Story HourPost your ongoing tales from your campaigns, and read those from others for inspiration. Lots of other RPG boards post "Story Hours", but this is where it started!
It was going to be a long hyperspace jump. Titus had eventually retreated back to the cockpit to make sure things were all doing okay, and had found that the jump was going to be a four hour long trip. At least Alderaan was comfortable. He couldn’t help feeling sorry for the two Alraxians in that small X-Wing. But there wasn’t anything that could be done about it. It was a miracle that they were alive...but he was getting used to situations like that. Despite everything he may have once thought about Akan, Titus really understood the skill that the young man had. It finally made sense to him why the New Republic would allow such a young person in their ranks. In a way, though, it was frightening. Yes, Titus was a warrior through and through. But Titus had a childhood. A normal one by most standards. He had loving parents, and good friends. War had only shown its ugly face by the time Titus was an adult. But Akan...Titus really couldn’t imagine fighting from such a young age, and didn’t want to attempt imagining the effects that would have on one’s psyche.
Titus had moved past his brush with the Dark Side. He knew its dangers, its lures, and what it could do to a person. He’d seen it in himself. And looking at Akan, he could see a danger. To only know war was bad enough, but to hold such strong emotions inside was even worse, especially for someone so strong. But at least Akan seemed to have been holding himself together much better lately. Maybe all of that worrying was baseless now...hopefully. Shrugging off the depressing thoughts, Titus stepped back into the small medical room onboard the Alderaan.
Jen was awake, sitting up and looking somewhat dizzy. She managed a weak smile and leaned back against the wall behind the bed. Titus sat next to her, gently wrapping an arm around her waist, “You doing better?”
She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder and letting out a sigh, “Everyone’s okay?”
“They got out right before we did,” Titus answered quietly.
There was a silence, then a short, very genuine laugh from Jen. After a moment, she silenced herself and asked quietly, “That was pretty stupid of me, wasn’t it?”
Titus couldn’t help a slight grin, patting Jen on the waist, “Yeah, it was.”
“Its not fair,” Jen grumbled, a laugh still in her voice though she was obviously trying to fight it back and sound serious.
“What’s not fair?”
Tilting her head to look at him, she grinned, “Why do the three of you never get shot?”
This time, Titus did laugh, “Special training. Actually, this is all just one big holodrama and we forgot to tell you. We wanted to keep your performance genuine. Apparently, the galaxy enjoys seeing a strong woman who reacts naturally.”
“And that means I have to get shot?” she raised an eyebrow, and poked him gently in the chest, “If I’m the star, shouldn’t you get shot and then I mourn your death? Then, just before the end, you appear, everyone’s happy, and the bad guy dies.”
“Nope, this is the other kind of holodrama,” the grin on Titus’ face grew, “It’s the kind where everyone thinks the star is dead and she comes back stronger than ever.”
“Oh...right...” she trailed off a moment, then mock glared, “Sounds all dramatic and great, but can’t you people use fake blasters? That really hurt.”
“Keeps the illusion of reality,” Titus responded quickly, not missing a beat.
The glare faded, and Jen grumbled, “Not much of an illusion if you ask me,” she leaned up slightly and kissed his cheek, whispering very quietly, “I can’t help but wonder if you’re an expendable cast member. You think I could toss you out the airlock for letting me get shot?”
“That’s a very harsh treatment,” he sat up a little, giving her a worried look. Something in that voice hinted that she might just try it.
There was a pause, and her grin suddenly grew, though her voice sounded slightly devious, “Husbands are supposed to be shields, didn’t you read the terms back on Corellia?”
Before Titus could respond, Jen silenced him with a kiss. He couldn’t help still feeling a little worried, as she had sounded so serious...and probably was. Maybe he did miss something back on Corellia...nah. Hopefully.
* * * *
Akan had attempted sleeping during the trip. It had ended up with him just sitting back in that seat with his eyes closed and mind running in overdrive. Shadow had fallen asleep not long before, and was out in her usual rock-like sleep. Grumbling to himself, Akan attempted, yet again, to shift into a more comfortable position. These seats were truly not designed for beings with tails...sensitive tails. It seemed that no matter how he moved, even with the straps holding him down off, his tail ached slightly from the seat. For some odd reason, the idea of just being human or any tail-less species didn’t cross his mind.
Two hours passed with Akan just going over past events and thinking about pointless things. Then, behind him, there was a grunt, curse, grumble, and a whimper...in that order. It took a few more moments before there was a loud yawn, an odd purring type noise, and then, out of the corner of his vision, he saw arms. After a couple more minutes of this, Shadow finished stretching and mumbled, “‘re we there yet?”
“Halfway,” Akan said quietly, closing his eyes again.
“‘s scrap of metal’s uncomfurful,” mumbled the same, not all awake voice.
Akan couldn’t help a slight smile, but found he moved again to find that elusive comfortable position. He didn’t say anything, and Shadow continued mumbling pointlessly for at least another half hour. It took that long for her to properly wake up from the cat nap, and once coherent, asked through a yawn, “Why aren’t you asleep?”
“Not tired,” he responded flatly.
There was a ‘hmmph’ noise and then he felt the headrest of the seat getting tapped, “You weren’t tired earlier. Adrenaline rush gone. You’re exhausted.”
There was a silence. How could he argue with someone that was right there in his mind? It also meant she knew why he wasn’t asleep. This was a tactic she’d used before. Fine, he’d cooperate, “I don’t want to sleep.”
“That’s a first,” Shadow snapped in that all-knowing voice she used to goad him on to the proper response. It was part of her trying to teach him to stop holding things inside. While that may have seemed ironic, considering she’d been teaching him to use his emotions as strength, some things were more dangerous to everyone when kept inwards.
“You know why,” Akan grumbled back, fighting her at every turn it seemed.
But Shadow held her ground, keeping an icy calm tone to her voice, “Yes, I do. The question is, do you know why?”
There was another pause before Akan sighed, “I don’t want to see those faces again. They didn’t deserve to die.”
“You made a mistake,” Shadow said very calmly, continuing to push him almost too far.
“A mistake that killed innocent people,” he snapped back over his shoulder, “It was more than a mistake. I failed.”
“You can’t always succeed.”
“I should!” Akan yelled, back at her. That got a smile out of her, though he couldn’t see it. It hadn’t taken as long as she had expected for him to start actually talking. His voice calmed, and he spoke more quietly, “I should...when lives are at stake.”
“And yet you wield that lightsaber,” Shadow said, sitting back slightly and pushing even more, “Are you saying its alright to kill those that don’t agree with you, but wrong to kill those that are out for your life?”
“I didn’t! I didn’t say that!”
“You implied it,” sounded the eerily calm voice again, finally not pushing any farther and satisfied with the current position.
Akan was silent for a moment, obviously thinking about it, “I just reacted...I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean for things to go so far.”
“And yet they did,” Shadow renewed her assault, still speaking in that calm voice, “Why?”
“I thought they...I saw...” he trailed off, trying to put emotions into words, “I saw the gunners that killed her. I knew they weren’t the same...but they were in the same place...and I...I don’t know.”
“You do,” this time, Shadow actually sounded a bit sympathetic, which was odd and slightly worrying, “You’ve questioned our people many times...our ways that I’ve taught you. The one that you always fight against is why the Tam-Day-U fight like we do.”
Akan attempted to look over his shoulder, surprised by the change in tone, “Emotionless killers. No nothing. No lives of your own.”
“And yet, we succeed,” Shadow said in a serious tone, “We succeed because there are no emotions to get in the way. We kill because we have to. Be it a mission or simply for our survival. It is our job. It is why we exist.”
“Its slavery!” Akan snapped suddenly, “Your own people treat you like dirt! You’ve said it yourself.”
Shadow didn’t miss a beat, “It is our way. We are peaceful. The Tam-Day-U are a disgrace to the Empire.”
Akan sighed. If that wasn’t a pre-programmed response, then he didn’t know what was. Yes, Shadow did have a good point when it came to putting one’s emotions aside, but there was still something naturally wrong about it. Alraxians were even more emotionally based creatures than humans were. To completely cut that off seemed impossible to Akan. Shadow had been away long enough that she had developed a very individual personality, but there were still the old traces of the emotionless killer in there. Usually in that grin that worried everyone.
They didn’t speak for the rest of the trip. Shadow fell asleep again after a while, but awoke just minutes before they reached the destination. Akan found it was amazingly refreshing to pull the hyperspace lever, and even more so to watch the stars return to normal, seeing a soft orange one not too far away. Anoat. Not the prettiest system in the galaxy, but remote. The second that the X-Wing exited hyperspace, both Shadow and Akan were mentally assaulted with a familiar voice. [You’re late!! Thought you were s’posed to be right behind me! What took you so long?! You’re never late! I was bored! And lonely...why were you late?!]
Both Alraxians grinned. Poor Loki. It was Shadow who responded o the distant Kanyak, completely ignoring what he’d said. [Do you think you could reconfigure your interior to fit this ship inside, Loki?]
An odd question in Akan’s opinion, but then again, he still didn’t completely understand how Kanyak’s worked. Loki’s ‘voice’ responded a second later, as if waiting on that question. [Already done! That’s what I did while waiting! Opening the hangar! Don’t take long! You’re late enough and I’m booooored!]
Shadow laughed quietly then said to Akan, “You heard him, go!”
Ignoring the tap on the back of his head, Akan pulled the X-Wing around to the closing Kanyak and found the open hangar. It was small, but just large enough for the X-Wing to fit...hopefully. Akan made sure to slow down the starfighter considerably just in case, not liking how tight the space was on the two sides. As he was finally setting down and the hangar door closed like an iris behind, the comm clicked and Titus’ voice sounded, “Jen says she owes you two a good beating for letting her get shot.”
“What?” Shadow tilted her head in that usual confused fashion. Of course, Akan understood the joke and grinned.
“Forget it, Shadow,” Jen’s voice cut in, sounding tired but happy. The starfighter began powering down as Jen continued speaking, “Where to from here?”
“Rest,” Shadow said simply, and Akan couldn’t help but give her a look. She was obsessed with sleeping lately...well, not lately. Always. Sleep, eat, hunt. That was the extent of Shadow’s knowledge. But just before the comm system cut out, she added, “After that, I’m going to Coruscant. Where you three go is up to you.”
They all knew that the last part was directed at Akan more than anyone.
((Okay, okay, its kind of short. Shoot me. Tommorrow will hopefully be longer. Not as much time to write today as I'm (finally) going back home tommorrow. Need to pack stuff.))
They spent in day outside the Anoat system, Loki and Alderaan in a comfortable orbit at the outer reaches of the system. Shadow had gone straight to her quarters, passing out on the bed without even asking Loki to close the door. When Akan commented on this, the ship got confused and closed and opened the door about three times before deciding to leave it open. Akan couldn’t help a smile, and had gone to his own quarters for some actual rest. The beds were surprisingly comfortable, and the rooms very spacious. The company of Loki wasn’t all that bad, either.
After a long, undisturbed sleep, the two Alraxians were up and scrounging for food. It was the first time that Akan didn’t actually question the strong need for food, as he’d learned to accept that using energy in this body was much different than for a human. At least that was one helpful hint as to how the Alraxian body might work, no matter how confusing and seemingly impossible the concept of morphing was. He couldn’t help thinking about it, as it was Jen who had brought up those questions when she’d first learned of all that an Alraxian could do. Jen. There was still something there...dangerous, but distant. The two Alraxians didn’t speak while eating, too focused on food to care about voice or even using the link to babble. Akan did come close, though, nearly bringing up that Jen should be taken back to somewhere safe until she was ready. He shrugged it off, though, knowing it would be a bad idea to bring that subject back up. Again.
It was after they’d finished eating, or at least decided that they could eat more later, that Shadow contacted the Alderaan. It surprised Akan to find an old holoprojector in a small room off from the cockpit. Of course, everything was slightly smaller since Loki had created space for the X-Wing. The once six rooms were reduced to the two quarters, cockpit, and this tiny closet-like room. The scratchy, blue image of Titus stood there, looking like he’d just woken up. Somehow, that wouldn’t be surprising.
“It will be a long trip to the Core,” Titus was saying, and Akan decided it was probably a good idea to pay attention. Currently, if all was going well at least, Shadow was the only one Titus could see. Hear...well, Akan didn’t know. He knew he couldn’t hear Jen, and Titus swore that she was right next to him. It was interesting how the technology only now caught his attention after so many years of simply accepting it. Maybe it was its being placed within such an unfamiliar environment?
Shadow was, as usual, ignoring Akan’s thoughts through the link and focusing on the task at hand, “I told you I’m going,” she motioned to Akan, “And Jedi boy here says he’s going to.”
There was a short pause and Akan couldn’t help but noticed a somewhat surprised look on Titus’ face, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Talk about a loaded question. Shadow and Akan had already had this discussion though. It was short. The first problem mentioned was his last trip there, barely a day earlier. That was ignoring the fact that his face was probably all over the place on Coruscant. The other problem was their blasting away from that New Republic fleet group. That put the ships themselves as a danger. While it was possible that the fleet hadn’t sent back profiles on the ships just yet, that was unlikely. Of course, Akan had a feeling that Titus was actually referring to the trouble that he had encountered on that last trip to Coruscant. Seemed like that man worried about Akan’s state nearly as much as Akan did about Jen’s. Fitting, at least.
“He’ll be good,” Shadow commented, giving Akan a look telling him that if he didn’t behave she’d lock him in a closet. No, the look didn’t actually say that, but she had earlier and the look helped in emphasizing that. She the looked back to Titus’ image and said, “You two don’t have to come. It would probably be safer, anyway.”
Another loaded comment, this time actually surprising Akan. Shadow was expressing worry for Jen. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. There were a thousand reasons that just the two of them going alone would be best, especially considering their ability to morph. That usually made tracking very tough. But Titus just shook his head after looking off to his left, “We’re coming with you. I...are you sure Marix is there?”
“She’s alive,” Shadow said flatly, “I can feel her. Its only rarely, but she’s there...”
“I have to see her again,” he said almost too quickly, then looked to his left again before adding, “Jen also says that you kids need someone watching you.”
That got a slight grin from Shadow, but she just nodded without a word. There was an awkward silence before Shadow said, “We’ll leave in a few minutes. See you there.”
Before Titus could respond, the image faded and Shadow stepped back. Akan raised an eyebrow, “You alright?”
That got the usual glare from her, but it had been expected. Shadow nodded, stepped past him and quickly making her way to the cockpit and her seat. Akan was right behind her, plopping into his own seat and still giving her a curious look, “What’s wrong? There’s at least one more thing that I would have asked him.”
“Oh really?” Shadow asked in a dangerously calm voice, her hands working on plotting a course while she was obviously talking with Loki. That glazed look in her eyes gave that away. And yet she still managed to do a third thing by berating him, “And what would the all knowing Jedi have asked?”
She had a short temper today, it seemed. The only time she called him ‘Jedi’ was when either she was angry, or teasing him. But this time it was obviously not teasing. The ice in her voice was what gave that away. But, holding his ground, Akan said as calmly as he could, “We’re going to Coruscant. Coruscant is a huge planet. We are looking for one specific spot, which might not even exist. Would asking him if he had at least a vague idea of its location have been a good idea?”
The ice faded from her glare and the glazed look disappeared. Loki had gone quiet. Either the ship was terrified of her response to what Akan had just said, or was just done with whatever it was he was saying. But Shadow’s voice was back to normal, not cold or even dangerous at all. Just...Shadow, “He doesn’t know where it is. He mentioned that a few months back.”
“Then...how will we know where to go?” Akan asked, not even seeing the lines of hyperspace extend into the swirling blue tunnel. Loki was much more silent in the transition to hyperspace also, so it didn’t get his attention in that way either.
Shadow sighed and sat back in the chair, closing her eyes, “I’ll know. You will have to trust me,” she trailed off, then, after noticing that Akan was waiting for her to continue, spoke a little more quietly, “Akan, I don’t know what I’m going to find there. I know its important, and I know I have to do it...but I don’t know what it is. Whatever it is, though, you must understand that it will very well affect the both of us.”
Akan was shocked. Even though she hadn’t spoken either things directly, that had been both her admitting fear and at the same time actually apologizing to him. That was a first. Two firsts together, in fact. Realizing that she was getting slightly angry from his mental reaction, Akan cut off his thoughts and just said the first things that came to mind, “Its not your fault. We’re in this together, and I’m not running away...no matter what may have happened on that planet already. I’ve been too selfish lately.”
Surprisingly, that got a hint of a smile on Shadow’s face, “See? Your last trip wasn’t as much a failure as you thought. You might have learned much more than you realize.”
* * * *
Jen sat cross-legged in the small room aboard that Alderaan that had been designated the lounge. The only reason for the name was that it was the only room, asides from the quarters of course, that had comfortable places to sit. Despite that, though, she was on the floor. Concentrating. Focusing. But the small objects that she had set down in front of her simply wouldn’t budge. No matter how hard she focused or tried not to try, it didn’t work. What was so different about this place?! It was calm and quiet and it should have been working!
“You’re thinking too much,” Titus said quietly from behind her. She knew he’d been standing at the entrance to the small room for at least a few minutes, but had continued to focus her attention on the objects in front of her. His voice broke the concentration and she sat back with a heavy sigh.
“I thought before and it still worked,” she complained, tipping her head back to look at him and ignoring the slight dizziness that it caused.
Titus’ expression was stern, and he pointed to the things in front of her, “You can’t just will things to happen all the time. It takes practice. And then more practice. Eventually, there will be a small part of your brain that only does that one thing and then it will seem easy. But before that can ever happen, you have to continue practicing.”
“Its not practice if nothing moves,” Jen commented idly, though she did sit straight up again and stared intently at the objects.
“There are things other than just levitation that anyone using the Force has to practice,” Titus’ voice responded calmly.
Jen couldn’t help a slight grin as her eyes closed and she attempted to multitask, focusing with one half of her mind and speaking to Titus with the other, “You sound just like Shadow.”
“For a reason,” he responded without missing a beat, and distantly she heard him sitting down in one of the chairs behind her, “Some truths are universal.”
There were a few minutes of silence as Jen went back to completely concentrating. For a moment, her blaster pistol lifted up off the ground just slightly. It wavered for a second, then held in the air in a gentle way. Next to it, the datapad rose up just a little higher, wavering more for a longer time and then falling back to the deck. Not before hitting the blaster pistol and sending it to the ground too. The soft dual thuds were drowned out by a frustrated growl from Jen.
She simply threw her hands up and sat back again, “Fine, I’m done for now,” then, she tilted her head back to look to Titus again, “Are you alright?”
He smiled. She never missed a thing. He offered a hand, which she took before awkwardly twisting around and then crawling up onto the cushions next to him. After Jen slipped an arm around him, he said, “I’m afraid of what we’re going to find on Coruscant. Shadow doesn’t really understand what’s happened in that place. When she sees it...I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“What is so bad about it?” Jen asked, doing her best not to sound as interested in the science aspect of a cloning facility full of Alraxians as she really was.
It was the first time that she saw a truly harsh look cross Titus’ face when he looked at her. It only lasted a second, and his voice betrayed at least the hint of annoyance, “Words can’t describe it. But its not a part of my past that I’m proud of.”
“Everyone’s confronting their demons on Coruscant, it seems.”
Titus hugged her tightly, “So what are you confronting there?”
Pulling back just enough so that he could see a grin on her face, Jen said, “The fact that my life, no matter how insane it has been in the last few months, is impossibly boring and uneventful when compared with that of my husband’s and my friends’.”
“Oooh,” Titus smiled again, a reassuring thing to see, “Sounds very dangerous.”
“Oh, yes,” she nodded, “But for you, not me. Depending on how things turn out, you may end up with a life as a cook and scientist with me as the gun totting soldier.”
Despite the grin, he couldn’t help but look at least a little confused, “Cook?”
Jen laughed, “One of us has to learn someday. Or would you rather starve?”
“This is going to be a long hyperspace flight, isn’t it?” Titus asked, feigning a terrified look.
“Most definitely, Mr. Voort,” her grin became dangerous, “And by the end of it, you’d better learn to cook. The alternatives are not pretty.”
((Notes: And now we're starting to slowly fade into what I consider the best stuff of the entire campaign. Trust me on this, nothing that has been said or done, even minor things, is to be ignored. Everything is important here, and its all going to come to play very soon.
On another note...the promised cast picture is attached. Note that, in one form or another, EVERYONE is on their twice. Well, almost everyone. Three are not. This image is circa-Corellia marriage trip. Our four heroes in the center, with a few images of the past and the future surrounding. It is possible that some of the 'futures' shown aren't exactly true though. Hope my quiet readers like it. ))
Chapter 135: First Date with Destiny - Introductions
The hyperspace trip as a whole was uneventful, which was a very good thing in everyone’s minds. Even arrival at Coruscant was simple enough. They responded to the comm transmission from the docking authority with a simple three clicks of the comm. Well, it was simple for Alderaan, but Loki wasn’t completely sure how the clicks should sound, so there was a pause where he screened different sounds to Akan. Once it was close enough, Loki almost transmitted the clicks. It was an old ‘trick’ of sorts that Akan had learned in the time he’d been with SpecForce. The comm clicks was a way of telling the Docking Authority that you were a resident and had your own personal hangar. Technically, while in SpecForce, Akan had a very nice apartment on one of the upper levels of a gigantic building overlooking the senate hall. Of course, he’d never spent much time there, but there were a lot of short cuts that came out of that which were still useful.
And so the two ships cascaded through the atmosphere of the planet-wide city, navigating by Shadow’s intuition and Akan’s eyes(when they got close to buildings). The Alderaan stayed back far enough that it was easy to adjust course without slamming into Loki, who was making many sharp turns as Shadow worked out exactly where to go. Thankfully, they were at a high altitude and away from the main traffic centers of the planet. Then again, there was only about two places on the planet that were like that. One of them was the ‘nature preserve’ which was just a well crafted fake that tourists loved, and the other was in the more industrial sections of the planet. Currently, they were over the sprawling agricultural district. The ‘ground’ was in view, covered in row after row of crops grown in a completely artificial environment...not counting the air. It was likely that the actual ground of the planet was a good kilometer or so down, maybe even more.
Just as Akan was starting to get worried that someone might become suspicious of the two ships aimlessly flying around, Shadow made an ‘ah-ha’ type sound. Before he could ask the obvious ‘what is it?’ question, she waved a hand to keep him quiet and directed Loki off to the east. Focusing on the distant feeling which was mixing with a sense of deja vu, Shadow dropped Loki down even farther, nearly skimming the crops...which soon turned to small buildings and piping. What they were, Shadow didn’t care. She did care when they rose up in random spots, as it provided a momentary distraction. Her mind continually picked up from where the distractions had stopped her. Reaching. Searching. It was like pulling on a thousand kilometer long piece of string. She knew it was there, but it was faint, and very fragile. Forcing it simply caused it to ‘snap’ and Shadow had to start all over. It was the cause of the wandering they’d been doing. Taking it slow meant following the mental trail without losing it.
Suddenly, the string became a bright, shining beacon. Shadow nearly jumped back at the sudden strength of the feeling even though it faded a half second later. What was that?! But...there!! A grin on her face, Shadow brought Loki down even lower, so much so that the ship started to protest cautiously, though Akan quieted Loki by telling him the truth. Shadow was going to listen, and she wouldn’t let anything hurt her ship. In the distance, they could see that the piping and assorted...things...faded into buildings. They were smaller when compared to the towering complexes near Imperial Center, and were likely mostly maintenance facilities and similar things. It wasn’t long before Akan could tell that she was aiming for one building in particular. It was smaller, with a circular top that had tons of little antennas sprouting up from it.
Then, Shadow spoke. It nearly sent Akan jumping out of his seat after he’d gotten so used to hearing nothing but Loki’s voice and the soothingly organic noises that the ship made, “Get in your hunk of metal and blast that hangar open.”
“What hangar....oh,” he trailed off, mentally seeing exactly which one her mind had locked onto. Biting his lip, Akan risked a question, “Why not just have the Voorts blast it open?”
Shadow pressed a small button that Akan had come to know as the comm unit, “Scan the small circular building up there. Specifically, can you blast that hangar open for us?”
A pause, then Jen’s voice, “We aren’t a warship, Shady. That thing is made of something strong. We can try, but Titus says it will just be a waste of time. Good news is that its empty in there. I’m assuming that’s our place?”
“It’s where we park,” Shadow answered, then said, “Alright, hang back and we’ll get the thing open.”
Jen was about to acknowledge that when Shadow cut off the comm and looked over to Akan, “Up. Back. In ship. Boom.”
“Thank you for the layman’s description,” Akan grumbled, getting to his feet and heading out to the hangar.
Shadow just smiled to herself, waiting until she knew he was in his X-Wing and pulling out from Loki’s small hangar to reply. [I always believe that its best to describe things for idiots with short words and many diagrams.]
[Oh really?] Akan’s mental voice responded, sarcasm and at least a little bit of annoyance dripping. [Well, you forgot the diagrams. What is it that’s supposed to go boom again? And how far back? Oh! My back, right? My back’s in the ship...hmm...so my back needs to go boom? How do I do that]
She rolled her eyes, knowing he could at least feel it. That wasn’t worth the honor of a response, so Shadow just shot a few emotions across their link to get the point across that way. It wasn’t long before the X-Wing streaked past Loki’s viewport, approaching the building before coming to a stop just as the other two ships had. There was a long time when nothing happened, then Akan’s voice returned. [The main cannons can’t do anything to that. That’s some serious plating on there.]
[You do have those torpedoes, yes?] Shadow asked, back in her business mode and getting slightly bored with how long Akan was taking. He didn’t respond to that, but she could feel a strong urge to argue. Yes, Shadow knew that there were only a couple of those things left, but this was one of those times that they were useful. And if Akan didn’t figure that out soon and fire at least one, she was going to have Loki give the X-Wing a nudge. Thankfully, in Loki’s opinion at least, Akan acted. Both the Voort’s and Shadow were at an angle where they could only see the X-Wing rock back slightly. The blue glow of the torpedo wasn’t visible around the X-Wing or the soft red glow of the four sublight engines.
However, they did all see the explosion. A proton torpedo was technically overkill, and the explosion proved it. They were all glad for the distance as the entire front half of the hangar detonated, flying up and out from the force of the explosion. The top of the building didn’t collapse in, but instead shot straight up and back, eventually falling across other buildings around. Now, the once enclosed building was a mess, but was open. Shadow sighed. Hopefully that didn’t destroy anything important.
“You two set down first,” Akan’s voice sounded over the comm, sounding scratchy as usual, “The structure should still be okay...that roof was up high and I think the structure’s mostly intact.”
“Mostly intact?” that was Jen again, “You realize what will happen if its not mostly intact, don’t you?”
Shadow listened a moment, then decided to bring Loki in anyway. As she set down the Kanyak very carefully(between some rubble and two walls that weren’t designed to be destroyed), Akan’s voice responded, “Yes, but I think Shadow will get to me before you do.”
Ignoring it, Shadow made sure things were alright before getting up and patting the wall gently, “Lock up and stay alert, Loki. I shouldn’t be too long.”
Ten minutes later, the two other ships had set down in the ruined hangar and everyone was out. Shadow had gotten her vibroblade and even the lightsaber, but was fairly sure she wasn’t going to need them. Fairly was enough to bring them, though. Akan and the Voorts were standing around babbling on about nothing...well, no, Jen and Titus were talking and Akan was looking like he wanted to run away. At least they kept trying, but Shadow knew that he wasn’t going to open up at all. She’d tried to shut him up about all the worrying about Jen long before and knew at this point that it was just something to deal with. If it got in the way of things that needed to be done, then he would simply be left behind so that he wouldn’t get in the way.
When Titus saw Shadow, he smiled and asked, “So now that the place is open, where area we going?”
“I thought you said you worked security there,” Shadow asked idly as she walked right past them to a small door that was, thankfully, on the wall that was still in one piece.
The three others fell into step behind her, with Titus saying, “Yes, but I didn’t exactly bring myself to this place. It was high enough security that I doubt there were even pilots in the airspeeders.”
“Which is why we go down,” Shadow said proudly, hitting the switch on the door to reveal a turbolift. This was almost disturbingly similar to their last ‘family visit’ to Coruscant. Though none of them needed to say that, of course. Without any other words, they all stepped in and the switch was hit to take them all the way down. At the speeds that most turbolifts moved, there was a lot to be gathered from the fact that it took five minutes for the turbolift to stop. The door slid open to reveal a pitch black corridor. Or at least, pitch black to the two humans. Both Akan and Shadow could see the corridor very faintly.
“Bottom floor: Dark corridors, mysterious smells, and evil intent in the air,” Akan commented, being the first to walk forward, “All victims and fools, please step out of the turbolift and enjoy your time on the wonderful of Coruscant.”
“Cute,” Jen commented in the direction of the voice. She looked around the black, hearing a few footsteps that she assumed to be the two Alraxians moving along and probably thinking that she and Titus could see just fine, “Akan, a little light please.”
“Huh? Oh...” his voice trailed off, and for just a moment she thought that he was going to say something else. But Akan’s sarcasm was cut off by his worry, and instead the next sound was the snap-hiss of his lightsaber. The blue-green blade was about ten meters ahead, shedding a very faint light that did little but show her where Akan was. Lightsabers were glowrods. But at least it gave a little direction.
And then, the blade started moving. Both Voorts followed silently, Jen keeping an hand on Titus out of a slight sense of worry. Darkness like this was worrying to most anyone. Ahead of Akan was Shadow, which they only knew because of the soft noises of her footsteps. She wasn’t trying to be silent...and even then, it was a faint sound. Corner after corner they turned. Back and forth. Down. Always down. The corridors became slanted, at nearly a twenty degree angle. But no steps. No doors. On and on and on. Downward. Left. Right. Forward. Left. Left. Down...down...
The lightsaber stopped moving. The Voorts stood still. They watched the blue-green blade go from an upright position to a more casual place off what was likely Akan’s right side. After a moment, a few sounds echoed beyond them before Shadow’s voice called back, “There’s a door.”
“Doors open,” Akan commented, sounding a little too serious and much less sarcastic than usual. Maybe it was just the general tension in the air, but none of them were surprised at Shadow’s growl.
“Yes, they do. And tails can be cut off.”
Akan heard at least one soft chuckle from behind him, but decided it was probably warranted. This wasn’t the best time to start picking at Shadow. Or anyone for that matter. The lightsaber rose up again before moving forward. For a short moment, the light from the blade provided the Voorts with a quick sight of Shadow stepping back. Then, the lightsaber stopped moving just in front of the door that now had a small amount of coloured light across it. Enough that they could see writing.
“What does it say?” Jen asked as Akan moved the blade, probably getting ready to cut his way in. The weapon stopped, and moved back just slightly.
After a couple of minutes, Akan said over his shoulder, “Um...Security Level Gamma Two Seven Five. This facility is monitored. Anyone entering without the express authorization of the Emperor, himself, will be executed immediately. Blah, blah, blah...the usual.”
Then, the lightsaber moved up slightly. It stopped again. Akan’s voice echoed back to the Voorts again, much quieter and sounding surprised, “There are claw marks all across this thing.”
“What kind of claw marks?” Titus asked, speaking up but already knowing what the answer was going to be.
The answer came from Shadow, “Alraxian. Those are deep. Looks like someone wanted in.”
“Do you think there’s another Alraxian here that we don’t know about?” Akan asked, sounding much more worried than before. Jen was actually surprised he’d said that out loud. She had gotten used to the two Alraxians speaking amongst themselves in the most private way possible...mentally. Either he wasn’t thinking about it, or he wanted the two of them to hear. Doubtful. Akan probably just wasn’t thinking about it.
“I would expect that they aren’t new,” Titus spoke up again, “I remember...many incidents that involved things getting clawed to pieces. Not just doors, either. It could have easily just been a clone that didn’t want to come back.”
Those words created an odd silence among them all. Even Titus had felt uncomfortable speaking them. Eventually, the lightsaber moved again. This time, it finally dug into the door, producing a soft red orange glow. There was a crumbling and melting sound that echoed along with the lightsaber’s hum. Slowly, the glow and the blade moved to the left. As it did, pieces could be heard dropping to the floor. Akan started to cut down, then back, creating a square within the door. But as he reached the bottom and got ready to move back to the right, he decided to push the lightsaber in a little more. The blue green disappeared, leaving only the red of superheated durasteel.
But then, as he pulled the lightsaber across, the blue green blade started to become visible. Larger pieces began to drop, and then something else. A sharp, tiny beam of light. Akan didn’t stop when it appeared, but continued cutting. The light grew, following the blue green and the red in an odd collection of colours in the darkness. Before he had even cut halfway across, the door started to crumble. The crumbling became a sudden crash, and the lightsaber was pulled back as light flooded into the corridor.
Blinding white light. When their eyes had adjusted again, they all saw a small airlock-like room. Akan was the only one to know his lightsaber had been deactivated. He was right next to Shadow when she stepped into the room. The Voorts caught up quickly, and Titus reached out and caught Shadow’s hand before it reached the switch to open the next door. She spun around to give him a confused and slightly angry look, but Titus just said, “You are ready for this?”
“Yes,” Shadow said, her voice hinting at least a little fear, “Are you?”
He managed a nod, pulling his hand back and saying quietly, “I am.”
Jen wanted to say something about the lights being on, but for some reason decided against it. There were more important things that just couldn’t be interrupted. Shadow turned back to the door, and managed a short look to Akan. [To the end.]
Shadow nodded slowly, then allowed herself a deep breath. Slowly, her hand shaking slightly, she reached for the switch again. This was it. She was in there. Marix. But what else? What else was in there? What things from her past were hidden away within those walls in the depths of Coruscant? Amazing how so very many things ended up relying on one simple action. Press the switch. That was it. That was all that had to be done. Yet Shadow hesitated for one of the few times in her life. It was like when Akan had been killed. She had hesitated for a half second, then steeled herself to what had to be done...no matter what the consequences. In the end it was worth it, and she knew never to regret it. But that had been complicated. Taken work. Effort. Thought. This...just a switch. Open. Close.
And then she pressed it. Without a single noise, the heavy blast door opened like a diamond shaped iris. It opened quickly, giving no time for things to slowly appear. Instead, they were overloaded with what they saw. At first, it was just a single, stark white corridor. But at the end of it, beyond a small desk, was everything. Shadow nearly ran forward to that junction where the corridor opened up. Stopping at the desk, her eyes took everything in at a closed distance. Through the glasteel window, she could see a room. It was large, with at least ten levels going straight up. Each level of the square room was lined with large cylinders. Cylinders that almost looked like bacta tanks. Almost. But bacta had a certain colour to it. There was no colour here. But no...this wasn’t close enough!
Frantically, and ignoring the hallways going both directions, Shadow found the entrance to that single room. The door opened and she charged in, suddenly realizing the true scale of it all. The room was at least sixty meters wide and probably close to eighty or ninety long. Loki could almost fit inside. But the scale didn’t matter because Loki could fit. The scale mattered because of what she could see inside those cylinders. The bottom level where she stood(with the three others behind her even though she wasn’t paying attention) had each of the cylinders labeled. Alpha. All of them. Alpha, and then a number. Inside each were bodies. They floated in an unknown liquid, eyes closed and not moving at all. Each of them had long, white hair with a single, thick black stripe down the center. Feline ears popped up out of the hair in some places, and many of them were chipped or cut at. Tails floated behind the unclothed bodies, the same coloured markings on them as the hair. Every single body was Alraxian. All of them female. And all of them looked exactly like Shadow would...except for one major difference.
They were older. That was obvious in the body shape and structure, but also from how large they were. Most bodies were curled up slightly, bringing the near two meter tall bodies into a much smaller space. Shadow opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. No sound came out. Slowly, she looked up. The next level, she could see more tanks and more bodies within them. But even from this distance, she could see they were different than the ones here. No only were some of the cylinders on the next level empty...but many of the bodies within looked young. Much younger than Shadow was. They looked to be completely covered in fur, which would make them about the age of toddlers. Floating. But the same coloring. The same. All the same. She looked up more. Ten levels. Ten levels of them...and what state were they all in? Why different?
“Ah-haaa,” a voice echoed down through the room. It was hauntingly familiar, but none of them could place it. It also froze them all in their place, already shocked by what they were seeing. Now to hear a voice... “You are early. I had expected to have more time for fun. But no matter. This much better anyway!”
Far, far above, they all saw a flash of movement downwards, then a loud clank of metal. Then, the voice returned, “Those Alphas are all dead. First isn’t always the best, of course. Usually, it isn’t. The bodies worked out right, but their minds just aren’t...well, I think the correct word in this place would be wired. They aren’t wired correctly. In fact, they aren’t wired at all. Dead weight.”
Another quick flash of movement down and then a louder clank of metal. This time, Shadow and Akan could see that a figure was dropping down from one level to the next. And again, the voice spoke, still that familiar but unfamiliar sound to it, “The Betas, though, they did better. Instead of attempting to rush the growth to an adult stage, they tried to bring it back some and raise children. It worked well enough, but Alraxians at that age aren’t good at taking orders...even if they are programmed for it.”
After that, another jump down and another metallic thud. But all four of them heard something in that voice. Something about the last thing that it had said. There was almost a bit of disdain there...but when the voice continued speaking, it was back to the dangerous playful tones, “But after that, all went well. Yes, the Gammas are mostly dead, but all died in combat and on missions. Most of these up here are empty, actually...the select few that remain. Those...”
The figure jumped again, but this time not to the level below. Instead, it dropped three full levels down, landing with an almost deafening clank not ten meters in front of them. The figure had landed in a crouch, and Shadow was the only one that wasn’t amazed at not seeing a gooey splat instead of a live figure. A figure that stood up completely. For a two point six meter figure to stand up, it took a considerable amount of time. When fully upright, they looked upon what could easily have been Shadow...the same hair, even the same length. The same build, except much taller and very obviously female. Also, there was no scar on her face like Shadow had. And then grin on this Alraxian’s face was more dangerous than any of them had ever seen on Shadow before, “Those of us who remain...are worthy of it.”
The voice was very familiar. It was Shadow, but older. Just like everything else. Stretching very slightly, the larger figure seemed to take delight in the shocked looks on all of the faces, “Though you have obviously tainted that worth, Three,” the silver tinted eyes were on Akan, “But we have more interesting things to talk about than that, do we not?”
Finally, somehow, Shadow found her voice, “You’re...Nine, aren’t you?”
Nine grinned again, very proudly, “So you do have a working mind in there. Perhaps you even know why I am here...”
“Marix...” Shadow whispered, then, after a quick glanced at Akan, she spoke louder, “What have you done to Marix?!”
That got a very disturbing and long laugh out of Nine, “Now, now, Three. Marix is the least of your concerns. I would suggest that you first take up your grievances withe the rest of our sisters. It seems that they think you should be killed. Funny that. It leaves less work for me.”
Before anything else could be said, movement was heard. A large amount of movement. They all looked up, even Nine did. And they all saw figures dropping down. Hundreds of them. At least. There so many...so very many. The remaining clones of Marix BlueIce fell down towards Shadow, Akan, Jen, and Titus...claws extended, growls in the air. It was like nothing any of them had ever even imagined. Except for Titus, and he knew exactly what these clones were capable of.
Chapter 136: First Date with Destiny - No One Told Me She Had a Twin...
They were coming. Dropping down with the feeling of death radiating through the Force. Anger...at...Shadow? Why?! What had she done? No...not just her. It was him. Akan. That was why. He was proof that Shadow was different. Individual. Everything all of them were not. Everything she shouldn’t be. And Nine just stood there. Stood there grinning at...at him. She was looking straight at him, and it was soul wrenching. There was something very wrong about that clone. In her eyes, Akan could see the same dangerous look that Shadow had, but there was more. Much more. This Nine was a very different creature than Shadow was.
But that didn’t matter now. What did matter was that it felt like it was taking an eternity for those clones to reach them and tear them all to pieces. And they would. Akan knew this. But why was it taking so long?! He hadn’t done anything...or...no. The Force. But the Force wasn’t going to matter in a few seconds! Nothing would. These clones were going to kill them! And he was just standing there!! But what could he do?! This was just like what had happened to Mare! And he was just standing around again, not doing a damned thing! Why did he always have to freeze up at times like this? Weren’t Jedi supposed to be able to deal with things like this? But he wasn’t a Jedi...not anymore...but...he was still a soldier. And again, he should have been trained for this kind of thing! And yet they were still falling...still falling and he was still standing there!
They were all about to die, and it was taking an eternity to die. It was taking an eternity and he was being useless through it all. Waiting. Waiting for what?! Why wasn’t anyone else moving or doing anything to stop this? But no...frozen there, slowly moving like the clones that were now only a couple of meters above. He tried to say something to Shadow through the link...but nothing happened. It wasn’t working! Why was everything so...wrong?! So alone...and he couldn’t move...couldn’t do anything...they were all going to die...they were going to kill him. Kill Shadow. Kill them both. And it was his fault. His fault for not acting. For standing there and letting it happen. For not acting! Just like before! Nothing had changed! He was the same! He really hadn’t grown at all!! Why couldn’t he stop acting like such a child?!
The questions rolled on in Akan’s mind, again and again and again. Every second for him, he saw the clones drop a few more centimeters. Closer and closer. More and more the questions drove him to the inevitable breaking point. And when it broke, the Force itself shuddered. It was a literal psychological snapping, the questions and uncertainty driving up the fear, anger, and all the other bottled up emotions within Akan. They had been there for years, waiting. Growing. And then they exploded out. The slowed time reverted itself back to normal in a horrific scene. Akan wasn’t even sure what actually happened. There was a deafening noise resembling a sonic boom but much more primal in some strange way, and then a rush of invisible energy.
Shadow was the only one to actually see what happened, and that was probably because of the link. Just beside her, Akan was standing looking panicked and tortured. Then, out of no where, a violent ripple shot out in all directions from him. The first effect of it was that the floor under Akan collapsed in on itself, violently cracking as the ripple spread. It was the next half second that the ripple caught her, and she held her ground just long enough to see the rest. When it slammed into the falling clones, Shadow knew what was about to happen to her. They were all flung up with an extreme amount of force. That was when she could no longer hold against the force still tearing at her, and Shadow lost her footing. Somehow, she had the clarity, speed, and strength to shield both herself and the Voort’s from the brunt of the wave. It was probably the only thing that kept them alive, because the next thing Shadow knew her spine had cracked from slamming into the glasteel window behind her. Pain wracked through her tail(which hit first), and she was held there for a moment before it faded away. When it faded, Shadow fell face first onto the floor.
There were only two other thud noises. Beside her. The Voorts. While her body tried to ignore the pain, she quickly reached out through the Force. They were alive. Unconscious, but alive. And then she looked up. Most people in that situation would have looked up slowly, trying not to see what was there...but Shadow didn’t. She could feel it, and didn’t fear it. When her eyes took in the carnage, though, even she was shocked by it.
All of the tanks were cracked, with most having huge gaping holes and the bodies within littered with the glasteel. If they weren’t dead already, they were The entire room was stretched slightly in a spherical shape with Akan in the center. Standing there. Standing there and breathing hard. Shadow looked up more. All the way up, it looked the same. The same except for the bodies. The clones that had not been turned to a gooey mess from the force of the...the whatever that was were dug into the walkway grates and even some of the tanks. They were all dead. Dead. And they were only alive because of the link. If not for that, she would probably be a part of that window...and the Voorts...considering how fragile human bodies were, she didn’t want to think about that kind of mess.
Shadow looked down again. She looked past Akan and knew that Nine wasn’t dead. Nine was, however, against a clone inside a cloning tank right behind her. But she wasn’t moving. No...no the leg just moved. Alive...alive...but...but what had just happened?! Slowly getting to her feet, Shadow watched as Akan began to shake before collapsing to the ground. Through the link, he felt odd. Different. Yes, he was exhausted from whatever he had done...but she had a very bad feeling about it all. Maybe he hadn’t been ready for this at all. He should have stayed behind. But now it was too late for that. Now they all had to deal with the consequences.
That’s when Nine laughed. Shadow’s body remorphed though still having phantom pains, she took a few stumbled steps forward. Nine, though, got up without trouble, still laughing and a proud smile on her face. One back on her feet, she dusted herself off and stretched, “An interesting boy. Nearly killed me. I will have to remember that for later, though. I am very sorry, Three, but I can’t kill you right now. I would love to, and I’d especially like to give your little pet a beating but its no fun with him unconscious. Perhaps another time. Ket sends his regards.”
Arrogantly and slowly, Nine walked right up to Shadow, looking down into the younger clones eyes, “I would suggest that you leave this place, Three. Stay in this little corner of the galaxy and do what you will, but stay out of my way. This is only one Marix BlueIce. Remember that.”
Shadow was more stunned at the fact that one of them wasn’t dead from that than she could ever have been at what had occurred with Akan. Nine didn’t kill her. WHY?! And why did she let Nine just walk out like that?! At least the second one had an answer. The answer was in the form of a groan. A groan that was so very familiar that for a moment, she thought it was her own. Shadow made sure of this before finding that I was from behind her. She spun around to see the source.
Kneeling down in center of the first cloning tank, which actually looked different than all of the others, was a figure. Obviously the figure looked like Shadow. In fact, this one wasn’t the same age as the other Alphas. This one was the same age Shadow was. Though she had very long hair, Shadow could tell easily. There was another groan, and then the clone looked over her shoulder to see Shadow. Theirs locked. There were only two differences between them. Shadow’s scar and the other’s long hair...well, and the fact that Shadow was wearing a morphsuit and the other wasn’t wearing anything, but as usual, an Alraxian didn’t take notice of those things. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other. Then...
“You damn life stealer!” the other screamed(in Alraxian, and it was much crueler in that language too) suddenly, diving out of the cracked tank right at Shadow. Claws extended and Shadow was suddenly pinned to the ground, hands around her neck and claws ready to dig in. The attacker was breathing heavily, a snarl on her face and pure hatred in her eyes. A hatred completely unlike that of the other clones.
“Marix!” Shadow gasped the words more than spoke them, and the two silvery purple eyes above her showed surprise.
Around Shadow’s neck, the grip loosened just slightly. Then, her mouth former another snarl and Marix BlueIce growled, shaking Shadow violently, “What have you done to my life?! What have you done to me?!”
“I don’t want your life!” Shadow gasped again, realizing that Marix was going to kill her after that answer. One thought snapped into Shadow’s mind. It might not even work, but she had to try, “Wait! You can’t kill me!!”
That got a very violent growl out of Marix, and her claws started to dig into Shadow’s neck, “Why shouldn’t I kill you, life-stealer?!”
With the claws digging into her neck, Shadow could barely speak. There was no way she could get a sentence out like this. Using every ounce of effort she could, Shadow croaked, “...nothlit...!”
The claws retracted from her neck. A moment later, Marix sat up, looking around the large room quickly. Her eyes locked onto Akan’s body. Locked onto the tail. Her eyes widened before she looked straight back down to Shadow, “How could you come here?! You knew I would kill you!”
“Had to find you!” Shadow said quickly after her neck was remorphed and healed. Her voice calmed, slightly now, “You can...can kill me later. But I had to find you. I had to...”
That kind of honesty was something Marix would never have expected out of a...a clone. And that was obvious in the indescribably surprised look that was on Marix’s face, “What happened here?”
Still laying on her back with Marix right there, Shadow nodded back to Akan, “He did. But...but there’s only two of us left.”
“What is it that you came here for?” Marix said, glaring downward with an impossibly accusing look. If Shadow’s life still wasn’t in such danger, she would have grinned. Marix had the exact same way of getting straight to business so that things would be done with as quickly as possible.
But Shadow also knew that hesitating would be stupid, so she answered quickly, and truthfully, “I just had to. I still don’t know why! You were...I didn’t even know for sure if you were alive. I...I’m not good with words.”
The accusing stare didn’t go away, but Marix did move so that she was no longer pinning Shadow down, “You want me to keep your nothlit alive, don’t you?”
Slowly sitting up and looking the other direction from Marix, Shadow nodded, “What happened to him was an accident. He shouldn’t be punished for my sins.”
On cue, Akan groaned. It was actually more a whimper than a groan, but the fact that he made a noise was all that was important. Quickly, Shadow spun around to look at him. She would have moved over to help him off of his face, but for some reason she was afraid that moving might provoke Marix to...to kill her. To kill the both of them. So she tried something else. [Akan...?]
His arm moved slowly, pushing him over onto his back. [What happened?]
[You...you know how I told you not to bottle up all your emotions...? To let them strengthen you and use them instead of keeping them inside...?]
Akan half sat up, and managed a nod even though his eyes weren’t open. He probably didn’t know that two identical pairs of eyes were watching him. [Uh-huh...]
[Well...you just proved why it’s a bad idea. Listen, we’ll talk about this later. Right now...um...open your eyes.]
Akan opened his eyes. Akan blinked. A lot. He sat up completely and leaned forward, looking like he was trying to focus his eyesight. His mind realized that he wasn’t seeing double, because if he was, the second Shadow would be clothed. That thought caught up with him. Akan yelped(weakly), and went a deep red all over before staring very intently down at the floor. He didn’t see the two other Alraxians exchanged looks. Quietly, Marix asked, “He is always like this?”
“Yes...” Shadow shrugged helplessly, “Marix...is it at all possible to delay what you have to do until after we leave this place and I can tell you everything I know?”
A pause. A long silence. Akan glanced up in that time, realized that the second Shadow was still naked, and quickly turned right back to the floor again. Finally, Marix asked another question, “It is important?”
Shadow just nodded, getting to her feet and walking over to help Akan up. Halfway over to him, she turned around and said to Marix, “You probably should get something to wear or he’s going to be walking into walls.”
so i have no idea why i started reading this story hour but i gotta say....i love it. i guess i just wanted to say congrats and keep up the good work. that and i am completly unfamiliar w/the star wars system so im a lil curious...how on earth did akan make everything go boom in that last update?
so i have no idea why i started reading this story hour but i gotta say....i love it. i guess i just wanted to say congrats and keep up the good work. that and i am completly unfamiliar w/the star wars system so im a lil curious...how on earth did akan make everything go boom in that last update?
Glad you like it.
As for Akan...it was essentially the Force Strike skill with the Dark Side enchancing it. By the technical reading of the rules, the skill can't effect multiple targets. So we ended up creating a Dark Side Skill that was useable against multiple opponents. He was the first to use it, but not the only one. Lots more crazy/dangerous stuff began to appear after this point...if the multiple Shadows/Marixs didn't already give that away.
Chapter 137: First Date with Destiny - Smalltalk and Soulsearching
Titus’ mind slowly slid out of the black nothing of unconsciousness into a more hazy and unclear world of reality. And his eyes weren’t even open yet. His back hurt. Badly. In fact, he had this feeling that it should probably have been broken and he shouldn’t have been able to feel his legs. Wait...could he? Hmm...yes, those were legs. His neck ache some, but not nearly as bad as his back.
He could hear sounds. Distant and vague, though. Somehow, Titus had a feeling that it was more because his ears weren’t working all too well. Or maybe that was his brain. Now that he thought about it, his head hurt too...back of his head. What had happened? Mentally he retraced the last few moments that he could remember. Clones were coming down to kill them...Akan had...gone all...blurry. Then bam. And now his back hurt. He didn’t need the Force to tell him that Akan had done something. Considering his current condition, whatever Akan had done probably wasn’t good. Titus knew the Dark Side well enough to feel the strength of it around him, though it was fading. Slowly fading, but fading.
More sounds. This time they were making more sense. Voices. What were they saying? Calm. Move past the pain, focus through it. Focus. Focus on the voices.
“Did he bring you here?” the first voice was close, very close to him actually. And very familiar. Shadow? Yes...
“He helped, yes,” a second voice a little farther behind the first. But...it sounded the same. Shadow talking to herself? It wouldn’t be the first time, but why move around when she did so? He searched for the strength to open his eyes, but couldn’t find it yet. Patience. Calm. Listen. Listen and try to make sense of it.
“I never thought I’d see again,” the first Shadow said again, still close.
The second Shadow was moving when she spoke, moving a little closer but doing so slowly, “Why are you stalling? We should leave this place.”
“You sound anxious to die,” responded the first Shadow, sounding slightly closer than before.
“I’m not,” the second Shadow had stopped moving from the sound of it, and she didn’t sound all that happy either, “But everyone dies eventually.”
It was as the second Shadow voice was finishing that Titus managed to get his eyes open. When he did so, he looked straight up into two silvery purple eyes. There was an odd curiosity in Shadow’s face...but where was that scar on the side of her face? And...why was there white hair everywhere? His eyes focused more. It only took that small change for him to see the old familiar face, and his managed a quiet whisper, “Marix!”
She smiled warmly, an expression that had never been seen on Shadow’s face. If that didn’t prove that it was Marix, then nothing ever wood. Nodding slightly, she said, “Its good to see you again, Titus. Even if the circumstances are...somewhat complicated.”
“Somewhat?” Titus grinned, trying to sit up, but a hand held him down.
“I once told you that there are some things that you humans won’t ever understand about us,” Marix said, sitting back and no longer crowding his view. After Titus nodded, she finished by saying, “Then sit back and rest. There are things now that must be dealt with.”
Marix started to move out of his view, but he quickly asked, “Jen?”
Marix stopped, looked to him, then off behind her, then back, “Your...companion is alive. She is still unconscious, but give her time. As I said, rest, friend. Rest.”
And then Marix stepped over to her clone and her...nothlit. Shadow watched Marix carefully. Currently, Akan was still in about as good a state that Titus was in. While they were both awake and mostly aware, Akan wasn’t exactly working at full capacity. In fact, half would have been generous. He had started babbling on about things that literally didn’t make sense and mostly weren’t even words, so Shadow had silenced him in the best way she could think of. She started scratching his ear. So Marix BlueIce and her clone sat cross-legged opposite each other, though Shadow had a head resting in her lap and there was a faint purring sound. It wasn’t something that could be complained about, as the sound was oddly soothing for all of them.
The two of them sat simply listening to the sound for a long moment before Marix said, “What is it that is so important that you had to find me for?”
“Ket Halpak,” Shadow said the two words as calmly as she could, though for both of them it evoked feelings of anger.
Somehow, Marix hid these feelings better than Shadow ever had been able to, “What about him?”
“He is alive, and he is up to something.”
“That’s it?” Marix raised an eyebrow.
But Shadow shook her head, “No. My...our...your...Alyx found me a few months ago on Corellia. He says there is trouble with the Mrrakesh. Not the normal trouble. More border raids...dangerous raids. He asked me to come back. He said mothe— the Empress requested it.”
“You mean me,” Marix said flatly.
Again, Shadow shook her head, “No. No they came for me.”
“They think your me?!” a low growl started to grow in Marix’s throat, “So you truly are attempting to steal my life!”
“No!” Shadow snapped, surprised at how loud she got. She went silent, trying to calm herself by focusing on scratching Akan’s ear. Then, finally, she said, “They know the truth. I don’t know how, but they do. Alyx said that it didn’t matter that I was a clone...they needed the Enai back. They figured that...that as long as I didn’t know, it wouldn’t cause any trouble.”
“But you do know,” Marix said, watching Shadow carefully but not looking as angry anymore.
Shadow nodded, “Yes...and Alyx nearly killed me.”
“Nearly?”
“You know he’s not a fighter,” Shadow responded, fighting back a grin.
Marix looked to be fighting the same grin, and she nodded slowly, “That is all?”
“It is all that he doesn’t know,” Shadow said, nodding down to Akan and slowly stopping the ear scratch, “You will let him live, yes?”
“You’re not like all the old stories of clones,” Marix said, leaning down to inspect Akan idly. She nudged his face with her nose in a bored way, then poked him until he grumbled and weakly swatted at her hand, “I will honor your choice.”
“Thank you...” Shadow then moved Akan’s head off of her lap and slid back before getting to her feet. Marix also got up, but instead stepped over to find a piece of one of the cloning tanks that had shattered. It took a couple of minutes, but Marix found a small sharp of the durasteel tank, ignoring the dead body within, and then stepped back over to Shadow. There were no words and no delay. Immediately, Marix thrust the piece of durasteel deep into Shadow’s neck. Shadow grunted, shook violently, and then stumbled back to the ground.
Behind them, Akan cried out in pain. Marix’s eyes widened and she quickly ran over to him, kneeling down and placing her hands on either side of his head. Shadow would have to be dead before the transfer could be done...and then the pain on his face faded. Dead already?! Not possible! Marix turned to where Shadow had fallen. Her eyes widened at what she saw. Shadow wasn’t dead. In fact, she was...was...metal. Completely. All over. Even her tail! And ears! And....and...
“Y-y-you shouldn’t be able to do that!!” Marix yelped, stumbling back slightly and staring in amazement.
Shadow sat up slightly, her tail thumping on the floor in a loud metallic clank. When she spoke, her voice was straight and hauntingly unnatural, “I...I forgot about it, actually.”
“How did you...? How can you...? What...?” Marix continued to trail off into pointless and unfinished questions before her eyes widened and a grin suddenly appeared on her face, “That’s so cool!”
Shadow’s body slowly morphed back to her Alraxian form, the metal fading into skin. After it had finished, she shrugged and looked a bit embarrassed. Marix let go of Akan and just stared blankly at Shadow. Then, after deciding there wasn’t anything else she could think to say, mumbled, “This is going to be...um...complicated, isn’t it?”
Shadow nodded and Akan groaned. This time, his eyes opened. He looked up to see the scar-less Shadow which had to be Marix and then suddenly attempted to look down and away. But looking down meant having to look completely across her before reaching the floor. He got to her neck before realizing it wasn’t going to be necessary...and it also explained why he was colder. She was wearing his jacket...and trousers. Sure, his morphsuit technically served the purposes of both of those but...but those kept him warm!
In the silence that was caused by Marix trying to figure out what to do, Akan sat up. He looked over to Shadow, noticing the odd expression on her face. It wasn’t something he could really put words to, but it was very obvious she was avoiding looking at him. [What’s going on...?]
Shadow bit her lip and looked right past him to Marix. Then, after realizing there was no way around it, ‘said’. [Marix isn’t too different from me. Its not something that we can fight, anyway. I won’t kill her. She is the original. She deserves life more than I do.]
Akan’s eyes widened a moment before he moved back to glare at both of the other Alraxians, “What the hell is wrong with you?!” he finally yelled at Shadow.
“She is the original!” Shadow snapped back.
“You’re not just some clone!” Akan bit back just as quickly, and Marix couldn’t help but be surprised, “You know you’re more than just a clone, Shadow! You are an individual! You have a life of your own!”
But to Marix’s surprise, Shadow continued to fight against him, “It was stolen from her!”
“And there’s nothing that can be done to change that, Shadow!” Akan yelled again, completely ignoring that Marix was sitting right next to him. He paused, then spoke in a calmer, but still very angry voice, “To me...us, you are the original.”
Silence. Shadow didn’t know what to say. As usual, Akan wasn’t going to listen to reason and it was making things far more complicated than they had to be. But Marix was stunned. How could a clone have this effect on anyone? Shouldn’t this Akan, no matter his original form, be diving in to kill the clone? Did he not realize the insult in his words...calling a clone the original? But he was right. Marix sighed. She hadn’t come here so long ago because she followed her people’s traditions blindly.
Quietly, Marix spoke up, “There is another way.”
Akan gave her a curious look, but Shadow shot her a shocked and almost hurt expression. Marix met Shadow’s gaze, saying, “He is right. And...and it is wrong to just kill you, no matter what our traditions may say. You are an individual. You’re something no one could have ever predicted, and not even I have the right to take that from you.”
“But we can’t both...exist,” Shadow mumbled, looking helplessly between Marix and Akan. Didn’t they understand? No, Akan wouldn’t. But Marix should! She should know...why was she agreeing with Akan of all people?!
Marix looked to Akan. In a familiar motion, Marix bit her lip. There was a look of deep thought on her face before she asked Akan, “You mean what you said?”
An odd question...it was the kind that Shadow asked when she didn’t completely understand a situation and was trying to make sense of it. Usually it was because of species cultural differences, and Akan had a feeling this was for the same reason. Interesting how close these two were...but he nodded finally, “Of course. I don’t mean to insult you or anything...from all I’ve been told you’re a great person but Shadow is...is...Shadow.”
To his surprise, Marix nodded. She then looked back to Shadow and said, “I won’t kill you. It would be more a crime than what our people attribute to cloning. You didn’t choose to be a clone, but you have created your own life. I won’t steal that from anyone, especially you.”
“You want us both to live...?” Shadow sounded a little hopeful this time.
So it came to this. Marix looked down at the floor, and Akan knew what that gesture usually meant with Shadow. There wasn’t something else. Something that she didn’t want to say but she’d been cornered and there wasn’t any choice left. So Akan asked, “What is it?”
Marix turned to Akan with a panicked expression and he couldn’t help a slight grin, “You uh...do the same things she does,” he mumbled, motioning to Shadow.
That actually got a smile on Marix’s face. A real one, not like anything he’d ever seen before. After taking a deep breath, she looked over to Shadow, “There is something that you need to know...the clones, the younger ones like you. They were...were built with a defect.”
“A defect?!” Shadow whimpered slightly.
Marix nodded, “To control you. It was the reason the first clones never worked. So they...they made an adjustment. The life span for a clone, from what I overheard, is a little under five years.”
“Five years?!” Shadow yelped, leaning forward an whimpering again, “But I’ve already lived...at least...at least four!!”
“There’s still one thing we can do,” Marix said quietly, and both Akan and Shadow stared right at her waiting for an answer, “Two as one.”
Shadow’s eyes widened, “No...no that wouldn’t work! Not with a clone! Not with...with all of this!”
Marix looked to Akan, to Shadow, then back to the Voorts. The two humans had finally sat up and were watching quietly. It seemed that Titus had explained to the woman the need for this to stay an Alraxian matter. Then, turning back to Shadow, Marix shook her head, “Its all there is. Unless you’d prefer to die from young age.”
“Two as one...” Shadow repeated. It was at least five minutes before she looked straight into Marix’s eyes and nodded, “Two as one.”
Chapter 138: First Date with Destiny - Running Off Without Saying Goodbye
Is it done? Did it work? That was Shadow, or at least, she assumed it was.
Yes...I believe it did. Check everything just in case though. Marix, or maybe that was Shadow and the other was Marix? No...no this one was Marix.
Body...arms...hands...tail...ears?
Ears. Marix confirmed.
What about eyes? Its all dark! It sounded panicked, but more of a childish panic that had to be Shadow.
They’re closed.
Oh...right...yes... Shadow went ‘silent’ a moment, then Which form do we use?
Three. For now at least.
For now, then.
They opened their eyes to the world. It was just as both of them had left it, save for a decrease in the number of occupants within the room by one. The room came into focus and they...she could see the three others. Akan had actually left her alone, moving over to the two humans and speaking quietly with one of them. Jen was sitting up, so it was likely her. Jen’s eyes wandered across the room and then found the other Alraxian. Turning, she looked back to Akan and pointed back.
Akan looked towards her...them and looked less surprised than would have been expected. [Are you okay...?]
She nodded, mumbling, “We’re...I...I’m fine.”
Jen looked to Akan with a confused expression, still pointing to the other Alraxian, “You actually understand this?”
“Vaguely,” he shrugged, “Best I can understand is that um...well, there’s just one of them now.”
“One of them?” Jen raised an eyebrow before giving Akan a critical look, “That was a very good explanation. Insightful and detailed. Remind me to ask you to explain the intricacies of hyperspace travel sometime.”
Akan actually grinned, “Oh, that’s easy. Ship go fast fast. Fly long way in short time.”
Both Jen and Shadow rolled their eyes at the same time. But behind Akan, blocked from Shadow...Marix...their vision, Titus spoke up in a gruff and exhausted voice, “This is all wonderful, but you never did answer my question. Why are we sitting around here still?”
Akan bit his lip and turned to look over to...to Shadow. She shrugged, Marix shrugged mentally, and Akan sighed. Wonderfully helpful. But he got to his feet and said, “Then off we go.”
[They don’t know Nine got away, Akan.]
He looked over his shoulder and back to the sitting Shadow, who was wearing both her usual morphsuit and his clothes...which were big on her. He sighed and nodded. [Do you want to tell them?]
[I’m...we’re...still working out who ‘I’ am at this point.] Shadow’s voice was almost a whimper in Akan’s head.
He rolled his eyes and waited for the two Voorts to get to their feet. [And how long is this going to take?]
[It could be a while...] that wasn’t Shadow’s voice. There was just a slight difference in the way it sounded to prove it was Marix. [For now its best to just...pretend nothing has changed. We’ll work things out.]
[Whatever you say.] Akan grumbled before looking back to the Voorts. They’d gotten to their feet and were staring at both Alraxians. That glazed look showed there was a private conversation going on, and Jen had gotten to the point where it was at least slightly annoying. It showed a lack of trust. One that was becoming all too common from Akan, but to add Shadow...or whoever that was now, into that made it even worse.
She looked to Akan and gave him a serious look that was impossible to dodge, “What’s going on?”
“I told you,” Akan said quietly, shrugging again, “ I only know vaguely.”
“Not that,” she snapped back a little too quickly, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
“And not much time,” Akan cut in, shaking his head and stepping past them to the exit of the large, currently very bloodied and messy chamber. But Titus stepped back to allow Jen to catch Akan’s arm and grip it roughly. He stopped and turned to find an angry expression before she waved at the chamber behind them.
“What happened in here, Akan?” Jen’s words were calm, but had a bitter edge to them. Yet somehow, she looked concerned. Concerned because she already had a good idea because of Titus’ quiet comments on feeling darkness.
But his expression did change, becoming slightly helpless and much more like Jen had remembered him being. Akan’s voice was quieter, barely above a whisper, “I don’t know.”
While Jen’s expression became more sympathetic, understanding that he wasn’t lying to her, Titus’ changed. Before, he had been simply curious, but now it had gotten to the point where he knew there was danger. So he said sternly, “I know. And whether you chose to admit it or not, Akan, you do too.”
The young Alraxian turned away and stared at the floor without another word. It was a surprise to all of them when Shadow stepped in and pulled the two Voorts back, saying quietly, “Leave him be. He does know, but its something he will have to deal with alone. There are more important things to do now.”
That wasn’t Shadow’s voice. Or at least, it wasn’t in the same usual tones. Akan knew it was Marix speaking, as he had the advantage of the link to hint the chaos of the other’s mind to him. But Titus wasn’t lost either, knowing Marix when he heard her. So he nodded, allowing for Shadow’s usual voice to kick back in as she pressed through them and to the exit, “Nine got away.”
As the three of them followed, Jen asked, “What about this place?”
“I’d destroy it if there was time,” Shadow spoke bitterly, and started to lead them through the very dark series of corridors. She made sure that Akan was close behind and started the navigation back the way they’d come. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Nine was around one of these corners...waiting. She would know how to mask her own scent and hide in the Force. And she would probably try to go after the Voorts in the rear first...maybe Akan should go back there...? No. No that could be dangerous. He was still on edge and staying up here she could glance back to glare at him if he got into another argument with the Voorts.
He is an odd one. Marix idly commented, finding that there was little for her to do but literally tag along for the ride. Shadow ignored her and led the way, feeling odd as Marix searched through her memories. Learning. Taking everything in. It didn’t take long before she was going after the link, learning about Akan.
Whatever happened to privacy? Shadow found the time to ask it as they rounded another corner.
There was the equivalent of a mental of a smirk from Marix. Hypocrite. You know you’re curious.
Shadow grinned to herself, glad for the darkness so no one could see. The only hint to Akan was the odd feelings through the link, but it seemed that he was ignoring those for the moment and focusing on...on...she couldn’t tell. Marix could, but was too busy digging through other things.
But their quiet and cautious trek to the turbolift went uneventful. Traveling up in that turbolift was even more worrying, as they truly didn’t know what was going to be there when that door opened. Jen exchanged a look with Titus, and he knew there was something she wanted to say...but she stayed silent. That worried him some, as it was very unlike her to be so secretive as she was giving off in the Force. It was faint, but he could tell it was there. Something more had happened down in that clone chamber. There was a definite change in all of them since then and Titus didn’t like any of the changes.
The turbolift stopped and the door slid open. The makeshift hangar looked the same as they had left it. Wait. There was a sound. And movement. It wasn’t the movement of a person...but a ship. A ship?! All of their eye’s widened as Loki took to the air, lifting up and then shooting back before disappearing from view. Shadow ran out into the hangar, getting a quick sight of the ship disappearing off into space and yelling out, “LOKI!”
Even a mental cry would have done no good. Loki was fast, especially when it came to atmospheric travel. He was fast. And he was gone. Gone. Loki. Marix had ached to see her old friend so badly. Shadow had neglected him for too long on Corellia. And now...he was gone. Gone and they both knew exactly how. Nine. Nine had the same genetic makeup as the other clones and Loki wouldn’t know the difference. And now he was gone. Gone. Shadow whimpered and stared up at the bleak and off blue Coruscant sky. Loki was gone.
“Did anyone else just hear that?” Titus asked suddenly breaking the silence that had dropped over them all. Shadow looked up, sniffing the air. A smell. Strong. Near...and while it wasn’t familiar to her, it gave her a bad feeling that was similar to deja vu. But it was dangerous. Something in the Force within this area radiated a strong hatred...anger. Pain. Though part of it could be traced to Akan, there was another. Another that she couldn’t pinpoint. It was hunting. Hunting them.
And so they searched the ruined hangar. The Voorts went around the back of the X-Wing and Alderaan, while the two Alraxians quietly and carefully went around the front. They found nothing. All of them could feel something near. Something...but they found nothing at all. Nothing.
“We’re being watched,” Titus said quietly, making sure to continue walking around and looking just in case. When the others looked at him like he was a fool, he added, “Sniper’s instinct. I doubt the person we are looking for is anywhere near us.”
Akan looked out towards the exterior, “Well, we can’t just sit around here. Let’s just get out and forget it.”
This time, all eyes fell on him. After a moment, Shadow shrugged and grumbled, “The longer we wait the farther away Nine gets with Loki.”
There was a silence among them, then Titus nodded, “Alright. But she’s long gone by now.”
Jen couldn’t help agreeing, but raised a hand, “Where would she go, though? And why steal Loki?”
“Loki’s fast,” Shadow answered quickly, not sounding happy at all for obvious reasons, “As for her destination...from what I could gather, she is a bit...unhinged. Many of the more successful clones ended up losing their minds after only a few missions. The Empire didn’t know what they were doing with such a different brain structure.”
Titus agreed, leading them all to the cover of the Alderaan to speak...just in case, “Yes. Many had to be...killed because of it. But that isn’t the issue. If we’re going after her, which I assume we are, where are we going?”
Shadow didn’t speak until they’d reached the interior of Alderaan, standing in the small entrance way near the lounge, “She spoke of Ket. I do not know where he is...but I believe finding him could lead to her.”
The tail-less Halpak was involved with the remnants of the Black Sun last time I remember Marix interjected into Shadow’s thoughts. That was years ago, though, so I doubt that will do any good. Perhaps that is a place to start?
Thinking on this, Shadow shrugged visibly and mumbled, “I don’t know where she would go. I think we’re stuck.”
All of them went silent again. Then, breaking the silence suddenly, Jen spoke up, “Shadow, where did you go when you first escaped from that place down below?”
“I don’t...don’t remember...” Shadow mumbled. But a moment later, Marix was in their mind after digging through buried memories. You met up with your smuggler friends on Ord Mantell.
Shadow sighed and wondered why Marix got a better access to her memories than she did herself. It wasn’t right. Or even very nice. Or fair. But Marix was right. She shook her head before anyone could say anything else, “No, no I do remember. Ord Mantell.”
“Bounty hunter and smuggler’s haven,” Akan said to himself, obviously not liking the idea all that much.
Titus didn’t like it either, “That’s asking for trouble.”
“But what if Nine is there?” Jen asked, almost sounding more interested in finding Nine than Shadow did.
“The idea of her being in any populated place is worrying,” Shadow admitted, and then the tone of her voice altered just slightly enough to indicate that Marix was speaking, “If she is working with Halpak then we cannot delay. Every trail must be followed.”
Titus exchanged a raised eyebrow with Jen before nodding, “Alright. Ord Mantell it is. Shouldn’t take too long to get there.”
It took only fifteen minutes for the Alderaan and the X-Wing to leave the planet and make the jump to hyperspace. None of them noticed the ship that lifted off from not too far behind them, following them from a distance and becoming lost in the traffic above Coruscant. The small patrol craft waited a few moments after the shuttle and the starfighter had left the system before transmitting a short message to his employer and then following them.
* * * *
“You have Loki?’ Ket Halpak leaned back in his rolling chair as he looked at the small holographic image of Nine that stood on the other side of his desk, “Very interesting. What of the child? Has he found them?”
Nine bit her lip in the way that Marix had always done when she didn’t want to say something. No matter how much Nine had changed from Marix’s original personality, some small things still remained. After a moment, her voice still the cold and emotionless constant, she said, “There was a problem. It seems that he made it aboard Loki and...waited.”
“You mean you left with him?” rolling his eyes, Ket leaned forward again and idly glared at the holo of Nine.
She nodded, “I will...will bring him back when I return. I will set him loose on the next planet I reach so he can wait for her.”
“No,” Ket snapped, shaking his head, “No. Go about your plans. Have some fun. But bring him back here.”
“You are sure of this?” Nine raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t the first time she’d questioned him like that, and likely wouldn’t be the last. At least she didn’t get the idea to take it any farther than a question. She would be dangerous, otherwise.
“I am sure,” Ket said calmly with a nod, “It will require that a few plans are changed, but it will not be a problem. Perhaps then we can witness the entertainment first hand.”
Nine smiled and nodded, “But that is assuming that she follows me that far.”
“Oh, she will,” he smiled too, a much more dangerous and predatory smile, “Your younger clone is as resourceful as you. She will likely avert any trouble you leave in your wake. Hopefully, though, it will not be so easy that she smells the trap.”
“I will hide my scent,” Nine tilted her head in a bow. It was her way of indicating she was finished. So quick she was to avoid criticism.
But just before her holo faded away, Ket said quickly, “Make your scent known. But lead her to the trap in a way that she will not detect it.”
And then Nine was gone again. Ket sighed and sat back in his chair again. An interesting turn of events, but not one that could not be dealt with. However, now was not the time for him to. There were things to check on. Getting to his feet, he started to the far side of the gigantic chamber towards the turbolift. If all was on schedule as it should be, they could be on their way to the Hidden Worlds just after Nine returned. He smiled as he stood in the turbolift. These days were so exciting. And they were only going to get better. He would have to pay attention to the holonet to see the trouble that Nine left behind for the young clone to deal with.
((Attached is a little character sketch for Shady, with a rough look at an Alarix off to her left and the real Marix in the background.))
Chapter 140: Mos Eisley's Got Nothing on this Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy
There were many places on many planets in the galaxy that could accurately be described as ‘a wretched hive of scum and villainy’. However, there was only one place in the galaxy that this could be applied to an entire planet. Ord Mantell. A haven for bounty hunters, smugglers, assassins, mercenaries, and all the unsavory folk of the galaxy. Yes, Hutt space had many similar places, but the moon of Nar Shaddaa was no where as large as Ord Mantell was. While Coruscant was an planet wide city, Ord Mantell was a planet wide slum. Yes, there were ‘high class’ hotels and buildings, but these were well outnumbered by seedy taverns and stereotypical dark alleys that served as main streets. Putting it simply, Ord Mantell was not the choice vacation spot of the galaxy.
And after Titus had finished negotiating the docking fee and they began their descent into the planet’s atmosphere, Jen began to have second thoughts. Perhaps it was too late, but she couldn’t help it, “Isn’t it a bad idea to be here with...bounties on our collective heads?”
He just shrugged, focusing for a moment on bringing Alderaan down safely. Once they’d set down on a large, open air landing pad at the edge of one of the smaller cities, Titus started to power down the ship and said quietly, “It’s a little late by now, but you’re right. We’ll just keep our heads down and hopefully keep them attached.”
“Comforting,” Jen couldn’t help a slight grin before reaching over and squeezing his arm gently, “You still owe me that nice long vacation away from the universe, you know.”
“Is that a hint?” he smiled and got to his feet, helping her up and heading out of the ship.
But Jen shook her head as she walked with him, “Nope, its just me keeping score. The more I total up, the more you owe me.”
“So what is this total up to now?” Titus raised an eyebrow, ignoring the hiss that the ramp made as it slowly extended to the landing pad below.
She smiled warmly, “A month on some of those wonderful beaches I’ve heard about in the Hapes Cluster.”
“Nice to know you’re keeping a budget in mind,” he commented idly as they stepped out onto the deck. He quietly eyed the man approaching them. Tall, slender, and an interestingly designed bone structure on his forehead. The man wore dirty and beat up clothes that had probably once been a uniform. Glancing off to the other side, Titus could see the X-Wing was set down behind them. Good.
“Iz two hunred an fifty creditz,” the man started speaking before he was even close to the Voorts, extending his hand and making sure to walk in a way that his dulled badge showed, as did the two patches, that had probably been a bright red once, on his shoulders, “An you no tryz anyting funny. I know how deal with trouble maker humanz.”
Titus and Jen exchanged looks, and she let go of his arm so that he could walk over and pay the humanoid. He handed the docking ‘officer’, if he could be called that at least, the credits and started to turn back when the humanoid suddenly spoke up again, “I zaid noting funny! You pay all creditz right now!”
“What are you talking about?” Titus couldn’t held putting his hand just a bit closer to the large lightsaber that was at his belt, “That’s two fifty just like you said!”
“Yez!” the humanoid gave Titus a glare, “I zay two hunred fifty creditz, but you two zhipz!”
Titus rolled his eyes but nodded. It took him a moment to fish out the credits, but he payed the man another two hundred and fifty. Satisfied, the docking officer pocketed the credits and wandered back off away from the landing pad. After a moment of watching the curious creature, Titus turned back and walked over to Jen, who by now had the two Alraxians standing next to her. When he got there, he pointed straight to Akan, “You owe me two hundred and fifty credits.”
“I’ll pay you when I’ve got it,” Akan said with a shrug, glancing to Shadow a moment as if to try to force her to pay it right away. She was in his ship, too...so technically it was half her money. But the discussion ended there, as there were obviously more important things to speak of.
Titus was the one to bring them to the task at hand, “So shall we split up and search around?”
“No,” Jen cut in before anyone else could speak. She spoke very quickly and sternly to get her point through, “Not in this place. We stick together. If we run into trouble it will be easier to deal with that way.”
Surprisingly, the one to agree first was Miss ‘I Work Alone’ herself, Shadow, “Jen is right. We are going to run into trouble here. There isn’t any avoiding it on this planet. If we stay together, Akan and I can look scary and hopefully ward off anything unnecessary.”
“Look scary?” Jen raise an eyebrow, fighting back a grin at the thought of either of them trying to ‘look scary’. It was probably the way Shadow phrased it more than anything. That was an unusual thing that could have almost counted as humour. Very un-Shadow like. But very Marix like...even though Jen didn’t know that. But Shadow only nodded, a neutral expression on her face an no indication that she might demonstrate ‘looking scary’. Akan opened his mouth to say something, but only got out a grunt as Shadow elbowed him in the side, whispered quietly, “Scary, not whiny, dammit.”
To herself, Jen smiled and nodded. Titus also nodded, turning and looking to the tall and beat up buildings that sprawled out in front of them, “Off we go then.”
The next three hours were spent wandering the streets, going from seedy tavern to seedier drinking hole. What they looked for, none of them really knew. Perhaps just to have Shadow noticed. Then, maybe, that would give a hint to Nine’s whereabouts. But their wanderings provided no clues. And other than a near fight because of a comments that a couple of Trandoshan thugs made that Akan took a little too personally, things went well. At least the barkeep hadn’t demanded any kind of payment for damages. But really, how could a small, frail looking Rodian demand that kind of thing from anyone? Especially considering the culprits had thrown the two Trandoshans through two doors and out a window into the street before firing off a quick blaster shot that easily hit the blaster hands of each thug. So what if Akan was showing off? It had worked...and it was kind of fun.
But now they stood on the exact opposite side of the city from where they’d started, in a small square that had probably once been a very beautiful sight. Of course, now the fountain didn’t run, and was being used as a trash dump. There were a couple of old benches around, and the towering buildings reminded them of a miniature Coruscant. It was Shadow who sighed first, watching the groups of aliens and humanoids passing in all directions around them. Ignoring them. Quietly, trying not to draw any attention, she mumbled, “Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe Nine didn’t come here.”
“It was a long shot,” Akan said quietly, and that actually got him a glare from Shadow. He was only voicing what she was thinking, but she had this way of not liking it when he spoke her thoughts. Even if she did it to him. And even if Marix was screaming ‘hypocrite’ at her again. It was her own damn choice to use Shadow’s body in the first place, so Marix was just going to have to deal with things.
“Then we’ve got no leads at all,” Titus spoke up, sighing and looking back the direction they’d come from.
Jen shook her head and tried to be the positive voice, no matter how hard it was, “Why don’t we just head back to Alderaan and get some rest? There’s room for you two if one of you doesn’t mind the floor.”
Shadow looked pointedly to Akan, who rolled his eyes and grumbled something that could have been anything from an acknowledgment of defeat to an oath to fight the decision. But it didn’t matter. Silently, they all agreed it was a good idea and started back, turned around, and started the long walk back. The sun in the sky was setting as they got halfway to the ships, casting dark shadows across the already bleak city. It seemed that as the night began to fall, more and more people flocked to the streets. So many different species that Shadow easily lost count after seventy. And they all ignored the four of them. Two humans and two walking felines, yet even Alraxians were lost in this diverse crowd.
Then why did she still feel watched? Shadow wasn’t alone. Akan felt it, too, as did the Voorts. It was obvious in the way they all would look over their shoulders or up above them every few minutes...just in case. Just in case what? The thought just ended there. Well, not for Titus, but he was trained to be paranoid and always on the lookout for traps. And this stunk of a trap. He didn’t need the Force to tell, though it did help...but not enough.
As they passed through a square similar to the one in which they’d turned around from, Titus began to worry. It was open. Less people. Easier for a sniper to place a shot, or for—
“New Republic not put many non-Imperials on wanted lists, you know,” a nasally sounding voice from behind them spoke quietly. It was another moment before the four of them realized that there were about ten men of various species surrounding them. Ten. All had blasters of various sizes trained on the four of them, and at least two carried weapons that could easily take down an airspeeder with a single shot. They all froze, even the Alraxians. What good was morphing if there was nothing left of your body in the first place?
Titus glanced over his shoulder to see a Rodian holding a small, but very deadly and very illegal disrupter pistol, trained right on Jen’s back. Disrupters were illegal for a very good reason. Even the Empire had outlawed them, as they had a nasty habit of tearing apart the target from the inside first. These boys weren’t just playing around. At seeing Titus’ attention on the weapon, the Rodian smiled as best as a Rodian could smile, “Ahhh, so I is right. You worth very much, yes. So much that even this many of us can split reward and make happy life.”
Very slowly, and without moving anymore than she had to, Jen said over her shoulder, “That bounty is for us alive, you know.”
That got a laugh from all of the men surrounding them, though the Rodian’s was the most annoying, “Oh, yes, it is. But there others who pay little less for you dead. We willing to take price cut if you cause problem. You and you pets understand, yes?”
[Akan...don’t.] that wasn’t Shadow’s voice, as she was just as angry at the ‘pet’ comment as Akan was. But Marix was being the voice of reason, no matter how unconvincing it may have been. The word ‘pet’ was what had sent him off back in that tavern earlier. Not so much the word, really, but the way it was said. Just that way. The wrong way. The one that made him have to fight back a violent growl.
[I will kill the Rodian first.] Akan said to her, doing his best to stay perfectly still so that none of the hunters got itchy trigger fingers before he was ready. [Get the one with heavy weapons. Hopefully the Voorts will at least duck.]
[Akan, sometimes its best to wait for a distinct advantage.] that was Shadow, tempering her anger with intelligence and planning.
But mentally, Akan shook his head. [No one would be stupid enough to act right now. That is an advantage.]
[You’re insane.]
[Insult me after we’re out of this.] Akan’s mental voice took on the same dangerous characteristics of his normal voice. Stubborn, stupid, and idealistic. He was going to act, and Shadow knew it. That meant that she, and Marix along with her, would be stuck trying to keep all of them alive while Akan did his heroic Jedi act. She was going to beat that out of him one day. Hard. And for longer than was necessary just to make sure.
[You’ll get more than insults if we live through this, Jedi boy.]
Focus. Calm. Time doesn’t matter. Draw on the Force. Become one with the Force. Calm. Feel. The Rodian suspects nothing. Ignore him. Focus...focus. The Nikto with the repeating cannon is watching too closely. He is ready for a fight. The others. The others are distant...no! Focus! No! No time to focus! Calm. Calm. Time does not matter. Feel. Reach out. Yes. The human to the left. Jumpy and ready to pull the trigger if anyone speaks too quickly. He is the most dangerous. Yes? Focus. Yes. Stay calm and wait. Patience. The Rodian is speaking. They will expect them to act after he goes silent. Act first. Act now? Yes!
The sudden movement from Akan caught everyone except Shadow off guard. She had waited for him to move, knowing he was going to and trying to figure out how to stop them all from getting killed. And in one sudden moment, there was a cry of surprise from two of the bounty hunters that was drowned out by a familiar snap-hiss. There wasn’t any warning before an armored human was cut into two, the Nikto with a heavy rifle next to him had a chance to swing the butt of the gun at Akan’s head, but instead simply hit the lightsaber. The back end sliced off in an explosion of sparks, and a moment later the Nikto was dead, too. At this point, there had been enough time for the Rodian to squeeze the trigger on his small disrupter pistol.
But Shadow’s hand reached the weapon at the same moment, her diving momentum forcing the shot to go low, nearly taking off Jen’s foot in the process. The Rodian managed a quick, surprised look on his face before Shadow’s other hand, claws extended, raked across his neck. Letting go of the disrupter, Shadow allowed her moment to bring her around and deliver a strong kick to the side of the Rodian’s skull. There was a crack, and then a thud as the body hit the metal street below, and Shadow was already moving on to the next target. As she caught the Trandoshan’s wrist, breaking it and bending it back, the creature pulled the trigger. Literally, the bounty hunter shot himself in the face, and it was not a pretty sight for Jen to watch the blaster bolt take the Trandoshan’s face off.
Jen didn’t have much of a chance to see it, though, as a silent nothing yelled at her to just move. Not one to argue with instinct(or the Force, though she still mentally considered it her own instincts), she took a quick step to the side and a blaster bolt went between her and Titus. At the same time, Titus was growling a curse and getting his lightsaber off of his belt. Getting it in one hand, he spun to look at the young looking human who had fired the shot, already starting to move forward as he fingered the activation switch for the blade. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he caught sight of more movement. Time slowed so he could watch an older looking, dull grey skinned Rodian squeeze off a blaster shot from a very large and likely very illegal rifle. Titus even had a chance to watch the blaster bolt streaking right to his undefended left side, knowing it was going to hurt and preparing for the pain. But the pain that he got was not the expected pain.
In a flash, time seemed to speed up and Titus was left trying to figure out exactly what had happened. The blaster bolt never hit, instead literally stopping and impacting nothing just a few centimeters from his side, and a moment later he collided with the human he’d been charging at. His attention focused away, Titus hadn’t realized how close he’d gotten to the younger man, slamming into him hard and nearly running him completely over. Titus came down in a roll over the younger man’s body, getting to his feet and realizing that the lightsaber had taken an arm and a large part of the street with it. On the ground, the kid was screaming in pain, and all that Titus could do to assuage the pain was to simply end the boy’s life with another quick strike. Looking up, he saw that Jen was moving from a surprised position straight to the ground behind where Akan had been, diving for a blaster pistol and getting to her knees. She fired off a barrage at the stunned bounty hunters across from her, and in a moment had to stop for fear of hitting Shadow.
As fast as it had started, it was over. Ten bodies now littered the old square in at least twice that many pieces. Shadow was licking a small scratch that she had deemed pointless to waste energy on, and Jen was getting back up onto her feet. Titus looked straight to Akan who was breathing hard and holding his lightsaber at his side, “Dammit, Akan! That was stupid!”
“It worked, didn’t it?” the young Alraxian half grinned and deactivated his lightsaber.
Titus took a step closer, deactivating his own weapon and pointing up at a random building, “You really think that was all of them?! They weren’t stupid, Akan! And I’d be willing to bet that they’ve got at least one sniper up on the—“
The echoing sound of a blaster shot silenced him. The fact that the shot came from the exact building he’d been pointing at was lost on no one. The shot caught Akan square in the back, getting a loud yelp of pain out of him and a surprised noise out of Shadow, before he hit the ground hard. Cursing, Titus ran over to the downed Alraxian, grabbing him and quickly picking him up. Hearing Shadow growling something, he yelled to the two others, “We’re leaving!”
Then, carrying Akan as best he could, Titus ran. Behind him, Jen followed but not before scooping up Akan’s lightsaber from where it had landed. Staggered blaster fire followed them just before they reached a larger crowd, turning a corner and heading through the populated night streets of Ord Mantell as fast as they could. It took another five minutes to reach the ships, and Titus was actually surprised there weren’t any people shooting at them there. It was the perfect spot for an ambush. By then, Akan was conscious again and Titus just dropped him onto his feet without a word. As they reached the ships, Akan’s body remorphed but still feeling the echoes of the pain, he asked, “Where are we going from here?!”
“Doesn’t matter!” Jen answered as Titus was already moving up Alderaan’s access ramp, and a moment later she was right behind him. Even she knew the stupidity of sticking around. Shadow was already at the X-Wing, glaring at Akan as he started over. When he did make it to the X-Wing, she growled and punched him. Hard. Right across the face. It wasn’t enough to take him down, but there was a distinct crack from his jaw.
Before he had a chance to yell at her, she screamed at him, “Don’t you ever do anything so stupid again! Now get us the hell out of here!”
With that, she shoved him hard into the X-Wing’s ladder. He was up it and in the cockpit a few moments later, with Shadow dropping into the rear seat at the same time. Alderaan was already lifting off the pad, and it took another half minute before Akan could get the X-Wing off the ground. Doing his best to ignore the anger that sat behind him, Akan got the X-Wing moving and followed up right behind Alderaan. Making out of the atmosphere, he started to wonder if he should ask where they were going again. Right on cue, the comm beeped and a staticy voice of Titus sounded in the cockpit, “Shadow, we’ve got trouble. Apparently you just killed three hundred civilians on Obroa-Skai.”
“Nine,” Shadow quietly whispered in a dangerously calm voice.
“My thoughts exactly,” Titus agreed, “Its just around the corner. Set a course there and we’ll see you on the other side...” a pause, then, “...and I’d suggest having a talk with Akan.”
“Yes, I planned on it,” she replied just before the comm clicked off. Silence was left in the X-Wing, which continued to hang there until the jump to hyperspace. Even then, Shadow was silent. Probably for effect. The link told him otherwise, though. Apparently, she was debating what exactly to do. All in all, it just made Akan more worried. He had gotten them out of that, right? Sure, it wasn’t the best but there was going to be trouble either way. Besides, it wasn’t his choice to go to a haven for bounty hunters. It was going to be a long hour and a half.
The first hour of the jump was spent in silence. Or at least, literal silence. Shadow was thinking, and doing so loudly. Akan was doing the same, but more in a worried way. Shadow rarely took time to actually think about what she was going to say. She usually just spoke her thoughts right away and got it over with. But Akan had this horrible feeling that she was actually trying to choose the right words. Why that was a horrible feeling, he wasn’t sure...it just was. Perhaps because it was so new, so very unlike her. Or was it? He sighed again and stared blankly out at the blue tunnel surrounding the cramped X-Wing.
He is still young Marix was saying. She was the reason Shadow was silent, as Marix seemed to be trying to convince her that what Akan did was okay. No. I’m trying to make you understand that I...we are nearly three times his age. We have more experience.
If Shadow could have found a way to glare at herself, she would have. But I...we...you weren’t such a fool at his age!
I could barely speak correctly at his age Marix ‘said’ flatly. And even so, he is not Tam-Day-U. He does not have the same conditioning.
For a moment, Shadow opened her eyes again and looked around the cockpit of the X-Wing. Realizing that it just made this whole thing more confusing, she gave up and closed her eyes again. Its not an excuse. He nearly got himself and the rest of us killed. He is dangerous.
So are we.
A pause. It was a pause that lasted just long enough for Shadow to find herself speaking before she could stop it, “Akan.”
She cursed Marix for doing that, knowing she wasn’t ready to actually speak yet. But it was too late now. Akan had jumped, shaking the seat that was right in front of her noticeably. Very carefully, his voice traveled back to her, “Y...yes?”
“Never do that again,” she responded without any emotion in her voice at all, “Ever.”
Though slightly silenced by the fact that he was facing the other direction, she heard him sigh before asking her, “I don’t understand what the problem is. I got us out of that situation!”
“And nearly got yo—...us killed!” Shadow fixed her words mid-sentence to hope that he got the point through his thick skull. Durasteel. Had to be made of it. No, probably something stronger. Something that even a lightsaber or a turbolaser would have trouble denting.
For a moment, she could feel his mind going crazy trying to think up what to argue back with. The whirling thoughts came to a stop and his voice returned much quieter, “I’m sorry.”
“No!” she snapped, even surprising Marix slightly at the quickness of the response, “Sorry doesn’t cut it. Sorry doesn’t undo things. Sorry is just an excuse for you to go on how you’ve always acted. Whatever happened to all those Jedi ideals you pretended to believe in, hm? Do you just toss them aside when they aren’t convenient? You think you can use that weapon and ignore all the baggage that comes with it as long as you just say that you’re sorry when all is over and done with?”
“Its better than being a heartless killer!” Akan yelled over his shoulder, and for a moment she could see his face moving to look around the headrest.
That comment got her blood boiling. It even angered Marix, but not nearly as much as it had Shadow, as was apparent in her yelled reply, “You are a heartless killer, Akan! Those bounty hunters. Did you even give them a chance? Did you try speaking with them? No. You killed them. Killed them. You didn’t even attempt to simply disable them. That would have been enough! But no, you had to kill them. You always have to kill them! You are much worse and much more dangerous than a heartless killer! You’re a killer who thinks with his heart, and its going to get you and everyone else killed, too! Never, ever fight with your emotions!”
“Oh, yes, wonderful,” she could feel Akan rolling his eyes as he mocked her, “I’ll just be an inhuman, walking droid like you. Never thinking abo—“
”You are not human, Akan!” again, Shadow yelled at him, much too loudly for his ears which were ringing very slightly. In fact, she was beyond yelling, more to the point of roaring at him. She paused a moment, took a deep breath, and spoke more calmly, her voice changing just slightly to indicate that Shadow was not currently in charge, “You will have to learn to accept that one way or another. Alraxians are emotional creatures, even more so than humans, but you cannot fight with them. Not because of any Jedi ideals, but because it will blind you and you will get someone hurt.”
Akan was amazed at the change in tone, and couldn’t help but be amazed at Marix. So much like Shadow, yet so much different. But no, she was not that different at all. It was simply another tone speaking the same words. But was she right? At this point, he had no idea. The whole idea of this Shadow/Marix thing was bad enough, and being lectured by two at once wasn’t making anything better. The next ten minutes were quiet, with Shadow still internally fuming and Marix ignoring her, idly looking over the buttons and switches all around her. Not that she was going to press them, but she at least thought about it.
Then, very quietly so that even Shadow wasn’t sure for a moment if he’d said anything, Akan mumbled, “I don’t mean to mess things up so much. I...I just did what I thought was the right thing to do. Its what I always try to do.”
“Why?” the question was asked slowly, in that way that would force anyone to stop and think about it.
And, of course, Akan did. Why did he always try to do the right thing? It was always causing him trouble in the end...so why did he keep doing it? It didn’t take long before he knew exactly why. Through the link, he felt Shadow...or was it Marix? Well, one of them, latching onto his thought. They knew. Yet he also knew that wasn’t enough. He checked the chrono, but found that there was still another ten minutes left. There was no way to stall that long.
So, taking a deep breath and even closing his eyes(as if that would somehow help), Akan said quietly, “She always said...said that there was more to life than just living. If you did the right thing, even if you were alone in it, it would help someone. That was what mattered. And...the one time I didn’t, when I thought I was too busy to worry about stupid things like that, everything went to hell.”
“Akan, you can’t bring her back from the dead,” Shadow...no, it was Marix. Shadow had no idea how to deal with such situations. Honestly, Marix didn’t either, but she wasn’t angry and therefore figured it was for her to deal with if any good was to come out of it
“Why not?!” Akan was sounding desperate at that point, and she could feel the overall sense of it through their link. There wasn’t too much more time left until they would have to get to actual business. If this wasn’t done and over with than there was going to be much more trouble to deal with. But before she could say anything, he was speaking again, obviously at the brink of tears and, if Shadow knew anything about other things, a mental breakdown, “Why does she have to stay dead but I got to come back? What makes me so much better than her?”
So that was it. Usually, the creation of a Nothlit was a completely consensual process. In fact, it was only ever used when an Alraxian chose a non-Alraxian mate. Technically, Alraxians could breed with any species, but it was dangerous. Though there was always the chance that the child would turn out just fine, there was a much greater chance that it would be a very disgusting and very dead creation. To solve this, either the Alraxian or the other would give up their species. It was surprisingly common. But Shadow’s actions had been to save a life she had accidently taken. To correct a mistake. There hadn’t been time to think of any of the consequences on Akan’s end of things.
Taking a deep breath, Marix reached forward and put a hand on Akan’s shoulder. It was an awkward motion and she wasn’t exactly all that comfortable with it...but at the moment, it was the only way she could see past this problem, “We can’t change the past, Akan, no matter how hard we try. We shouldn’t forget it, either. But you can’t dwell on it. You have to live now. If you don’t, you will make a mistake, and someone else will die. Do you really want that to happen again?”
Though he didn’t say anything, she knew that he shook his head. After closing her eyes a moment, she continued, “Keep your emotions in check. We have to job to do right now. The right thing to do is to see this through and to stop Nine.”
“From what?” Akan’s voice was quiet and slightly distracted, as he had looked to the chrono and was preparing the ship to revert back to realspace.
Shadow just shrugged, “I don’t know. That’s what’s dangerous. But she’s already killed people on Obroa-Skai and blamed it on me, so that’s probably got something to do with it.”
“Framing you...” Akan thought about it a moment, “But why? You...well, we all have big enough bounties on our heads.”
“But she’s putting planet names to my face,” Shadow pointed out, sitting back and glad for the change of conversation. This she understood. This she could deal with.
For a moment, Akan did his best to look back to her again, “Then why are we following? That’s just like walking into another trap all over again.”
“Exactly,” she nodded, “But we don’t have any other choice and she knows it. Hopefully we can catch up with her before she’s gone.”
“Well, lets find out,” Akan mumbled as he pulled the hyperspace levers back and the stars suddenly changed back to normal. In the distance, a small, bright orange star could be seen. Even closer was the blueish glow of Alderaan’s sublight drives. The comm clicked, and Akan hit the switch on it, “Any news?”
“Yes,” that was Titus’ voice, “Tons of it, in fact. But before I give away all the fun why don’t you check your long range scanners.”
Akan raised an eyebrow and did so. At his sharp intake of breath, Shadow couldn’t help but ask, “Do I even want to know?”
“Probably not,” he mumbled back, checking it on more time just to be sure, “Though it looks like the scouts of that fleet have spotted us. They’re going to be after us in a moment. I don’t think many non-New Republic personnel have access to this kind of ship.”
“A fleet? Oh, that’s not problem, just fly right in and blow them all up, Akan,” Shadow said, rolling her eyes.
“We could skip this one. How about I owe you two fleets next time?”
That got a slight grin on her face, “Fine. Two fleets next time. But you’re on your own, then, I’d just like to sit back and watch.”
“Which is exactly why we aren’t sticking around,” Akan added before hitting the comm switch again, “So where are we heading?”
“Jen’s plotted a jump to a small nearby system where we should be able to figure out our next move,” Titus said as Alderaan pulled around to another trajectory, “Transmitting the coordinates to you.”
“Got em,” Akan said with a nod, pulling the X-Wing around with him and tried to ignore the three squadrons of fighters that would likely be in range in a matter of minutes, “Why do I get the feeling we’re going to be dealing with a lot of this?”
“The nature of the game,” Titus responded, “But between me and Shadow back there, we should be able to get a one up on this Nine.”
“You know where she is?” Shadow broke in suddenly, saying exactly what Akan would have but much more urgently.
“She’s not here, I can tell you that,” the comm crackled with Titus’ voice and the Alderaan banked slightly before the last few calculations for the jump were done, “But I’ve got an idea.”
“Where and how?” Akan got that in before Shadow could, though Titus did get a chance to hear Shadow start and stop just as Akan finished ‘where’.
“You think I’d make a detour at a time like this?” he almost sounded insulted, but there was a laugh after that, “It’s a small forested planet that the clones used to use a basic training grounds. They used to...prey on the natives. Lets just say Jen and I have a good feeling about this one.”
“Right,” Akan nodded to himself. But before he could say anything else, Alderaan shot off into hyperspace. Akan waited a moment, then said over his shoulder, “Do you know the place he’s talking about?”
But Shadow said nothing. Yes, she remembered. Very well. Though she hadn’t been one of the ones that had preyed on the locals, she knew the place well. It did feel right. But that brought about a whole knew bunch of troubles. Why go there? There was nothing but trees and a fairly primitive semi-human society. Obroa-Skai made sense. Get attention on Shadow. But why from there to some place the galaxy hadn’t even given a name to? As the hyperspace levers were pulled and the blue extended around them again, part of her wondered if they’d have been safer taking on that fleet.
“Tell me the truth, Titus,” Jen said quietly, watching out the viewport in front of them, “Is it possible, by any random chance in the galaxy, that we’re being set up?”
Titus looked out the viewport. Ahead of them, the green, forest planet floated there, taking up at least half of the view. In fact, that was all they could actually see. But the scanners had much better eyes than they did. They had just arrived in the system a few minutes earlier to find a small battle group heading their direction. It didn’t look New Republic, and it was currently on the other side of the planet’s distant moon. The initial scan had shown four patrol craft, six Y-Wings, and a single, outdated Dreadnaught heavy cruiser. Not the most dangerous fleet in the galaxy, but more than a match for Alderaan.
But Titus had his focus on the planet they were approaching, “Definitely being set up...but we’ve got at least a few minutes before they slingshot around the moon. Should be able to set down on the planet by then.”
“Set down?” Jen raised an eyebrow, then looked over the most recent scan they’d done of the planet. Nothing. Hmm...Titus seemed sure of this. Why? There had to be a reason. She paused and closed her eyes a moment. Reach out. Feel. There. Distant, but definitely on the planet. Jen had no idea how to describe exactly what ‘it’ was, though. She just knew that it was Nine. Or at least, something very similar to Nine. That feeling just radiated it like a hot beacon.
When she opened her eyes, the planet was filling the viewport and he was smiling, “See? Not all that hard to do.”
She nodded and grinned, but it suddenly faded, “Its...nice and all, but...” Jen paused, trying to figure out how to put it right, “...we still don’t know where she is. And that is a planet. You know. Big. Round. Seemingly endless when you’re searching for one tiny, single being.”
The look that Titus gave her was actually worrying, but his voice was calm, “I’ll be able to find her. It won’t be the first time I’ve searched this planet for a single Alraxian.”
Jen mouthed an ‘oh’ just as the comm beeped. Glad for the sudden change, and knowing it had to be Akan(should be...had better be...), Jen turned and hit the switch. Before she could even say a ‘hello’, Akan’s voice crackled through, “Sorry we’re late. Um...” there was a pause, a sharp intake of breath, and then Akan’s tone changed to a mix of worry and sarcasm, “Well, looks like you saved the party until we got here.”
“Yeah,” Jen commented flatly as Alderaan started through the planet’s atmosphere. She looked to Titus, who nodded to her, figuring out her question quickly. Jen smiled, and continued, “Forget the company. Get down here and catch up with us. I have a bad feeling about this place.”
Akan laughed shortly, “On our way. Should be caught up soon. “
The comm then went silent, and Jen leaned back slightly in the chair. By now, she could see a large green mass of trees extending across the planet below. Titus was still angling the Alderaan down, so the trees were growing until they were only a few hundred meters above the tree line. As they flew over the canopy, he ran his fingers over the scanners. Searching. Looking. Even reaching out with the Force. Jen attempted it some, too, and was amazed by the amount of life on the planet. It was so strong that it almost blinded her, like turning on a bright light in a pitch black room. She tried seeing through it but the feeling just didn’t refocus like her eyes would.
Jen did her own scan of the surrounding area, only finding that the X-Wing had caught up considerably and was a half kilometer behind them. She sighed and closed her eyes a moment, just trying to rest a moment. When she opened her eyes again, she caught sight of an odd thing off far too the east near the horizon. Almost black...no...no, maybe just a trick of the eye. Wait. Black. There it is again. Quickly, she grabbed Titus’ shoulder and pointed, “Smoke!”
He turned, immediately saw it, and banked the Alderaan hard in that direction. His voice was still calm, and he managed to hold an emotionless expression still, “That could just be the natives.”
“Oh, really?” she half grinned and leaned forward and over so he had to look at her, “Just don’t want to admit that I saw it first, do you?”
Thankfully, it got a laugh out of him and he leaned forward to kiss her gently, “No, no. You have much better eyes than I do. Though then again, just because they look beautiful doesn’t mean they work very well.”
Scowling, Jen lightly punched his shoulder, “That’s going into the vacation tab, you know.”
“Ouch, just a little joke?” he smiled warmly as they approached the large plume of black smoke, “So what am I stuck with now.”
“Expensive dinner,” she shrugged, “Every single night of those two weeks on Hapes.”
“Thought it was one week.”
She tapped his shoulder gently, “The Force is weak with this one.”
But before Titus had time to respond, they were almost in the thick smoke cloud. They passed over it, Titus tilting the ship so they could look down, and saw a large clearing in the trees. Down below them was a scattered village, small huts across the ground...all burning. Brightly. And just off to the edge of the clearing was a very distinct shape. Loki. Just sitting there. In a rough series of spins and turns, Titus maneuvered the Alderaan down and did his best to get on the ground as quickly as he could. As the shuttle neared the ground, they could see bodies. Hundreds of them scattered across the ground in various conditions. All were dead, and from the looks of it, the death wasn’t pretty. Limbs were removes, heads in some cases, and many had deadly burns scarring them. Humanoid, all. And then, off towards where Loki was set down, they saw movement. Wind caught the smoke to reveal the two meter tall Alraxian just standing there, arms folded across her chest and tapping her foot. They both knew she was grinning.
By the time Alderaan was completely on the ground, Jen was already out of her seat and out of the cockpit. Titus called after her, but at least took the time to take the engines offline before following after her. On her way down the still lowering ramp, Jen got her blaster pistol and charged out, immediately turning straight for Nine. Jen ignored the bodies as she ran towards the very tall Alraxian, raising her blaster pistol. She was about to scream something, when Nine started laughing, “You’re a little late! Typical of a human to be late!”
Jen growled a curse and squeezed the trigger. The blaster bolt was aimed perfectly, and it even hit. It hit Nine square in the chest, but she didn’t stumble back. For a moment, Jen got a chance to see the black scorch mar before the Alraxian remorphed and smiled, “Temper, temper.”
Lazily, Nine raised her hand just as Jen began to squeeze off another shot in anger. But her body stopped moving. Jen let out a whimper and then a yelp of pain as it felt like an invisible hand was crushing her, and as her vision blurred from the pain she realized her feet were no longer on the ground. The painful grip on her body got multiple cracks from bones, but it suddenly eased up and the white hot pain faded out of her vision. It was replaced by Nine, right there in front of her and smiling. Quietly, the Alraxian hissed, “Tell my clone Ket and I will await her on Nar Shaddaa.”
Suddenly, the grip on Jen was let go and she dropped to the ground, gasping for breathing and trying to ignore the pain still wracking through her. Nine returned to her vision, looking over her and still smiling. Faintly, Jen heard, “An interesting toy you could make with that temper.”
And then Nine faded from her vision. Jen heard multiple blaster shots a second later, and immediately knew it was Titus. He had taken time to get a larger rifle out, knowing the need to at least knock the wind out of the clone and sure that only a good rifle could even come close. But the shots didn’t hit, and Titus charged forward firing as Nine casually ran back towards Loki. Titus quickly gave up on firing(as Nine was already up the small ramp and inside of Loki) and just ran to Jen, kneeling down next to her. It took effort, but she gasped, “Nar Shaddaa! Shadow!”
And then Loki started to lift off of the ground. Titus looked up to see Loki already beginning to shoot off out into space. He also caught sight of the X-Wing, looking like it was getting ready to land but quickly changing plans. He was surprised to see the S-Foils on the X-Wing opening as it charged after Loki. Was Akan actually going to fire on Loki?! Knowing that speed was necessary, and seeing that Jen wasn’t in the best of shape, he turned back to her and did his best to get her back to Alderaan. Quickly. Everything had to be quickly these days.
On board the X-Wing, there was a screaming match going on. Currently, it was Shadow’s turn, “Don’t you dare fire on my ship!!”
Akan continued to put more power from the shields to the engines to keep up with the much faster Kanyak, still keeping full power to the weapons, “I can hit his drives! It’s the only way to stop her!”
“You’ll hurt him!” Shadow screamed, nearly to the point of tearing out of the restraints and beating Akan to an inch of their life.
“Nine is going to get away again!” Akan growled, trying to focus as the two ships left the atmosphere...also trying to ignore the fact that the motley battle group was readjusting its course to follow them, “Loki will understand!”
“You think he can understand anything right now?!”
He had a shot. They would be out of the gravity well of the planet in a matter of seconds. If he took the shot, it would stop her from escaping. It would stop all of this chaos. But Loki was his friend. No. Loki would understand. He’d have to. Breathing heavily and knowing time was running out, Akan squeezed the trigger.
Shadow screamed another stream of curses at him, but suddenly went silent. Waiting. Watching. The four laser shots from the cannon extended out all as one, aiming straight for Loki’s main drive. They arced in, quickly coming together at the point where he had aimed...but suddenly, in a blinding speed that could only be possible from a Kanyak, Loki banked to port. It was just enough that the shots missed the drive, instead hitting the underside of Loki. Akan was stunned, and it slowed his chance to take a second shot enough that by the time the thought even crossed his mind, the ship rocketed off into hyperspace.
Gone. Again. So close...he had been so close. It should have hit! But instead...he sighed. [I’m sorry.]
But before anything else could be said, alarms started going off. Akan’s eyes widened and he quickly yanked the X-Wing off to the side, yelling to Shadow, “They’re trying to get a missile lock!”
The X-Wing went into a loop, a tight spin, and through the blur they could see the pilot’s surprised faces within the Y-Wings that had easily caught up, and for a moment Akan even saw one of the pilots in the nearest patrol craft before the X-Wing looped around it and continued in a mad attempt to avoid any shots. Shots which were lighting up the blackness of space. The Dreadnaught was still in the distance, but it was going to catch up soon. The comm beeped. Akan didn’t do anything about it, instead frantically re-diverting power back to the shields before some lucky shot got through...all the while using the Force to assist his reflexes. The comm continued beeping. Akan still didn’t do anything.
Shadow bit her lip and looked around at all the switches and buttons surrounding her. In a mad attempt to avoid looking at the blur outside while trying to figure out what was the right switch, she picked one at random. It was immediately obvious she’d picked the comm, as Titus’ distorted voice yelled through the cockpit, “—Shaddaa! Go after her! We’ll get the attention of these boys and drag them somewhere else!”
“What are you talking about?!” Akan managed to yell through the chaos of his multitasking. The ship shuddered from a fairly good hit from one of the Y-Wings before Voort responded.
“Nine’s going to Nar Shaddaa! Jen says that Ket is there, too!” he called out, “I’d bet you there’s some kind of tracking device planet on Alderaan. You go after Nine and we’ll meet up later.”
“What?! Where are you going?!” that was Shadow, who was at the same time yelling at Akan through the link. [You heard him! Nar Shaddaa! Now now now!!”
Akan quickly pulled up the coordinates to Nar Shaddaa, allowing the computer to do the navigation checks while he tried to get out of the skirmish. Closing the S-Foils for more speed and pumping the weapons power to shields(which were nearly dead from a large amount of shots they were taking), Akan barely heard Titus’ response, “Just get out of here! If we don’t find you in a day, forget us.”
Akan glanced back to check on the Y-Wings’ pursuit, seeing shots going around him and a few shaking them and impacting the rear shields. But then, in a flash, a barrage of green laser fire tore through the nearest of the fighters. It went up in a short flash before the ship split to pieces. A second later, Akan saw the Alderaan jet through the destroyed fighter, its only two laser cannons blazing. All but one of the Y-Wings pulled off their pursuit of Akan, and the one that did was quickly falling behind. The Y-Wings were not designed for speed.
After a quick glance to the small navcomputer screen, Akan said into the comm, “Good luck, Voort.”
The hyperspace trip to Nar Shaddaa was long. They had spent nearly twelve straight hours sitting in the cramped cockpit of the X-Wing, and it was getting to both of them. Akan had found a way to sit so that he didn’t constantly think of the ache in his tail, while Shadow had just passed out. They didn’t speak much. What was there to say at this point? Yes, Akan still had a thousand questions about the whole Marix thing...but Shadow seemed to still be working that one out herself. Intellectually, he knew that there were currently three of them in the X-Wing. Of course, it was easy to understand something without grasping the concept at all.
Finally, the blue tunnel of hyperspace gave way to the black of space. Far ahead of them, but still visible through the canopy, was the planet Nal Hutta, the homeworld of the Hutts and their crime syndicate. The planet itself was literally a mud whole, and Akan couldn’t help but pity anyone that set foot on the place. Sometimes he thought he could smell the planet’s scent from the moon of Nar Shaddaa. The smuggler’s moon. A city-wide moon, with great valleys between towering buildings and walkways exposed to the sky that criss crossed everywhere. And though the moon was still too small to be seen from this distance, Akan found himself expecting a comm call.
But none came. This was not Coruscant or any of the Core Worlds. This was a place for criminals and smugglers and the unsavory folk of the galaxy to come and drink and do business. They would have to find a spot to set the X-Wing down and then deal with whoever happened to claim the territory. Akan watched the Nal Hutta grow ahead of them, even noting a few other ships in the area. It wasn’t until they got within sight of Nar Shaddaa that Shadow spoke up.
“We’re doing this my way, Akan.”
He nodded, specifically doing that because she couldn’t see it. But then, after a moment, he said over his shoulder, “Awwww....”
She rolled her eyes, knowing that while he couldn’t see it, he could damned well feel that through the link, “This isn’t like Coruscant. And if I know Ket...which one of us does...he’ll be dug in.”
“Seems to me like he wants to be found,” Akan commented almost off hand.
“So you aren’t a complete idiot,” Shadow said calmly, “At least you catch on to some things. The worst possible thing we can do is to hint that there are a couple of Alraxians on Nar Shaddaa. Word gets around. He’ll find out.”
“You’re talking like you actually expect to surprise him!” he grumbled a little louder than was necessary while moving the fighter onto a new course to bring them to the moon that was slowly starting to dominate the canopy, “We don’t even know where he is!”
“Forget about my earlier complement.”
“That was a compliment?!”
Again, Shadow rolled her eyes, “The trick is to let him lead us to him, but only up to a point. When we know where he is, we can back up and go in from a completely different angle.”
“This is assuming a lot, you know.”
“Yes, I do know, thank you very much,” Shadow growled, sighing and leaning as best was possible, “The point is, we’re going to be doing some snooping around. Information gathering. Subtle things. Things you’re bad with. These bodies will get us noticed in a second. Human would blend in fine.”
“Two humans, hm?” Akan shrugged and tried his best to focus on both morphing and piloting into the moon’s atmosphere. He was getting better with the morphing, so it only took a few seconds and he couldn’t help a smile at the lack of tail pains, “I’m assuming since I’m so bad with subtlety, you’ll be doing the talking and I can do the stand around and look dangerous roll?”
“No,” Shadow’s voice sounded different. Higher pitched and quieter. Akan grinned slightly. She probably didn’t even notice that detail as she mentally complained about other human problems...such as lack of tail. But that was only mentally, as she continued speaking anyway, “You’ll be doing the talking. Nine will expect it the other way around...if they are looking, they’ll be looking for two Alraxians, one of them being an intelligent female.”
“Someone’s harsh today,” Akan grumbled under his breath.
“You shot my ship!” Shadow snapped back suddenly. Then, after a deep breath, said more calmly, “We’ll need names and a good cover story. I’d say noble siblings from a somewhat questionable family but we look nothing alike.”
Akan sniffled, speaking like a small, lost child, “But I always wanted a sister.”
“Shut up,” for the third time, Shadow rolled her eyes. This time, even Marix was questioning Akan’s sanity. She knew first hand all humans weren’t like this, so it wasn’t just a species problem. It most definitely was Akan. Ignoring his childish whimper and noting that he was starting to navigate the upper sections of Nar Shaddaa for a good place to set down, Shadow tried again, “Look, there isn’t time for you to play around right now. You’re Aled Kinthrath from Corellia. Noble type. Arrogant and the usual bastard. Just be yourself except try to actually look serious and cut the sarcasm. You’re traveling with your bodyguard and the reason for your trip is your own.”
“I want a better name.”
“Akan.”
“Fine, fine,” he sighed and grumbled, “You never let me have any fun.”
She nearly threw up her hands in frustration as the X-Wing moved through the gigantic buildings before finally settling near a mostly enclosed hangar. It was another moment before they were slowly descending, and Shadow tried to ignore the thousands of lights and ships and everything that were all around.
The X-Wing set down softly in the circular hangar, and above them two doors slowly closed. There were a few humanoids of various species heading out towards them, with one in particular stepping out in front. He was human, tall, and had a datapad. Obviously the leader. Before they climbed out, Akan made sure to button up his jacket and quickly ‘fixed’ his hair to look more...more...whatever the word for trying to be better than the galaxy as a whole was. Just before hitting the switch to bring the canopy up, something very important struck Akan.
“How exactly are we paying for this?”
He was up enough to see Shadow grin, “You’re a noble. The bodyguard handles those details.”
“That’s not comforting,” Akan said quietly as the canopy lifted up. He pulled the small ladder out from its section inside the cockpit and hooked it onto the edge before climbing down. A moment later, as the canopy closed again, Shadow followed. She stepped in front of him and waited as the group approached them.
The tall human looked up from his datapad, speaking in a slow and almost bored voice, “These hangars are the property of Halpak Industries. If you wish to keep your ship here the fee is three hundred and fifty credits per day.”
Shadow didn’t even flinch. It was amazing to Akan how she held her focus despite things. She carefully watched the tall human, a dangerous look about her despite the smaller human body, and said simply, “Two hundred.”
“I’m sorry,” the man said with not even the slightly hint of apology in his voice, “But the price is non negotiable.”
“My Lord Kinthrath will pay two hundred and fifty,” Shadow said in the same simply tones that were statements of fact more than suggestions.
For a moment, the man looked to his datapad, then to a Duros to his left, then to Akan, then back to Shadow, “Two fifty it is.”
Shadow allowed herself the slightest of smiles and a nod. One hand went for an unseen pocket and she retrieved a small chip, “Seven fifty. Three day’s worth.”
Taking a mental cue from Shadow, Akan started walking past them without a word or even looking to them. Shadow nodded to them and followed him to the exit. As they stepped out into the packed, twilight lit streets and picked a random direction, Akan ‘spoke’ up. [Halpak Industries?]
[He always had an ego.]
Akan smiled slightly as they passed by a large group of Mon Calamari. He was looking around curiously, amazed at how much was packed onto this small moon. [Where to from here?]
“We’ll find a place to dig in, ourselves,” Shadow said quietly, the crowd having forced them against each other. She figured it wasn’t any trouble to actually speak at this point, “There are some upscale hotels around here somewhere. Find one, get a place, then we’ll do some snooping.”
“Do I want to know where you’re getting all this money from?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, narrowly avoiding toppling over a small Chadra-Fan.
Shadow waited until they got to a less packed area, a walkway between two of the larger collections of buildings, before grinning, “Probably not.”
((Sorry for the short update...not feeling all well, today.))
When they found a ‘suitable place to stay’, as Shadow put it at least, Akan was surprised to find her jerking him back from actually entering. She gave him a sharp look, as much as she could without the ability to growl as Alraxians could, and said quietly, “I thought you did some covert work!”
“I did!” he grumbled as she started to push him away and back into the crowd, “And that’s why we get the place there, scout it out...then more exploring to get the lay of the area.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed him along the streets, “You’re a noble, remember? Look at what you’re wearing.”
Akan stopped and looked down at the dull, dirty brown jacket and trousers he wore. A weak grin appeared on his face, “...oh.”
Of course, Shadow still pushed him along, and thankfully it didn’t take long before they...well, she...found a suitable place. He was pushed in, then made to stand around like a lost child as Shadow figured out what was best for their current identities. Akan made sure to keep quiet the comments of how comfortable she seemed to be surrounded by all of this...this...stuff. If he dared make that sarcastic ‘Wow, so you really are female’ comment, he’d likely end up as red as the walls in the place. Hmm...maybe that’s why they were such a dark red colour? How many poor saps had made that comment at just the wrong time and become wallpaper?
It took ten or so minutes before Shadow stepped over to him, thrusting a grey coloured...thing at him in the way that he couldn’t actually fight. Sighing, he grumbled something under his breath, and she motioned to a room near the back. One, simple word came out, “Change.”
Fighting a whimper, Akan sulked off. He reluctantly changed into the high collared tunic, which was thankfully just a flat grey colour with green trimming. At least she didn’t force him into bright colours. He liked being boring. After pulling on the trousers and finding himself looking for a tail hole for the tenth time, he sighed and grumbled about humans, lack of tails, and general confusion before stepping out to see Shadow waiting. And wearing the same thing she was wearing before. The morphsuit. That cheating little...
“And you don’t have to change?!” he grumbled, distinctly omitting the word ‘little’. Yes, she was shorter as a human, but she was touchy about the height anyway...it was another one of those things that was hazardous to one’s health.
She smiled that devious smile and snatched his old clothes out from under his arm. She pulled on the trousers, ignoring the fact that they were much too large(rolling up the legs fixed that simply enough), then casually slid into his dirtied and old jacket. It was also much bigger, but she wasn’t going to let that ruin the satisfaction she was getting from his horrified look. After a few long moments of stammering, Akan managed to say, “You...but those are...and I...they’re comfortable...this is...and you...I hate you.”
The smile held on her face and her patted his shoulder, “Good, you’re learning to be better than everyone already. Now, lets go.”
So they walked back to the expensive place to stay. This time, though, Shadow didn’t push him the entire way. In fact, she stayed in front just a couple of steps. From the link, he could tell she was back into business mode, so Akan kept his complaints about the tight collar, the itchy tunic, and the way the sleeves pulled on his arms oddly to himself. He could just complain in detail later. Would. Definitely. But later. Right now...
He nearly walked into the window next to the open door of the place, but Shadow thankfully pulled him in. That got an odd look from a Rodian behind a desk, but nothing was said. A few other people passed them by without a word and Shadow stepped over to the desk, putting on her formal voice again, “My lord Kinthrath will require your best accommodations.”
Short, simple, and straight to the point. As Akan did his best to look aloof and better-than-the-galaxy, the Rodian tilted his head, asking in strongly accented Basic, “The great Janrra does not lease his private chambers to...outsiders.”
Shadow paused. Janrra...hmm...she couldn’t place the name, but it was likely a Hutt. Though that seemed odd that a Hutt would own a place like this, it wasn’t too surprising. Likely this place made some good money, and that’s all that a Hutt really needed anyway. She reached under the jacket and to the small pocket within her morphsuit. Carefully and slowly, she pulled out three small objects that had been waiting for just such an occasion. Reaching over the desk and making sure no one else was close enough to see, she opened her hand to reveal three small, bright, and perfectly shaped Corusca gems.
The Rodian’s eyes widened as much as a Rodian’s eyes could. It made a strange ‘ooooh’ sound before the creature’s snout curled up in an almost-smile, “But...since Janrra is currently away, I believe that exceptions can be made.”
The long, green fingers took the gems carefully and then handed Shadow a small datacard, “The codes to the room. It is on the top floor. How long do you plan to stay?...not that there will be problem, of course.”
“Lord Kinthrath has not decided yet,” Shadow said with a nod, taking up the card and placing it the small chest pocket of the jacket. She then nodded politely to the Rodian, turned, and started for the turbolift. Akan fell into step next to her and was actually intelligent enough to wait until the door slid shut to say anything.
“What did you pay with?” he asked, and that was actually a question she hadn’t expected. She’d been expecting a complaint about the clothes...especially since he’d been tugging at the collar every few minutes. Didn’t he know it could actually be adjusted? Bah.
“I didn’t threaten them, if that’s what you mean.”
He raised an eyebrow, “You mean you have other methods?”
“I do understand the concept of money, thankyouverymuch,” she glared slightly at him and then the turbolift came to a stop. It opened up to a short hallway that went forward only for about ten meters before a door stopped it. Shadow stepped out first, getting the small datacard out of the pocket and looking around the door. It took her a few moments, but she found a small switch that opened up a section of the wall. There, amongst a few lights and a small screen, was a space for the card. She slipped it in, and on the screen a small image appeared. Some kind of company logo that didn’t matter. What did matter was that the door slid open.
Akan took that moment to walk in, looking around in a slightly dazed moment. Off to the left, was a small hallway that led to two doors. But other than that was only this one central room. It was huge, and lined on all sides(except for where the hallway was) by glasteel windows, providing an expansive view of Nar Shaddaa. From the look of things, this was definitely a Hutt’s place, as the halls and other such things were designed to a more slug-like proportion. But there were still many normal sized chairs and such strewn about the huge chamber. He managed a long whistle.
But Shadow just walked past him, eyes on something outside. She stepped down a small incline to the main section of the huge room before walking right over to the window directly across from the entrance. Leaning on a short railing there, she looked up at a nearby building. Akan stepped over, looking up and wondering what it was. The building she was looking at was the only other one that towered the one they currently occupied. It went up at least five more levels, ending in a large spire next to a flat surface that could have easily been used to set a good sized ship down on. Just below that, a few balconies could be seen next to a large series of black tinted metal. Glasteel, like this building, probably.
None of that was what had gotten Shadow’s attention. What had her attention(and Akan’s now), was a very large, glowing sign that was against the top level. In a bright, shimmering green colour, it read “Halpak Industries”.
((Another short update...feeling better, but its tough getting past some of this stuff. This is all setting up for the big payoff and it can't really be avoided. I'll probably try to get a bigger update tommorrow that gets most of it together so we can get right on to the good action and the parts I've been waiting to get to.))
It seemed that the name Alderaan was simply cursed. First, the planet was destroyed, then Jen’s shuttle was shot down on that horrible desert planet Arranis, and now the Alderaan II was also a wreck. But it was still in one piece...mostly. Enough that Titus had been able to get the ship into a short hyperspace jump before limping to a nondescript and empty section of space. There were no planets, stars, or any other celestial bodies within a thousand light years...which was a good thing. Getting away from those damned bounty hunters, as they’d called themselves on a very arrogant transmission not long after Akan and Shadow left, was hard enough.
The first thing Titus had done was to check on Jen. It seemed like she was having as much trouble as the ship, always ending up in that small, makeshift infirmary. This time it was with three broken ribs and an uncountable number of bruises and scratches. The latter he was able to treat easily, but the broken ribs were a bit too technical for the basic combat medpac use he’d been trained in. As she was conscious, he’d left her suggesting she attempt to use the Force to heal herself. It would be slow, yes, but faster than anything he could do for her. It seemed to make her content, and that gave Titus a chance to go check on the damage systems of the ship. Two of the back rooms had to be sealed off because of a hull breach, but thankfully the ship’s automatic systems had done that.
It left the badly damaged hyperdrive to Titus’ amateur touch. From what he could tell, it was leaking coolant or something similar. But he did managed to patch up a few other sections with Jen’s help...despite the awkward way of doing it. Simply yelling across the ship and describing things, with Jen asking questions and yelling back the answers. Apparently, the yelling didn’t hurt her...but he didn’t really believe it all that much. She’d insisted on helping, and the last thing he was going to do was to make her feel useless. But that didn’t get the repairs far, and he decided it was best to just leave it to her when she was better. Whenever that ended up being.
Besides, there was something else he needed to do. Something he’d avoided out of worry that bringing it up would simply cause trouble. But ignoring it would likely make everything worse. So, after allowing Jen to sleep for a few more hours, he quietly slipped into the room and sat in a small seat next to the medical bed. Her eyes half opened, Jen smiled slightly and said tiredly, “Hey.”
“Hey,” he returned the smile and reached over to take her hand in his, “Any better?”
She shrugged as best as anyone laying down with a complete body ache could, “Somewhat...” her voice trailed off and her expression changed a moment. She could feel something...distant, but still close. After a moment, she asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”
Titus’ smile weakened slightly. He was glad she could recognize emotions well, but that didn’t alleviate the trouble he was having in finding the right words. Find the right words? It sounded like he was attempting to lie to her. No. No, just use the truth. After a deep breath and gently squeezing her hand, Titus said, “I’m worried about you, Jen. Ever since we left Coruscant you’ve been...more aggressive. Especially down there with Nine. Its dangerous to do that, I know that better than anyone.”
He was surprised when Jen simply looked confused, “You, Akan, and Shadow fight. You’re all aggressive. You get things done when it’s the only choice left, just like you should. There’s no difference...”
Titus found himself nodding, but then stopped himself, “No, I’m sorry, its not that simple and I shouldn’t be so evasive about it,” pausing, he took a deep breath, “Its not your actions that worry me. It’s the feelings. Of all people, you know I can tell.”
“You’re starting to sound like Akan,” she mumbled, a grin tugging at her face. It was almost as if she didn’t think he was being serious. Maybe she didn’t.
“I mean it, Jen. This is serious.”
She sighed, “Nine killed all those people just to get our attention! She murdered all of them! I don’t understand how the rest of you can just pass that over like its nothing!”
“We don’t,” Titus said, keeping his voice as calm as he could, hoping she would follow his example, “And you’re right, she did murder them. She had no right to, but she did. But you can’t fight with that clouding your mind. You know that...and now I think you’re finally learning how hard it is to do.”
Jen’s expression was neutral, but her voice had calmed down, “I’m just angry. What was done to Sh...Marix was bad enough, especially to see it first hand...but now...Nine is killing people just to get attention.”
“Anger is natural, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Not even the most perfect Jedi can be without it. Its part of being human,” he took a breath an gently rested his other hand over hers, “But you can control it. You must. I don’t want to lose you, Jen. I can’t. You’ve brought light back into my life, and I don’t ever want to lose it again.”
She managed a smile, “I’ll always stand by your side.”
Nodding slowly, Titus let out a last stress-releasing sigh, “I know that. I just wish we could leave right now and never worry about any of this again.”
“But we can’t,” Jen said, shaking her head, “Our friends are out there and knowing them they’re in over their heads. They’re family, Titus, as much as you and I are.”
Again, he nodded, “Of course. But they’re going to have to learn to do things on their own...we can’t always be there to jump in at the last minute.”
“We can try,” she grinned.
That finally got a smile out of him, “I guess we can do that, though.”
“That’s stupid, Akan,” Shadow said, standing there with her hands on her hips and looking about as annoyed as she sounded. Of course, Akan was trying to fight a grin back at her higher pitched voice. Why he found it funny to see her stuck as a human, he wasn’t sure...but it was. He didn’t mind being human...obviously. He’d grown up human. Lived most of his life human. But Shadow hadn’t, and it was obvious.
“Its not stupid!” he replied, wandering over to a very comfortable chair but not actually sitting in it. Instead he just leaned over the back, looking past the shorter Shadow and out into the skyline of the late afternoon of Nar Shaddaa. There was a soft orange glow to everything, and he was doing his best to ignore the blue glow of the ‘Halpak Industries’ sign. Closing his eyes, Akan grumbled, “Its intelligent. The last thing he would expect is for us to walk right into the lobby and ask to meet him. He’ll never know it was us.”
“Yes. He. Will. How many times do I have to tell you that?!” she threw up her arms in frustration and stormed over to the wall to glare at it, knowing she might have to throw something at Akan if she kept her focus on him, “He will smell us! That doesn’t change!”
“It should.”
“It doesn’t!”
Akan sighed. Alright. New strategy, “Even if it doesn’t change, how could he notice the smell if we’re just in the lobby?”
“He could have his office right there,” she said, glancing over her shoulder a moment before the feeling to harm Akan returned and she had to look away again.
Rolling his eyes, Akan said, “A guy that puts his name on everything would have his office at the very top so he could be above the galaxy.”
“Sounds like you have some experience with that,” Shadow grinned slightly and walked back towards Akan, getting bored with just glaring a hole in the wall.
“It’s a pilot thing,” he said with a shrug, not in the mood to argue anymore than he had to at this point. At least he’d been able to take that damned tunic off. The high collar had been far too high and he felt like he couldn’t breathe in it. Shadow, on the other hand, seemed quiet comfortable in his clothes...even though they were big on her. She was probably just doing that out of spite. Probably? Nah. Definitely. Seeing that she wasn’t going to bend at all(neither was he, of course, but sometimes you just had to move on), Akan tried a completely different approach, “So what was your idea, then?”
Shadow wandered around a large couch before plopping down on it and laying back. She idly rested her head off the side and stared at the currently upside-down world while she said, “Well, we know where he is, so searching for him isn’t necessary anymore. I figured we could find some places near the building and see what they know. Just general things to work with until the Voorts get here.”
Why so cautious all of a sudden? Marix’s voice slipping into her thoughts in that usual annoying way.
Shadow mentally rolled her eyes. Ket isn’t a fool and you know it. The more careful we are, the better chance we’ll have.
It’s a trap and you know it.
Exactly why we should take our time Shadow sat up straight and looked over to Akan again, “We have to do this slowly, Akan. This is a trap. Ket loves traps and he’s good with them. And just because we know that this is a trap doesn’t mean we can do anything about it. If we take this slowly, there’s more a chance that we’ll succeed and...and make it out alive...and with Loki.”
To her surprise, Akan nodded. The sun had set now, leaving the smuggler’s moon to b e lit only by the many smaller lights across the countless buildings. Looking off into the darker sections, Akan asked idly, “So what do we do now?”
“First off,” Shadow said rising her hand and getting to her feet, “You put that tunic on and tidy yourself up to look more important. Then, we go and ask some questions.”
It took Akan a good long time do ‘tidy himself up’, as his version of tidy was very different from that of the rest of the galaxy. Even Shadow understood the concept, at least. His constant ‘better yet?’ question was eventually only countered by Shadow yelling back ‘Cut your hair!’. Which he should. No self respecting noble would look that scruffy. But that seemed to be the one thing he wasn’t going to do. Ah well...she’d cut it while he was asleep if it came to that.
So finally, they took to the streets of Nar Shaddaa. Shadow led the way through the maze of catwalks and balconies, around buildings and up at least three before they could finally see the Halpak building again. Of course, reaching anywhere near that was going to take more time...it took an hour. Amazingly, Akan didn’t complain the entire time, and had remained silent and done a very good job in his current role. They passed by a countless number of bars, clubs, and really anything else one could imagine. They passed at least twice that many different species, to the point where even Shadow had given up figuring them out.
Now they walked towards the base of the Halpak tower. It was three blocks away from the look of things, and Shadow had decided that they would take a left...now. She made sure Akan knew this by giving him a sharp look over her shoulder and the usual order through their link. Weaving through the crowd, Shadow walked over to a fairly interesting looking bar. Passing by an older looking male Twi’lek at the door, Shadow glanced over her shoulder to check on Akan. He wasn’t there. She stopped and looked around. Nothing.
[Dammit, Akan!] she growled through the link and then charged back after him. No wonder he was so quiet. Keep his thoughts quiet and she’d not detect his plan to go ahead with his original idea. Idiot! Again, she made a mental note to beat him sane...but flagged the note as ‘urgent’ this time.
))
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