Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 77: Light Before Fight

Hansen had returned to the briefing table a few minutes later. Light had left and returned with Akan, deciding that he was going to need to know what was going on. Though he still sulked and acted uncooperative, he payed attention when Landau and Voort went over the plan. The overall plan was simple, really. Hansen would lead half of the former Imperials in an attack on the north side of the city. At the same time, Trker-Hon would attack the south with the other half. While this occurred, Voort and Jen would infiltrate the turbolaser batteries and destroy them with some charges that were in the section of the cave network that was essentially an armory. Just after the two larger forces attacked Haladin, Akan, Light, and Landau would covertly enter the sneak into the city from the east, and disable the communications center. This was a small building near the hangar and the old Imperial Garrison.

The key was in the timing. Voort and Jen would have to take out the turbolasers soon enough that the two forces could attack without trouble, but not so soon that the Narani had warning. And Akan, Light, and Landau would have to wait until most of the city was split to sneak in. If they didn’t wait long enough, they’d run into more trouble that they could deal with. Landau was right, though...it was doable. Well, doable if you ignore the fact that they were likely outnumbered 10 to 1. But even if the odds were to be believed, they just made things more interesting.

So now was that long wait. All of them were used to it save two...Jen and Light. Jen was a scientist, and while she knew what it felt like to wait on something important, she’d never had this disturbingly long wait before you walked out to what was possibly going to be your death. The mood of it all was what bothered her. It was as if nothing was wrong and it was just a normal day. Through the hallways, people were talking and laughing an enjoying themselves. It just didn’t make sense to her. Of course, that was normal. If you’d never experienced it before, you couldn’t truly understand the moment when it came. Light was in a similar situation, but all together different. Sure, as Shadow she obviously knew her way around in a fight. But there was a very large different between a mercenary killer and a soldier. Sure, it was similar to Akan’s background, but he had military training and formal briefings behind it. She simply...did it. But the harder part was that it wasn’t Light that had done it. It was Shadow. And Light was very literally only half a person. Yes, she knew of these experiences, but only distantly. With the imbalance within Shadow, her Light was very limited in experience. Especially of these kind. Which meant there was only one option...she followed Akan around like a lost child. Seeing as she was both lost and a child, Akan didn’t really mind.

“There’s still something bothering me,” he said over his shoulder to Light. They were currently sitting on a ledge outside, though Akan was happily leaning over the side while Light seemed to be clinging to the wall. The only response she made was a barely inaudible ‘hm?’ noise. Akan looked back to her and said, “Why did the Darks just run off like they did? It doesn’t make sense.”

Light stared at him like he’d just spoken the most evil thing in the galaxy. To her, obviously, he had. But she calmed herself and thought on that, “Perhaps...they...she...is afraid of something?”

“That doesn’t explain it,” Akan said, standing up and looking out over the sands again, “They had a tremendous advantage. I’m not even to the point of asking why they were taking both you and Jen. But why did they leave when they were winning?”

Again, Light stopped to think. After a few moments, and the sun slowly beginning to drop towards the horizon, she said, “You feel it, too. There’s something strong out there. What if...what if that thing is Sadrak?”

“It doesn’t feel like him, though,” Akan answered quickly, trying to shoot down any idea that the growing fear he was feeling was actually Sadrak. He knew how Sadrak felt in the Force by now...but this was different. Stronger. Much more dangerous. Almost like he’d imagined the Emperor being, “Licking their wounds and waiting for a better chance to strike, then?”

Light nodded slowly. She pursed her lips, wanting to say something but deciding against it. She didn’t have to say it. Both of them could feel her Dark in their minds. Distant but watching...listening. It was why they weren’t using the link. Dark was going to come back. She wasn’t going to fail a second time, either. There just wasn’t any way to beat her. Light was not her equal...and whatever powerful force in the desert was happily taking advantage of this. Then how to end it? Akan decided the best thing to do was to ask, “Is there...any way to be whole again?”

An awkward working for an awkward situation, but Light understood. He knew she did when her first reaction was to violently shake her head. When she caught his look at that, Light sighed and nodded, “Its like...morphing. Both minds have to be calm. Both bodies calm. Then, one simply steps into the other. The bodies should recognize each other and merge.”

“Sounds fanciful,” Akan commented, looking now back to the entrance to the cave and wondering what to do.

Light’s words, however, surprised him, “So does the Force. You know...my...no...our people. They do not call it the Force. Or at least, that is not the common term. It is called Magik. And that is a very correct term.”

Interesting. Light was timid and quiet most of the time, but there were a lot of inner workings going on deep within. Not really sure how to respond, Akan simply nodded and then stepped back into the hallway to find some more food. Catching this thought, Light found herself smiling and quickly followed. They passed by Jen and Voort, who stood in a small alcove off to the side. Of course, the two Alraxians were now too focused on food to notice the humans.

Jen smiled at seeing the two of them pass by, “They both look better.”

Voort nodded and leaned back against the wall, “Yes, they do. Are you feeling any better?”

Quick change of subject. But that didn’t remove the smile from Jen’s face, “I do. How about you?”

So they would just continually hedge around subjects, now. Voort grinned but didn’t answer her question. She knew the answer and was simply dodging other questions just as he was. But it wasn’t helping anything, and Voort didn’t want to go into the fight with question left unanswered. He didn’t think he’d die, but he knew there was that chance. No matter how good he was, there was someone better out there. Perhaps that person was a Narani. Perhaps not, but the possibility was still there. However, when he spoke, words came out that he hadn’t meant to say, “Do you think you can keep up out there?”

Jen seemed caught off guard by the question, obviously expecting something else. She did manage a nod however, though the smile weakened, “We’ll be all right out there. I’ll do what I can to help out, maybe even learn a thing or two.”

Nodding, Voort mentally kicked himself for saying that. It was almost insulting to her. Of course she couldn’t keep up, but she’d try. And that was all that really mattered. She’d do her best, and it would be good enough. Besides, Voort would slow down enough so that she wouldn’t be left behind. Setting explosives wasn’t the hard part...the hard part would be avoiding sight. But no. No, not now. Think about that later. There were more important things now.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but no words came out. Of all things, he was acting like a teenager. Like a kid. Mentally, he grinned. Like Akan. So, he composed his thoughts and attempted this again. Like an adult, “Jen. I...I used to always fight alone so that I didn’t have to talk with anyone else like this. But if...if anything happens to either of us, we both have to continue on. We can’t stop until Sadrak is dead.”

That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. It was close, yes, but not right. Jen knew this immediately. She nodded slowly at his words, then surprised him by reacting as if he’d said what he’d meant to. She embraced him tightly, and whispered, “I love you, too.”

Voort couldn’t help a smile, bringing his own arms around her and glad that she understood. Of all times for both of them to admit how they felt, they had chosen this day. It could have easily been earlier for both of them if they’d allowed it. Yet Voort had still worried of the past. Yes, he’d gotten over the death of his wife and moved on, but there was the fear or it occurring again. Of losing Jen. He couldn’t face it, so hid from it. And Jen...Jen just didn’t know what to do. Things had moved to fast and she’d only recently had time to sit and thing. What she’d spoken was the conclusion she’d come to.

A slightly devious grin appeared on Jen’s face as she looked up to him, “You know what this means, don’t you, Titus?”

The only response Voort made was a raised eyebrow and a slightly confused look. This got a short laugh out of Jen before she kissed him lightly, “It means no more acting like you’re a horrible person.”

That got a laugh from him, and he returned the kiss, “You’ve brought light back into my life, Jen. Besides, you always know when I’m lying to you.”

It was a nice moment of levity to get rid of the tension before the attack. Perhaps it was sudden, but both of them had truly been waiting to get that out. Of course, now that it was out, what were they supposed to do? But that wasn’t important. What was important, was that there was currently twelve hours left until they had to leave. Twelve hours of calm time before facing death. Jen smiled at the thought. But a strange thought intruded into her mind. She found herself worrying about, of all things, Akan and Light. At a time like this, she wasn’t even thinking about Voort. Or at least, not for those short few seconds. But it was still important to remember for later. In the morning...yes, she’d have a talk with them in the morning.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 78: Who Gets the Medal?

The wait ended sooner than any of them had really expected. Not that anything happened, but time simply seemed to speed up. It was not long at all before the everyone was suited up and checking weapons. By this time, though, Voort and Jen had already left. Hansen had given them a datapad with the locations of the turbolaser batteries on them. It also contained a map of Haladin, itself, but hopefully they’d not need to use it. Any reason why they’d need it were not in either of their thoughts at the moment, though. Both of them were focused on the task at hand. No surprise for Voort, but Jen was showing a somewhat unusual determination.

Only the third day on Arranis and they knew the area well. The two of them easily climbed the winding path up the plateau. Once at the top, Voort used the electrobinoculars to first check the city’s defenses. It looked generally calm, though there were a few more guards walking around looking bored. He then took the map from Jen and compared it to their position. Figuring out where exactly they were in relation to the nearest turbolaser, he pointed his electrobinoculars in that direction. And there it was. Hidden in a small hole in the ground, with only the top half and the two barrels extended up to the sky. A few moments later, he’d pinpointed three others and made sure Jen knew exactly where they were.

Now came the decision that both of them new was going to have to be made. Voort pulled back under the cover of the path and gave Jen a very serious look, “We need to do this quickly.”

She nodded, glancing over towards Haladin and then kneeling back down behind their cover, “Give me half the explosives and copy that map onto another datapad.”

Voort did as she had asked, handing her six charges in a small sack and then a copied datapad, “You sure you can do this on your own?”

“Don’t have much of a choice, do we?” she grinned slightly, tossing the pack gently over her shoulder. Sure, the charges weren’t active, but they were still worrying.

After resealing his own equipment, Voort managed a smile, “Go east and we’ll meet on the other side.”

“So how much do I get if I blow up my six before you get yours?” Jen asked mischievously, settling back in a position that looked like Shadow when she was prepared to pounce.

Laughing shortly, Voort said, “Respect. And a medal.”

Jen smiled and then kissed him. After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled back and started towards the other direction. Before he was out of earshot, though, she said, “I’m going to hold you to that medal.”

And then, Voort watched her walk off. Or rather, sneak off. His smile slowly faded, and his mind turned to the task at hand. She’d be fine. So would he. It was the others that were going to have more trouble. Not that Voort was going to let them have all the fun once they’d taken out the turbolasers, but he’d deal with that hurdle once reaching it. Now, though, he turned and headed off across the plateau towards the first turbolaser he’d spotted. Twelve turbolasers in total. One of the charges, placed correctly, should easily be enough. There wasn’t going to be time to check, though, as once activated, each charge would have a three minute timer. Hopefully, by the time one was destroyed, the second charge was already placed and the Voort would be moving to the third.

When Voort was close enough to see the turbolaser with his naked eye, he slowed down. It was only a few hours after dawn, and the growing light was still something to be cautious about. One thing they didn’t know was whether or not each turbolaser had guards or crews that were there. They were close enough to the city that it wouldn’t have been trouble to station the gunners in Haladin and move them to the weapons when it was necessary, but it was always easier to leave a team right at the spot. Or at least...in theory it was. Theory never seemed to account for boredom.

After a quick yet careful look through the electrobinoculars, Voort is both relieved and slightly more worried to see no one around the turbolaser. Standing around wasn’t going to do any good. It looked clear enough, and even if there were guards, he was going to have to approach. So, he moved in. Quickly and low to the ground, Voort ran across the sand in plain sight of anyone that was on the wall or even walking past the entrance to Haladin. Despite the large distance, a moving object was easy to detect on such a dead world. But he made it to the hole with the turbolaser unhindered, and quickly slid down the slop to the base of the weapon. Looking around, he could see some footprints in the ground off to the left.

Voort did his best to silence any movements he made, which he also limited. Those prints had to be recent. And they only went to the large weapon. He looked up the height of the turbolaser battery...as big as most of the houses within Haladin. Despite the fact that they wouldn’t be able to see him where he was, sound was still a possibility. That made it tough to plant the charge. But carefully, Voort withdrew the cylindrical object from the sack and placed it close to the base. It stuck with a noise that he felt was far too loud, but he was probably being oversensitive. Waiting just a second to make sure there was no response, Voort then turned the activation switch. It beeped once, quietly this time, and then was silent. One down.

Doing his best to remain silent, Voort carefully stepped around to the other side of the turbolaser and climbed up the hole it was placed in. He stared for a moment at the side of the weapon, knowing that it would be easy for any gunner to spot him from inside if they were looking. But nothing happened...so obviously, they weren’t. Not wanting to risk this, Voort ran to the nearest cover he could find an reoriented himself. Looking over the small map again, he knelt behind a small rock and then found the next turbolaser. It was a good distance off, but he’d be there before the three minutes was up. Easily.

So he ran for it. At least near this side there were more smaller rocks and boulders to provide at least limited cover. But he was running, so the cover really didn’t do a thing for him. And then something happened he had not anticipated. There was an explosion. Loud...behind him. But there should still have been another minute on that!! He spun around, stopping his run to see the turbolaser still in tact. What?! Wait...he caught a flash in the left sight of his eye, just barely. Quickly turning to see, Voort watched a flame extending into black smoke. Then he laughed. Loudly. And turned back to his run to the next turbolaser. Jen was already ahead of him. She was probably gloating at this point, too.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 79: Apologies

“The turbolaser batteries have been taken out and we’re starting the attack. Wait five minutes then head in,” Hansen’s voice sounded over the comlink. Landau simply nodded to that, not speaking to her but instead just cutting off the comlink. He looked back to the two Alraxians, somewhat curious about the two of them. He didn’t need to relay the information, as they’d both heard.

Sitting behind the large rock was becoming uncomfortable for all of them. Landau noticed that Light was continually shifting around and looking jittery. Akan was in a state of calm, just staring ahead and waiting. Seeing as he was used to this kind of mission, Landau assumed this was how the young man prepared mentally. Young Man. He smiled slightly at that. Akan was still young. Interesting that Light had explained earlier that she was twenty cycles old. Apparently, that translated to roughly sixty standard years. She was older than Landau was by eighteen years. And yet...to her people, she was a child. But that didn’t interest him as much as Akan’s age. Light had explained that by normal Alraxian standards, he was still an infant. Young man was even a stretch. Landau had teased the boy about this, and was actually surprised at the good natured attitude with which Akan had responded. He seemed to be strangely calm and light hearted while mentally preparing himself.

Landau always encouraged that among his men, yet was always surprised to see it among others. It made him feel safe. Despite that, he was worried. More about Light. All that twitching and fidgeting showed a nervousness and annoyance that would only cause trouble. Quietly, he asked, “Are you alright?”

Slowly, Light’s two bright eyes raised to him, showing a somewhat terrified expression. She shook her head and almost clung to the sand itself. Akan sighed and finally seemed to be paying attention to the things happening around him. He looked to Light, then back to Landau, saying, “She’s afraid it’s a trap.”

“That’s not everything,” Landau pointed out, not completely a fool to anyone’s moods.

Akan nodded, “She’s not Shadow. She has no will to fight...no want to fight. But at the same time, she refused to be left behind.”

Turning a curious look to Light, Landau said, “You’re talking about her like she’s not sitting right next to you.”

Akan just shrugged. But that seemed to get Light’s attention again, and she managed to speak, “He’s right. I won’t get in the way. I can still help...I’m not useless.”

She then trailed off repeating her last words a few times, and both Landau and Akan exchanged looks. No words needed to be said on that. Light had problems. Serious problems. But really, she was half a person. It made sense to have problems. At least Akan was more balanced and only seemed to have fits of trouble every so often. He could control it. Or at least...Landau thought he could. Hoped. One unstable mind was enough to deal with. Two, though. Landau wouldn’t be able to deal with that. Hopefully Akan could keep himself together through this.

So they went back to silence. Thinking to themselves and listening to the distant pops and explosions from the firefight beyond. Only a few more minutes, and the three of them would break into Haladin and capture it themselves. Insane. Yet perfect. Narani were not tacticians, and that’s how Landau knew this would work. Should work. Probably...no. No doubts now. Too late for that. Either it worked, or they died. There wasn’t an in between. Oh how long it had been since he’d felt this. Sending people to their deaths. Slowly, Landau looked back over to Akan. He’d sent boys to their death younger than this one sitting here in front of him. In fact, Akan would have been considered an ‘old man’ among the troops . Under Landau’s command, the average age of the real soldiers was twenty. He never counted the officers, as most of them simply got their position because of their family. Few ever worked for it. Landau had been one to work up the ranks, and he respected the common soldier so much more for it.

His thoughts were wandering. Focus. Landau checked the chrono. Seeing the time on it, he stood up and looked to the two Alraxians, “Lets go.”

When the two of them got up, Landau pulled out his extra blaster pistol. A small hold out kind, but a weapon none the less. He then handed it to Light, nearly have to force it into her hands. She’d tried refusing to take it, but it was Akan who’d spoken up, “Just take it. If anything to protect yourself.”

She’d given in, and they started a quick run across the sands of the plateau towards the walls of the city. Landau had the lead only because he knew exactly where the communications center was. Or at least, had been. There was so much heavy equipment that moving it would be insane, so hopefully it was still there. He’d not told this to anyone else, of course. Off on both sides of the city, they could see flashes of shots from slugthrowers and a few blasters here and there. It looked chaotic on both ends. Which was good. Very good.

Reaching the wall without encountering anyone, the three of them moved swiftly to the nearest opening to a small street. Akan was the first to move around the corner, seeing no one and then signaled to the other two. Landau stepped around and took the lead again with Light keeping right behind. Both Akan and Landau were keeping eyes everywhere. Each alley they passed, they looked down, while at the same time not neglecting to watch the street ahead. All empty. So far, still doing well. So far, the plan was working. So far.

So far ended quickly. And instead of running straight into a group of Narani like they’d expected to be the scenario, they simply passed a street and then heard shots. A moment later, sand was flying up behind them and a couple of buildings had new dents in them. Akan grabbed Light and yanked her around to the other side of them, knowing that he being in front was not going to be a good thing. The three of them moved against one of the buildings next to the intersection, with Akan reaching around ever few moments to fire off a few shots to keep the Narani from approaching. After his first barrage, quickly answered with a barrage from slugthrowers, Akan said, “About six of them. I think they’re as surprised as we are.”

He paused to turn the corner and fire a few more shots. When he pulled back around the corner, a couple of shots came far too close, and Landau looked at yet another hole in the Alraxian’s cloak. That thing was going to be tatters soon. Akan didn’t seem to take notice, just continuing what he had been saying without a change in his tone, “Take Light and get to the comm center. I’ll stay back and keep them away.”

“We’re not splitting up,” Landau said firmly. Akan didn’t answer right away, instead turning the corner to fire a few more shots.

Pulling back again, Akan managed a nod, “Agreed. I’ll keep behind you a good distance but make sure you’re still in sight.”

As more shots pocketed the sand and corner of the building, Landau nodded and took Light’s arm. She seemed surprise by the tightness of the grip, but did her best to keep up as he started running across the open street they’d originally been moving down. They rounded a corner down a smaller street, with Landau looking back to see that both the area behind them was clear and Akan was catching up. He was moving. Slowly, though, and not really paying attention to the two of them. So much like Voort when it came to fighting. Landau turned his focus back to the street in front of him just as Light made a noise of surprise.

Four Narani rounded the corner and froze. They were running and nearly fell over to stop. The second passed, and Landau had just a half second to pull himself an Light into a small break between two of the buildings. Slugthrower shots pocketed the side of the building, puffs of dust and rock flying out and getting in their eyes. Landau now had a problem. Light was on the outside, and there was barely enough room for him to reach around her and fire. He managed it, but only by placing his arm across her nose. She’d complained, and he pulled back behind the cover.

“You have to do this!” he growled as they both heard the Narani’s footsteps approaching. It was easy to hear, especially considering the short distance between them already. For too long, Light did nothing. Too long was only thirty seconds, but that was far more than enough time for the Narani to get to them. When she finally did turn the corner, she was face to face with them. Light recieved a hit to the face from the butt of one of the guns. A crack sounded from her jaw as she stumbled back, squeezing the blaster’s trigger and firing it into the sand. A tower of sand shot up, blinding all of them. Landau pushed Light to the side so he could stand out and punched the nearest figure. He fell to the ground, and as Landau trained his weapon on another figure through the clearing sand, he heard the sound of a slugthrower fire. One of the Narani had manage to get a shot of. A second later, there was a scream from Light, and Landau watched her collapse to the ground. Quickly firing off two more shots, Landau dropped another of the Narani before connecting his elbow with a third. The fourth turned on him and swung a heavy punch, but Landau ducked and slammed his fist into the Narani’s stomach. A moment later, he kicked the humanoid to the ground and fired the blaster. It was not cruel to kill him. The others were unconscious, but that one would have easily trained his weapon on Landau a second later.

Adrenaline still rushing through his veins, Landau turned to the painful moaning and screaming from Light. She was on the ground, clinging her left leg which had a small hole in it. Blue colored blood was covering the sand and her arm as she rolled from side to side, claws digging into her own leg as she screamed. He panicked slightly, but knelt down and put a hand over her mouth to at least quiet her some, “Can’t you fix that?!”

Through a muffled yell of pain, she shook her head violently. Metal. It was metal. If she tried to remorph it, the metal would spread through her veins and simply kill her. It was nearly impossible to resist the urge to attempt remorphing the wound, but she somehow kept the willpower to stop herself from attempting anything. Just that feeling of the bullet in her was enough to cause her to scream. But the fact that she was having to endure pain. Such horrible pain. Alraxians were so used to simply shrugging off even the worst of injuries that when confronted with real pain, it was obvious that they didn’t know what to do.

Neither did Landau. He didn’t understand why she didn’t fix it. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t stop yelling through his hand. He made a quick decision, and picked her up, getting her on one leg and saying, “We can’t stay here. Just two more blocks. Can you make it?”

Light made another yelling noise into his hand but clung to him as best she could. Of course, she also bit into his hand, causing him a large amount of pain from her sharp teeth. Somehow, Landau ignored this and moved as fast as he could with her. Thankfully, in the short time it took to run/limp to the comm center, they encountered no other Narani. Landau took a deep breath and did his best to keep his blaster ready while still holding up Light with his other hand.

Then, he pressed the door’s switch. It slid open to a small entrance room. Behind a desk facing the other direction was a young man, who immediately spun around to say something. His mouth opened, but he recieved a blaster bolt to the chest for his trouble. Landau helped Light into the room and sat her down in the chair that the man had fallen out of. She was still squiring and wrenching around painfully, though her screams were dulled to grunts and other strange noises. For a moment, he kept his hand over her mouth, “Sit here. I’ll clear the rest of the building then get back. But you have to be silent. Okay?”

Her teeth let go of his hand, a relief for Landau as he now tried to ignore that pain, and Light nodded violently. When he pulled his hand away, she was biting her lip roughly, blood seeping out from her lower lip. But it muffled the sound, and she was definitely more concerned with the wound in her leg. Small...but impossibly painful. Landau nodded to her, then moved over to the single other door. Hitting the switch, the door opened up to a small hallway that should lead to a few technical rooms and access chambers, but most importantly, the relay command center. That would be the door at the end of the hall. No even paying attention to the others, Landau ran to the end of the hallway.

He didn’t wait at all once he’d reached the end, hitting the switch and looking into the large, console filled circular room. Sitting at two of the stations were Narani. They spun around, and the first received the same treatment as the ‘guard’ at the entrance. He got a blaster bolt to the upper torso which sent him to the floor. The second Narani reached for a small slugthrower pistol, picking it up and managing to squeeze off a shot. Landau ducked and rolled(feeling a bit of pain and knowing he was getting too old for all of this) out of the way, then fired a return shot. It missed, but instead hit the console. A flash of sparks and a small fire made the Narani yelp in pain and jump back, falling to the floor and making himself an easy target for Landau’s next shot. Ignoring the ache, Landau fired six more times. Once at each of the consoles, easily destroyed them and taking out the main relay. He looked across the walls and found a small hatch, which he opened to find a series of wires. Those should be the main power lines. Reaching in with a black gloved hand, Landau ripped them out with ease.

The lights went out. Emergency lights came on. All the sounds of the workings in the building stopped. They’d done it. Now it was up to the others.

But there was still chaos within the street. Akan was running back to catch up and find more cover when a sudden pain racked through his left leg. Cringing and nearly crying out himself, Akan stumbled to the ground and felt the familiar sand of Haladin’s ground. This place was cursed. But no. He’d not been shot! The Narani weren’t even around the corner yet. They...they...he heard screaming. Loud screaming. Shadow. No! Light. Light. Hurt? Leg. By the Force it still hurt. A pain like he’d never felt, especially through the link. Why so strong?! And why wasn’t it going away? She wasn’t remorphing!! Why not?!

He couldn’t move. Or rather, moving that leg caused extreme pain through his leg. This was not a good time for the link to decide to strengthen like that. Especially because the five Narani were just coming around the corner. Gritting his teeth and doing his best to ignore the pain, Akan fired a wild barrage of blaster shots in the general direction of his pursuers. Surprised by this, they quickly ducked back behind the corner for cover, giving Akan a short few moments to attempt crawling. On his right side and using every bit of willpower he could to keep moving, Akan crawled towards a stacking of crates against a far wall. It would be sufficient to hide behind. But he was moving too slow. This was quickly proved to be fact when he heard slugthrowers fire. At first, they went straight over him. The Narani were shooting blindly and hadn’t actually seen him fall. Good. No. It would have been good if they hadn’t looked. But they did. Two shots his the sand right next to him, and Akan felt the sand burn his skin as the bullets dug in far too close. Again, Akan fired wildly with his blaster to keep them back, this time not able to hold back a painful groan as he continued his panicked crawl.

It couldn’t be remorphed. It wasn’t him. It was Light...but it wouldn’t stop hurting! He’d never felt anything like this before. He’d been shot without being shot. Akan did not stop firing with his blaster pistol, crawling forward as best he could and getting within only a few meters when the impossible happened. Akan died a little more on the inside when his blaster suddenly clicked and then made a disturbingly pained groan. Almost sounded like him. The grip was getting warm too. The power pack had overloaded! Sithspit! Not having the energy to curse out loud, he growled violently and did the best thing he could. Akan threw the now useless blaster pistol at the wall. A Narani had turned the corner at hearing the stop in fire, only to be hit in the face with the blaster. Akan would have found this hilarious if he’d been watching...and if he’d not been in extreme pain.

But somehow, this strange attack had surprised the other Narani enough to give him time to get behind the crates. He slumped back against the crates, one hand undoing the lightsaber from his belt and activating the blade. They knew where he was already, so he might as well keep the weapon up for when they came after him. His other hand, though, was down on his leg where the shadowed pain continued to pulse through his leg. Growling painfully again, Akan called out to Light. [Dammit!! What happened?!]

Light’s ‘voice’ sounded just as pained as his. [Metal! Get it out of me!! GET IT OUT!!!]

Alright. She was worse off than he was. Holding the lightsaber in his hand and knowing the Narani were going to catch up in a matter of seconds, Akan wondered what to do. The pain was too much to get up. He couldn’t fight. He was stuck. For the first time in his life, he was facing death. And it was far more painful than he’d ever expected. He’d also never expected to not be shot and hurt like this. Damn those archaic weapons. But things were going to get worse. Akan had failed to notice the slight hint of attention within the link. The Darks had heard. This extremely dangerous turn of events for Akan had just been alerted to the Darks. And they weren’t just going to give this advantage up.

If Akan had known they were soon approaching, he would have just deactivated the lightsaber and let the Narani kill him then and there. But he didn’t. All he knew was that the Narani were moving towards him slowly. They knew he was injured. They could hear his groans and growls out of pain. They could see the tip of the blue-green lightsaber over the crates. They knew, just as he did, that the lightsaber would do him no good without him being able to move. Akan’s rushing mind stopped. He found nothing. Nothing at all. So he simply turned and watched the blank section of the street that would soon be Narani. Moving the lightsaber in front of him, he closed his eyes and said very quietly, “I’m sorry, Shadow. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

A tear rolled down his cheek as he opened his eyes to the flash of a slugthrower barely five meters away.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 80: Nothing's Ever Easy

Not far away, sitting at the foot of the plateau, were the Darks. Or rather, Dark was sitting. Her Akan was being grilled and yelled at. This had continued for nearly all of the night, and nearly ended in her tearing him apart. He had been intelligent enough to mention the fact that she still needed him, and Dark had then taken a seat and gone silent. That had lasted for hours. It had at first seemed like she was asleep, but subtle movements and reactions to his movements proved otherwise.

And then, just as the sunlight began creeping across the sands, Dark suddenly spoke up, “He is looking for us.”

Seeing that her eyes were closed, nodding was a useless response. Instead, her Akan simply looked towards her. Thinking about this, she was right. He would not speak, though, as she was not in the mood for his comments at this point, and he wasn’t in the mood to tempt fate anymore than he’d already done.

“If you had just taken her straight to Him we would not be in this,” she said with a growl on her voice, “It is time for you to stop your childish mood swings. You are mine. You already know that we only do what He wishes for a short time, but planning to stab me in the back once He is gone is not wise.”

She did not have to open her eyes to know he had a surprised look on her face. He’d not thought himself to be so easy to read. Fine. Things would just have to be rethought and worked out again. But more carefully. And...

“You will not attempt anything foolish,” Dark snapped, easily picking up on his thoughts, “There are more important things than fighting amongst each other. He will find us soon enough. Running from His sight has only temporarily protected us, and when He sees the failure, I won’t be able to protect either of us.”

At least he knew she wasn’t going to kill him. Of course, he would still have to stay alert and make sure he proved his use. If he didn’t, Dark would likely get rid of him anyway. But something was different. Distant and reaching around...likely Him. The two of them withdrew their minds and did their best to hide. It was cowardly, but all they could do at the moment. Dark still did not completely understand His strength, and would not dare challenge him until then. Degrading, yes, but required for now. Perhaps at least her Akan would learn from this, and understand his place.

The moment passed. No. No He was still searching. But something interrupted it. A strange pain ran up through both of the Darks’ left legs. It was not anymore than a simple stinging. This had Dark’s eyes opening. She looked to her Akan and the two exchanged curious looks without saying anything. Nothing needed to be said. The distant link that they shared with the Lights was obviously the source of the pain. But for them to feel it, even just as a sting, meant that it would have been excruciatingly painful on the other end. A moment later, they heard the distant voices speaking over the link, and Dark found herself smiling.

She stood up and flexed her muscles. Looking to her Akan, Dark said, “They are nearby. You have a chance to redeem yourself. Get her. Bring her to Him. I will find the human.”

At that, he nodded. For a moment, it had looked like he would speak, but instead his wings moved and quickly pulled him into the air and over the plateau. Dark smiled. Perhaps he was not so useless. It was too early to tell, but if he succeeded this time, she would know. Without another thought, she allowed herself to reach out for the human woman. Carefully, though, as not to attract His attention in the process.

* * * *​

The last turbolaser battery exploded off across the plateau, and Jen smiled. Two minutes too late. She wasn’t going to point out to Voort that she’d picked the section where the turbolasers were closer together. That was his own fault for not running to that side first. Carefully, she knelt behind a rock and waited on him. He was on his way to where she was, and then they were going to move in towards the city and help where they could. Hopefully. She hadn’t really paid any attention to the fighting, but from the short glances Jen had managed, it looked to be...well, a fight.

Not being a military strategist, Jen wasn’t sure how to interpret the flashes and dots that were likely people. So she instead sat facing the other direction, blaster in hand and mind still racing. The adrenaline rush was subsiding, and her mind was starting to wander. Such an interesting turn of events. She’d felt strongly about Voort for longer than she had liked to admit. The three months they’d spent running from the New Republic in the Outer Rim had been an interesting time. This had been the Imperial agent who had not infiltrated but simply walked into the science facility on Mon Calamari with blaster blazing. He’d killed everyone there except for her, and he had even known she was there. They’d met eyes despite the fact she had been hiding, and yet Voort had just left. Perhaps he hadn’t actually seen her. Jen had asked him about it, but he never gave a response. All of her friends, though...killed. Just like at Alderaan. And yet today, that didn’t seem to matter anymore.

Jen couldn’t help a smile. Enemy one day...friend the next. Then...then a little more. An interesting galaxy. Her mind was wrenched back to the present at the sound of movement not far behind her. Carefully, Jen readied her blaster and waited. It should be Voort, but one couldn’t be too careful. One thing she wouldn’t do was just give herself away...just in case it wasn’t him. Slowly, she leaned around the side of the rock and caught sight of Voort. He nearly ran into her, surprised at the sudden appearance of her head. Thankfully, he didn’t plow over her and instead knelt down beside her.

He was breathing hard, though a smile was still on his face. Before he got a chance to say anything, though, Jen grinned, “Got the medal yet?”

Voort laughed, “Demanding. Think you can wait until all this is over with?”

“Changing the deal isn’t going to get you anywhere,” she said with a slightly dangerous look. But jokes and light hearted comments seemed to fade away, and Jen asked, “Where to from here?”

Taking a look back towards the city, Voort said, “Things are going alright. Hansen’s troops have drawn out a large amount of Narani. I haven’t heard anything from the others.”

Jen wasn’t sure if he meant Trker-Hon and the other Imperials or the Alraxians and Landau. Either way, it didn’t really matter that much. She nodded at his words and turned to look towards the city, saying, “Is there anything we can do?”

“If you’re up to it, we can head into the city and try to clean up there,” Voort suggested idly. Jen nodded, and the two of them got to their feet. She followed him in the fast sprint across the open plains towards the wall. Finding a break in the wall was tough, as this was the one side not open. Noticing that they were going to have to get too close to either of the large firefights, Voort suggested they climb it. Easier said than done. The wall was six meters high. That was the first problem. The second was that it was relatively smooth, and the only hand and footholds would be cracks and breaks that were barely worth mentioning.

Noticing the look on her face, Voort tried another suggestion, “Alright. I lift you up and you get over...then I’ll climb.”

That wasn’t much better, but it would have to do. It was an interesting exercise climbing up onto his shoulders. Balancing as best she could against the wall, Jen looked up. Still at least another three or so meters. There was no way she could jump that high. Looking back down to Voort, Jen commented, “Maybe we should have saved one of the charges.”

Resisting the urge to laugh, Voort just did his best to maintain his balance. It was too high up for her, and climbing that would be too tough for Jen. So what should she do? Voort knew. He knew but wasn’t sure how to express it to her. Something he’d meant to mention for the last few weeks, but had avoided even more than how he felt about her. Carefully, he said, “Jen. Listen. Calm your mind. Don’t think. Let everything flow away...then...just jump. Don’t think about jumping. Don’t think about making it. Just make it.”

Strange. Jen raised an eyebrow and wasn’t sure what to say to him. She had no idea what he was telling her to do. That didn’t make sense. Or maybe it made too much sense. Jen quieted her mind as best she could and decided that they didn’t really have another option. A few deep breaths later, Jen found her eyes closing slightly as she focused on....on what? Nothing. Everything. The wall. Focused on the wall. Without even really knowing she’d moved, Jen jumped. When her eyes opened again, she was half up the top, pulling herself completely over and looking down to a rooftop not far away.

She managed a quick glance down to see Voort smiling up to her. He motioned for her to get out of the way as he began a slow climb up. Jen found her mind was trying to comprehend what had just happened. But the wall itself was not that much to stand on, so she soon decided hat there was something more important than rational thought. Currently, moving. She dropped down to the rooftop below and surveyed the streets. Empty. A few moments later, Voort was next to her. He looked tired. For good reason, of course. That was a long climb and he’d managed it quickly. Distantly, the sound of slugthrowers firing was everywhere. But Voort’s ears pinpointed the ones near the center of the city.

“Come on,” he took her arm and moved to jump to the street below. But something stopped him. A ripple in the Force. Strong. Familiar. Voort looked to Jen, and she had strange look of fear on her face. So she had noticed it. Probably couldn’t understand it, though. Not that he did. Not that...wait. There. A violent streak was heading right for them, and without even thinking about it, Voort jumped down and dragged Jen with him. He hit the ground rolling, and Jen had done the same though not by instinct. Quickly getting to his feet, Voort looked up to see that the top section of the building where they stood had claw marks across it.

Jen gave him a panicked look, and he grabbed her arm again. Without a word, he ran down a small alleyway and hoped that Dark couldn’t follow. He knew she was. He knew she was close...and she could wait. But he also knew that standing around was worse than at least trying to run. Well, at least the first half had gone right.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 81: Pain and Family

Something was wrong. In the silence that Landau had created in the comm building, he’d still been able to hear Light making pained noises. But it stopped. Suddenly. At first, he hadn’t even realized it was gone. But the second his mind caught up with the complete silence, he turned and ran back down towards the first room. The door opened and he had his blaster pistol raised to fire at anyone who’d approached. But no. No one else...just Light and the body of the Narani.

Landau looked from the dead Narani back to Light. She was sitting in the chair, head tilted over the back in an awkward position and arms limp at her sides. She was moving. Not shifting violently or holding her leg from pain. Her chest wasn’t even rising and falling from breathing. Dead?! Quickly, Landau holstered his blaster and moved over to the Alraxian. The wound on her leg was still seeping oddly colored blood(well, odd to a human. Alraxians would find red blood just as odd). He moved her from the chair onto the desk, laying Light on her back and trying to figure out what to do. Her eyes were closed. No signs of life. Still bleeding. Wait. Maybe. On instinct, he rested his ear over where a heart would be in a human. There was a sound. No. There were two sounds. Beating. A heartbeat. Still alive. Two heartbeats.

So Alraxians had two hearts. Interesting. But that didn’t help right now. For all he knew, she was dead and her hearts didn’t know it yet. But how had she died?! She hadn’t lost enough blood for it to have killed her. There were no other wounds. Nothing. There was no one else there. Her hearts were still beating but she wasn’t breathing. Or was she? Did Alraxians even need to breathe? Landau allowed himself an exhausted sigh. He was working himself up with too many unknowns. Though he was no doctor, one picked up a few things while working in the service of any military. He moved over and looked her face over just in case. No bruises or marks. Not even a mark from where one of the Narani’s guns had cuffed her jaw.

And then she made a noise. Landau nearly jumped out of his skin and clung to the ceiling at the sudden intake of breath. Light’s back arched slightly before falling limp again, but she was breathing now. Doing his best to slow his own breathing(and heart), Landau stood back slightly. So it seems like he couldn’t do anything. But she was alive. Or maybe she just had some very odd nerve spasms. But no, that had been breathing. Was breathing. Still was breathing. And heartbeat. And...no, nothing else. Dead otherwise.

As he wondered what he should do, Light’s eyes opened slowly. She had a strange expression on her face as she took in her surroundings, seemingly taking no notice of the still bleeding wound in her leg. Of the metal still there. Of her body trying to remorph the wound...which would kill her much more painfully than the enduring of the shot. Her eyes found Landau. Forcing her voice out, she said, “Get the metal out of my leg. Please.”

Landau stared at her blankly for a moment. Something in her eyes was off. A glazed look. Almost like she wasn’t completely paying attention to him at the moment. He moved to her leg anyway, looking at the small hole and not really sure what to do. Get the metal out? When he’d picked up a knife from the Narani, Light had twitched out of the way. Metal. No metal. Then how to get that out?

“Shoot it,” Light said quietly, not sounding like herself and having to force the words out, “Burn the skin and pull the metal out.”

How could she ask anyone to do that? Oh, shoot me to save me. Really sounded wise. But then again, what other option was there? Against all reason, Landau drew his blaster pistol again. He closed his eyes after placing the blaster barrel against the wound. The scream of pain from Light easily drowned out the echo of the blaster shot. Somehow, all she did was wrench to the side and claw at the table. As she did this, Landau opened his eyes to look at the wound. Black. All black...somewhat burnt in now, and he could see part of the metal bullet. But still couldn’t reach it. When he placed the blaster barrel to her leg again, Light stopped her moving. Again, her scream of pain silenced any other noise at the shot. But this time, her scream had been muffled by biting her open lip open. Despite all effort otherwise, tears streamed down her face and she forced herself not to remorph the agony in her leg. Landau looked again. Still no good. One more. After that, he wasn’t going to be able to stomach another shot. The smell of burnt flesh was already nauseating enough.

The third shot recieved no noise from Light. It was the most unnerving of all to simply hear the blaster shot, but she wrenched even more against the claws in the table this time. Landau tried not to look at her face, and tossed his blaster pistol into the chair. Looking at the now large open and scorched wound, he found the metal bullet. Forcing his own eyes to stay open, he reached into the mess of black scorched flesh and blue blood to pull out the bullet. Somehow, he managed it, and the second it was out, he watched an equally disturbing scene. Light’s leg reformed in front of his eyes. While he knew that this was possible, seeing it in such horrid detail was even more sickening.

For a short moment afterwards, there was silence. Then, against anything that would normally be heard from Shadow, Light cried. Her body shook as she wept from the intense pain now only a horrible memory. But so vivid. Alraxians were too weak to endure such pain for so long. If not for Shadow’s history, Light would have remorphed the leg and watched her body become consumed with the metal as it killed her slowly. But she’d lived. Somehow. It was the first time Shadow, in any form, had ever wept. But it was warranted, and though Light could be seen as weak, Landau knew that it took immense strength to endure all of that pain. As she continued to weep, her body shook and she curled up on herself slightly.

Landau sighed and sat in the chair next to her on the table. Carefully, he reached over and rested an arm on her shoulder. It wasn’t much, but it was all he could think to do. Older than he was, but she was child. A child alone in the galaxy that had just undergone an impossibly traumatic experience. When she curled up a little more and seemed to calm slightly though still crying quietly, Landau found himself suddenly wondering why he’d never had children. There had been chances...yet...he’d never thought of it. Not until he sat there in the exact center of a vicious battle comforting a non-human child. These wars shouldn’t be fought by such children. It wasn’t fair to them. The soldiers should all be experienced men. They shouldn’t be old enough to be Landau’s children. He shouldn’t have had to always feel like he was losing a child.

Through her sobbing, Light managed to speak quietly, “Akan. We have to get him. Have to go back.”

Landau couldn’t help a smile. So she wasn’t all that alone. Children needed family. Everyone needed family. Perhaps his worry for her lack of family was misplaced. As she sat up and composed herself, wiping the tears from her face and trying to look like nothing had ever happened, Landau was glad that she had someone to relate to. Despite the age difference between herself and Akan...they were the same now. Something Landau couldn’t do. He could only ever be a father for her, never even a friend. But he didn’t mind. And standing up to help her to her feet, Landau felt pride at the knowledge that Light had more strength than she liked to show.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

((Little later on the update, but I think its worth it.))

Chapter 82: All That is Wrong With Me

She wasn’t trying to hide anymore. No more of the toying around. Perhaps it had been enjoyable at first, but obviously she was beyond that. Jen and Voort were attempting to hide in a small divide between two buildings. They’d run through alleyways to reach a section near the center of the city before Dark’s swooping strikes stopped. The second that he could no longer hear the rushes of air over them, Voort quickly pulled Jen into the tight divide between a small storage facility and what was probably a house of sorts. Dark had stopped playing and was now hunting.

For a moment, he looked over to Jen. She taken a scratch along her back, but it was only superficial. At least, she insisted that it was. Voort wasn’t so sure, but knew that this wasn’t the time to worry about that, especially since it wasn’t slowing her down at all. Reaching out with the Force, Voort noticed many fluctuations. Dark was near. Above them? Possibly. But something else...also close. Pain. Pain and fear. It radiated off towards where the center of the city was. Focus on the moment. Do not let the mind wander when you are being hunted.

He focused. And found her. Grabbing Jen’s arm, he dragged her out and into the street. Running as fast as they could, it was obvious that Jen could feel Dark was hunting them, too. A flash. Reacting without a thought, Voort threw Jen to the ground and dropped right next to her. A rush of air flew over them, along with a curse and the sound of sand grating against a hard surface. Getting to his feet as quickly as he’d gone down, Voort got the lightsaber off of his belt and thumbed the activation switch. He hadn’t even looked up to see what was going on in front of him yet. When he finally looked up(only a second later, though it seemed like and eternity), Voort’s eyes were looking past the orange glow of his lightsaber at the finally substantial form of Dark. She was still facing the other direction, a long string of claw marks along the sand where it looked like she’d slowed herself down. Two red-grey eyes glared at him over her shoulder and just between shoulder and one large wing. Neither of them moved. Both waited for the other to show the slightest hint of weakness...fear. But it would not happen. And Jen took advantage in this focus to fire a blaster shot at Dark.

Snapping back into reality, Dark jumped back to avoid the blaster shot. This worked, though she got a singed wing in the process. But it left her attention switched to Jen, giving Voort an easy opening as he ran in, thumbing the second end of the lightsaber on and swinging it in a long horizontal arc. Dark caught sight of the orange blur, jumping up into the air to avoid the slash, planting a kick to Voort’s face in the process. If she had not, the other end of the saber would likely have lopped her leg off. However, Voort stumbled back from the blow and allowed an opening for Dark to land. This did not slow him for more than a half second, and he immediately swung the back end of the lightsaber in an upwards strike at the winged Alraxian. She spun to the side, out of the way and nearly into his strike with the other end of the blade. But somehow, she ducked(including her wings) under just as it reached head height, and then rolled back to her original position when he attempted to bring the weapon back down on her.

As he readied himself for another swift strike, Dark swept his feet out from under him. Voort fell hard onto his back, and expected that Dark would be on him a second later. She wasn’t. His eyes had closed from the force of the landing, but when he opened him it was just in time to see two blaster shots fire at Dark. The sound actually came a half second later, but that didn’t matter. What did was that Dark had again ignored that she was dealing with two opponents, and nearly got herself shot again. The Alraxian jumped back again, and growled a curse in a language neither of the humans understood. Jen didn’t care. She fired the blaster again. In fact, she didn’t stop firing until Dark took to the sky and flew off.

Finally letting go of the trigger and allowed the weapon to cool, Jen tried to slow her heavy breathing. Voort sat up after deactivating both ends of his lightsaber and looked to her, “Too easy to fight.”

“Half an assassin against a scientist and an Imperial,” Jen commented idly, a grin tugging at the edge of her face, “We’ve got her outnumbered by half a person.”

Getting to his feet, Voort smiled and idly put an arm around Jen’s waist, “Two whole over her. You count as at least one and a half,” when she gave him a curious look, he laughed and explained, “Brains count for more than brawn.”

“No wonder I always beat you,” Jen said, kissing him lightly, “So two medals now?”

After he hooked the lightsaber back onto his belt, Voort shrugged, “Don’t have much of a choice. Come on, we’re not done yet.”

The two of them then followed the streets towards where they’d originally heard the slugthrower shots. Now, though, it was eerily silent(except for the two opposite sides of the city which were still wracked in fighting, of course).

* * * *​

The Narani had been surprised enough to find anyone within the city. They’d been on their way to assist with the assault on the south side, which was progressing the worst. A Topsider leading a group of false-Narani was easily slaughtering them. But running into three enemies within the city had surprised them even more. The fact that two of these were strange alien creatures just added to the surprise. They had reacted like any sensible Narani in the situation. They shot at the three. But they received their greatest surprise when confronting the single attacker that had been holding them back.

They had watched him crawl across to some cover, and took advantage of an apparent injury that none of them had seemingly caused. Moving over to make quick work of this alien, the leader of the group had stood right across from the alien, who was sitting down and holding a blade of light, and aimed his slugthrower. The aiming took a second, as the alien was not moving and provided a simple target, and the Narani fired his slugthrower. This is the point where the surprise came, and one where many would either affirm belief in a greater being or denounce one altogether for the situation. In this case, Akan was on the former side, with the Narani on the latter.

This was because Akan’s mind had reacted despite the pain in his body. The weapon had fired, a bright flash of short flames from the barrel followed by the metal bullet shooting out towards him. His conscious mind had simply watched this, giving in to what he had accepted as his fate. His unconscious, however, was not going to take this kind of crap. As he had not closed his eyes like many people would, Akan had a first hand view of the bullet slowing to a crawl and then stopping all together in mid air not ten centimeters from his heart. Well, his first heart. First heart being the one placed where it was in humans. His mind soon caught up with the situation, and Akan realized that he could feel the bullet. Holding it. Holding it with an invisible hand. With the Force.

It was one of those instances where one had to believe in those children’s stories where everything suddenly worked at just the right moment. If you didn’t believe in those, then what was the explanation for surviving? The will of the Force? Why should it care for a single individual in a small part of the galaxy? But it did. In fact, it cared so much that the horrible pain in his leg had gone. Not faded. Just gone. Suddenly. Akan’s mind was in no shape to grasp any more dramatically amazing moments, and instead he reacted like the good soldier he was.

He cheated. Well, it was only cheating to the Narani who had the half second to watch him jump to his feet before their lives were ended. To Akan, this was not cheating, but taking advantage of the situation. He slowed his breathing and suddenly picked up on a sound behind him. Ears swivelled first, but this was quickly followed by his head and then entire body, ready to pounce. Buried Alraxian instincts were taking hold and he’d likely have simply attacked the source of the sounds if Light was not one of the two. Seeing the other Alraxian, and one so strongly connected to him, the instincts held him in one place. Though the human was seen as a threat, the pause had given Akan enough time to get a grip with instincts and feelings that had never been his before.

He let out a long sigh of relief at seeing Light was alright, and noticed that she looked more like...more like Shadow. It was in the expression. And the feeling radiating off of her. Landau looked slightly worried because of Akan’s first reaction, but calmed at seeing the other Alraxian was alright. As Akan lowered his weapon, even Light smiled though it was Landau that spoke up, “She...said you needed help.”

“I think she already took care of that,” Akan responded sounding like he wasn’t really paying all that much attention to the situation. Taking a couple of steps forward, Akan kept his attention on Light, “You used the link...didn’t you?”

Light’s smile did not fade, and she nodded, “To a point. You were...we were in need of help quickly. I simply encouraged it.”

Nodding, Akan deactivated his lightsaber and allowed his body to relax, “What happened?”

“She was sh--“ Landau was cut off suddenly when Light threw him to the ground. She dove the other way, and Akan found himself also reacting to the sudden warning in the Force. But his reaction was not to move. Instead, he planted his feet firmly and activated his lightsaber again as he brought it through a horizontal swing through where the Force guided him. The source of the warning ducked low under the strike and kicked out at Akan’s midsection. Akan somehow found himself bringing his left arm down in an arc, forcing the leg to the side enough for him to jump back.

Landing and planting his feet again, Akan brought his lightsaber up in the normal defensive position in front of him. His Dark slowly stood up, ignoring both Light and Landau for the moment and simply staring at Akan. The two of them simply looked into each other’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Watching. Reading. Knowing. Akan learned much more from this than his Dark did. The moment was broken when Light suddenly raised her blaster to fire at Akan’s Dark. She got her arm halfway up before his Dark extended a arm towards her and a wall slammed into her. Light flew back to the ground, sliding across the sand and trying to catch her breath. Akan somehow ignored this shadowed pain, keeping his focus on his Dark.

“We settle this now,” his Dark said, reaching off to the side with his free hand. A wooden pole ripped that held an awning up in front of a nearby building ripped out of the ground and flew to the Dark’s hand. Catching the meter and a half, small support pole, Akan’s Dark made a flashy show of spinning it that disgusted Akan. Showing off. Overconfidence. First advantage.

Without another moment, his Dark jumped forward, swinging the pole vertically as if it could cut through Akan like a lightsaber. The fact that it was glowing slightly and radiating through the Force made this more likely than in most cases. Reacting quickly, Akan jumped to the side. The pole hit the sand, as did his Dark, landing in a crouched yet still very dangerous position. In one quick motion, the Dark was on his feet and diving towards Akan again. He swung the weapon across for Akan’s neck. Ducking low, Akan had only a half second(with the aid of the Force) to then roll to the side and dodge a vertical strike that followed. The roll brought him to his feet with enough time to see a second horizontal strike fluidly following, and Akan used the Force to assist in his jump back. Landing easily a few meters away, Akan decided to play with his Dark.

Just as his Dark renewed a fierce series of attacks by diving in again, Akan deactivated his lightsaber and simply held the hilt as he dodged. Everywhere that his Dark attacked, Akan had been only milliseconds earlier. If not for his knowledge of both himself and the Force, Akan would not have been able to survive. It was energizing to be able to react so quickly, and his Dark was not enjoy this. After a particularly wild thrust that Akan had spun out of the way of, his Dark was amazed that the wide opening in his defense was not taken advantage of. Why had Akan not at least punched him?! He was being toyed with!

Anger flared through the Dark’s eyes as his attacks grew more swift, violent, and nearly more accurate. The tattered cloak that Akan wore was soon becoming the target for all of the strikes, piecing shedding off of it as if a blade was cutting it. Either it was mimicking a blade somehow, or his Dark was truly striking with momentous force. Perhaps both. Three more strikes, perfectly implemented and easily should have taken Akan down. But no. He turned left to avoid the first, feeling the rush of air and energy across his face and simply letting it energize him more, ducked low to dodge the second strike for his neck, then jumped back to avoid the last and most anger driven of the strikes. Akan had landed on one foot by the time his Dark was diving in with an attack. Akan jumped back again, and his Dark followed with another swift strike from his own movement. To Landau, it looked like Akan was dancing around and showing off. One foot to the next, landing just within reach to draw his Dark in for another failed strike.

Again. Again. Again. Again and again Akan and his Dark seemed to glide across the sand itself as one led the other in circles around the street. Walls of buildings gained strong dents and even the ground itself was gaining new uneven sections. Swing after swing, every single time, Akan’s Dark failed to hit. Each time he met with air, or something that wasn’t his target, watching as Akan slid back and beckoned him on. A growl grew in the Dark’s throat as he drew the Force into him more and more. Strengthening him and driving his body on and on just to catch up with himself. He caught up by such a minuscule amount of time that it was not measurable, yet it was enough to have Akan using more effort. Diving in again, his Dark swung harder than ever, trying with all his might just to take his own head off. Akan ducked low again, losing a few hairs, then pulled back just as the Force-empowered weapon shattered the corner of a building. Akan didn’t even get one foot down before his Dark was jumping at him again. The weapon flew in a strong downward arc with the Dark’s arms, and Akan felt it rush past him as he moved to the side of his opponent. Two more times, he managed near misses.

And then he surprised his Dark. Without even thinking about it, Akan planted his feet after pulling to the side and brought up his arms. His Dark was moving so fast and reacting to the pattern so much that he’d not heard the snap-hiss of the lightsaber blade. His makeshift weapon collided with the lightsaber and held there, in one piece only because of the Force itself. The Dark’s momentum had been froze by the sudden and violent impact. Akan grinned at seeing the surprised look on his Dark’s face, and again took advantage of the situation. Pushing his opponent back, Akan swung his lightsaber low, more as a threat than an actual attack. His Dark jumped over the strike, sending his own at Akan’s midsection. Akan didn’t catch the weapon with his blade, but instead used the force of his own momentum to bat the weapon to the side, spinning around completely for another strike that his Dark barely managed to stop. The two of them exchanged an impossible fast series of blows, all of them being caught just seconds before serious damage would have been done. Akan’s Dark realized he was being pushed back. Nearly stuck against a wall, he did his best to find a way out.

He found it. Quickly deflecting a strike from Akan’s lightsaber, his Dark held the two weapons together and forced them up over their heads, holding them there as if they were struggling for control. Knowing he could handle his own strength, Akan’s Dark let go of his weapon with one hand. His free hand gathered strength from the Force, and Akan had only a moment’s notice before a hard wall of nothing threw him back a good ten meters. But he didn’t fall on his back or face. Reacting with the primal Alraxian instincts that had nearly grasped him earlier, Akan slid across the sand on his feet, one clawed hand gripping the ground and slowing him. Watching the sand below him come to a stop, Akan looked up to his Dark and grinned.

That stopped his Dark’s imminent attack. Instead of moving, the Dark stood there looking surprised. That was enough time for Akan to say just loud enough for his Dark to hear, “My turn.”

The comment was enough to provoke Akan’s Dark. Akan knew this since he knew that would easily insight his own rage. Blindly, his Dark dove forward and cried a curse, swinging his makeshift weapon down at where Akan was. Or rather, had been. The weapon struck the ground hard, cutting into the rock below the sand enough to lodge it in for a short second. That short second was all that Akan had needed. Before his Dark had any chance to figure out where he’d gone, there was a blue-green blade resting just a centimeter from his neck. Akan was behind him. Somehow, he’d used the blind rage to sneak behind the Dark and now he had brought a sudden stop to the fight. His Dark froze, breathing carefully though still holding the weapon that was stuck in the ground. Quietly, Akan said into his Dark’s ear, “You know you can’t beat yourself when you’re filled with rage. Fight with your emotions and you lose. You should know that as well as I do. No more of this. We should be one again.”

Just as Akan had started to let his mind flow through the steps that Light had told him to do for merging, his Dark had a moment to take advantage of. An elbow slammed into Akan’s stomach, forcing him back. His Dark ducked at the same time, allowing the lightsaber blade to pass over his head harmlessly. Snapping the pole out of the ground and allowing the Force to flow through it again, his Dark turned around just in time to meet Akan’s strike. And then they were back at it. Swing after swing, each being met by the other. But each time, Akan’s Dark was being moved back. Being pushed harder. And getting angrier all the while. Akan’s words were torturing him as much as his failure to land a single blow. Trying a repeat tactic of what had worked before, the Dark forced Akan’s blade up above them. Akan’s Dark got his hand out and just as he was letting the Force lose, Akan also took a hand off his own weapon. The arm batted his Dark’s away, and the Force strike sent the crates that Akan had once hid behind smashing into the building behind them. Weapons still in the air and held together, Akan brought his hand back across and slugged his Dark hard across the face. The Dark stumbled back, a shocked look on his face that he’d failed again. Again!! He growled another curse, dropped the weapon, and got into the sky. Akan had not pursued him, and simply watched his Dark fly for the third time. But this time...this time Akan had faced himself and won.

Adrenaline slowly began to subside and the more primitive instincts within him also began to fade away. As he deactivated his lightsaber, Akan looked off to where Landau and Light were. Light looked dazed(and felt it), but she would be okay. Landau had a amazed look on his face. The speed of the fight had made it nearly impossible to follow, and now looking at this Alraxian...boy standing there in the midst of an impossible ruined street, Landau didn’t know what to think. Slowly, Akan started over towards the two of them. When he got close, he knelt down next to Light and smiled, “I’ve faced everything that is wrong with me, and won. You will have to do that before you can accept your own Dark.”

Giving him a worried look, Light simply managed a nod without a word. She was sitting up and it looked like the hit she’d taken wasn’t going to slow her down this time. Landau took a deep breath and said carefully, “We should assist in the fight for the city.”

Akan nodded and once again differed the lead to Landau. The man did not run, feeling too drained at this point. Instead, he led them quickly through the empty streets towards the southern section of the city where Trker-Hon was leading his attack. But Landau found himself wondering why they didn’t just send in Akan. No matter how messed up he seemed at times, he was as good a fighter as Voort. Those two could have cleaned the town of any Narani easily. Dangerous strength. And despite everything he knew about Voort, Landau worried about that strength in Akan’s hands more. Sometimes, there was such a thing as too young. Especially for power.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 83: Student in the Force

By the time Landau, Akan, and Light had reached the south entrance to Haladin, they met with the Imperials and Trker-Hon. The Narani they’d been fighting were already all dead, or had fled. As the remaining troops spread out to clean out the rest of the city, the Topsider notified the others that he was leaving. When questioned, he said that he was leaving to rally the stronger of the Topsider tribes together so that this attack would gain even more attention among the reptiles of the planet.

Though in the north, Hansen’s force had encountered stronger resistance, they were also soon within the city and assisted in the clean out of the city. It did not take long for the Imperials to recapture the main garrison. Word spread through the Imperials until it reached those in command that a meeting was to be held there. Akan, Landau, and Light arrived at the garrison first, assisting with the clean up of the mess within. It took a while, but soon the main room was passable at first glance. As long as one ignored the blaster scorches on the walls. But that didn’t matter anymore. They’d succeeded. Jen and Voort arrived not long after, with the former in a strangely good mood. She had quickly embraced Akan upon seeing him, nearly squeezing what little energy was left out of him. The others laughed at this, but Light was soon treated to the same greeting and that got a smile on Akan’s face. Stepping to the side, he gave Voort a quick glance, “What’s with her?”

“She beat me,” Voort said flatly, though there was a grin tugging at the edge of his face.

Akan just raised an eyebrow, not asking anymore and deciding that it wasn’t a bad thing. Small talk ensued for a few minutes until Hansen arrived, and then all of them took a seat and things were summed up. Losses were minimal on both sides. Most of the Narani had simply taken off when their slugthrower ammunition had run out. Most of the casualties had occurred within the city itself from Narani hiding in houses and buildings. But the city was secure(or at least as secure as it would be) and they had done what they’d set out to do. Easily, too. No one put aside the thought that it was a little too easy.

The situation within the city was better than they’d expected. There were four operable landspeeders and two higher altitude airspeeders within the small garage. Weapons were strewn throughout the city, and though they were all slugthrowers, one couldn’t complain too much. None of the Narani had surrendered, though. It was not surprising, but Akan had at least expected one or two to back down and allow themselves to be captured. They didn’t. Those that didn’t run, either allowed themselves to be killed, went down in a blaze of fire, or took their own lives. It was disturbing really, and the Force itself even felt like it was shuddering.

The Force. That was an interesting subject brought up once the main topic was behind them.

“He is searching,” Voort said simply.

Light nodded to this, “He knows who is here. And our...my...Dark. The two of them are under his power.”

Akan sat back some and thought on this, “How soon can we attack the facility in the desert?”

It was direct, and almost off topic. But Landau was able to field this without too much trouble, “We need to wait until Trker-Hon gets back to analyze the situation,” he paused, not liking what he was about to say, “It could be a matter of weeks.”

Everyone seemed to accept this with a depressed nod except for Jen. She gave them all a critical look and asked, “Why do we have to wait so long?”

“Too many things to prepare for,” Landau answered, “We’ll be preparing a large ground assault. He has many Narani under his control and I wouldn’t doubt much more. We also have a few spies that should return soon to give us more detailed information. The more we know, the more likely it is that all of us will survive.”

Sighing heavily, Jen nodded. Her eagerness to get this over with was strange for Akan to see. She was changing before his eyes. He’d met her as a quiet scientist who could hold a weapon, and now she was more like a warrior with a good amount of brains to back it. Voort had done that to her, most likely. Again, that anger towards Voort attempted to grow. Akan wasn’t stopping it like he should have, ignoring the fact of his own influence on Jen. It was that damned Imperial. Akan hoped that this would all be over with soon so that he could deal with Voort. The man was a danger to all of them. But still...Voort was necessary for them to survive.

The meeting split up, with everyone going their own ways and working on their own things. Though it wasn’t officially stated, they now had time for a break. Rest. Leisure. As long as eyes and ears were kept alert, what one did was mostly up to them, now. Water and food would be no problem within Haladin, as the city had always been very well stocked. Voort and Jen had slipped outside, walking down the streets to a more quiet and empty area. It was the first section cleared by the troops, so they new it was alright.

Jen was mostly silent, and it was obvious she wanted to say something. Following her eyes, Voort figured it out. He unhooked the large lightsaber from his belt and tossed it to her. Surprised, Jen caught the hilt with both hands. As she looked it over, he said, “You can fee things, can’t you?”

Slowly, and as if she wasn’t completely paying attention to his words as she inspected the weapon, Jen nodded, “Yes.”

“You shouldn’t let a talent like that go to waste,” commented Voort, leaning back against a building and watching her with a smile.

She looked up to him, tilting her head slightly before turning her attention back to the weapon. She hit one of the activation switches, and stared for a long time at the orange blade. Over the soft hum of the lightsaber, Jen asked, “Will you teach me?”

That question had caught Voort off guard. He gave her a surprised look, though didn’t take any time to think on it. Quickly, he said, “No. No, I can’t. I...I would be the worst possible person to teach you about the Force.”

Looking past the orange blade, almost through it, Jen’s face became confused and almost worried, “Why?”

After a heavy sight, Voort just said, “I learned only about darkness. I know only about darkness. I have learned to moderate it, but it is still very dangerous and evil. I...I...” he paused, trailing off and closing his eyes, “I know the horrors of the dark side better than most. I couldn’t bear losing you.”

“But...but if you can...” she trailed off when Voort looked up at her with a strange glare.

It was a look of anger that worried her even more. It faded when he spoke again, “You can’t. You’re my light. That can’t fade. I couldn’t live.”

Slowly, Jen managed a nod. She idly allowed the weapon to swing gently, listening to the hum of the blade and dazzled by the power it seemed to give off, “Then who will?”

Voort thought on this, and eventually said, “Akan knows the light, but he’s...he’s dangerous. He is not stable, and he is only a boy. He needs to grow up more before he takes on even more responsibilities.”

Part of Jen felt she should argue that. Just defend Akan as any good friend would. But no...Voort was right. Akan continued to bury his past and everyone could see how unstable he was. He was a liability to all of them, and no matter how good a friend she was, defending him here was stupid. She did, however, make a decision to attempt to help him. How she’d do that, though, wasn’t on Jen’s mind just yet.

“Shadow,” Voort said, interrupting Jen’s thoughts suddenly, “She could teach you. She is very strong and...and having known Marix, I know you could learn much from her.”

“But she isn’t...”

Smiling, Voort said, “Not Light. I don’t understand all of that, but it isn’t Shadow. This Light is nearly as dangerous as Akan is.”

Voort had looked like he was going to say something else, but the sudden switching off of the lightsaber created a sphere of silence. Neither of them spoke, and Jen simply stepped over to him and handed him the weapon. He took it, but allowed it to drop to the ground when Jen leaned into him and rested her head on his chest. Quietly, she said, “I just want to get off this planet.”

“I know...I know...” Voort spoke more to himself than to her, feeling the same way. Carefully, he brought his arms around her and held her. There were still going to be many more days of fighting and risking life. Voort yearned for the day he could simply live. Yearned for a day that Jen would be safe. Perhaps when Sadrak was finally gone...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

A few notes. This is the point where things really slowed to a crawl. Though we continued our GM switching as usual, it just seemed like things couldn't get moving. I'm going to try condensing it down to the important parts. It was just kind of bad to slow down when everything was reaching that 'we have to do something NOW!' mood.

And one other thing, you can tell who was GMing pretty easily. Whenever you get angsty Akan and problematic things like that, it was usually me. Though that did eventually fade away into better things. Anytime a Star Trek name pops up, it was Voort. I take no credit for his use of Hansen, etc etc. At least I've changed how they look. The rest of the time its Shadow. She really didn't do all that much GMing until later. Those are the adventures I REALLY want to get to, as it introduces one of my favorite characters. But...that's still a bit of a ways off.

Chapter 84: Dreams or Visions?

“How many did you kill?”

Dark looked across the large domed room to the robed figure. Amazingly, He hadn’t murdered either of them yet. The news of their failure was nothing new to Him it seemed, or perhaps He was just waiting for the right time. Or both. Most likely both. It was not a time for fear, and she hoped her Akan would also push it away. In an emotionless voice, she said, “Four hundred at least.”

There was a silence as He thought on this, then the same voice echoed across the room, “I asked only for two. And I asked for them alive.”

So here it was. The question hung in Dark’s mind over whether there was a correct response. Perhaps there was one. And if she did not deliver it, she did not want to imagine the result. At the same time, hesitation was also a response. No time to think. So, Dark just said the first things that came into her mind, “They proved more difficult than we had expected.”

“You were overconfident,” the voice snapped back suddenly, not even taking the time to echo.

Another silence. He expected a response. Dark had nearly hesitated what would have been too long before nodding her head, “Yes. And I underestimated them.”

“So you kill Topsiders as payment?” the tone of the voice had changed again. Almost amused at the direction of the questions it was asking.

“They are a threat,” she responded without even having to think. The decision to kill Topsiders had been one they had made before returning.

“You are not to set foot here again unless you bring the woman,” His tone against changed, and the sound of his voice was so harsh that it sent slight pains through one’s very being. Dark was intelligent enough not to question why her Light was not mentioned. Obviously, Jen was of more importance to him. Why, she did not know, but not was truly not the time to pry.

She nodded, turned and left. Her Akan followed, and she was almost amazed to hear no comment from his mouth this time. So he knew the danger now. Good. He did speak, however, when they had reached the outside again, “So we’re going back now?”

“No,” Dark said with that lack of emotion again. She looked out over the sands and felt the calm that was gathering off near Haladin, “We will give them time to rest. They will get comfortable. Then we will have an advantage.”

“What about your Light?”

A predictable question. He seemed obsessed with Light. Though not as much with his own. Having been beaten constantly and failing worse each time was driving him into a dangerous single-mindedness. Not that Dark wasn’t immune. Yet she saw Jen as simply a target. Her Light though...a disgusting creature which Dark didn’t even care to think about. So they would wait.

Catching one of his stray thoughts, Dark looked to him, “But we do not simply have to sit around. The lizards provide some interesting sport.”

* * * *​

Darkness. No. No there was a small light in the distance. How far away, Akan couldn’t tell. In fact, Akan couldn’t really tell anything. It was all distant...dark...ever extending. He took a few steps forward. The sound of his footsteps on the ground echoed through no where. Though nothing. But they spread into other sounds. Moving. Voices. All indistinct. Slowly growing though...slowly...

Akan turned to the left, hearing a cry. But nothing. That voice was familiar, though...familiar...another cry, behind him. Akan turned again, but this time saw what he assumed to be the source. Standing not far away, Akan saw Voort. He saw Voort standing next to a balcony. Not far from Voort was Jen, looking...well, looking like Jen, of course, but there was something in the eyes that wasn’t right. And then Shadow. Light? No. No. Shadow. She stood back, to Akan’s left, unmoving and looking frozen. There was an expression on her face that he’d never seen before. Fear. True fear. Horror, even.

When Akan opened his mouth to speak, Voort spoke instead. The man sounded defeated in a way Akan had never imagined. There was pain in the voice. True pain. But somehow, Voort sounded controlled, “Please, Jen...please don’t do this...”

But Jen just stared at him with those eyes. Shadow took a step forward, and looked like she was trying to say something. Akan couldn’t feel her mind through the link, which was strange, yet he could tell something was very wrong with her. No words came out, and even if they had, it likely would have been too late. Jen shot a quick look to the two Alraxians, then took a single step back. The step took her over the balcony, and Voort cried out and dove to grab her. He didn’t. Instead, just draped over the balcony, watching down below and not moving at all. Akan turned to see a stunned look on Shadow’s face.

And then Voort stood up. Too quickly. Too calmly. Too...too much unlike Voort. Pivoting easily on one foot, he looked straight to Shadow, ignoring that Akan was even there. The man looked like Akan had never seen him before. The lines across his face seemed darker and longer. His eyes held as much pain as they did a growing anger. It was everything Akan had always worried about in Voort...he’d never truly expected it to happen despite everything. But here it was. Everything. Nothing. Speaking slowly, and in a voice that sounded like that of the dead, Voort said to Shadow, “You killed her.”

Again, Shadow opened her mouth to say something. Anything. But she couldn’t find words. She took a step back. A sign of fear. Panic. For the first time in his life, Akan watched Shadow lose all determination and strength. He watched everything he knew in her fail. And somehow, he just stood there. His body wouldn’t move. Nothing would move! Yes...something would. His eyes turned to see Voort. The man had drawn his lightsaber, and one blade was already ignited. He was charging forward, raising the weapon to strike down at Shadow. And she wasn’t moving. She was standing there staring in horror. Akan wasn’t moving!! He couldn’t! What was going on?! The lightsaber fell, and before it hit anything his vision went white.

A second later, the white flashed away and Akan found himself laying on a bed in the garrison. He cried out suddenly, forcing back the sudden surge of pain that shouldn’t have even been there. A mental pain wracked his body and he found himself unable to stop seeing it. Stop seeing all of it. Over and over it replayed in his mind. And every time he couldn’t move! He just stood there! Again Akan cried out, trying to do anything to move!

Light was the first one to hear him, though it was a mix of the mental pain and his actual voice. She’d been trying to rest when a sudden wave of pain shot across the link. At first she’d thought it was physical, but the moment she heard Akan’s thoughts going crazy and then his cry, she knew otherwise. Quickly, Light got to her feet and ran over to where Akan was supposed to have been sleeping. Light found him on the bed, curled up slightly and clawing at the sheets. His tail was thumping violently against the bed and his body was changing colors slightly. Such a strong effect that his body was changing...that only happened to Alraxians with extremely strong emotions.

She moved over to him, sitting on the bed and putting her hand over his tail to at least stop the violent movement of it. Her other hand came down on his shoulder as his claws tugged at the bed, and Light said as calmly as she could, “Akan-jai...open your eyes. Its alright...its alright...” she saw a sudden image of what must have been his mind and knew that her words weren’t getting through. Light cheated and mentally pushed at him through the link. His eyes opened suddenly, and he looked up at her with fear all over him. She still held his tail down, and tried again, “Its just a dream, Akan-jai...a dream. Calm down...”

“You saw it!” he managed to say, finally calming slightly but still not able to get the image to actually go away.

“It was a dream,” Light repeating, patting his shoulder gently and trying to actually be helpful. Feeling someone else, she turned back to look at the now open entrance. Standing there, looking concerned but cautious, was Jen. Light locked eyes with Jen for a moment, not sure of what to say. The woman nodded at one of her own thoughts, and just stood there. Light sighed and was glad that Akan’s tail had finally stopped moving, “Just a dream.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 85: Only Halfway There

Landau looked to the setting sun. The day was finally ending, and Haladin had finally been deemed safe. He was standing up on top of one of the buildings, finding that it was the only place to get some peace. Trker-Hon had sent a wired report that three of the five tribes he’d gone to were all dead. He had found them all slaughtered. This worried Landau, as he knew the ferocity of Topsiders. The Topsiders had angered someone. Or just been in the way. Or both. But Trker-Hon would be back in a few days, hopefully with better news.

Running a hand through his hair, Landau wondered what there was to do. They didn’t even know what Sadrak was capable of. They didn’t know his defenses. Nothing. Yet, they planned an attack. Without any information at all. He found himself rethinking the previous plan. A noise behind him turned his attention from the thoughts. It only took a short glance over his shoulder to see Light. She was standing back and looking sheepish. Obviously, she’d been trying not to be seen. Or heard. Lowering her head, Light started to back off and climb back down from the roof.

Hearing a mumbled apology, Landau couldn’t help a smile, “You weren’t disturbing anything.”

Light stopped and shuffled her feet. When Landau made a motion for her to sit, she carefully walked over and had a seat next to him. He gave her a sideways look, asking, “Thought you were going to sleep.”

“Akan couldn’t sleep,” Light answered. In most cases, that wouldn’t have been an answer to the same question, but Landau had gotten used to that kind of answer. He also noticed that Light’s tail was twitching very slightly. Though he wasn’t an expert on Alraxians, Landau knew that such an action wasn’t usually a positive one in felines.

“Something’s bothering you,” he said, not completely sure if it was correct.

Light nodded, then turned to give him a very serious look, “I...Akan...we...” she paused, bit her lip and looked to have given up.

Smiling, Landau said, “Start it slowly and try again.”

After a short sigh, Light tried starting over, “I don’t like it...but...but the Darks have to be dealt with. I don’t want to be part of her again, though.”

“Is there any other way?” asked Landau, not completely following her but doing his best to not slow down her train of thought.

Closing her eyes, Light spoke quietly, “There isn’t.”

Landau only nodded. He looked at the Alraxian and thought on this. Perhaps this wasn’t time for things like that. There were more important things at hand. Carefully, Landau attempted to change the subject, “There’s something I need you to talk to Akan about.”

“Hm?” Light tilted her head and her ears turned more towards him.

“We need to get information on Sadrak’s defenses,” Landau said, looking out towards the sun that was now nearly gone. After allowing the idea to sink into Light’s mind, he continued, “Akan can get in there and get out without drawing attention. Yes?”

Light nodded, “He could. But he...”

When she trailed off and looked down to the ground, Landau turned back to give her a confused look. Perhaps that was not a good point to push. There was something important she wasn’t mentioning, though. He put a hand on her shoulder and stood up. Without another word, Landau left Light to her thoughts. It was time to organize an intelligence gathering effort. This was far more important than anything else at the moment.

It only took an hour to organize a meeting, and the same group gathered in the main briefing room. Akan looked like he’d seen a ghost, with his face looking pale. Though he was trying obviously trying to hide this. Jen and Voort looked to be in relatively good moods. Hansen seemed tired, but one couldn’t blame her. She’d been helping with the clean up efforts in the city that tracking her down to get her to the meeting was a pain all by itself. Light did wander in, though it was a little later than the others and she didn’t look to be paying all that much attention. Probably was going to just listen as she usually did.

Landau explained his thoughts on what needed to be done, and it didn’t take long before all of them were in agreement that some kind of reconnaissance was necessary. Akan had even volunteered to go before any mention of his name. It was almost too quick, really. But Landau didn’t think on this for the time being. Instead, he simply nodded and tossed Akan a small datapad, “That’s got a map with the approximate location of where Sadrak’s facility is.”

As Akan looked it over, the others seemed to be looking to Landau to say something else. All of them except for Light. After feeling a bit uncomfortable from all of the looks, Landau was relieved and at the same time surprised when Light spoke up. It wasn’t just that she did speak up, but it was also what she said that had him surprised, “I’m going, too.”

Even Akan gave her a sideways glance. She returned the look, and said honestly, “You need someone to watch your back.”

There was more than that. Or rather, there were many layers of meaning to her words. Both Akan and Jen had understood all of those levels. And this got a second surprise, as Jen was the next one to speak, “I’ll go with you.”

Everyone stared at her. Even Light. No one said anything. Voort opened his mouth to object, but could see a look in her eyes that he knew not to fight with. Whatever reason she had for wanting to go, it was obviously a good one. The silence continued for too long, and Landau finally said, “Alright. Well, I’d suggest you all get some sleep before leaving.”

And then, they all went their separate ways. Akan had been the only one to stay seated, studying the datapad and looking distracted. As the Alraxian got to his feet and started to leave, Landau caught up and said, “Akan, hold on a moment.”

“Yeah?” he turned around and took a few steps back into the room. For both of them, it was like old times. For Landau, here he was giving orders to a young kid. Orders that could easily get Akan killed. For Akan...he was back on the other side of it. Receiving orders on a situation that he didn’t like, but knew he had no choice. This former Imperial was so much different than anyone he’d ever met. Landau was so much like the commander Akan had served under during his short time in Spec Force. It was hard for him to accept that he respected this man, yet he did.

Allowing the nostalgic moment to pass, Landau said, “You’ll be alright out there?”

Akan seemed caught off guard by this question, and eventually managed a nod, “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Pausing only a moment, Landau decided it was something that needed to be mentioned. This was just too important to send Akan out and leave this kept in the quiet. So, Landau tried to put it carefully, “Light is worried about you. You should know better than anyone that you can’t be distracted when you go into something like this.”

Sighing, Akan managed a nod, “I know. I’ll be alright.”

Landau allowed himself a smile and patted the Alraxian on the shoulder, “Good. Just make sure to take care of those two. I know Voort wouldn’t be too happy if anything happened to Jen.”

“Jen wouldn’t be too happy either,” Akan replied with a grin on his face. He nodded and started to leave, but stopped before exiting the room. He turned and looked back over to Landau, “Thank you.”

“That’s what friends do,” Landau said, watching the boy leave. As Akan walked through the halls to get some more rest, he couldn’t help but think about that. A friend. Landau didn’t think of him as a Rebel or any label like that. Friend. Akan wondered why he couldn’t dispense with negative labels. Or if they were even negative. Clearing his mind, Akan decided that relaxing would be the best thing to do until they were ready to leave. No going in with extra baggage. Especially not with Jen’s life on the line, too. It was already normal for him to risk two lives with his own, but adding a third into that forced him to focus more and not allow his thoughts to get in the way. Or at least, that was the theory.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 86: Backup

“You’re sure about this?” asked Voort for the third time. Jen was sitting on the small bed within what was now her quarters in the garrison. Voort was not sitting. He was pacing. And it was getting frustrating. He just couldn’t seem to grasp why she would go with Akan and Light.

For the third time, Jen answered the same way, “Yes, I’m sure.”

Stopping his pacing, Voort turned and looked across the room to her, “Look, Jen, you don’t have to do this to prove yourself.”

“I’m not trying to prove anything!” Jen snapped, not meaning to sound so harsh but getting fed up with having to explain this. She sighed and ran through an old calming technique she’d learned from her mother. After a few seconds, she spoke more calmly, “I need to go. I don’t know why...I just know that I have to go.”

Voort’s mood also lightened some, though he was still looking worried and critical of her. A few moments of silences flowed through the room before he said, “Its Akan, isn’t it?”

Jen wasn’t going to say that. He wasn’t prying into her mind, but at the same time, Jen wasn’t doing a good job of hiding her thoughts. She didn’t really know how to, anyway. Not yet. But that was another matter. Putting her mind in the present, Jen allowed herself a nod, carefully choosing her words, “To a point.”

“To a point?” Voort was getting angry this time. Obviously, she’d chosen the wrong words.

Waving a hand to belay any more words she tried to think how to explain it to him. Voort wasn’t an idiot, and he should be able to understand. Or at least, understand better than Jen did, as she wasn’t completely sure of much of anything at this point. Again, she did her best to choose the correct words, “I care about him very much, yes. But Voort, I love you. There’s a difference,” she paused to look at his reaction. His expression softened. Good. Now that it was explained, she continued, “But there’s more. It’s the more that I just can’t pinpoint. I feel that I need to be there. The only way I’ll know why is if I go.”

That got a short laugh out of Voort, and he stepped over to sit next to Jen on the bed, “Spoken like a Jedi. You have been around that kid too long already. I might have to go, too, just to make sure you don’t get all philosophical and idealistic on me.”

Jen smiled warmly, glad that the tension was finally gone, “That almost sounded like an insult.”

“Take it how you like,” he responded with an innocent shrug.

That got a mischievous grin out of her, “I always do.”

* * * *​

It was dark. There was no sign of the planet’s moon tonight, therefore it was a nice pitch black outside. The dim lights of Haladin did little to assist in seeing, but no one seemed to mind. Just being in the city instead of the caves was enough to make anyone happy. Jen was finally making her way to the hangar. She probably should have gone earlier, but Akan or someone would have contacted her if there was any rush to leave. When she found Light sitting on top of the speeder and looking asleep, Jen wondered if Akan was even there.

A loud curse from inside the speeder echoed through the hangar. Nope. He was inside. At the noise, Light’s ear swivelled towards him. Quietly, and still managing to look asleep, Light said, “Yelling at it won’t fix the drive.”

Jen grinned when she saw Akan’s head pop out and glare at Light for a moment, “Its something I learned from you.”

He then disappeared inside the speeder again. Smiling, Jen walked over into the hangar and was surprised at how intense the interior lights were. Light seemed to hear her footsteps, but didn’t show any other form of acknowledgment of Jen’s presence beyond a slightly raised eyebrow. Standing in front of the speeder and leaning on it a little, Jen asked, “So what did he break?”

“I don’t not break anything!” sounded Akan’s voice from inside the speeder.

A hint of a smile appeared on Light’s face, and her eyes finally opened. She looked to her side at nothing, then back to Jen, “He kicked one of the control panels in there when it wouldn’t turn on.”

“Seems to have worked,” Jen commented, stepping around to look into the speeder out of curiosity. Looking in, she saw Akan looking exhausted and annoyed, sprawled out along the front seats and toying with collection of wires from a half opened panel. She leaned her head in a little, and offered, “You shouldn’t mess with any of those. Check the back panel inside. But open it up all the way.”

Akan had jumped at her sudden voice, nearly ripping a few wires in the process. He stopped what he was doing and looked at Jen, “You mean you know how to fix it?”

She smiled, “As well as you know how to break it.”

His ears flattened at that, but he moved out of the way to give Jen room to sit inside. With a bit of an annoyed tone to his voice, Akan grumbled, “It wasn’t working.”

Jen ignored him, and simply opened up the panel. He’d kicked it hard from the look of the dent. It took her about ten minutes, but she got it working again. Akan said nothing for the entire time, just watching her work. Eventually, he managed a thank you and then climbed out to tell Light to get in. As they piled in and Akan took the pilot’s seat again, Jen noticed something odd.

“No lightsaber?” she asked, pointing to the empty spot on Akan’s belt.

He shook his head as the systems switched on, “Shouldn’t need it. Just in and out.”

That short sentence also implied that he didn’t need the two others, either. But at least he didn’t say that directly. In fact, he hadn’t objected once to them going. Sure, it was in his eyes, but not saying anything meant that it wasn’t that horrible of a prospect to him. It was only a few more moments before Akan had them moving off into the desert.

One thing he failed to mention to either Light or Jen(though Light knew through the link), was that Voort and Landau would be following them just in case. The two of them were going to wait for a few minutes after the speeder had left and then head out in one of the operational airspeeders. It wasn’t that they expected something to go wrong...just that...well, actually, they did expect something to go wrong. Even Landau did. Having a secondary group in the sky and far enough back to help was just playing it smart. There was a time limit placed on how long the operation would last, and if one of the three didn’t respond by them, Voort and Landau were going to move in and see what they could do.

No one mentioned that the two of them might also need backup.