Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind
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Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 133: Hyperspace
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.))
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.))
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 134: Fear and Doubt
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.
))
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.
))Attachments
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
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.
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.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
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.”
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.”
delurk....
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?
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Glad you like it.aros said:
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.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
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.”
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.”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
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.
Quietly, she said, “There’s something here.”
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.
Quietly, she said, “There’s something here.”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 139: Reeled In
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.))
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.))
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