levering herself off the doorframe and moving toward her husband, who drifted aimlessly, rearranging papers in his small office on Kartuiin.  “You’re moving papers back and forth that didn’t need moving in the first place.  What’s chewing on you, Alek?”

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Vong War Annals – “Stars” 5.18.08

Descending into the ancient mines, the surface world faded from existence so quickly it was like falling from the waking world into the realm of dreams. In the deepening black, the air took on a chill and all sound ceased, save that of his own breathing. It was an eternal darkness, where the planet slept and only rarely stirred, paying no mind to what went on outside. The darkness, the silence, the cool air that had hung unmoving for indeterminate years until stirred by his migration, wrapped around him, settling upon him and soaking in to his skin, sinking deeper and deeper until it was in his blood and bones.Climbing down, down, into the endless night where no star’s light ever pierced, meandering through a combination of natural caverns and manmade corridors carved into the rock millennia ago, he descended, following the signs written in the light of cultivated luminous lichen until he reached the deep darkness of the bridge.
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Vong War Annals – “Down Into Darkness” 5.16.08

 Les cinched up his haversack, packed with the bare essentials for his journey, clipped his lightsaber to his belt, and headed out the door of his room, down the columned corridor. He cast his eyes to the floor, focusing on his booted feet to avoid glimpsing Asya’s door as he passed, even though it was closed, as it had been since she shut it for the last time prior to heading back to Xenen. 

 But, no, that wasn’t right, he recalled; late on the first night back home, hoping a midnight stroll might clear his head so he could get some sleep, he’d heard his mother’s voice crying softly from the other side. Feeling as though he were intruding, he passed on by without interrupting her private outflow of grief. 
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