Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 156: Orange Glow

The sun was rising over the Smuggler’s Moon of Nar Shaddaa. Across the city, an orange glow was bathing the many buildings. But the sunlight had yet to reach the Halpak Industries tower. A nearby building was blocking the sun, leaving the only sources of light in that top level as the dim lightning across the high ceiling and the four lightsaber blades. A deep red carpet covered the floor between them...two orange blades hovering like a staff on the left side and on the right, a blue-green and purple blade, crossed near the floor. Standing between them, but back away a few meters, was a humanoid figure...standing there unmoved, only eyes watching the events developing in front of her.

The scene held frozen in time for an eternally long few minute. Then, with a whirring hum as the double-bladed lightsaber was swung off to the side, another light joined in. From Voort’s now-free left hand, a blue glow developed before a half second before arcing out like lightning through the air. Quickly, Akan dropped and rolled to his right, off towards the shattered window and the turbolift and away from the corrupted trail of Force lightning that had nearly followed him. The roll brought him up onto his feet again, and Akan was back in the same defensive stance again...watching. Waiting.

He could smell the corrosion in the air, something unnatural about it. Though he had never experienced that before, Akan had a feeling his stronger Alraxian sense of smell was adding to the trouble...but there was still something else. The air that the lightning had touched was radiating a sense of wrongness. Of actual pain and anger.

Voort growled a curse, easily coming to the conclusion that things would not be that simple. Knowing he had held the upper hand for the first part of their duel, he pressed forward again. Akan took a step back, keeping one foot behind him to brace himself for the hard impact of the charging Voort. But just before reaching Akan, Voort changed his strike, moving from an overhead slash to simply preparing to run Akan through. Akan had only a half second to react, spinning left and batting the thrusting orange blade away with Shadow’s lightsaber in his off hand in a weak-wristed backhand spin. One half of the attack batted off to the side forced the latter half to swing in exactly where Akan was spinning to.

With the help of the Force to speed his reactions, Akan’s blue-green lightsaber was up and behind him as he stopped his spin halfway through. A strong force then slammed into the blade over his shoulder, and Akan put all of his energy into holding the blades there and not letting them dig into his back. He was now standing with his back to Voort, both of his lightsaber blades in painfully awkward positions but still managing to hold the two ends of Voort’s lightsaber back.

The four blades held their for a short moment before Voort used the opening in front of him. Bringing his weapon up to allow a bit more room, the man delivered a strong kick to the center of Akan’s spine. There was a crack and Akan stumbled forward, though his back arched up and provided and easy target for Voort. But again, the already fast Alraxian reflexes, added in with the Force to assist even more, saved Akan. Just as Voort’s blade swung horizontally to take off Akan’s upper torso, the young Alraxian reversed and ducked forward.

The second after the hum of the lightsaber strike shot over his back, Akan again reversed his momentum, this time with even more help from the Force, and back flipped straight over Voort. Landing barely a meter behind Voort provided no assistance, as the other man was continuing his swing all the way around towards where Akan now stood. But this time, the lightsaber blades were sweeping low. As they swung in from his left, Akan again jumped, this time straight over the first blade, flipping to the side. But halfway through his jump, which Voort had anticipated, the second half of the orange lightsaber rose up to a vertical position to catch the Alraxian. Mid-flip and upside down, Akan’s blue-green blade slapped the vertical orange blade to the side just enough that he only got singed across the shoulder.

Akan only landed on his right foot as Voort spun to attack again. Off balance, but somehow still up thanks to his tail(though the mechanics of how this was possible was still completely beyond Akan), Akan’s lightsaber parried a strike to his torso. As the second strike came in and Akan got the purple blade up to deflect the high strike away, his left foot finally found the ground again. But it didn’t find even ground, instead, he realized that he had already reached the steps.

With a growl, Voort attacked in a vicious series of strikes with both ends of his lightsaber in a completely unpredictable pattern. Akan’s saving grace was that he stepped back each time, giving him just enough room to actually see where the attacks were coming from and getting his lightsabers there before they even got close...at least, that was the idea. Up the steps in a second, Akan caught a heavy strike straight for his face with both of his blades. Blue-green, purple, and orange all met a few centimeters from his nose in a consuming white. The crackling and humming of the blades drowned out any other noise, but Akan knew that Voort was growling a curse.

And then, suddenly, Voort pulled back. The resistance gone, Akan lurched forward. In a horrifying moment, he realized that he was completely open and had no chance of getting any kind of defense up in time. But a lightsaber strike never came. Instead, Akan felt a heavy impact on his chest, like a starfighter had flown into him. He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him and lost grip of Shadow’s lightsaber. However, this quickly became the least of his worries.

Instead of slamming into the glasteel window that Akan had assumed was behind him, he went straight out the shattered window that Jen had made earlier. He didn’t have time to panic. As his horizontal movement became a vertical fall, Akan gripped his lightsaber tightly as his mind raced through a thousand ways to not become a gooey mess on the ground below. His mind never found one, but his body did. Reacting with older instincts that he didn’t even completely understand, Akan’s now-free hand unsheathed its claws and he reached out for the building wall. The strong claws dug straight into the heavy, durasteel frame of the Halpak tower, dragging down on it for a short second before actually bringing him to a stop.

Akan breathed. Then looked up and realized he had only fallen about ten meters. Only. Ha! Thumbing off the activation switch of his lightsaber and clumsily clipping it onto his belt, Akan got his other hand, claws extended, into the building side. His arms were already aching. The pains of the previous climb mixed with the impossible strains that just kept mounting up, and Akan knew he didn’t have the energy to remorph tired muscles and broken ribs. But despite all of this, he called on the Force to keep him going just a little longer...and he climbed back up.

Getting back up to the window, Akan pulled himself over to see Voort’s lightsaber once again slashing towards Shadow. Flipping himself onto the ground and not even bothering to get to his feet, Akan reached out with both his right hand and the Force. Quickly, he found Voort’s lightsaber and pulled on it hard. The blade yanked away from Shadow and out of Voort’s grip, flying over his head and dropping to the ground a few meters away. Voort spun around to see Akan getting to his feet and drawing his lightsaber again.

He also saw the grin on Akan’s face., “Didn’t Shadow ever tell you I have a bad habit of living?”

Voort didn’t say anything, but started forward at Akan as he reached out for his weapon. Akan activated the blade on his own weapon again, reaching out with his free hand and pulling Shadow’s weapon back into his left. The purple blade came to life in a loud snap-hiss just as the two orange blades from Voort’s lightsaber did. And they charged at each again.

Akan got to Voort first, swinging his lightsaber in his first attack towards the man’s feet. Voort’s quick step back avoided it, and at the same time he jabbed forwards with his own blade. Akan’s off hand parried the thrust away, feet bringing him around Voort for another strike at the man’s back. They traded attacks, back and forth at lightning speed, moving the same direction. Neither was pushed back or was pushing the other, as they simply both moved that direction, spinning around each other to find and opening and each time finding it to be defended just in time.

Their movement brought them into the maze of columns off to the left of the shattered desk. Akan ducked and rolled out of the way of a strike aimed to take his head off, swinging his blue-green blade upwards as he got to his feet. Voort sidestepped the attack, swinging the back end of his lightsaber upwards towards Akan’s left leg. The purple blade in his off hand was there, though, catching the strike and batting the weapon out of the way. There was a half second of an opening that Akan took, swinging the purple blade in a long, diagonal arc. Voort ducked under it, again sidestepping and actually taking a step back.

Turning to face him, Akan deflected another quick series of strikes before following up with his own. Pressing hard as he planted his feet and trying to force the other man into the column. Voort found on opening in the attacks, raising his lightsaber and then swinging it down to cut Akan in two. Akan got both of his blades there in time, catching the orange blade in a v-between his two lightsabers above his head. Looking under them and straining to hold Voort’s blade up, Akan shook his head and repeated himself, “We don’t have to do this!”

But Voort didn’t even respond this time. The man’s face consumed by grief and rage as he poured more and more strength into force the three lightsaber blades down on Akan. And he was. Slowly, he was forcing the orange blade down and Akan’s two with it. Slowly. And as the crackling of the blades grew louder and the white of their collision point grew larger in his eyes, Akan knew that reasoning wasn’t going to work...yet. He wasn’t going to kill this man. No matter what.

And so, to back him off again and try again, Akan lashed out with a strong kick to the man’s stomach. His foot hit hard, forcing Voort back into the column behind him. There was a soft click. Voort probably didn’t hear it, but Akan did. And the moment his ears picked it up, a look of horror washed over his face, yet he didn’t move. A half second later, Voort’s eyes went wide, a similar look crossing his own face as Akan watched three, sharp and serrated knife-like blades extend out of the column and through Voort’s chest.

The double bladed lightsaber dropped to the ground, deactivating as it clanked on the metal floor below. And Akan stared at the man in front of him, literally skewered on the column. Yet there was something else on Voort’s face. In his eyes, there was a hint of a smile, though his mouth still showed fear and pain. But as the blood crept through the wounds, he looked straight into Akan’s eyes and gasped, “Find her...”

Akan stared, mouth open in a silent shock, as Titus Voort went limp, his eyes falling shut as his head dropped. There were no thoughts. Or rather, so many that none got through. And then, finally, Akan’s exhaustion caught up with him. As the sun rose up higher, finally peaking into the Halpak building and bathing the room in an orange glow, Akan lost consciousness.

 

[Mirage_Patrick]

need another post quickly!!!

wow

looking forward (to the extent of obsession) to the next post...gotta know what happens

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 157: Are We Alive?

For Shadow, the events that occurred before her eyes were all a blur...yet a strangely focused blur, as if time itself had collapsed into a quick few moments that had been so clear she couldn’t get them out of her head. Her shock at what happened to Jen...then Voort nearly killing her...then the vicious fight between Voort and Akan...it had all faded away as she realized that Akan had collapsed. She could feel his mind, exhausted even more than she was. He had exerted himself so much just to get to the top of this horrible tower, and then...then chaos let loose. She still wasn’t even sure how Akan had stayed conscious for so long. There wasn’t any rational reason for it. All his energy had been used up in remorphing and fighting their way up here, and somehow he had found a second wind to first save her life once...fight the fallen Voort back, then save her life again.

But now he had passed out and Voort was dead. Killed by sheer chance. Akan wasn’t going to kill Voort, despite everything the young Alraxian had said through the time the they had all known each other. And so a simple defensive move had resulted in exactly what he had been trying to avoid. Shadow couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t the kind of person to misplace something like that so foolishly. The real fault here was Halpak...and to a point, her. Him for manipulating all of these damned events to culminate here on the Smuggler’s Moon. And her for dismissing everything Akan had tried to warn her of. But it was too late for that now. And despite the fact that a part of her needed to find Jen’s body, Shadow knew that she had other priorities.

The next few hours passed in another odd blur. She would later remember removing Voort from the three blood covered blades and laying him out in the center of the chamber, fitting a shrine of sorts over him from the remains of the desk that had been shattered from Jen’s impact. Marix knew the irony in this, but dismissed it for the time. After that, she could recall moving to Akan and picking him up, carrying him over one shoulder as she started towards the exit. Now they had time. Time to rewire the turbolift.

And halfway back down that column lined corridor, Shadow saw the small, black furred, blue striped body of the jai. He hadn’t moved from where he had fallen, but she could tell he was still alive. If she had been thinking and not just acting and doing what ‘should’ be done, Shadow probably wouldn’t have scooped the jai up and carried him out in the crook of her arm. But she did. One Alraxian in each arm, Shadow eventually made it back to ‘their’ room at the top of the nearby tower. She had deposited the two unconscious Alraxians there and gone off back into the morning of Nar Shaddaa. Off to call in some old favors. Off to get them a ship.

* * * *​

Slowly, the nothingness of unconsciousness gave way to the pains of consciousness. Akan was still exhausted, and therefore figured that he hadn’t been out too long. His head was spinning and he felt hungry...so very hungry. That was probably why he felt so dizzy and tired and achy and...well, somehow he had a feeling that the hunger was the reason. He could hear noises around him distantly. Beeps, buzzing sounds, and similar noises echoed around him for a few minutes. Eventually, his ears stopped focusing on certain sounds and he could hear a breathing near him.

It took some time before he finally found the strength to open his eyes. The blurry world around him slowly came into focus, and Akan could see a viewport in front of him, the blue tunnel of hyperspace cascading ahead of him. There in front of him was a large console and Akan realized he was sitting in a chair that had been leaned back. Slowly turning to look to his left, he could see Shadow sitting upright and watching him with an odd look on her face.

It wasn’t the usual emotionless stare, but something else. He could feel it through their link, but simply couldn’t describe it. But it was something. And something was more than anything he could remember. After blinking a couple of times to refocus the world again, he tried to sit up. Shadow, however, reached over and put a hand on his chest to stop him, saying quietly, “Just rest.”

“How long...?” Akan found his voice, and not even thinking to use the link for a more simple communication.

Shadow sighed and looked out the viewport a moment, saying in that same quiet, almost depressed voice, “Thirteen standard hours,” there was a pause before she anticipated his next questions, then she said, “I got us a ship. You’re X-Wing’s in the cargo hold in back.”

Akan’s eyes didn’t move away from watching Shadow, and his voice steadied somewhat as he got used to consciousness again, “Where are we going?”

“There’s a gate to the Empire’s territory at the edge of the Unknown Regions,” Shadow said, turning back to him, her voice almost a whisper, “We should be there in a about three days.”

“What about–“

”Don’t,” Shadow said, cutting off any questions about either of the Voorts. Her voice was still calm, though, “I’m sorry, but my...our people are in danger. I know that Ket is going there. There just...isn’t...isn’t time to waste. We have to stop him.”

Akan nodded, slowly bringing his seat upright and ignoring the dizzy feeling that the new position brought with it. An odd question found its way into Akan’s mind, and he found himself asking it before having a chance to even think, “Have you slept at all?”

Shadow shook her head, “I was busy getting you out and getting this ship and then plotting the right coordinates...but I’m fine. I ate. You need to eat. The food isn’t great, but there’s a mess of sorts on this thing that you should use.”

“I’ll eat if you sleep,” Akan mumbled, feeling her exhaustion through the link as he heard his own stomach growl slightly.

To his surprise, though, Shadow didn’t argue. She simply nodded and got to her feet, reaching over to help him up. Standing was interesting, as Akan realized how weak his body really was. Shadow allowed him a moment to orient himself, holding him up as best she could while trying to ignore her own exhaustion. The short walk down the central corridor to the nearest of the quarters in the fairly large sized ship was interesting, as Akan was still getting used to how weak he was.

But when they finally got to the room and the door had slid open to reveal the nice sized bed, it was Akan who was keeping Shadow on her feet. Her absolute exhaustion was finally catching up with her. He helped her to the bed, laying her down on it and finding himself sitting next to her. Something was bugging him, and yet he knew that it wasn’t something she wanted to hear.

Shadow easily picked up on his thoughts, even in her half-awake state. The look she gave him was an old one that he recognized easily. It was the ‘just say it’ look that was usually accompanied with Shadow rolling her eyes at him. But for some reason, it suddenly became hard to say. He took a few deep breaths, trying to ignore the images that were forcing their way into his mind before stuttering out, “I...I didn’t mean...I didn’t mean for that to happen. I didn’t mean to...to...”

He trailed off as tears started to well up in his eyes. Carefully, Shadow reached over and took his hand in hers. Akan took this as her trying to comfort him in the usual awkward way that she did. And maybe it was at some level...but she was falling asleep and becoming more and more terrified as she did so. Now that the adrenaline rush was completely gone, her duties of getting them out of there and on their way to save their people passed for the time, she worried it was all a dream. What if Akan was dead, too? What if they were all gone? What if the Darkwing still lived?!

As she fell asleep, her grip on Akan’s hand tightened. It was her only reminder that it was real. That he was really still alive. That she was. That all wasn’t lost...that maybe, somehow, they would get to the Hidden Worlds before Ket let loose whatever it was he planned to let loose. Vaguely feeling Shadow’s thoughts through the link and the tight grip on his hand, Akan went no where. It didn’t matter how hungry he was for some reason. To Shadow, it didn’t either.

He was alive. They were alive. Despite all of that...he was still alive.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 158: The Jai

Shadow had slept for many long hours. Akan found himself just sitting there the whole time, somehow ignoring the desperate need for food. But then again, it wasn’t hard to sit there and think. His mind was still reeling from what had happened. What had gone wrong. There wasn’t any such thing as coincidence in the galaxy. Akan had learned that even before his introduction to the Force. Everything happened for a reason. Be it destiny, the will of the Force, or just simply the way things worked, it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter because no matter how Aan looked at it, Voort was still dead. For so long, Akan had wanted that. And now he regretted all of it, easily realizing how childish he had been. Voort had been right. They were so very much alike. But what did that matter now? It changed nothing. If he could have only stayed there on Nar Shaddaa to at least look on Voort’s body one last time. To pay final respects, as it were. Make amends and hope that, somehow, Titus Voort had not died in darkness. The man’s last words were what brought that to Akan’s mind. ‘Find her’. But now they were gone from that horrible moon. Light-years away on the other side of the galaxy and still traveling farther. Shadow was right, though. They couldn’t just let Halpak run off.

His thoughts had trailed off when the grip on his hand had loosened. Akan glanced down and noticed Shadow had actually let go of his hand. Through the link, he could feel she was very asleep. And his hunger grew again. Very carefully, he got up from the bed and wandered through the ship to find the small galley. As he got the substances that somehow qualified as ‘food’ and even while he ate it at a furious rate, Akan made sure to keep a good focus on the link. Just so she knew he was still there. So he knew she was. Just the two of them, now. Somehow, that didn’t feel right.

Akan’s ear twitched at an odd sound. It was echoing into the room only faintly. It continued for a few minutes with Akan trying to ignore it and continue eating. Finally, curiosity overcame the slowly fading hunger and Akan stalked off to follow the it. He passed through two different rooms in the ship, one that was likely a lounge and then a small cargo hold of sorts. Then, off to the side in the cargo hold, he found another short corridor. At the end of it was a door which was muffling the sound.

A loud, constant noise that almost sounded like some kind of dying animal. Slowly, Akan walked to the door and leaned the side of his head against it to listen better. Of course, that only worked for humans, as Alraxian ear position made the whole process of leaning against a wall odd...especially when the ears had a habit of folding back. But none the less, it confirmed that the source of the very loud, and very annoying sound was behind the door. Carefully, Akan pressed the switch to open the door.

It slid open with a soft hiss, revealing a small quarters. There was a desk on one well, a table near the other, and a large bed in the center. And on that bed, was a small, black furred and blue striped Alraxian child, wailing at the top of his lungs. The door opening seemed to quadruple the volume at which the child was wailing at, and Akan reached up to cover his ears to find it as another odd thing to attempt as an Alraxian.

Finding it wasn’t working anyway, he yelled as loud as he could, “Alright! Shut up! I hear you!!”

The wailing stopped suddenly. For a moment, he could only see a bundled up ball of fur, but as the short silence gave way the sniffling and whimpering, two large eyes appeared. They were a bright green, offsetting the darker colours of the fur in a very odd way. Slowly, a head rose up and the small child sat up from his lying position to perch on the edge of the bed in an extremely feline way. Tears could be seen on his eyes still, and he sniffled a couple of times before going silent again. Just watching Akan with those two big eyes in a very curious way, obviously trying to figure out what the rest of his plan had been after someone answered his wailing. Since no conclusion was reached, the child simply watching Akan.

Feeling slightly unnerved by the young Alraxian’s look, Akan had to stop himself from leaving and hiding. It wasn’t that he was worried at all, but something in the child’s eyes...almost expecting something that Akan didn’t understand. Instead, he took a careful step closer to the bed, quietly asking, “Why were you yelling?”

After a long blink and flick of his stubby tail, the small Alraxian tilted his head. Akan could see the child working through a series of thoughts. Finally, the little child spoke in a way that Akan could tell he was still learning Basic, “All alone.”

“I have a feeling that’s because you tried to maul Shadow,” grumbled Akan, trying not to roll his eyes in the process. For some reason, this comment went completely over the child’s head. Instead of saying something else, the little child’s ears rose up noticeably and he leaned forward over the bed towards Akan.

Another few seconds passed where the child seemed to be analyzing Akan. Then, just after nearly falling off the bed for leaning too far, the child mumbled, “...’m hungry...”

At this, Akan let out a sight and threw his hands into the air. He couldn’t help but glare up at the ceiling before cursing the universe. He was not here to take care of some child! In fact, Akan was likely the most unqualified person in the galaxy for such a job. Next to Shadow, of course, but that wasn’t the point right now. Without another word, and not even thinking that it might not be the best thing to do, Akan quickly escaped that room and found his way back to the galley and his still half-full plate of food. He was still hungry.

Of course, he didn’t miss the soft pattering of footsteps behind him as he walked, but Akan did do his best to pretend it was not happening. A moment after Akan sat back own at the single table, the child hopped up, too. But not into a chair, onto the table itself. Slowly, the small Alraxian padded across the table on all fours to Akan’s plate. Completely ignoring Akan, the child leaned in and sniffed the food before pawing at it a couple of times and then finally attempting to eat some of it. Sighing, Akan reached down to get his own food.

His hand was met with a growl. Not vicious at all, and about as dangerous sounding as a protocol droid. It actually got a grin on Akan’s face, and he leaned down a little to be at eye level with the child who had gone back to eating the small piece of meat. Finally, Akan gave in and asked the inevitable question, “So what’s your name, little guy?”

The child finished his meat and then padded closer to Akan before sitting straight again. For a moment, his two big, green eyes stared into Akan’s curiously. Then, he said in a strangely happy voice, “I Tobias...” then, he slowly tilted his head to the side and leaned in a little closer to Akan, “Who you?”

“I Akan,” the older Alraxian mimicked the child’s voice almost perfectly and idly reached over to poke Tobias very gently on the nose, “You’re not so bad, you know.”

Slowly, the child leaned in closer, then gently poke Akan’s nose with a small hand, “Why I be bad?”

A sound behind Akan got both of their attention. Shadow wearily stepped into the room, still looking half asleep. In a second, Tobias’ happy mood was gone and he growled again, though this time it was at least slightly more dangerous. Shadow’s eyes widened just as the small child pounced over Akan, claws extended and diving straight for her face.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 159: Ultimatum

“By the Force, kill it!!” Shadow screamed as the Alraxian child pounced her, attaching to her face with his claws and raking them across any part of her that happened to be there. The force of his pounce sent her to the ground, landing on her tail with a loud yelp. At the same time, Tobias clawed his way to her neck, diving in and sinking his small, but still very sharp, teeth in.

Akan was there in a second, trying to do his best to ignore the extreme pain he could feel through the link. Quickly, he reached down and grabbed Tobias around the waist, getting a claw scraping across his hand in the process. Ignoring it, though, Akan yanked the child off of Shadow and pulled his away. For a long moment, Tobias continued to flail and growl and attempt to go back to pouncing Shadow, but then something changed again.

Slowly, he calmed down and then turned to look straight into Akan’s eyes. The child looked just like he had before Shadow had walked in. Curious. Tobias even smiled slightly, but when he turned to look back to Shadow, growled. She was getting to her feet again, rubbing her tail and trying not to think about all of the other pains. Tobias went back to struggling to get out of Akan’s grip and pounce her, hissing and spitting in the process.

“Fine!” Shadow yelled, throwing her hands in the air, “I know when I’m not wanted!”

She then turned and stormed out of the small room, forgetting the fact that she was still hungry. Once she had left, Tobias went silent for a moment. Akan stepped back over to the table with the food and dropped the young Alraxian down onto it. Tobias made an ‘oof’ noise when he landed, but idly padded over to the plate again and found another piece of food to eat, completely ignoring what had just happened.

After a moment, he seemed to notice Akan was still there, and swallowed a piece of meat before looking up to him, “Akan play?”

“No,” he said, glancing back to the exit of the room, “Akan had things to do.”

Tobias sniffled and gave him a big eyed look, “Please Akan play?”

But Akan resisted the attempt at persuasion and shook his head, “Not right now, little guy. You just stay here and eat, I’ll be back.”

Akan then turned and left, heading towards Shadow’s quarters.

Inside, Shadow sat glaring at the wall. She was hungry. But that...that thing was vicious. Outside the door, she heard a sudden thud and a loud, “Sithspit!”. Her forehead ached distantly, and Shadow couldn’t help a slight grin. Akan had gotten too used to Loki, who’s doors would just iris open when one got close to them.

Still grinning slightly, she said, “Its not locked.”

But the door only opened slightly, and Shadow quickly asked, “Is that fur ball with you?”

“No, he’s back eating,” Akan said, and then was suddenly grabbed by the collar and yanked into the room. Shadow peaked her head out, looked both ways to make sure, then hid back in and made sure the door had closed. When she looked back to him, Shadow noticed he was holding something. She sniffed the air. Her eyes widened and she nearly pounced his hands, getting the food and eating it happily.

Akan rolled his eyes, “Just like him.”

Sitting down on the bed, she said between bites, “What’s its...um...his name?”

“He says its Tobias.”

Shadow froze. Shaking slightly, she nodded and mumbled, “Of course...makes sense.”

“What do you mean?” Akan asked, looking a bit worried and having a seat on the bed next to her.

She sighed and looked down at the floor, remembering all those years ago, “Tobias was the name of my brother. He was...eaten by a Dragon when we were young.”

Silent again, the old images ran through her mind. Two large Dragons had somehow found their small camp. Only seven of the twelve children had survived, and it had been Shadow’s blade that had killed the largest of the two predators. Her older brother, Tobias, had been killed right in front of her eyes. His own twin, Asya, died at birth, and he had been the only one of her siblings, beyond her own twin, to actually like Shadow...Marix. Trying to forget that again, Shadow looked up and said quietly, “He’s the perfect weapon. They know I won’t kill the future.”

“Why is he so...” Akan trailed off, waving his hand vaguely.

Shadow understood, through the help of the link, and thought about it a moment, “I don’t know, but I’ve got a few guesses.”

Before she could say anything else, they both heard a scratching and sniffling noise at the door. Shadow’s eyes locked on the noise, near the bottom of the door, then moved to Akan. [I’m not going anywhere near him.]

Akan rolled his eyes and got up, stepping over to the door and ignoring Shadow’s sudden outburst, “Are you insane!! At least let me hide!!”

But Akan had hit the switch to open the door already. In a blur, he was pounced. Well, his leg was pounced. In a painful few seconds, Tobias clawed his way up Akan until he perched on his shoulder. Tobias purred into Akan’s ear then said happily, “No hungry anymore! Akan play now!”

So far, Tobias hadn’t looked behind him to see Shadow clinging to the bed and realizing she couldn’t escape or even hide anywhere. Akan turned his head as best he could to look into the two big, emerald eyes that were now at eye level with him and said, “Akan play under one condition.”

“Condit...condition?” Tobias played with the word a moment before figuring it out and waiting.

“You will tell me why you keep trying to attack Shadow, and you have to promise not to attack her anymore,” Akan said calmly, but in a very stern voice.

After a short silence, Tobias whispered, “That’s two conditions.”

“I guess it is,” Akan said, grinning just slightly as the small Alraxian clung to his shoulder, “But you still have to meet them before Akan will play.”

There was another silence, and Akan could feel and see the little Alraxian thinking about it all. It didn’t take long before a curious look appeared on his face, “Who?”

“The other Alraxian,” Akan said slowly, doing his best not to indicate that Shadow was right behind them. It probably wasn’t best to show him that just yet.

“Evil One,” Tobias hissed slightly, claws digging into his shoulder a little more. It also confirmed that it wasn’t the best idea to show Shadow was behind them.

Akan raised an eyebrow, “Evil...?”

Tobias nodded furiously, grabbing Akan’s head and turning to look straight in his eyes with an almost panicked expression. Surprised at this, and trying to ignore the pain in his neck for having to look at the Alraxian who was so close to him. Quietly, and very carefully, Akan asked a simple question, “Why?”

Tobias froze up, not able to come up with an answer to that and simply staring blankly now. Slowly, Akan lifted Tobias up off of his shoulder, holding the small child by the scruff of his neck. He then turned around so that they both faced Shadow. Her eyes went wide, not having expected him to be so..so.. “Are you mad?!”

“Quiet,” Akan snapped as Tobias started to move again, hissing and spitting and attempting to get free to maul Shadow. She struggled back a bit onto the bed, eyeing the child. His fur was now standing on end now. Akan lifted Tobias up a little more and shook his gently, “You be quiet, too.”

The tone of Akan’s voice got Tobias to shut up...except for a low snarling. Akan then indicated towards the panicked looking Shadow with his free hand, “See? She’s not evil.”

Tobias only growled. Rolling his eyes, Akan turned the small Alraxian to look him in the eyes and said sternly, “I’m going to put you down on the floor. If you attack her, Akan’s not going to play and you’re going to be in trouble.”

“You are mad!!” Shadow yelped, not moving but still eyeing the jai, “You can’t let go! I’ll be in pain!!”

Quickly, she started to cover any and all bare skin. Yes, Shadow knew what Akan was trying to do...but still, she would be in pain! Akan ignored her, kneeling down on the floor and setting Tobias down. Slowly, he let go of the jai, saying quietly, “Remember. Hurt her, and no play.”

Tobias went back to hissing and snarling, reared back to pounce, then froze again. His black fur was standing on end to the point where Shadow could see his skin beneath. There were a few short heartbeats where nothing happened. Then, suddenly, he wailed and pounced up at her. Quickly, and having been ready for it, Akan reached down and scooped the jai up. As he spun around and walked out of the room, Shadow let out a long sigh of relief, collapsing back on the bed and clinging to the food she still held.

Walking to a nearby room, Akan carried the now calm Tobias in and dropped him on a small bed. The little Alraxian purred and pounced at Akan’s hand as he withdrew it. Akan, however, batted Tobias back roughly and said angrily, “Alright, little guy, here’s the deal. Akan will not play until you leave Shadow alone. Once you stop trying to attack her, Akan will play. Until then, you’re staying in here so you can’t hurt anyone.”

He dug through his pocket a moment and pulled out a small comlink, placing it on the bed in front of the confused looking Alraxian, “See this? When you’re ready to be good, you press this little button and I’ll come back. If you cry or yell into it, I’m going to just ignore you. Understand?”

Tobias sniffled and picked up the small, egg-shaped comlink, sniffing it and inspecting it in about every way possible. Eventually he nodded slowly. Akan managed a half smile, “Good.”

He then turned and left the room, making sure to seal it as he did. This was why he had never liked children.

((Oddly timed update because of the upgrade last night. Still the usual one coming later tonight/tommorrow.))

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 160: Evil One...or Two?...or None?

Alone in the large, empty room, Tobias whimpered and stared up at the closed door. Sniffling a little, he tried to understand what he had done wrong. It didn’t make sense, though! Didn’t Akan realize he was just trying to save him from the Evil One?

But...he said to...to leave Evil One alone or no play. But he had to kill her...or...or she would...it would save everyone! But no play! Sniffling again, Tobias padded over to the edge of the bed and stared up at it. Settling down finally, he turned back to the closed door.

What did he want more? Kill Evil One and save everyone...or play? And Akan had said that if he kept trying to kill Evil One that he wouldn’t play...at all...anymore...forever? Probably forever! Tobias sniffled again and picked up the small object Akan had given him.

After inspecting it for a few more moments, the small child mind won over and he started to press the button...repeatedly, and giggling happily the entire time.

* * * *​

Shadow and Akan had been in the cockpit of the ship, talking about what to do with Tobias. It was more of a discussion on how to keep him away from Shadow until they figured things out. After only a few minutes, the comlink giggled at them. There was a pause, then more giggling sounds from his pocket.

Grinning slightly, Akan reached to get the comlink, “I think it worked,” he then hit the switch on his comlink and said into it, “Need something, little guy?”

There was the sound of fur ruffling against the comlink. Tobias was probably nodding too close to it. Then, his voice sounded, too loud and almost too happy, “Will play! Want Akan play!!” a short pause, then an almost whispered, “...will listen to what Akan said...”

“Good,” Akan said, smiling proudly to Shadow, “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

‘Yay’s and purring sounds began to erupt from the small comlink before Akan cut it off. He then noticed that Shadow was giving him a look. It was one he could have easily identified without the help of their link, “You think I’m insane, don’t you?”

“Think?!” she almost laughed at that, “No, Akan, I know you’re insane.”

“The more you’re around him the more he’ll get used to you,” Akan said, getting up and starting out of the cockpit.

Shadow’s look intensified as he began to escape and she whimpered, “It’ll bite me!” but Akan just kept walking. Realizing he was actually going to get that little fur ball, she scrambled out of the pilot’s chair and went after him, yelling down the corridor, “You must be out of your tree! I swear, you left the last of you sanity back on Endor!!”

[I’m not going to let him bite you...promise] Akan ‘said’ through their link as he turned a corner to find the room where Tobias was now padding around and waiting to escape.

For some reason, she continued after him, even if it was a bit slowly and she knew there was no talking him out of it anymore. She was going to need to find some kind of neck guard or something similar...[Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Jedi boy.]

Akan just rolled his eyes, reaching the door and hitting the switch to open it. There was a sudden ‘RAWR!’ and then his leg was pounced. In a few seconds, the little black furred Alraxian had climbed up Akan and perched on his left shoulder again. Purring loudly, Tobias leaned in and poked Akan’s nose again, happily saying, “Akan play!!”

Grinning, Akan reached up with his other arm and scratched the small Alraxian’s ear gently, “Akan play soon. First you have to learn to deal with Shady. If you’re good, she might even play...”

That got a slight growl from Tobias. Akan just sighed, “Think of if this way, little guy. She and I are a lot alike. If you’re nice to her, that means twice as many chances to play than with just me.”

Tobias seemed to take a long moment to think on that. Then, after coming to a careful crossroads, asked slowly, “Akan...Akan like Evil One?”

Careful to not move too much and throw Tobias off of his shoulder, Akan shook his head slowly, “No. Shadow like Akan. Akan not evil...so Shadow can’t be. Understand...?”

It took another moment before Tobias managed a slow, almost suspicious nod. Shadow picked that time to peak into the room. Somehow pushing away the fear or being bit and mauled, she said, “Come on, neck ache, I’m not so bad.”

He spun around on Akan’s shoulder and glared at her. She watched as he tensed up, his expression glazed over, then twitched. The child seem to be really fighting it though, and to his credit, all he did was slip off of Akan’s shoulder. Instinctively, Shadow quickly ran over to catch Tobias. And he bit her hand...hard. She bit her lip and rolled her eyes upwards, fighting back any kind of reaction at all. After a long moment, she managed to stare down at the vicious little thing, and ground out, “I can’t play if you bite my hand off.”

[Tobias kill Evil One.] that was spoke straight into her mind, not through a link like she shared with Akan, but through the natural link that all Alraxians shared. It was enough that Akan had no idea what was being said, and was staring with a slightly worried look.

[Why?] Shadow replied, shifting how she held Tobias so that all his weight wasn’t bearing down on her hand through teeth. [Has Evil One harmed Tobias?]

[Ye—Evil One must die.]

[Answer me.] Shadow pressed, her ‘voice’ stern and using at least a small amount of the Force to push it. [Has Evil One harmed Tobias?]

[Y—...no] the last part was nearly whispered, and it had almost seemed to Shadow that she had thought it for a moment.

Shadow looked down at the two eyes that were now looking up at her, though Tobias’ teeth didn’t let go. [Then why harm Evil One? If Tobias harm Evil One for no reason, then Tobias Evil One and must kill self...even though harming self against orders.] the last part she added after a second thought, praying that those actually were his orders.

He didn’t answer, but Shadow got an idea. Waving Akan away with her tail(as both hands were occupied), she started down the corridor, casually asking Tobias. [Tobias like Evil One’s blood?]

[Blood of Evil One tastes...tastes...]

[Just like the blood of Tobias...or Akan...or anyone else.] Shadow finished for him, though that had obviously not been what he was going to say. [Same. No different at all.]

Clinging by his front paws and letting go with his teeth, Tobias resorted to the less tiring form of communication. Though he didn’t actually speak, he opened his mouth and mumbled something that was likely close to admitting defeat. Good. Shadow smiled inwardly and stepped into the small ‘fresher room. [Shadow know what Tobias think is different. Tobias told that Evil One is Cursed One with silver eyes...]

The small child looked up at her, hatred marring his features and growling slightly. His claws dug into her wrist a little more, too, “...Evil One...”

He was obviously looking into her eyes, which were an odd silvery-purple. Exactly what he had been told. She lifted him up a little and said, “Shadow have something to show Tobias...if Tobias is interested.”

A pause as Tobias examined Shadow’s features, trying to find any hint of deception. Slowly, he nodded slowly, “...yes...Tobias want to know.”

“Tobias let Shadow touch his eyes?” there was an even longer pause after that, and his claws dug in deeper. But again, he nodded carefully. Then, very slowly and very carefully so as not to scare him anymore, she reached down to his eyes with her free hand and touched them gently. Yes...altered just slightly. It wasn’t too much trouble to reverse the alteration, as it was simply an illusion created through the Force...even though it was strong. She then lifted him up and turned him to face the mirror she now stood in front of, taking her hand off of his eyes to see.

The emerald eyes were now a brilliant silver mixed with the green. Suddenly, Tobias hissed and let go of her. He dropped to the floor and looked ready to scamper off, but Shadow swooped down and picked him up again. Tobias hissed, spit, and growled, trying to get free of her grip. Ignoring his struggling, she just held him by the waist. [See? Tobias Evil One, too. Tobias just like Shadow...so is Tobias evil?]

She moved to hold him by the scruff of his neck, which caused him to struggle even more despite the fact that it was doing him no good. He was now just wailing as he had been when Akan had first found him, screaming at the top of his lungs and lashing out with claws in all directions. [NO!! Tobias not evil!! Tobias kill!! Tobias ki– Tobias ki–] he suddenly froze up, going limp in Shadow’s hand and looking like he wasn’t even breathing anymore. It was at least another minute until his small chest slowly began to rise and fall again. So he had passed out.

It didn’t surprise her. He was a tough little jai, to be truthful. Considering what he had likely been though...Shadow shifted to hold him more properly and walked back to the quarters. Finding that Akan wasn’t there, she simply placed Tobias on the pillow on the bed before wandering off to find Akan.

She found him back in the cockpit, and had a seat before saying quietly, “He’s...he’s asleep. His own doing, so don’t look at me like that. When he wakes up he will...probably be a little confused. I’d suggest you let me talk to him.”

Akan raised an eyebrow, sitting up some and looking down the corridor a moment, “Just don’t kill the little guy, okay?”

Shadow gave him a look. Slowly, a grin grew on her face and Akan started to get worried. Feeling that through the link, she grinned even more and said quietly, “Could you maybe...just maybe, like him?”

He went red. In fact, all of his skin tinted a slight reddish colour. Shadow laughed openly at that, and Akan quickly tried to hide, “Shut up! Its not that! Its just...just that...” he trailed off a moment, then sighed and gave in, “...maybe just a little...”

She was still laughing when he made a quick escape from the cockpit. After finally calming down, she smiled proudly to herself. Good. That meant he could watch the little brat like he was meant to. Shadow stopped her thoughts at that. Like who was meant what? Even Marix didn’t completely comprehend that thought, and because of that, they both ignored it and moved on. Idly finding the monitor to Tobias’ room, she flipped on the screen and watched. Now, to wait until he woke up...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 161: Between Hells

It was only two and a half hours before the already familiar wailing sound echoed through the starship. Shadow yawned and gave the chrono one last look before wandering back to the room. Seventeen more hours in hyperspace and then they’d have to make about five more short, very careful jumps. But that was Akan’s side of things. She knew the coordinates...he could actually do the work. For once.

Another four hours passed before Shadow emerged from the room, covered in scratches, bruises, and at least a few bite marks. Surprisingly, though, there was a happy look on her face and a small black and blue furred thing curled up in the crook of her arm. Finding Akan, she handed him the small bundle and smiled proudly.

“You know,” she said off hand, “He’s a lot like you. Tried to morph. Very slow and not very good at it.”

“Is that a hint...?” Akan raised an eyebrow, carefully holding the purring Alraxian in his arms.

Shadow grinned, “You’re quick,” she then turned to wander off and meditate before catching a thought through the link. That got her grin to grow, “And no, I’m not telling you what happened. That’s between me and him. But he won’t be attacking me anymore, so don’t worry about it. Now, if you don’t mind babysitting, I’m going to go remorph and clean up.”

Without even letting him respond, Shadow escaped to the ‘fresher, smiling to herself again in the process. That was one thing down, now if only Akan would pick up on that other hint and ask for her help. He should know by now that they had a short amount of time to prepare before insanity hit...now she could only hope he’d take advantage of that.

After Shadow had gone, Akan idly scratch Tobias’ ear, walking the other direction down the central corridor in the transport. He’d gotten used to its set up now, and actually liked it...to a point. A thought struck him, and Akan spun around to go check on his X-Wing. As he walked, the purring noise slowly stopped, giving way to a long, but small yawn. The two big eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times before Akan noticed the silver in them now. Interesting...

And then the eyes noticed him. The half asleep look quickly disappeared and suddenly gave way to insane happiness. Tobias purred loudly again, before suddenly bounding up and pouncing Akan as best as was possible. The little Alraxian latched onto Akan’s shoulder and surprised him enough to cause him to loose his balance. In a loud yelp, thud, and playful laugh, Akan found himself in the middle of the corridor on his back. Toby was perched up on his chest, leaning over to look down into Akan’s eyes with a grin on his face. Crawling up just a little more, Toby reached down and poked Akan’s nose, “Akan alive?”

He couldn’t help laughing at that, “Yes, Toby, Akan is alive. Making yourself comfortable?”

The little Alraxian nodded a few thousand times in a matter of seconds before padding in circles across Akan’s chest and finally curling up. Akan managed to tilt his head to look down to the now purring Tobias, “I assume I’m not allowed to move?”

“Uh-uh,” Tobias said, shaking his head. Or something. Probably his head. It was hard to tell with him curled up like that. Before Akan could protest at all, a door opened and Shadow nearly stepped on him. She was now more normal looking and even her morphsuit showed no signs of damage.

She rolled her eyes and gave Akan a look, “You do have a quarters to sleep in...” she prodded Akan with her foot, “You’re blocking the whole corridor.”

Tobias and Akan exchanged innocent looks with each other. Shadow could see them plotting something and gave Akan a good kick for it, “You two can play later, too.”

Both Akan and Tobias made eerily similar, “Awwwwww...” sounds.

As they sat back up, Shadow went back to brushing her hair and not clipping her ear in the process. She stepped over Akan and walked back to the cargo bay quietly, mentally poking Akan anyway. Still wondering if he’d figure out what he needed to do. She went off to finish brushing her hair and then tail fur straight(which was challenging to reach at times) then meditated. Calmed herself...trying to forget the fact that they were going to a place that had every right to kill her the second she appeared.

Another few hours passed, and Tobias was asleep again. He and Akan had played for the entire time, and even Akan was exhausted. The little Alraxian had far too much energy. Looking over at the small form curled up on the bed a moment, Akan turned and wandered back to the cargo hold. He found Shadow sitting cross-legged in front of his X-Wing. Her eyes were closed and she didn’t seem to take notice of him at all.

Well, until he got within two meters of her. Then, an ear turned towards him and her tail twitched. Soon, an eye also opened and gave him a curious look, though she stayed silent. Akan sighed, almost feeling like he was being forced into this even though it was something that needed to be asked. After having a seat, he said quietly to the floor, “I need your help.”

That got Shadow’s other eye opened, though her expression didn’t change at all, “Oh?”

Again, Akan sighed, “Don’t act like you have no idea what I’m talking about. We’re in between hells and I can’t keep up with you. You know as well, in fact, probably better, than I do. I can’t afford to make any mistakes anymore...not after...”

He trailed off, not needing to say the last part. Not after Jen. Not after Voort. Not after Nar Shaddaa. Shadow nodded to that, saying truthfully, “Yes, but I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what to help you with.”

“Everything,” Akan said quickly, “Anything. I can fight. I can fly. I can shoot...but it isn’t good enough.”

“You have more than just the ability to fight, fly, and shoot,” Shadow pointed out, “And I guess that’s what your hinting at. You’re slow and you morph with the skill of a child. We can start with fixing that. From there, it should make other things easier for you.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 162: History Lesson

For six hours, they stayed in the cargo hold and practiced. Well, Akan practiced. Four of those hours composed of morphing. Back and forth through a countless number of forms. Back and forth until Akan could do it without thinking about it. Back and forth until it was natural for him. True, four hours was not nearly enough to become an expert, but it was the most time he’d spent actually focusing on anymore than just remorphing scars and such. He still wasn’t as good as Shadow, but could at least keep up with her now without being yelled at. She figured that it was the best they could do for now, and it was definitely an improvement.

The next two hours was a more practical use of the morphing...combined with Shadow teaching him some fighting techniques. This essentially devolved into sparring, which further devolved into a game of ‘you can’t hit me, but I can’t hit you!’.

Now they stood opposite one another. Akan had remorphed the scratch that had gone across his face, while Shadow had just finished remorphing the hand his thrumming lightsaber had lopped off as payment. The lightsaber was considered fair play, surprisingly enough...and Shadow didn’t mind. It was another challenge to avoid and he was much more predictable when he was using that anyway. Not that she was going to tell him that just yet. Maybe after they were done.

“Something’s been bothering me,” Akan spoke up suddenly, the first words that had been spoke in a few hours beyond explicatives and instructions. When Shadow stopped looking like she was about attempt to maul him again, he asked, “How is it that you can just remorph a limb? I mean, Ket...Ket had a stub for a tail. Couldn’t he have just fixed it?”

“It only works to a point,” Shadow said, stretching a little and taking the moment to rub a few achy limbs, “If you wait too long, its irreparable. Of course, it doesn’t happen too often...you’re usually dead in a situation like that.”

“And I assume he was in a situation like that?” asked Akan carefully, feeling through the link how touchy of a subject Ket was. Especially after Nar Shaddaa.

Shadow nodded simply, “Marix...I...did it. By our culture, loss of a tail is loss of one’s honour. When it happened though, it was a more frantic situation. I still don’t know why I didn’t just kill him there. It was before Marix...I...whatever, left. He and I were on a mission together, off in Mrrakesh space. He...was playing both sides. We were ambushed and he turned on me. I killed the attackers only because we were lucky enough that they were young. If they’d been any older, they would have torn me apart. I should have killed Ket, too, but...well...you know by now that Tam-Day-U are not meant to feel. Judgement was clouded and humiliating him seemed to be the correct thing to do. I took nearly all of his tail and made sure he saw it before knocking him unconscious and leaving him for dead.”

“Ah...” Akan trailed off, not have expected such a long answer. He thumbed off his lightsaber and suddenly found the silence that the lack of the humming sound was unnerving. So, he resorted to an old standby, “So we shouldn’t expect him to provide us with dinner next time we see him?”

“Oh, he’ll provide dinner,” Shadow grumbled, noting Akan’s sarcasm but ignoring it for the moment, “But expect poison or something worse. Probably something worse.”

A silence then hung in the air of the cargo bay. It didn’t last long, and it was Shadow who broke it, saying seriously, “Listen, Akan, I don’t even know if we can get to the Hidden Worlds. Technically, I should be killed the second I enter the territory again. And even if we do get in...this isn’t going to be like anything you’ve ever experienced. Ket wants revenge. For what I did, for what my mother did...for what all of the Alraxian Empire did. Or at least, what he thinks we did. Those droids he has...those things we fought. They’re the perfect weapon for wiping out my...our people. Sure, you and I can fight them to a point, but we are anomalies among Alraxians. Our race are peaceful people. Except for the small force of defense soldiers, the Empress’ personal guard, and the Tam-Day-U, no Alraxians have any idea what to do in a fight. A real fight, at least.”

She paused and sighed, looking to the X-Wing that was behind Akan a moment, “The Imperial Defense soldiers are glorified border guards. They’ve never dealt with anything more than simple pirates who don’t use weapons and petty theft. The Empress’ guard are just that...her’s. There aren’t enough to protect anyone else. And the Tam-Day-U...we...we don’t exist. Even if we did, the people would not want us to fight for them.”

“So its you and me against Ket, Nine, and a handful of his droids?” Akan asked off hand, not liking where this was going at all. They’d been up against some bad odds before...but then they’d had help. Friends. Now it felt so alone...

But Shadow shook her head, “I have a bad feeling that its worse than that. Ever since I left him for dead, he’s had connections with the Mrrakesh. Probably long before that, too, but its not worth thinking about. He couldn’t have taken a huge compliment of those droids with him onboard Loki. That would only hold enough to take a couple of planets. We may not have considerable training, but if backed into a corner, most Alraxians can at least bear their claws and put up a fight. Either way, its just not enough troops to take down the entire Empire with.”

So that’s where this was going. Akan sighed, skipping ahead and just asking the necessary question, “What kind of standing army do the Mrrakesh have?”

Shadow ran a hand through her hair nervously, not looking like she wanted to answer it. He gave her a mental nudge through the link and she gave in, “The Mrrakesh are to Alraxians what Alraxians are to Humans. Stronger, faster, bigger...maybe not smarter, but that’s dependent on the individual anyway. You have to understand, a single adult Mrrakesh can easily kill three times his number in Tam-Day-U without help. That isn’t even counting the Mrrakesh as a soldier. They always have a large standing army. The only thing that keeps them from invading the Empire and enslaving us are the alliances with the other major races. But throw Ket into the mix with his droids and it imbalances everything.”

Akan didn’t even mention the possibility that they were already too late. That just wasn’t an option at this point. He wasn’t even doing this to protect the Alraxian Empire. Sure, it was important to do, but he knew barely anything about them. Instead, he had to do this as a sort of penance. For his arrogance and stupidity that caused the death of the Voorts. Of his friends.

And then, suddenly, a sharp pain ripped through him. It was like nothing he’d felt before...it wasn’t from anything external. It was inside him. Burning. Aching. Ripping at his insides. He opened his mouth to yelp but couldn’t even make a noise. The pain was so intense that his vision went from hot white, to black, then to nearly every other colour possible. He barely even felt himself hit the deck, though the noise echoed loudly through his ears. Gritting his teeth and trying to breathe, stop the pain, or just something, Akan could see Shadow hit the ground in front of him...looking about the same. And it kept getting stronger. Stronger and strong until it hurt to think...it hurt to do anything...and defying all logic, it hurt to hurt.

Shadow tried to inhale, to breathe, but it wasn’t any good. Instead of air, it seemed like she only brought in more pain. More intense, hot pain. From where?! What was going on?! Fighting through the intense pain which was arcing all through her body in every way imaginable, Shadow tried desperately to find the source. But there wasn’t a reason! They weren’t sick, neither of them had pushed themselves too far and that still didn’t make sense for something like this!! And then a thought flicked through her mind. A thought that Marix latched onto and tried to feed through the link to Akan. But she couldn’t find a way to do it, for once. Her mind ached as much as everything else.

With the strong force of will to ignore the intense pain that was added into everything else, Shadow managed to find her voice...though it was pained and hard to understand, “Ak...nn!! Breathe!! Just...arrrrgh! Brea-arrgh! Growing-nnnn...couple more...ahhh! More...more hours...argh...just...breathe!”

And then, following her own words, she forced herself to breathe. Forced it in a way that hurt even more. Her eyes couldn’t see anymore, and distantly, she could hearing wailing. Whether it was her’s or not, she couldn’t tell anymore. The pain was too intense. The pain that every single Alraxian eventually ran into and had to fight through.

And if it didn’t kill them...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 163: All Grown Up...and Up.

There were many levels of pain. Most people only ever experienced a few, and it was rarely anything that got into the deeper levels. Even most soldiers and fighters never lived long enough to experience most of the types of pain. Of course, those other levels of pain wouldn’t exist if someone in the galaxy didn’t experience them. Akan was now under the impression that a thousand years of people not experiencing the deepest levels of pain was now being handed over to him. It was such a deep and burning pain that every few minutes his body would become numb to it before it grew in strength again. How he was managing to stay conscious through it all, Akan was completely unaware of. His mind was so very focused on forcing himself to breathe that any other thoughts beyond ‘ow’ and curses directed at whatever created the universe were lost on him.

The truly amazing part, well, amazing when looked at from an outside point of view at least, was that every single Alraxian adult had gone through this. Alraxian children lived for roughly forty standard years before reaching adulthood. It was essentially a side effect of their natural ability to change shape. Alraxian ‘children’ were mostly androgynous, though as they grew older, more gender specific features would begin to develop. And then, at twenty cycles by the Alraxian calendar(forty by the rest of the galactic standard), everything kicked into overdrive. In roughly two hours, the equivalent of ten years of human development occurred. It was like going from thirteen to twenty three in the blink of a galactic eye.

And of course, it was no surprise that not every Alraxian survived it. Very many simply passed out from the extreme pain. It wasn’t long after that in which they suffocated, as the body’s usually involuntary action of breathing became the brain’s sole focus. It was a way to ignore the brunt of the pain and keep the brain occupied, but of course it was also a very dangerous thing. Not only that, but many Alraxians simply couldn’t take the pain and died of shock. A rare few died from bones growing too much or muscles not developing, but those genetic defects had been mostly bred or manually taken out of the population.

But none of that really mattered to Akan or Shadow. What did matter that it hurt. To Akan, this was unfair. He’d died once already and it sure hadn’t felt anywhere near as bad as this. Shadow had four times as much like experience on him, though. And she saw it that way simply because she had the combined life of Marix and Shadow. Sure, the first half of those lives were exactly the same, but experiencing it twice counted in their...her...whoever’s mind it was now.

And then something odd happened. Or at least, odd compared to the last two hours of white hot pain that continually got worse and worse. The unending pain just ended. Maybe it was gradual, maybe it had taken the whole third hour. Neither Shadow nor Akan noticed it, though. The pain was simply gone. Well, mostly gone. Enough that they could actually begin to see again and the cargo bay was coming back into focus. They were both face down, and Shadow was the first to groan into the durasteel deck.

“...my everything hurts...” Shadow’s voice sounded different to her ears...which did still hurt. But her voice was...was...something at least. Higher? More like her mother’s voice, a haunting non-voice stated through her mind. That got her entire body to shudder. And she couldn’t help but notice that it took longer for the shudder to travel through her entire body than usual.

Akan’s groan was next, and she was surprised at how much deeper it sounded. Not so much that he sounded like a completely different person, but at least enough that she did a mental double take. She then opened her eyes to see what Akan complained about next, “...what is all of this...?”

She tilted her head up to look at him, seeing that he was eyeing a small piece of white material that she soon realized was surrounding the both of them. There was also another substance that was mixed in with it, but Shadow did her best to ignore the fact that it was vomit and very near to her face. Though when she did identify what the white material was, she wasn’t all that surprise. [Morphsuits...they look dead.]

The best thing Akan could manage was a nod. That went a long way to explaining why he was so cold. Slowly, Akan managed to push himself up into a sitting position. Of course, he couldn’t help but notice that his sitting height was nearly at the level of where his shoulders used to be. He glanced to Shadow a moment, then suddenly found himself having to pry his gaze away. She was lying there on her stomach looking exhausted and growling at not being able to move and yet...his eyes kind of locked.

It was one of those times when clothes would have been helpful. Typical that the morphsuits were mysteriously destroyed. This also was one of those points where Akan could really have used an Alraxian mentality to go with the body he’d been given. But no, he was still a human at heart...well, mind. Which meant that he didn’t have the Alraxian lack of modesty. He’d learned of it the hard way more than once while back on Endor for those couple of months. When Shadow would just shed any clothes and dive into a river, he’d gone white and managed to look the other way.

Shadow shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the echoes of ‘ow’ that were still there. Grumbling to herself about being broken, she pushed herself up off the deck floor and realized just how much longer her arms were. That got a grin on her face. If her arms were longer...that meant her legs were longer...which meant she might just be taller— but something was wrong. There was more...more weight than usual. Slowly, and slightly worried Shadow looked down. She managed a whimper. That wasn’t right! She shouldn’t...that shouldn’t...she whimpered again. In the back of her head, Marix made some comment about final proof that they were female. From the sound of it, there were bets riding on that.

But Shadow mentally glared at the voice. Traitor.

Ignoring the...problems, Shadow sat up and let her head stop spinning. For a long while, they just sat there in silence, trying to let the last echoes of the pain fade away finally. Akan had gone to staring at the X-Wing, finding that it was much safer than letting his eyes...wander. That had never happened before! Well, it had...but he was younger. A lot younger. He had gone through puberty once so he never had to experience it again! Yet another reminder was put up on a mental datapad to beat the creator of the universe silly when Akan met with it.

Eventually, he managed to speak, though trying to ignore how much different his voice sounded, “Its...cold...”

There was a silence in which Shadow’s mind caught up with that voice that was screaming about the cold. Then, she nodded suddenly, panicked about how cold it was. It was dangerously cold! She should have thought about that! They were in their morphsuits for so long that their body temperature was regulated and they didn’t even notice it! As quickly as she could, Shadow got to her feet.

She then realized that her head was a lot closed to the ceiling than it had ever been before. In fact, she had to be at least two point four meters tall now!! She was finally tall! Not the runt anymore, HA! And then Akan stood up. In that short moment, her triumph was defeated as her eye level ended up even with his neck. His neck!! He’d grown more than she had! They should have grown the same amount! That wasn’t fair! That was cheating! He had cheated!

Roughly, she poked his chest, “You cheated!”

He just stared blankly at her, then realized he was staring and looked up. Shadow just rolled her eyes, not understand what had him so worked up and then walked out into the main corridor. She did so without stumbling, putting all of her will into walking straight. Besides, falling now meant a much longer fall and probably more pain. In a short time, she made it to her quarters and got out the few possessions she had with her. Out of a small bag, she pulled two morphsuits and tossed one of the small bundles to Akan.

Catching it, Akan still had the blank look on his face, “Um...aren’t these kind of...of...small?”

Shadow nodded and stretched the suit out, holding it against her, “It will take a few minutes but it should grow enough. The others...died because of the sudden growth. How they can stand morphing and not that is beyond me, though, so don’t ask.”

Akan just nodded, doing as she’d said more out of modesty than anything. Her tail flicked behind her, now much longer than it had been...as everything was now. Except for their surroundings, which all seemed to have shrunk. Eventually, he escaped to find Toby, seeing that the little jai(who was now very, very little in comparison) was curled up on Akan’s bed, purring loudly in his sleep. He couldn’t help a smile, though it was also from the fact that the morphsuit had finally grown to the correct size and he could wear one again.

The next few minutes were a blur. His mind hadn’t really caught up with all that had happened(and was also a bit..distracted with a certain image that had seemed to burn itself into his mind, but that wasn’t the point), and when the beeping noises that indicated the end of the jump through hyperspace had gone off, Akan had simply reacted. He used to other coordinates Shadow had plotted in and made five short, roundabout jumps through a part of space that the ship’s navcomputer had no data on. Jumping through hyperspace on the faith that Shadow knew what she was talking about.

Through the short last jump, his mind wandered again. Wandered through the chaos that he’d currently figured out what his life. The beeping sounded and he reached for the hyperspace levels again. But this time, when the starship reverted to realspace they weren’t in empty black.

“Shadow!!” he yelled back over his shoulder, not realizing how much louder his voice was than usual. That was going to take some getting used to. It only took her a minute to arrive with a questioning look on her face, but it took at least another minute for Akan to find his voice again. She looked...morphsuits had always been tight and figure hugging. However, Shadow now had a very, very definite figure now. Half of his silence was surprise, the other was something he tried to ignore before peeling his eyes away and pointing out the viewport, “What is that?!”

It was huge. A gigantic, bright silver ring which was shining in a soft blue from a nearby star. Blue...blue...always blue...but that wasn’t what was so amazing. The diameter of the ring had to have been at least twice the size of a Super Star Destroyer. It hung there in front of them, and Akan couldn’t help but notice that looking through the center of the ring showed no stars at all...while all around the exterior the little white dots could be seen far away.

“That,” Shadow said with a grin on her face, speaking in a voice that almost sounded happy, “That is the border. Fly in and find us a bay to land in!”

 

[Mirage_Patrick]

saying hi

Loving the story. still recovering from the death and fall to the darkside of the Voorts. Speaking of which, how did the player's handle it? Curious as to what they will be bringing in to replace their old characters (assuming Jen in an NPC).