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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind
- Thread starter Ankh-Morpork Guard
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Love this story.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 271: Official Functions
The exact details of what happened were completely lost on Jyren. This was mostly due to the fact that he still didn’t understand a word of Alraxian and the entire thing was done in said language...but also because Shadow had zoned so far out of the place that he kept glancing over to make sure she didn’t fall over like some deactivated droid. Shadow...Marix...whatever. Whatever the hell her name was had gone straight past shock to a defense mechanism that worked far too well. Yes, maybe it was really happening, and she really was in that dress in front of all of these people with Jyren right there...but she wasn’t there for it, so what did it matter?
What did matter was that she nodded and responded as was necessary...thankfully, Jyren wasn’t expected to do the same, mainly because of a sharp conversation Shadow had not had with them before hand about his lack of understanding of the Alraxian language. It was also the same conversation in which she had not ordered them to make the whole thing quick. And, intelligently, the orders that weren’t given were listened to quite clearly.
In a very short time for a ceremony as large and elaborate as this one was supposed to be, it really did go by rather quickly. That was mostly because of the general lack of active attentiveness by either of the two most important participants...but no one really seemed to notice this. It went unnoticed because, somehow, the two of them managed to do everything right on cue and without any hesitation.
At the end, Jyren suddenly came to realize there was applause and a very loud cheering all around. When the ears had delivered this information, the other senses jumped back into their working modes and quickly reported their own new information. Namely that he and Shadow were kissing...right in the middle of all of this with a thousand(at least) eyes on them. As he pulled back(slowly enough to not look like he was jerking away in sudden shock), Jyren noticed that Shadow also had the wide-eyed look that showed she, too, had just returned to the real world.
There was a moment of frozen panic on her face as more words were spoken, but Jyren tried to ignore the noise. [Um...did I do something wrong?]
He had decided something needed saying, and, sadly, that was all that had come to his mind. It was a stupid thing to ask...really, if he’d done something wrong, why all the general happiness? But it was too late now, and it was already ‘said.’
Shadow managed to shake her head without actually moving it. This baffled Jyren, but somehow she did it. [No just...just this everything...wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t all staring...]
[I know what you mean.]
Barely ten minutes later, things had spread out and the room was turned into a party nearly identical to the one back on the Capital a few days earlier. Music played, people danced, food covered a huge table near where Jyren and Shadow had stood at an ‘altar’ before. The mood was about the same as before, too, and truthfully, it was nearly the same situation...a celebration of the two of them. Though now it seemed to be combined with a sort of funeral ceremony(Jyren couldn’t bring himself to use the word ‘celebration’) for the previous Empress and Emperor. Shadow had once said that Alraxians mourned the newly born and celebrated the dead, and apparently, she wasn’t kidding.
Shadow had been accosted by a group of the avian Jendari who were present, and Jyren had taken that chance to slink off for some food(for the both of them, of course). While at the large table, at least thirty Alraxians smiled and said something to him while nodding. A few of the more adventurous ones actually patted him on the back, but Jyren couldn’t help but notice that they were given very sharp looks from the guards who seemed to be near every column. He also ran into his father.
“This is one of those times where your mother would embarrass you by fixing you collar and telling you how handsome you look,” the older Alraxian said with a smile on his face.
Jyren returned the smile and the tight hug from his slightly taller father, “Yes, well I doubt it would do all that good. It really helps to not share a language with most of the people here.”
The smile on his father’s face became a devious grin and he elbowed his son in the ribs gently, “Trust me, Jyren, your mother could have found a way to do it without speaking a word.”
Jyren laughed, but it slowly faded into a sigh. After a moment, he said quietly, “I wish I could have really known her...I wish she could have been here.”
“She would have been proud of you, son,” Navik said, resting an arm on Jyren’s shoulder, “I know I’m proud of you. You’ve done so much, and become a better man than your mother and I could have ever hoped for. Now I don’t care what you think you’ve done wrong, son, but just trust me on this...you’re a good man, and with her you’re an even better one.”
An awkward silence arose between the two of them. Jyren manage a smile and finally nodded, “Thank you...”
His father patted his shoulder, “Listen, Jyren, I don’t want to lose you again. It was my fault the first time. I should have never left you alone. But I don’t want to lose you now...” he sighed heavily and raised a hand to keep Jyren silent, “But, I know you’re going to go anyway. So I want you to do something for me. You come back here...you come back alive and well, and you bring her with you. And don’t you dare let her come back alone. Understand?”
It was the first time Jyren had ever heard a stern, fatherly tone from the older Alraxian, and, somehow, it made Jyren smile even more, “I will, dad. But...are you...?”
He trailed off when Navik waved a hand, “I’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine. It won’t be easy, but we’ll be fine...and we’ll be here for when you come back.”
The only thing Jyren could really do in response to that was nod. His father had that way of speaking where even if the statement was probably irrational or reaching, it was hard to argue with because he just sounded so damned sure of himself. It was also something, Jyren noted, that Mare had once yelled at him about all those years back. Sometimes it was terrifying to realize just how much he was like his parents, even without them being there all his life.
“Jyren,” his father cut into the thoughts and nudged him gently before motioning over to where Shadow stood. She was now surrounded by another group of people who were obviously trying to compliment someone that was very unused to compliments of any kind. Even Navik could see that in Shadow’s face, “It would probably be a good idea to lend a hand over there.”
Running a hand through his white hair and noting that only the blue hairs fell back in front of his eyes, Jyren gave up on food and started back. He got three steps before stopping. Jyren took a deep breath and turned around to face his father again, “This is the last time I’m going to see you for a long time, isn’t it?”
Navik Keros’ face showed the same neutral expression on his face that his son currently held when he nodded, “I have a feeling you’re right.”
Silence. A few Alraxians walked between them, nodding to Jyren as they passed. Then, biting his lower lip, he finally said, “I will be back, dad.”
“I know you will, son. Now get over there and enjoy the rest of the night.”
There was a long hesitation before Jyren finally nodded and turned away. Neither father nor son would ever admit to the fact that they were both on the brink of tears.
The exact details of what happened were completely lost on Jyren. This was mostly due to the fact that he still didn’t understand a word of Alraxian and the entire thing was done in said language...but also because Shadow had zoned so far out of the place that he kept glancing over to make sure she didn’t fall over like some deactivated droid. Shadow...Marix...whatever. Whatever the hell her name was had gone straight past shock to a defense mechanism that worked far too well. Yes, maybe it was really happening, and she really was in that dress in front of all of these people with Jyren right there...but she wasn’t there for it, so what did it matter?
What did matter was that she nodded and responded as was necessary...thankfully, Jyren wasn’t expected to do the same, mainly because of a sharp conversation Shadow had not had with them before hand about his lack of understanding of the Alraxian language. It was also the same conversation in which she had not ordered them to make the whole thing quick. And, intelligently, the orders that weren’t given were listened to quite clearly.
In a very short time for a ceremony as large and elaborate as this one was supposed to be, it really did go by rather quickly. That was mostly because of the general lack of active attentiveness by either of the two most important participants...but no one really seemed to notice this. It went unnoticed because, somehow, the two of them managed to do everything right on cue and without any hesitation.
At the end, Jyren suddenly came to realize there was applause and a very loud cheering all around. When the ears had delivered this information, the other senses jumped back into their working modes and quickly reported their own new information. Namely that he and Shadow were kissing...right in the middle of all of this with a thousand(at least) eyes on them. As he pulled back(slowly enough to not look like he was jerking away in sudden shock), Jyren noticed that Shadow also had the wide-eyed look that showed she, too, had just returned to the real world.
There was a moment of frozen panic on her face as more words were spoken, but Jyren tried to ignore the noise. [Um...did I do something wrong?]
He had decided something needed saying, and, sadly, that was all that had come to his mind. It was a stupid thing to ask...really, if he’d done something wrong, why all the general happiness? But it was too late now, and it was already ‘said.’
Shadow managed to shake her head without actually moving it. This baffled Jyren, but somehow she did it. [No just...just this everything...wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t all staring...]
[I know what you mean.]
* * * *
Barely ten minutes later, things had spread out and the room was turned into a party nearly identical to the one back on the Capital a few days earlier. Music played, people danced, food covered a huge table near where Jyren and Shadow had stood at an ‘altar’ before. The mood was about the same as before, too, and truthfully, it was nearly the same situation...a celebration of the two of them. Though now it seemed to be combined with a sort of funeral ceremony(Jyren couldn’t bring himself to use the word ‘celebration’) for the previous Empress and Emperor. Shadow had once said that Alraxians mourned the newly born and celebrated the dead, and apparently, she wasn’t kidding.
Shadow had been accosted by a group of the avian Jendari who were present, and Jyren had taken that chance to slink off for some food(for the both of them, of course). While at the large table, at least thirty Alraxians smiled and said something to him while nodding. A few of the more adventurous ones actually patted him on the back, but Jyren couldn’t help but notice that they were given very sharp looks from the guards who seemed to be near every column. He also ran into his father.
“This is one of those times where your mother would embarrass you by fixing you collar and telling you how handsome you look,” the older Alraxian said with a smile on his face.
Jyren returned the smile and the tight hug from his slightly taller father, “Yes, well I doubt it would do all that good. It really helps to not share a language with most of the people here.”
The smile on his father’s face became a devious grin and he elbowed his son in the ribs gently, “Trust me, Jyren, your mother could have found a way to do it without speaking a word.”
Jyren laughed, but it slowly faded into a sigh. After a moment, he said quietly, “I wish I could have really known her...I wish she could have been here.”
“She would have been proud of you, son,” Navik said, resting an arm on Jyren’s shoulder, “I know I’m proud of you. You’ve done so much, and become a better man than your mother and I could have ever hoped for. Now I don’t care what you think you’ve done wrong, son, but just trust me on this...you’re a good man, and with her you’re an even better one.”
An awkward silence arose between the two of them. Jyren manage a smile and finally nodded, “Thank you...”
His father patted his shoulder, “Listen, Jyren, I don’t want to lose you again. It was my fault the first time. I should have never left you alone. But I don’t want to lose you now...” he sighed heavily and raised a hand to keep Jyren silent, “But, I know you’re going to go anyway. So I want you to do something for me. You come back here...you come back alive and well, and you bring her with you. And don’t you dare let her come back alone. Understand?”
It was the first time Jyren had ever heard a stern, fatherly tone from the older Alraxian, and, somehow, it made Jyren smile even more, “I will, dad. But...are you...?”
He trailed off when Navik waved a hand, “I’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine. It won’t be easy, but we’ll be fine...and we’ll be here for when you come back.”
The only thing Jyren could really do in response to that was nod. His father had that way of speaking where even if the statement was probably irrational or reaching, it was hard to argue with because he just sounded so damned sure of himself. It was also something, Jyren noted, that Mare had once yelled at him about all those years back. Sometimes it was terrifying to realize just how much he was like his parents, even without them being there all his life.
“Jyren,” his father cut into the thoughts and nudged him gently before motioning over to where Shadow stood. She was now surrounded by another group of people who were obviously trying to compliment someone that was very unused to compliments of any kind. Even Navik could see that in Shadow’s face, “It would probably be a good idea to lend a hand over there.”
Running a hand through his white hair and noting that only the blue hairs fell back in front of his eyes, Jyren gave up on food and started back. He got three steps before stopping. Jyren took a deep breath and turned around to face his father again, “This is the last time I’m going to see you for a long time, isn’t it?”
Navik Keros’ face showed the same neutral expression on his face that his son currently held when he nodded, “I have a feeling you’re right.”
Silence. A few Alraxians walked between them, nodding to Jyren as they passed. Then, biting his lower lip, he finally said, “I will be back, dad.”
“I know you will, son. Now get over there and enjoy the rest of the night.”
There was a long hesitation before Jyren finally nodded and turned away. Neither father nor son would ever admit to the fact that they were both on the brink of tears.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 272: Another Party
Jyren did as his father had suggested and had...helped to get rid of the many people mobbing Shadow. Helped being that he stared at the backs of their heads pointedly until one of them turned around, after which they quickly dispersed.
Shadow managed to give him a weak smile, “You still owe me, you know.”
“I get the feeling it’s a debt I’m never paying off,” he said with a grin, “Really would have thought you would owe me, though. You know, for the killing thing.”
“Yes, well, you’re alive now aren’t you?” she grinned back and poked his chest, “Besides, that’s over and done with. You owe me for all of this.”
Jyren looked around to see all of the people were staring at them. Trying to ignore that, he looked back to Shadow, “I owe you for all of this?”
“Yes, you do,” she said flatly, “If not for you, none of this would be happening.”
He opened his mouth to argue that, but no words came out. She was right, of course. But...it seemed like such an unfair argument.
[It is unfair.] Shadow’s voice appeared in his mind. [You’ll live.]
Slowly, Jyren’s grin grew until he started laughing. Why, he wasn’t completely sure, he just did. And then, after Shadow had gone to staring at him as if he’d lost his mind(or rather, lost more of it), he said a little too loudly, “You look beautiful in that dress.”
Immediately, Shadow went a deep shade of crimson, which got a cruel laugh out of Jyren. Under her breath, she growled a curse and gave him a not so gently punch in the chest. Of course, she didn’t actually say anything, and she was still a very interesting bright red colour. After letting this go on for another long minute, Jyren finally sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, “I guess its not possible to escape from here, is it?”
She shook her head quickly, then said quietly, “Can go outside, though.”
That was all the agreement that was necessary. As quickly as they could while still looking polite and smiling, the two of them moved across the large room to one of the open doors. They stepped out onto one of the countless balconies that almost littered the huge Palace complex. Idly, they walked over to the edge to look out at the view of the forest beyond. It was so much like the back on the Capital and yet...so very different. It had only been a few days, but so much had happened.
So much and here they were, standing together out on a balcony doing their best to escape from a gigantic ceremony in their honor. But something was different. Not just the view of the Palace and the forest beyond, or even the multitude of stars that could be seen in the sky...but the atmosphere itself. The feeling in the Force. It was...it was...different. Whether that was good or not, neither were all that sure of. If it was, that meant that it was a good thing that Kyren and so many others had lost their lives...and it wasn’t, then what had they given their lives for in the first place?
“You told my father we’re going to leave, didn’t you?” Jyren asked out of nowhere, glancing over to her and doing his absolute best not to stare. It was, admittedly, very hard to do. He hadn’t been lying when he’d commented on how she looked.
She nodded, but continued to look up at one of the two moons up in the night sky, “I knew you wouldn’t, and he deserves to know.”
“So when are we going?” he asked, carefully trying to avoid any kind of argument and turning up to look where she was.
“Tomorrow,” Shadow answered after a short pause.
But she said nothing else. Noticing that she was dropping back into her old, direct habit she used to simply ignore things that were annoying her, Jyren attempted to nullify this the best way he could. He put an arm around her, which, of course, made her jump out of surprise for a moment before she sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.
“I wish this was over and we could just stay,” Jyren said quietly, resting his head on hers gently.
“Don’t try lying to me to make me feel better. I know when you’re lying better than you do,” Shadow whispered, though she wasn’t at all harsh in that and was simply stating a fact. After she felt him nod his head slowly, Shadow added, “You’ll always find something, Jyren. I don’t know what you’d do if all of this suddenly ended.”
“We’re not leaving here just because I’m trying to find something else to run off and fight,” Jyren growled, for once doing exactly what he always accused Shadow of and missing the point completely.
She sighed and put her arm around him, “I know that...but you have to admit that there’s a very good chance we’re not going to find a thing. Are you going to reach more if that happens?”
Jyren opened his mouth, a sigh came out when he didn’t mean one to, then closed it. After a deep breath(which caused Shadow to shiver as the air breathed across her ear in just the ‘right’ way), he said, “I’m not reaching at all, Shadow. You know that as well as I do.”
“No!” she nearly yelled, stepping back and turning to look him straight in the fact, “Jyren, no I don’t know! That’s the whole problem! Dammit, Jyren, I saw the same thing you did! And I’m sorry that it happened, but people die, Jyren. People die every single day, and you have to learn to accept it and move on! You can’t just cling to every little thing in some false hope! I will tear you apart! You should know that better than anyone, even me!”
All that Jyren could do was sigh and hang his head. Shadow was not going to have any of that, though, and quickly reached up to force him to look her in the eye. Finally, he said under his breath, “Its not false hope, Shadow. I know you’ve felt it through the link, too.”
A pause, then, slowly, Shadow nodded, “Yes, I have, and that’s why we’re going back. But, Jyren, you have to got understand that it could very well be your mind trying to find a way to bring her back.
“But I...we would have felt something if she had died,” Jyren was nearly pleading at this point.
“Did you feel anything when Voort died?”
The mere mention of the name caused Jyren to freeze in place. In a second the image of the man’s face flashed across Jyren’s eyes. The look of shock on the battered face of Titus Voort hung there in front of Jyren for a very long moment before gasping, “Find her...”
“I’m sorry,” Shadow’s voice put a sudden end to the haunting image. It was easy to forget how strongly he reacted to hearing Voort’s name. Carefully, she stepped forward and hugged him as best she could manage, “We’ll go back to Nar Shaddaa, and we’ll see what we can find.”
Slowly, Jyren nodded in response, but Shadow couldn’t help but notice he was just standing there still. She sighed and stood back, moving her hands up to rest on his face, “Come on, Jyren, lets not do this now. I’m sorry I even brought it up.”
Then, at least a little awkwardly, Shadow leaned up and kissed him gently. That, thankfully, seemed to get some reaction out of him. When she’d pulled back, he opened his mouth and said, “I’m so—“
”And none of that, either,” Shadow cut him off, but a grin quickly appeared on her face and she nodded back inside, “Come on, people are going to get suspicious about us. Besides, you owe me a dance without any surprises like last time.”
He grinned as she tugged him inside, “You’re sure you’re the same Shadow?”
“Nope,” she squeezed his arm, “But I’m all you’re getting, so you’d better get used to it.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” Jyren said as they moved past one of the larger crowds.
Shadow looked over her shoulder to him and grinned, “You’d better not be. Remember, I’m very dangerous. You’re liable to lose your tail if you complain too much.”
((A heads up. There will not be another update until Friday, and then I should be starting into a new schedule for updates. Namely, this SH will be updated on(hopefully) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Weekends, too, if I've got the time, but I'm not making promises on that.
Why is this?
Because Tuesdays and Thursdays will now be taken up with updates for a brand new Star Wars Story Hour I'll be writing in conjunction with this one. It should get its first update on Thursday, and I'll post a link to it here on Friday.))
Jyren did as his father had suggested and had...helped to get rid of the many people mobbing Shadow. Helped being that he stared at the backs of their heads pointedly until one of them turned around, after which they quickly dispersed.
Shadow managed to give him a weak smile, “You still owe me, you know.”
“I get the feeling it’s a debt I’m never paying off,” he said with a grin, “Really would have thought you would owe me, though. You know, for the killing thing.”
“Yes, well, you’re alive now aren’t you?” she grinned back and poked his chest, “Besides, that’s over and done with. You owe me for all of this.”
Jyren looked around to see all of the people were staring at them. Trying to ignore that, he looked back to Shadow, “I owe you for all of this?”
“Yes, you do,” she said flatly, “If not for you, none of this would be happening.”
He opened his mouth to argue that, but no words came out. She was right, of course. But...it seemed like such an unfair argument.
[It is unfair.] Shadow’s voice appeared in his mind. [You’ll live.]
Slowly, Jyren’s grin grew until he started laughing. Why, he wasn’t completely sure, he just did. And then, after Shadow had gone to staring at him as if he’d lost his mind(or rather, lost more of it), he said a little too loudly, “You look beautiful in that dress.”
Immediately, Shadow went a deep shade of crimson, which got a cruel laugh out of Jyren. Under her breath, she growled a curse and gave him a not so gently punch in the chest. Of course, she didn’t actually say anything, and she was still a very interesting bright red colour. After letting this go on for another long minute, Jyren finally sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, “I guess its not possible to escape from here, is it?”
She shook her head quickly, then said quietly, “Can go outside, though.”
That was all the agreement that was necessary. As quickly as they could while still looking polite and smiling, the two of them moved across the large room to one of the open doors. They stepped out onto one of the countless balconies that almost littered the huge Palace complex. Idly, they walked over to the edge to look out at the view of the forest beyond. It was so much like the back on the Capital and yet...so very different. It had only been a few days, but so much had happened.
So much and here they were, standing together out on a balcony doing their best to escape from a gigantic ceremony in their honor. But something was different. Not just the view of the Palace and the forest beyond, or even the multitude of stars that could be seen in the sky...but the atmosphere itself. The feeling in the Force. It was...it was...different. Whether that was good or not, neither were all that sure of. If it was, that meant that it was a good thing that Kyren and so many others had lost their lives...and it wasn’t, then what had they given their lives for in the first place?
“You told my father we’re going to leave, didn’t you?” Jyren asked out of nowhere, glancing over to her and doing his absolute best not to stare. It was, admittedly, very hard to do. He hadn’t been lying when he’d commented on how she looked.
She nodded, but continued to look up at one of the two moons up in the night sky, “I knew you wouldn’t, and he deserves to know.”
“So when are we going?” he asked, carefully trying to avoid any kind of argument and turning up to look where she was.
“Tomorrow,” Shadow answered after a short pause.
But she said nothing else. Noticing that she was dropping back into her old, direct habit she used to simply ignore things that were annoying her, Jyren attempted to nullify this the best way he could. He put an arm around her, which, of course, made her jump out of surprise for a moment before she sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.
“I wish this was over and we could just stay,” Jyren said quietly, resting his head on hers gently.
“Don’t try lying to me to make me feel better. I know when you’re lying better than you do,” Shadow whispered, though she wasn’t at all harsh in that and was simply stating a fact. After she felt him nod his head slowly, Shadow added, “You’ll always find something, Jyren. I don’t know what you’d do if all of this suddenly ended.”
“We’re not leaving here just because I’m trying to find something else to run off and fight,” Jyren growled, for once doing exactly what he always accused Shadow of and missing the point completely.
She sighed and put her arm around him, “I know that...but you have to admit that there’s a very good chance we’re not going to find a thing. Are you going to reach more if that happens?”
Jyren opened his mouth, a sigh came out when he didn’t mean one to, then closed it. After a deep breath(which caused Shadow to shiver as the air breathed across her ear in just the ‘right’ way), he said, “I’m not reaching at all, Shadow. You know that as well as I do.”
“No!” she nearly yelled, stepping back and turning to look him straight in the fact, “Jyren, no I don’t know! That’s the whole problem! Dammit, Jyren, I saw the same thing you did! And I’m sorry that it happened, but people die, Jyren. People die every single day, and you have to learn to accept it and move on! You can’t just cling to every little thing in some false hope! I will tear you apart! You should know that better than anyone, even me!”
All that Jyren could do was sigh and hang his head. Shadow was not going to have any of that, though, and quickly reached up to force him to look her in the eye. Finally, he said under his breath, “Its not false hope, Shadow. I know you’ve felt it through the link, too.”
A pause, then, slowly, Shadow nodded, “Yes, I have, and that’s why we’re going back. But, Jyren, you have to got understand that it could very well be your mind trying to find a way to bring her back.
“But I...we would have felt something if she had died,” Jyren was nearly pleading at this point.
“Did you feel anything when Voort died?”
The mere mention of the name caused Jyren to freeze in place. In a second the image of the man’s face flashed across Jyren’s eyes. The look of shock on the battered face of Titus Voort hung there in front of Jyren for a very long moment before gasping, “Find her...”
“I’m sorry,” Shadow’s voice put a sudden end to the haunting image. It was easy to forget how strongly he reacted to hearing Voort’s name. Carefully, she stepped forward and hugged him as best she could manage, “We’ll go back to Nar Shaddaa, and we’ll see what we can find.”
Slowly, Jyren nodded in response, but Shadow couldn’t help but notice he was just standing there still. She sighed and stood back, moving her hands up to rest on his face, “Come on, Jyren, lets not do this now. I’m sorry I even brought it up.”
Then, at least a little awkwardly, Shadow leaned up and kissed him gently. That, thankfully, seemed to get some reaction out of him. When she’d pulled back, he opened his mouth and said, “I’m so—“
”And none of that, either,” Shadow cut him off, but a grin quickly appeared on her face and she nodded back inside, “Come on, people are going to get suspicious about us. Besides, you owe me a dance without any surprises like last time.”
He grinned as she tugged him inside, “You’re sure you’re the same Shadow?”
“Nope,” she squeezed his arm, “But I’m all you’re getting, so you’d better get used to it.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” Jyren said as they moved past one of the larger crowds.
Shadow looked over her shoulder to him and grinned, “You’d better not be. Remember, I’m very dangerous. You’re liable to lose your tail if you complain too much.”
((A heads up. There will not be another update until Friday, and then I should be starting into a new schedule for updates. Namely, this SH will be updated on(hopefully) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Weekends, too, if I've got the time, but I'm not making promises on that.
Why is this?
Because Tuesdays and Thursdays will now be taken up with updates for a brand new Star Wars Story Hour I'll be writing in conjunction with this one. It should get its first update on Thursday, and I'll post a link to it here on Friday.))
trexmaster
First Post
Woot ! Woot ! More SW goodness from AMG ! Woot !
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Part IV
Chapter 273: Back Again
Step left...right...back...eyes on her. Focus. Think. Ignore the link. Ignore the Force. Focus. Watch her movements...careful...careful...tail twitched left. From the left, then? No! Too obvious! Right, then! No! Again, too obvious! Then...where...foot!
Jyren immediately took a half step back, his hands moving up to catch Shadow’s foot as it lashed out as his chest. He actually succeeded, grabbing her ankle and throwing her back as quickly as he could. Shadow stumbled back a few steps before regaining her footing. A smile appeared on her face, “Good. Looks like this is actually getting through you skull, finally.”
It was another four day hyperspace jump to get from the Alraxian Empire to the rest of the galaxy, and they were making the best of it. Sure, the first day had only consisted of arguments stemming from Jyren’s blatant refusal to use a lightsaber or, the part that really annoyed Shadow, the Force. He’d gone from spooked on the whole incident with Ket to stubborn determination to not come anywhere near any of it again. It was stupid, in her opinion. But after the first day, she’d given up arguing it. He had, thankfully, given into allowing her to teach him better hand-to-hand techniques than he’d learned with the New Republic.
Shadow taught him what she had learned as a Tam’day’u...well, mostly. They used the Force. Jyren, as usual, was making things difficult by not doing so. But now, finally, it all looked to be sinking in. His movements were more natural and much less forced, and he had finally gotten the hang of paying attention to every detail of his opponent...not just allowing the Force to do all the work. That, at least, was a good thing.
Deciding to give him another quick test, Shadow did not speak up and help him with what he’d done wrong, and instead moved forward quickly. She feinted left, then as she moved to his other side, swept a foot out to send him to the ground. Jyren actually jumped over the swipe at his feet, and even brought up an arm to block her punch aimed at his stomach.. He did not, however, keep the same defenses up when his feet hit the deck, and Shadow landed a strong kick to his left side which sent Jyren to the deck hard.
From Jyren, there was a loud groan. From the other side of the large ‘hangar’, there was a higher pitched whimper, a sigh, then, “That’s no fair!”
Shadow sighed and looked over her shoulder to where Tobias was sitting up on top of the nose of Jyren’s X-Wing. The little Alraxian was perched up there on the sensor cone and watching intently, though he had been, of course, cheering for Jyren the entire time. Rolling her eyes, Shadow looked back to Jyren as he got to his feet, “I still can’t believe you convinced me to bring the brat along.”
Jyren grinned as he rubbed his side, “You’re just complaining because he’s on my side.”
Shadow glared at Jyren for a long moment before glancing back to Toby. The child caught her nodding to them, smiled broadly before hopping down to the deck a good meter below, and then padding over to the two of them, purring the whole time. There was something about this that was distinctly worrying to Jyren...and not just because Shadow was blocking the link to hide something. He could tell there was something going on here, and had a good idea the two of them were conspiring about something behind his...errr, in front of his face.
When Shadow looked back to Jyren, he caught that devilishly evil grin was back on her face. It had never worried him before, but for once, it did. And then a second later, a growl from Tobias turned into a, “Pounce!”
And then, of course, Jyren was pounced. Toby jumped a half meter up and immediately latched onto Jyren’s leg, and then suddenly Shadow pounced too. In a blur, Jyren hit the deck again, but harder and with two others forcing him down. Between the two, they pinned him and laughed.
“Traitor!” Jyren yelled out, shaking his leg where Toby was attached to.
Tobias laughed and just gripped harder, which meant claws. Shadow grinned and kissed Jyren’s cheek, “He’s on my side,” she then looked down to Toby, “And why is that?”
“Cause Jyren never makes food,” Tobias stated in a very well trained voice.
Any response was cut off by a mental clearing of a throat...or at least something similar. Naturally, they all looked up. When he decided he had their attention, Loki said. [We will be exiting hyperspace in five minutes. If you two would like a little more time alone I can fly in myself...]
“We’re coming, Loki,” Shadow growled, as she got up off of Jyren and then helped him up. Tobias didn’t let go, but it didn’t provide much of a hindrance as they headed for the cockpit. Their break was over. Back to work now. Back to the rest of the galaxy and back to Nar Shaddaa.
((New Story Hour is up and has one update so far! Link in my sig.))
Chapter 273: Back Again
Step left...right...back...eyes on her. Focus. Think. Ignore the link. Ignore the Force. Focus. Watch her movements...careful...careful...tail twitched left. From the left, then? No! Too obvious! Right, then! No! Again, too obvious! Then...where...foot!
Jyren immediately took a half step back, his hands moving up to catch Shadow’s foot as it lashed out as his chest. He actually succeeded, grabbing her ankle and throwing her back as quickly as he could. Shadow stumbled back a few steps before regaining her footing. A smile appeared on her face, “Good. Looks like this is actually getting through you skull, finally.”
It was another four day hyperspace jump to get from the Alraxian Empire to the rest of the galaxy, and they were making the best of it. Sure, the first day had only consisted of arguments stemming from Jyren’s blatant refusal to use a lightsaber or, the part that really annoyed Shadow, the Force. He’d gone from spooked on the whole incident with Ket to stubborn determination to not come anywhere near any of it again. It was stupid, in her opinion. But after the first day, she’d given up arguing it. He had, thankfully, given into allowing her to teach him better hand-to-hand techniques than he’d learned with the New Republic.
Shadow taught him what she had learned as a Tam’day’u...well, mostly. They used the Force. Jyren, as usual, was making things difficult by not doing so. But now, finally, it all looked to be sinking in. His movements were more natural and much less forced, and he had finally gotten the hang of paying attention to every detail of his opponent...not just allowing the Force to do all the work. That, at least, was a good thing.
Deciding to give him another quick test, Shadow did not speak up and help him with what he’d done wrong, and instead moved forward quickly. She feinted left, then as she moved to his other side, swept a foot out to send him to the ground. Jyren actually jumped over the swipe at his feet, and even brought up an arm to block her punch aimed at his stomach.. He did not, however, keep the same defenses up when his feet hit the deck, and Shadow landed a strong kick to his left side which sent Jyren to the deck hard.
From Jyren, there was a loud groan. From the other side of the large ‘hangar’, there was a higher pitched whimper, a sigh, then, “That’s no fair!”
Shadow sighed and looked over her shoulder to where Tobias was sitting up on top of the nose of Jyren’s X-Wing. The little Alraxian was perched up there on the sensor cone and watching intently, though he had been, of course, cheering for Jyren the entire time. Rolling her eyes, Shadow looked back to Jyren as he got to his feet, “I still can’t believe you convinced me to bring the brat along.”
Jyren grinned as he rubbed his side, “You’re just complaining because he’s on my side.”
Shadow glared at Jyren for a long moment before glancing back to Toby. The child caught her nodding to them, smiled broadly before hopping down to the deck a good meter below, and then padding over to the two of them, purring the whole time. There was something about this that was distinctly worrying to Jyren...and not just because Shadow was blocking the link to hide something. He could tell there was something going on here, and had a good idea the two of them were conspiring about something behind his...errr, in front of his face.
When Shadow looked back to Jyren, he caught that devilishly evil grin was back on her face. It had never worried him before, but for once, it did. And then a second later, a growl from Tobias turned into a, “Pounce!”
And then, of course, Jyren was pounced. Toby jumped a half meter up and immediately latched onto Jyren’s leg, and then suddenly Shadow pounced too. In a blur, Jyren hit the deck again, but harder and with two others forcing him down. Between the two, they pinned him and laughed.
“Traitor!” Jyren yelled out, shaking his leg where Toby was attached to.
Tobias laughed and just gripped harder, which meant claws. Shadow grinned and kissed Jyren’s cheek, “He’s on my side,” she then looked down to Toby, “And why is that?”
“Cause Jyren never makes food,” Tobias stated in a very well trained voice.
Any response was cut off by a mental clearing of a throat...or at least something similar. Naturally, they all looked up. When he decided he had their attention, Loki said. [We will be exiting hyperspace in five minutes. If you two would like a little more time alone I can fly in myself...]
“We’re coming, Loki,” Shadow growled, as she got up off of Jyren and then helped him up. Tobias didn’t let go, but it didn’t provide much of a hindrance as they headed for the cockpit. Their break was over. Back to work now. Back to the rest of the galaxy and back to Nar Shaddaa.
((New Story Hour is up and has one update so far! Link in my sig.))
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 274: Of Smarts and Looks
The putrid brown world of Nal Hutta, home of the slug-like Hutts, hung distantly on the opposite side of its small moon. Thankfully, the world itself was generally off limits to any non-Hutts, but that wasn’t ever a problem. Any non-Hutt that wanted down on that planet would have to have some serious problems. At least partly because of this, Nal Hutta’s moon of Nar Shaddaa became the place where the smugglers, bounty hunters, and other galactic ‘sludge’ that worked for the Hutts found their way to.
And now, flying through the atmosphere of the miniature Coruscant, Loki wove through the other traffic and larger of the giant towers. They were currently circling an area near Halpak Tower, which was still in exactly the same place they’d left it. The reason they weren’t set down was due to the fact that nearly all of the landing platforms on the planet were privately owned, and it required very strong negotiation skills to convince the owner to let you land and not steal your ship when you’d left.
Shadow was doing the ‘negotiating’, and had just finished explaining in great detail how anyone looking at Loki in the wrong way would have their extremities removed. Of course, she did make sure to mention they would pay generously...but the pain was emphasized. Once it was repeated in even greater detail, the voice on the other end caved and agreed, and it wasn’t long before Loki set down on a small pad not a half-kilometer from Halpak Tower. Closer than they’d been before, at least.
After Loki was down, Shadow checked over a few last things before heading back to find Jyren. He was supposed to be back with Toby making sure the child would stay on the ship while the two of them were gone. Instead, she found the two of them sitting on the bed in Toby’s room(which had been Jyren’s before) and staring at each other with an almost malicious intent in their eyes.
Shadow simply cleared her throat, although she managed to make it sound menacing somehow. At the noise, Tobias jumped. Or rather, shot up a half meter into the air and yelped in surprise. Immediately, Jyren laughed before sitting up and catching Tobias as he fell back down, “I win.”
“Awwwww!” Toby whimpered then looked over Jyren to Shadow with a glare, “But I wanna go, too!”
“Nope,” Jyren shook his head and set Toby back down on the bed, “You know the deal. I won, so you have to stay here until we get back.”
Tobias sighed dramatically, but after seeing that he was being given The Look from both Jyren and Shadow, mumbled and nodded, “Okay...but I wanna explore when you get back!”
“If you’re good,” Jyren said with a nod, patting Toby on the head and getting up to walk over to Shadow.
She was now staring at him in shock. After a moment, she just shook her head, “You actually gave him the chance to win?”
Jyren shrugged and grinned, “He accepted it much better than just telling him. And besides, it wasn’t as if I was going to lose.”
Shadow was still gaping, but slowly words began to form, “You...arrogant...”
That was it. What else was there to be said? Especially considering that he grinned even more, anything else would probably have only encouraged him more. It was one of those times when Shadow wondered why she hadn’t killed him yet...besides the fact that she’d have to die, too.
Shaking it off, Shadow turned and started down the corridor to leave Loki, “Come on, we’ll do this quickly.”
She saw him nod before turning back and saying something to Toby. Jyren then quickly ran to keep up with her, and when he got to the hatch and found nothing, he started looking all around.
“Human,” sounded an oddly Shadow-like voice. It would have been Shadow but the voice was higher pitched, at least slightly softer, and well...lower down. Jyren blinked, allowed his mind to process all of the information, then made the correct decision and looked down. A half meter under his vision was a human woman with shoulder length, jet black hair and an athletic build. She was looking straight up at Jyren with two piercing violet eyes and an expression that only Shadow could manage.
“Oh!” it suddenly all made sense to Jyren, “Right. Of course.”
In a moment, he was no longer towering over her...though even back in his ‘old’ human body, Jyren was still a good deal taller than Shadow was. But she didn’t have to break her neck to look up at him, now. It was almost strange looking at him like this again. His hair was pretty much the same length, but now back to the old brown instead of white and blue. And he was...well...he wasn’t exactly much to look at, in all honesty. No wonder he’d been a pilot.
She grinned at the thought, which only made Jyren confused. Which of course, only made Shadow grin more. There was something more dangerous about that grin when it was on a human. Probably because she was shorter, smaller, and didn’t look nearly as menacing. That grin sure as hell did. Seeing that it had the necessary effect, Shadow patted Jyren on the shoulder before turning and leading the way out to the streets of Nar Shaddaa.
They were delayed for a short time while they paid the owner of the platform and gave more assurance of the pain that would be caused if the ship was touched, but in a few more minutes they were back to braving the insanely populated streets of the Smuggler’s Moon. It took twenty minutes to travel the half-kilometer to their destination...but their it was, almost exactly as they had left it.
Almost, because now there were lights on, and, from the looks of things, actual people inside. Jyren bit his lip and looked down to Shadow, “So what do we say?”
“I haven’t worked that part out yet,” she admitted with a shrug before starting to the entrance anyway, “I’ll figure something out.”
“Ah, good,” Jyren rolled his eyes, “And here I was thinking I was the one who ran in head first without any plan.”
“Just more proof that you’re a bad influence,” Shadow shrugged idly, managing not to grin, “Now keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking. Don’t want to tip anyone off that you’re smarter than you look.”
The putrid brown world of Nal Hutta, home of the slug-like Hutts, hung distantly on the opposite side of its small moon. Thankfully, the world itself was generally off limits to any non-Hutts, but that wasn’t ever a problem. Any non-Hutt that wanted down on that planet would have to have some serious problems. At least partly because of this, Nal Hutta’s moon of Nar Shaddaa became the place where the smugglers, bounty hunters, and other galactic ‘sludge’ that worked for the Hutts found their way to.
And now, flying through the atmosphere of the miniature Coruscant, Loki wove through the other traffic and larger of the giant towers. They were currently circling an area near Halpak Tower, which was still in exactly the same place they’d left it. The reason they weren’t set down was due to the fact that nearly all of the landing platforms on the planet were privately owned, and it required very strong negotiation skills to convince the owner to let you land and not steal your ship when you’d left.
Shadow was doing the ‘negotiating’, and had just finished explaining in great detail how anyone looking at Loki in the wrong way would have their extremities removed. Of course, she did make sure to mention they would pay generously...but the pain was emphasized. Once it was repeated in even greater detail, the voice on the other end caved and agreed, and it wasn’t long before Loki set down on a small pad not a half-kilometer from Halpak Tower. Closer than they’d been before, at least.
After Loki was down, Shadow checked over a few last things before heading back to find Jyren. He was supposed to be back with Toby making sure the child would stay on the ship while the two of them were gone. Instead, she found the two of them sitting on the bed in Toby’s room(which had been Jyren’s before) and staring at each other with an almost malicious intent in their eyes.
Shadow simply cleared her throat, although she managed to make it sound menacing somehow. At the noise, Tobias jumped. Or rather, shot up a half meter into the air and yelped in surprise. Immediately, Jyren laughed before sitting up and catching Tobias as he fell back down, “I win.”
“Awwwww!” Toby whimpered then looked over Jyren to Shadow with a glare, “But I wanna go, too!”
“Nope,” Jyren shook his head and set Toby back down on the bed, “You know the deal. I won, so you have to stay here until we get back.”
Tobias sighed dramatically, but after seeing that he was being given The Look from both Jyren and Shadow, mumbled and nodded, “Okay...but I wanna explore when you get back!”
“If you’re good,” Jyren said with a nod, patting Toby on the head and getting up to walk over to Shadow.
She was now staring at him in shock. After a moment, she just shook her head, “You actually gave him the chance to win?”
Jyren shrugged and grinned, “He accepted it much better than just telling him. And besides, it wasn’t as if I was going to lose.”
Shadow was still gaping, but slowly words began to form, “You...arrogant...”
That was it. What else was there to be said? Especially considering that he grinned even more, anything else would probably have only encouraged him more. It was one of those times when Shadow wondered why she hadn’t killed him yet...besides the fact that she’d have to die, too.
Shaking it off, Shadow turned and started down the corridor to leave Loki, “Come on, we’ll do this quickly.”
She saw him nod before turning back and saying something to Toby. Jyren then quickly ran to keep up with her, and when he got to the hatch and found nothing, he started looking all around.
“Human,” sounded an oddly Shadow-like voice. It would have been Shadow but the voice was higher pitched, at least slightly softer, and well...lower down. Jyren blinked, allowed his mind to process all of the information, then made the correct decision and looked down. A half meter under his vision was a human woman with shoulder length, jet black hair and an athletic build. She was looking straight up at Jyren with two piercing violet eyes and an expression that only Shadow could manage.
“Oh!” it suddenly all made sense to Jyren, “Right. Of course.”
In a moment, he was no longer towering over her...though even back in his ‘old’ human body, Jyren was still a good deal taller than Shadow was. But she didn’t have to break her neck to look up at him, now. It was almost strange looking at him like this again. His hair was pretty much the same length, but now back to the old brown instead of white and blue. And he was...well...he wasn’t exactly much to look at, in all honesty. No wonder he’d been a pilot.
She grinned at the thought, which only made Jyren confused. Which of course, only made Shadow grin more. There was something more dangerous about that grin when it was on a human. Probably because she was shorter, smaller, and didn’t look nearly as menacing. That grin sure as hell did. Seeing that it had the necessary effect, Shadow patted Jyren on the shoulder before turning and leading the way out to the streets of Nar Shaddaa.
They were delayed for a short time while they paid the owner of the platform and gave more assurance of the pain that would be caused if the ship was touched, but in a few more minutes they were back to braving the insanely populated streets of the Smuggler’s Moon. It took twenty minutes to travel the half-kilometer to their destination...but their it was, almost exactly as they had left it.
Almost, because now there were lights on, and, from the looks of things, actual people inside. Jyren bit his lip and looked down to Shadow, “So what do we say?”
“I haven’t worked that part out yet,” she admitted with a shrug before starting to the entrance anyway, “I’ll figure something out.”
“Ah, good,” Jyren rolled his eyes, “And here I was thinking I was the one who ran in head first without any plan.”
“Just more proof that you’re a bad influence,” Shadow shrugged idly, managing not to grin, “Now keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking. Don’t want to tip anyone off that you’re smarter than you look.”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 275: Memories
If there was one thing that could persuade people that you were in the right place, it was acting like you owned it. One thing Jyren had learned very early on was that it was something Shadow was an expert at. And when she led the way into the large, open lobby of Halpak Tower, not a single person made eye contact with her at all. Not only was it in the way she walked, but the very feeling she was giving off was the kind that made everyone know that stupid questions such as ‘Who are you?’ would be very dangerous because this was something they obviously should know...it was just a matter of remembering her name.
Sitting behind the main desk off to one side of the lobby was the exact same woman who had been there the first time Shadow and Jyren had done some recon weeks ago. Jyren was smart and stood back a few paces while Shadow did her thing...which currently meant stepping right up to the desk and not even looking down at the woman when she said, “Send the guards on the top floor home.”
The human woman behind the desk looked at Shadow with a stunned silence. Jyren knew there was not a trace of the Force in that sentence...simple stating of an order that could not possibly be argued against. And she even got halfway to hitting a switch that was probably a comm before stopping herself and stuttering out, “W-wh-who are you?!”
When Shadow made eye contact, it was as piercing and violent as a lightsaber blade, “I am Mr. Halpak’s personal assistant,” Shadow then allowed for the dutiful and short pause, allowing the woman to open her mouth before shutting her up again, “I am in no mood to be delayed. There are some objects he left behind that I must return to him.”
A long pause, then, slowly, the woman nodded and relayed a message through the comlink. She then motioned for Shadow to go to the turbolift, and when they were in and it was heading up, Jyren couldn’t help himself.
“By the Force, I’m glad we don’t have to walk this again.”
Shadow allowed herself a grin and a nod, “You and me both.”
After taking a deep breath, and casually listening to the sound of the turbolift rising up the uncountable number of floors, Jyren decided there was a question worth asking, “How did you know there were guards up on the top floor? And how do you know they didn’t clear the place weeks ago?”
“I didn’t,” she said with a devious smile. She idly ran a hand through her all black hair(which was somehow odd looking without the white), then decided to answer his next question before it was asked, “But you learn to pick up on things. You forget that I wasn’t just an assassin...smuggling requires people skills.”
“...which is why I’m not doing the talking,” Jyren grumbled, finishing her unsaid thought.
“Exactly,” Shadow replied sweetly before turning and giving him a casual look over. When she rolled her eyes, he knew what was coming, “If you don’t cut that hair, I’m going to hack it all off in your sleep.”
“Hey, I like my hai—“ Jyren was quickly cut off by the swish of the turbolift door opening. Normally, that wouldn’t have shut him up so easily, but seeing this room again did it. The columns...the long red carpet, the turn to where Halpak’s desk was. All the same. Like they had never been touched...at least the blood was gone.
The air between them suddenly altered, Shadow and Jyren exchanged a glance before very slowly walking in together. It took nearly five minutes to reach the turn in the room...not because they were worried about any of those traps that Ket had been so fond of, but simply because the room was...was...this room. And when they turned the corner, their eyes locked on the scene there.
The desk that had been smashed in the fight that had occurred in this room was still there...not replaced, but simply patched together. It was obvious due to the large seam lines across the center where the desk had snapped in two. Behind it was the turbolift door that Ket and Nine had escaped through...clean and untouched. And the large window to the right of the turbolift had not been completely replaced. Instead, there were three glassteel panels patched together in the large area. Though Jyren’s eyes immediately latched onto the fourth column on the right side of the room, he saw no blood...no signs of the sharp, metal blades that had been hidden within.
No signs of Titus Voort.
“We should have given him a proper burial,” Jyren whispered, not even really knowing he had spoken anything.
Shadow slowly nodded, and said quietly, “There wasn’t time...I...I did the best I could.”
“I know,” he said softly back, resting a hand on her shoulder. Shadow very quickly realized it was not out of an attempt at comfort, though, as his fingers dug into her shoulder(thank the Force he was human, claws would have hurt).
Taking a deep breath, Shadow put an arm around him and half-hugged him as best she could...she still wasn’t comfortable with the whole...comfort thing, “Its uh...okay...lets just do what we’re here to do.”
It took a moment, but Jyren eventually nodded and let go of her shoulder. He then stepped around the desk and to the temporary window. Nothing needed to be said to know what had to be done. After a silent count(and a silent apology from Jyren), both of them kicked the glassteel panel with all the strength that their human bodies could manage...though Shadow used the Force to assist her.
With a loud crash, the lower panel collapsed outward and shattered. There was a half second before the two upper panels fell down, smashing on the edge of the floor before the pieces scattered across the interior of the room...though the majority went tumbling down the impossibly long fall to the ground below. Both of them then stepped back into view of the open window, trying to ignore the heavy wind that was at this altitude. It was only natural to lean over and look down...though it was not a new view for Jyren.
“I see something,” Shadow mumbled before peering closer.
Jyren did his best to follow her gaze, but quickly realized what she was looking at, “Those are mine.”
“Yours...?”
“Claw marks,” he clarified simply.
Shadow raised an eyebrow at him before turning and leaning a little farther to get a better view. She then stood back up straight and looked him right in the eye, “That mark goes on for at least five levels.”
“Sounds about right,” Jyren answered the question she’d asked without actually asking. He sighed, then said flatly, “I fell a long ways.”
Between them, an unsaid comment flashed through their minds.
‘Jen fell farther.’
The moment passed, and Shadow allowed herself another look down. Over her shoulder, she commented, “There’s a walkway about forty levels down.”
“How close?” Jyren was suddenly no longer in the mood to look down that metal chasm.
Shadow had to take a moment to figure his meaning before saying, “Close enough.”
“Then there’s a chance...”
Sighing, Shadow stood back up to look him in the eyes again, “Jyren, with you, there’s always a chance.”
“But I felt something!” he snapped back angrily.
“Of course you did!” Shadow growled at him, “Dammit, Jyren, its called regret, not the Force!”
Jyren sighed, and calmed himself as best he could, “Then why are we still here?”
At that, Shadow actually grinned, “Because there’s a chance. Here, lower me down, I want to check something.”
If there was one thing that could persuade people that you were in the right place, it was acting like you owned it. One thing Jyren had learned very early on was that it was something Shadow was an expert at. And when she led the way into the large, open lobby of Halpak Tower, not a single person made eye contact with her at all. Not only was it in the way she walked, but the very feeling she was giving off was the kind that made everyone know that stupid questions such as ‘Who are you?’ would be very dangerous because this was something they obviously should know...it was just a matter of remembering her name.
Sitting behind the main desk off to one side of the lobby was the exact same woman who had been there the first time Shadow and Jyren had done some recon weeks ago. Jyren was smart and stood back a few paces while Shadow did her thing...which currently meant stepping right up to the desk and not even looking down at the woman when she said, “Send the guards on the top floor home.”
The human woman behind the desk looked at Shadow with a stunned silence. Jyren knew there was not a trace of the Force in that sentence...simple stating of an order that could not possibly be argued against. And she even got halfway to hitting a switch that was probably a comm before stopping herself and stuttering out, “W-wh-who are you?!”
When Shadow made eye contact, it was as piercing and violent as a lightsaber blade, “I am Mr. Halpak’s personal assistant,” Shadow then allowed for the dutiful and short pause, allowing the woman to open her mouth before shutting her up again, “I am in no mood to be delayed. There are some objects he left behind that I must return to him.”
A long pause, then, slowly, the woman nodded and relayed a message through the comlink. She then motioned for Shadow to go to the turbolift, and when they were in and it was heading up, Jyren couldn’t help himself.
“By the Force, I’m glad we don’t have to walk this again.”
Shadow allowed herself a grin and a nod, “You and me both.”
After taking a deep breath, and casually listening to the sound of the turbolift rising up the uncountable number of floors, Jyren decided there was a question worth asking, “How did you know there were guards up on the top floor? And how do you know they didn’t clear the place weeks ago?”
“I didn’t,” she said with a devious smile. She idly ran a hand through her all black hair(which was somehow odd looking without the white), then decided to answer his next question before it was asked, “But you learn to pick up on things. You forget that I wasn’t just an assassin...smuggling requires people skills.”
“...which is why I’m not doing the talking,” Jyren grumbled, finishing her unsaid thought.
“Exactly,” Shadow replied sweetly before turning and giving him a casual look over. When she rolled her eyes, he knew what was coming, “If you don’t cut that hair, I’m going to hack it all off in your sleep.”
“Hey, I like my hai—“ Jyren was quickly cut off by the swish of the turbolift door opening. Normally, that wouldn’t have shut him up so easily, but seeing this room again did it. The columns...the long red carpet, the turn to where Halpak’s desk was. All the same. Like they had never been touched...at least the blood was gone.
The air between them suddenly altered, Shadow and Jyren exchanged a glance before very slowly walking in together. It took nearly five minutes to reach the turn in the room...not because they were worried about any of those traps that Ket had been so fond of, but simply because the room was...was...this room. And when they turned the corner, their eyes locked on the scene there.
The desk that had been smashed in the fight that had occurred in this room was still there...not replaced, but simply patched together. It was obvious due to the large seam lines across the center where the desk had snapped in two. Behind it was the turbolift door that Ket and Nine had escaped through...clean and untouched. And the large window to the right of the turbolift had not been completely replaced. Instead, there were three glassteel panels patched together in the large area. Though Jyren’s eyes immediately latched onto the fourth column on the right side of the room, he saw no blood...no signs of the sharp, metal blades that had been hidden within.
No signs of Titus Voort.
“We should have given him a proper burial,” Jyren whispered, not even really knowing he had spoken anything.
Shadow slowly nodded, and said quietly, “There wasn’t time...I...I did the best I could.”
“I know,” he said softly back, resting a hand on her shoulder. Shadow very quickly realized it was not out of an attempt at comfort, though, as his fingers dug into her shoulder(thank the Force he was human, claws would have hurt).
Taking a deep breath, Shadow put an arm around him and half-hugged him as best she could...she still wasn’t comfortable with the whole...comfort thing, “Its uh...okay...lets just do what we’re here to do.”
It took a moment, but Jyren eventually nodded and let go of her shoulder. He then stepped around the desk and to the temporary window. Nothing needed to be said to know what had to be done. After a silent count(and a silent apology from Jyren), both of them kicked the glassteel panel with all the strength that their human bodies could manage...though Shadow used the Force to assist her.
With a loud crash, the lower panel collapsed outward and shattered. There was a half second before the two upper panels fell down, smashing on the edge of the floor before the pieces scattered across the interior of the room...though the majority went tumbling down the impossibly long fall to the ground below. Both of them then stepped back into view of the open window, trying to ignore the heavy wind that was at this altitude. It was only natural to lean over and look down...though it was not a new view for Jyren.
“I see something,” Shadow mumbled before peering closer.
Jyren did his best to follow her gaze, but quickly realized what she was looking at, “Those are mine.”
“Yours...?”
“Claw marks,” he clarified simply.
Shadow raised an eyebrow at him before turning and leaning a little farther to get a better view. She then stood back up straight and looked him right in the eye, “That mark goes on for at least five levels.”
“Sounds about right,” Jyren answered the question she’d asked without actually asking. He sighed, then said flatly, “I fell a long ways.”
Between them, an unsaid comment flashed through their minds.
‘Jen fell farther.’
The moment passed, and Shadow allowed herself another look down. Over her shoulder, she commented, “There’s a walkway about forty levels down.”
“How close?” Jyren was suddenly no longer in the mood to look down that metal chasm.
Shadow had to take a moment to figure his meaning before saying, “Close enough.”
“Then there’s a chance...”
Sighing, Shadow stood back up to look him in the eyes again, “Jyren, with you, there’s always a chance.”
“But I felt something!” he snapped back angrily.
“Of course you did!” Shadow growled at him, “Dammit, Jyren, its called regret, not the Force!”
Jyren sighed, and calmed himself as best he could, “Then why are we still here?”
At that, Shadow actually grinned, “Because there’s a chance. Here, lower me down, I want to check something.”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 276: Over the Edge
“Shadow, a question for you,” Jyren grunted in a strained voice as he tried to ignore the pieces of glassteel digging into his chest as he lay on the floor at the edge of the window.
“What?!” Shadow’s voice snapped back, two arm’s lengths below. The high winds outside made it somewhat hard to hear her as she hung by Jyren’s arm outside the window.
Before responding, he attempted to shift his position without losing his grip on Shadow’s wrist. Though he knew she was moved slightly by that, he was currently doing his best not to look over the edge, “Why exactly do we have to do this the hard way, again?”
There was a grunt from below, and Shadow’s grip on his arm tightened slightly, “Because there aren’t any damned birds on this moon! We still have bounties on our heads, its not a good idea to stick them out and get noticed!”
“Oh,” Jyren grumbled, shifting again as a piece of glassteel was digging into the arm that was holding Shadow, “Right, then. Just wanted to make sure I understood.”
He could feel Shadow roll her eyes. In fact, the entire damned moon probably felt it. The weight on his arm shifted as Shadow probably moved to get a better view of...of...whatever the hell it was she was trying to look for. The extra strain on his arm brought up the need to ask another question, “So um...why exactly are we only using on arm each to keep you from falling and getting us both killed and/or noticed?”
Another grunt from below and Jyren felt his arm twist around in a way that should not have been possible. He whimpered before Shadow growled up at him, “Because I can’t see a damned thing if I’m using both arms...” there was a pause, another whimper from Jyren as he felt muscles being pulled, and then Shadow added, “And you’re supposed to be bracing yourself with your other arm.”
“Ah, of course,” the words were spoken through gritted teeth as Jyren glanced over to where his left hand was literally clawing into the duracrete wall. The fact that he was still human and had no claws only made him wince. He took a deep breath and forced his eyes shut again, “I can’t hold you much longer...all that twisting around is not doing anything but causing more pain.”
“Shut up,” the words were nearly yelled, though whether that was due to the fact that a speeder had gone by fairly close or because she was angry, Jyren didn’t know.
She moved again, and his arm was wrenched around and there was a snap. The snap was then followed by a pained growl from Jyren and then a weak sounding, “My shoulder is going to pop out if you keep moving like that!”
“How do you think I’m doing this, anyway?!” it was most definitely a rhetorical question.
Jyren’s eyes widened when it made sense to him what she meant, “You dislocated your own shoulder?! Dammit, Shadow, what is it with you and self-mutilation?!”
“It was the only way I could move and see without pulling you down!” Shadow snapped back. He heard a sigh(or maybe it was just the wind), and then Shadow said, “Pull me up.”
That was far easier said than done. Humans were really not designed for this kind of strain. But somehow, and still without the Force, Jyren managed to drag her back up and onto the solid floor in the large room. When up, they both remorphed the pained and broken limbs without even thinking. A moment later they were both back up on their feet and Shadow was looking down over again.
“She had to have fallen all the way down,” Shadow said quietly, glancing over her shoulder and through wind-ravaged black hair, “There’s no way to hang onto anything on the building without claws.”
Jyren sighed and nodded, stepping over next to her to look down again, “So that’s it, then?”
Silence.
Shadow was looking down again, her eyes not seeming to be looking at anything in particular. It was her ‘I’m thinking, shut up and be patient’ expression, and Jyren had (finally) learned that it was best to just shut up and be patient instead of asking question after question until he got an answer.
After another minute, Shadow stood back and crossed her arms over her chest, “There’s a traffic lane about halfway between this level and the platform walkway below.”
Jyren bit his lip and had a look, “Still a long way down...hitting a ship or a speeder would still kill a human, wouldn’t it?”
It was not lost on either of them that it was suddenly Jyren being the skeptic. Shadow shaking her head showed that the rolls they had originally taken were at least slightly turning around, “Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Shadow shrugged, “She was learning to use the Force, Jyren.”
He nodded. That was a possibility...a distant one, yes, but a possibility nonetheless. After thinking about it to himself for a short few moments, Jyren looked back to Shadow, “But how do we know?”
“We don’t,” Shadow admitted. She sighed and thought about it for a moment, but stopped when she noticed Jyren was staring at her...again. Not that she minded all that much, but it was still getting at least slightly distracting, “There’s still a couple people who owe me some favors. Let’s go see if we can track them down and find out if they know anything.”
Jyren grinned, “Are they the kind of people who are likely to shoot at you when they see you?”
Shadow couldn’t help but laugh, and idly put a hand on his shoulder as she started walking back to the turbolift, “Of course.”
“Shadow, a question for you,” Jyren grunted in a strained voice as he tried to ignore the pieces of glassteel digging into his chest as he lay on the floor at the edge of the window.
“What?!” Shadow’s voice snapped back, two arm’s lengths below. The high winds outside made it somewhat hard to hear her as she hung by Jyren’s arm outside the window.
Before responding, he attempted to shift his position without losing his grip on Shadow’s wrist. Though he knew she was moved slightly by that, he was currently doing his best not to look over the edge, “Why exactly do we have to do this the hard way, again?”
There was a grunt from below, and Shadow’s grip on his arm tightened slightly, “Because there aren’t any damned birds on this moon! We still have bounties on our heads, its not a good idea to stick them out and get noticed!”
“Oh,” Jyren grumbled, shifting again as a piece of glassteel was digging into the arm that was holding Shadow, “Right, then. Just wanted to make sure I understood.”
He could feel Shadow roll her eyes. In fact, the entire damned moon probably felt it. The weight on his arm shifted as Shadow probably moved to get a better view of...of...whatever the hell it was she was trying to look for. The extra strain on his arm brought up the need to ask another question, “So um...why exactly are we only using on arm each to keep you from falling and getting us both killed and/or noticed?”
Another grunt from below and Jyren felt his arm twist around in a way that should not have been possible. He whimpered before Shadow growled up at him, “Because I can’t see a damned thing if I’m using both arms...” there was a pause, another whimper from Jyren as he felt muscles being pulled, and then Shadow added, “And you’re supposed to be bracing yourself with your other arm.”
“Ah, of course,” the words were spoken through gritted teeth as Jyren glanced over to where his left hand was literally clawing into the duracrete wall. The fact that he was still human and had no claws only made him wince. He took a deep breath and forced his eyes shut again, “I can’t hold you much longer...all that twisting around is not doing anything but causing more pain.”
“Shut up,” the words were nearly yelled, though whether that was due to the fact that a speeder had gone by fairly close or because she was angry, Jyren didn’t know.
She moved again, and his arm was wrenched around and there was a snap. The snap was then followed by a pained growl from Jyren and then a weak sounding, “My shoulder is going to pop out if you keep moving like that!”
“How do you think I’m doing this, anyway?!” it was most definitely a rhetorical question.
Jyren’s eyes widened when it made sense to him what she meant, “You dislocated your own shoulder?! Dammit, Shadow, what is it with you and self-mutilation?!”
“It was the only way I could move and see without pulling you down!” Shadow snapped back. He heard a sigh(or maybe it was just the wind), and then Shadow said, “Pull me up.”
That was far easier said than done. Humans were really not designed for this kind of strain. But somehow, and still without the Force, Jyren managed to drag her back up and onto the solid floor in the large room. When up, they both remorphed the pained and broken limbs without even thinking. A moment later they were both back up on their feet and Shadow was looking down over again.
“She had to have fallen all the way down,” Shadow said quietly, glancing over her shoulder and through wind-ravaged black hair, “There’s no way to hang onto anything on the building without claws.”
Jyren sighed and nodded, stepping over next to her to look down again, “So that’s it, then?”
Silence.
Shadow was looking down again, her eyes not seeming to be looking at anything in particular. It was her ‘I’m thinking, shut up and be patient’ expression, and Jyren had (finally) learned that it was best to just shut up and be patient instead of asking question after question until he got an answer.
After another minute, Shadow stood back and crossed her arms over her chest, “There’s a traffic lane about halfway between this level and the platform walkway below.”
Jyren bit his lip and had a look, “Still a long way down...hitting a ship or a speeder would still kill a human, wouldn’t it?”
It was not lost on either of them that it was suddenly Jyren being the skeptic. Shadow shaking her head showed that the rolls they had originally taken were at least slightly turning around, “Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Shadow shrugged, “She was learning to use the Force, Jyren.”
He nodded. That was a possibility...a distant one, yes, but a possibility nonetheless. After thinking about it to himself for a short few moments, Jyren looked back to Shadow, “But how do we know?”
“We don’t,” Shadow admitted. She sighed and thought about it for a moment, but stopped when she noticed Jyren was staring at her...again. Not that she minded all that much, but it was still getting at least slightly distracting, “There’s still a couple people who owe me some favors. Let’s go see if we can track them down and find out if they know anything.”
Jyren grinned, “Are they the kind of people who are likely to shoot at you when they see you?”
Shadow couldn’t help but laugh, and idly put a hand on his shoulder as she started walking back to the turbolift, “Of course.”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 277: Tavern Conversations
Every tavern in the galaxy looked exactly the same. That had to be some fundamental law of the universe. Jyren had been in his fair share over the years, as had Shadow, and between them, neither had ever seen anything that deviated from the norm...which, obviously, was a very working model. Even the patrons were generally the same. The bartenders all had the same mannerisms and, generally, attitudes. It was actually calming, as they quickly became the one place you could go and feel at home...or at least, as home anyone could feel when surrounded by the scum of the galaxy.
Nar Shaddaa itself was already a home to the galaxy’s crime world, so the taverns were even more seedy and dark than anywhere else. This one was perfectly designed with Nar Shaddaa’s patrons in mind. Every single table was a booth...a very deeply inset booth with high walls on either side preventing anyone from seeing in except from the spot where they sat down from. This was perfect because it allowed for a large degree of privacy, and, after that, a large degree of cover from any weapons fire that erupted.
They sat in the back corner. Opposite Jyren and Shadow was another human, probably in his late 20s, with an unkempt look to his hair and scruffy beard. His eyes alone proved him to be dangerous. There wasn’t any other word to use, as that deep set, strong look in nondescript-coloured eyes could only be said to be dangerous. Anything else was an understatement or just plain wrong. The fact that one of his hands was out of view and under the table was not doing anything to help this. His name was, according to Shadow at least, Dareth.
And, of course, Shadow was doing the talking, “So do you know anything or am I wasting my time with you again?”
Those kind of sharp, vibroblade tipped statements were everywhere in the conversation that was going on between the two. Shadow’s hands were both on the table, resting calmly in front of her and obviously on display...though Jyren could tell it was not a gesture to show trust. Instead, it was simply showing that she did not need a weapon. While the two of them spoke, Jyren’s eyes carefully looked around the nearby sections of the tavern, knowing that this Dareth would not be alone, and checking for any weapons trained on them from a distance...all the while, one hand rested at his side, in perfect position to retrieve the blaster that was hidden just below his shoulder and under his jacket.
“You wouldn’t have been talking this long if you really think there’s a chance you’re wasting your time,” Dareth responded calmly, at the same time leaning forward just slightly. A devilish smile appeared on his face.
Shadow sighed...inwardly. She wasn’t dumb enough to show any sign of emotion on the outside, “How much?”
“How much you got?”
Without missing a beat, Shadow said sternly, “How much?”
A pause. It was a pause that said there was more in Shadow’s words than just her tone. That was too easy for him to have backed down all on his own. Well...then again, if he knew Shadow, maybe it wasn’t. Jyren sure knew that was a dangerous tone to argue against. A moment of tension held, but then the man said calmly, “Two thousand.”
“Five. Hundred,” her words were in the same sharp, dangerous tone, both spoken deliberately and strongly emphasized.
“Fifteen hundred.”
“Four hundred.”
There was another pause, and eyes narrowed on both sides of the table. It was plainly clear to Jyren that they were both attempting to rip the other off, and considering that the Alraxian people had no concept of money...he figured Shadow was doing pretty well. It really was all in the presentation, and no one could be more intimidating than Shadow. Well, except maybe Darth Vader, but he was long dead, thank the Force.
“Fifteen hundred is as low as you’ll get it,” the man said in a tone all too similar to Shadow’s. He was opening his mouth to say something else, but Jyren’s eyes locked onto a slight movement. Dareth’s right shoulder shifted, meaning his arm was moving, meaning he was likely going for a weapon.
In a quick motion, Jyren did the same, sliding the blaster out from its holster under his shoulder. A moment later, it was level with the table, the barrel easily seen by Dareth. Jyren didn’t say anything, though.
But Shadow took advantage of the moment, “Two hundred and I’ll forget you tried to pull a weapon on me.”
“This information is worth fifteen hundred,” Dareth said slowly, for some reason not backing down, despite the fact that he had frozen in place, “And I thought you were smart enough to know I’m not alone.”
[Second level, booth directly across from us. Don’t turn the blaster, but be ready. You have a clear shot if this gets dirty.] Shadow’s mental voice in Jyren’s head caused him to miss her spoken words, “If you keep this up, you’ll end up with nothing. This is the last time I’ll let the offer for two hundred credits stand. After that, you get nothing. And if you want to be stubborn after that, you’ll lose more than money.”
If she was like this now, Jyren couldn’t imagine her back when smuggling was her job. Between the escape from the Empire and meeting him with the mercs...she was dangerous enough then, so there was a hint at least. But this wasn’t a time for thinking about that. His eyes glanced off to where Shadow had directed him. Yes...there was the blaster aimed at them. It was an easy shot, even for Jyren, who was definitely no marksman. Was this guy an amateur?! The damned backup was in perfect line of sight!
“You kill me and you’ll get nothing,” Dareth ground out the words slowly, though his eyes did dart to Jyren’s blaster for a short second. Good. He was on edge.
“Killing you ruins the fun.”
Shadow’s words were suddenly followed by a flash of movement and noises. As far as Jyren could tell, the first thing that happened was Shadow’s arm lashing out and grabbing Dareth by the throat. If something happened second, he couldn’t have been completely sure...but he knew that as she was pulling the man’s entire body back across the table to them, Jyren caught sight of movement from their observer. He didn’t think. Quickly, Jyren twisted around, tilting his blaster up and squeezing a shot off just before the gunner did.
The yelp and subsequent thud of the man hitting the floor ended the blur, and since it was Nar Shaddaa, there was no rushing of people to see what had happened. They knew not to get involved in other people’s business. Jyren turned back, sliding the blaster back into its hidden holster, to see Shadow holding Dareth with one hand still, her eyes glaring into his. Now, both of his hands were on the table, obviously showing he wasn’t holding a weapon so she didn’t crush his throat anymore.
“Now,” Shadow said in her deadly-but-sweet voice, “If you suddenly have a boost in intelligence, you will tell me what you know and never have to see me again.”
It was amazing how much incentive that was, considering the situation.
Dareth struggled for a moment, but Shadow squeezed his throat just a little more. He croaked, stopped moving, and gagged until she eased up again. Then, after catching his breath, he gasped, “Some psycho dropped from a few levels above some weeks back! She killed two thugs and stole a ship..ggaaah! I’m not lying!”
“What kind of ship?” Shadow pressed on, though still allowing him to breathe...though she did squeeze his throat tightly for a moment just to make sure she got an answer.
Through a sudden gasp for air, he managed, “New Corellian model! Guhhh...don’t know where it went!” a very tight squeeze got a breathless yelp, which lasted for a half second before Dareth struggled into getting out, “I don’t know! Had a junk hyperdrive! Couldn’t go more then two systems from here!”
Shadow released him by throwing his face into the table hard. By the time he looked up, Shadow and Jyren were already outside and heading back to Loki.
“That didn’t tell us much,” Jyren commented as they walked through the always-crowded walkways.
Shadow shrugged, the danger gone from her entire demeanor, “Its more than we had. Check that with the nearby system security data and we can track her.”
He raised an eyebrow at that, “You think she’s going to leave a trail?”
“Everyone leaves a trail, Jyren,” she said calmly, “Its just a matter of finding it.”
“By the Force, I would hate to be on your bad side,” Jyren mumbled, shaking his head.
Unsurprisingly, Shadow grinned, “You mean I have a good side?”
Every tavern in the galaxy looked exactly the same. That had to be some fundamental law of the universe. Jyren had been in his fair share over the years, as had Shadow, and between them, neither had ever seen anything that deviated from the norm...which, obviously, was a very working model. Even the patrons were generally the same. The bartenders all had the same mannerisms and, generally, attitudes. It was actually calming, as they quickly became the one place you could go and feel at home...or at least, as home anyone could feel when surrounded by the scum of the galaxy.
Nar Shaddaa itself was already a home to the galaxy’s crime world, so the taverns were even more seedy and dark than anywhere else. This one was perfectly designed with Nar Shaddaa’s patrons in mind. Every single table was a booth...a very deeply inset booth with high walls on either side preventing anyone from seeing in except from the spot where they sat down from. This was perfect because it allowed for a large degree of privacy, and, after that, a large degree of cover from any weapons fire that erupted.
They sat in the back corner. Opposite Jyren and Shadow was another human, probably in his late 20s, with an unkempt look to his hair and scruffy beard. His eyes alone proved him to be dangerous. There wasn’t any other word to use, as that deep set, strong look in nondescript-coloured eyes could only be said to be dangerous. Anything else was an understatement or just plain wrong. The fact that one of his hands was out of view and under the table was not doing anything to help this. His name was, according to Shadow at least, Dareth.
And, of course, Shadow was doing the talking, “So do you know anything or am I wasting my time with you again?”
Those kind of sharp, vibroblade tipped statements were everywhere in the conversation that was going on between the two. Shadow’s hands were both on the table, resting calmly in front of her and obviously on display...though Jyren could tell it was not a gesture to show trust. Instead, it was simply showing that she did not need a weapon. While the two of them spoke, Jyren’s eyes carefully looked around the nearby sections of the tavern, knowing that this Dareth would not be alone, and checking for any weapons trained on them from a distance...all the while, one hand rested at his side, in perfect position to retrieve the blaster that was hidden just below his shoulder and under his jacket.
“You wouldn’t have been talking this long if you really think there’s a chance you’re wasting your time,” Dareth responded calmly, at the same time leaning forward just slightly. A devilish smile appeared on his face.
Shadow sighed...inwardly. She wasn’t dumb enough to show any sign of emotion on the outside, “How much?”
“How much you got?”
Without missing a beat, Shadow said sternly, “How much?”
A pause. It was a pause that said there was more in Shadow’s words than just her tone. That was too easy for him to have backed down all on his own. Well...then again, if he knew Shadow, maybe it wasn’t. Jyren sure knew that was a dangerous tone to argue against. A moment of tension held, but then the man said calmly, “Two thousand.”
“Five. Hundred,” her words were in the same sharp, dangerous tone, both spoken deliberately and strongly emphasized.
“Fifteen hundred.”
“Four hundred.”
There was another pause, and eyes narrowed on both sides of the table. It was plainly clear to Jyren that they were both attempting to rip the other off, and considering that the Alraxian people had no concept of money...he figured Shadow was doing pretty well. It really was all in the presentation, and no one could be more intimidating than Shadow. Well, except maybe Darth Vader, but he was long dead, thank the Force.
“Fifteen hundred is as low as you’ll get it,” the man said in a tone all too similar to Shadow’s. He was opening his mouth to say something else, but Jyren’s eyes locked onto a slight movement. Dareth’s right shoulder shifted, meaning his arm was moving, meaning he was likely going for a weapon.
In a quick motion, Jyren did the same, sliding the blaster out from its holster under his shoulder. A moment later, it was level with the table, the barrel easily seen by Dareth. Jyren didn’t say anything, though.
But Shadow took advantage of the moment, “Two hundred and I’ll forget you tried to pull a weapon on me.”
“This information is worth fifteen hundred,” Dareth said slowly, for some reason not backing down, despite the fact that he had frozen in place, “And I thought you were smart enough to know I’m not alone.”
[Second level, booth directly across from us. Don’t turn the blaster, but be ready. You have a clear shot if this gets dirty.] Shadow’s mental voice in Jyren’s head caused him to miss her spoken words, “If you keep this up, you’ll end up with nothing. This is the last time I’ll let the offer for two hundred credits stand. After that, you get nothing. And if you want to be stubborn after that, you’ll lose more than money.”
If she was like this now, Jyren couldn’t imagine her back when smuggling was her job. Between the escape from the Empire and meeting him with the mercs...she was dangerous enough then, so there was a hint at least. But this wasn’t a time for thinking about that. His eyes glanced off to where Shadow had directed him. Yes...there was the blaster aimed at them. It was an easy shot, even for Jyren, who was definitely no marksman. Was this guy an amateur?! The damned backup was in perfect line of sight!
“You kill me and you’ll get nothing,” Dareth ground out the words slowly, though his eyes did dart to Jyren’s blaster for a short second. Good. He was on edge.
“Killing you ruins the fun.”
Shadow’s words were suddenly followed by a flash of movement and noises. As far as Jyren could tell, the first thing that happened was Shadow’s arm lashing out and grabbing Dareth by the throat. If something happened second, he couldn’t have been completely sure...but he knew that as she was pulling the man’s entire body back across the table to them, Jyren caught sight of movement from their observer. He didn’t think. Quickly, Jyren twisted around, tilting his blaster up and squeezing a shot off just before the gunner did.
The yelp and subsequent thud of the man hitting the floor ended the blur, and since it was Nar Shaddaa, there was no rushing of people to see what had happened. They knew not to get involved in other people’s business. Jyren turned back, sliding the blaster back into its hidden holster, to see Shadow holding Dareth with one hand still, her eyes glaring into his. Now, both of his hands were on the table, obviously showing he wasn’t holding a weapon so she didn’t crush his throat anymore.
“Now,” Shadow said in her deadly-but-sweet voice, “If you suddenly have a boost in intelligence, you will tell me what you know and never have to see me again.”
It was amazing how much incentive that was, considering the situation.
Dareth struggled for a moment, but Shadow squeezed his throat just a little more. He croaked, stopped moving, and gagged until she eased up again. Then, after catching his breath, he gasped, “Some psycho dropped from a few levels above some weeks back! She killed two thugs and stole a ship..ggaaah! I’m not lying!”
“What kind of ship?” Shadow pressed on, though still allowing him to breathe...though she did squeeze his throat tightly for a moment just to make sure she got an answer.
Through a sudden gasp for air, he managed, “New Corellian model! Guhhh...don’t know where it went!” a very tight squeeze got a breathless yelp, which lasted for a half second before Dareth struggled into getting out, “I don’t know! Had a junk hyperdrive! Couldn’t go more then two systems from here!”
Shadow released him by throwing his face into the table hard. By the time he looked up, Shadow and Jyren were already outside and heading back to Loki.
“That didn’t tell us much,” Jyren commented as they walked through the always-crowded walkways.
Shadow shrugged, the danger gone from her entire demeanor, “Its more than we had. Check that with the nearby system security data and we can track her.”
He raised an eyebrow at that, “You think she’s going to leave a trail?”
“Everyone leaves a trail, Jyren,” she said calmly, “Its just a matter of finding it.”
“By the Force, I would hate to be on your bad side,” Jyren mumbled, shaking his head.
Unsurprisingly, Shadow grinned, “You mean I have a good side?”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 278: The Core
There was a trail to follow. It was faint, but it was there. On one planet, a simple report of a Corellian freighter that fit what they were looking for which simply landed for a few hours before leaving. On another, disappearances and even the possibility of a death, and the ship had been there...with the same transponder as the planet before. And when they had that, it was how they tracked the ship from one short hyperspace jump to another, always just a few hours behind, despite Loki’s speed.
But there was more to it than just the physical trail. That could have easily pointed to any traveler in the galaxy. They could have been following anyone. But there was more. Shadow could feel it. Distantly, someone was there, faint in the Force but running...running from something. And it always followed that transponder code. No, no it was always ahead of it, helping Shadow know exactly where to go to not lose the trail. But even Jyren could have put those two together. Or rather, he couldn’t, as he was still being a stubborn idiot and refusing to use the Force. That meant, of course, that Shadow was doing pretty much all of the work while he tried to look useful when he knew he wasn’t. Eventually, she was going to harm him if this kept up too long.
A week and they had tracked the ship from the Smuggler’s Moon all the way to Bothan Space. Another two days and they hit the Corellia Run. The second they made their first jump along the run, Jyren had a thought. And, of course, he spoke it.
“Alderaan.”
“Huh?” Shadow turned away from the swirling blue outside the viewport and back to Jyren who was sitting next to her as usual.
“She’s going to Alderaan,” he elaborated.
For a moment, Shadow just looked at him, though she was actually working this out in her head, trying to see if it connected with where the Force was leading her. She got nothing, and sighed, “You can’t be sure. She could be going anywhere in the Core this way.”
“She’s going to Alderaan,” Jyren repeated himself in the exact same tone as before.
Shadow just rolled her eyes, “Fine. She’s going to Alderaan. I’m sorry I argued with you, oh-all-knowing-one. I should have known you were such a genius that you could figure these things out all on your own.”
Thankfully, Jyren was smart enough not to argue. Not only would he have only made a fool of himself, but it would only have added to the tension these long days in hyperspace was causing. And they were long days. And to make matters worse, they weren’t even over.
They spent another four days following the Corellian Run, dropping out of hyperspace at even minor star systems to see if there was any sign of their ‘prey’. But there wasn’t, and so they kept going. Finally, arriving at Corellia, they stopped. Or rather, took a short break. But when Jyren asked a few pointed questions to a CorSec officer that confirmed the ship had been through the system only an hour earlier, they were gone again, following the hyperspace route even deeper into the Core.
“Why go this way?” Jyren asked out loud as they sat in the cockpit yet again.
“Hmm?” for some reason, Shadow was still responding to him, despite how useless he’d been the last couple of weeks.
He leaned forward and pointed out into the nondescript blue of hyperspace, “The Hydian Way goes right by the Alderaan system. She should have jumped off the Corellia Run lightyears before Corellia.”
Shadow cleared her throat before attempting, “And maybe she’s not going to Alderaan...?”
Silence. For the first time, Jyren actually looked like he was really considering that. Finally. He finally sighed and looked to her with a helpless expression, “Then where? Coruscant’s about the only system this direction that would make any sense.”
“Then, logically, she may be going to Coruscant...?” Shadow posed this as a question, just to see if Jyren’s logic was still working in there somewhere.
“But why Coruscant?”
Maybe they were working, but they sure weren’t working hard enough. It seemed like when one thing went wrong with him, everything else started shutting down afterwards. With an exasperated sigh, Shadow threw up her hands, “I don’t know, Jyren! Why Alderaan? Why anywhere, for that matter?!”
An old instinct kicked in and Jyren’s mouth opened before his mind could comprehend just how stupid what was about to be said would be, “I’m sor—“
”And don’t you dare finish that,” Shadow growled, now finally angry with him, “You damn well know you could be more helpful, but you just have to be stubborn and foolish. If you want to act that way, fine! But don’t expect any sympathy from me and don’t even think about trying to apologize for it!”
That shut him up. At least he had some intelligence left in there.
After taking the time to calm herself down, Shadow added, “We’re already en route to Coruscant, so we’ll get there and find out what we can, then just keep following this trail until we either lose it or reach the end.”
And in another two hours, they exited hyperspace in the Coruscant system. As usual, starships of all shapes and sizes were everywhere. Shadow was glad to take the controls from Loki and actually do something, flying them in towards the central planet in the galaxy. It felt good to actually take the controls every once in a while. Sure, she was no pilot like Jyren was, but after so long in hyperspace, it was doing something and that was all that mattered. They’d get in, land, do the usual “We’re Security Officers from planet such-and-such”, give the fake ID cards that Shadow had cooked up for them before leaving Nar Shaddaa, and then confirm whether or not the ship they were after had been around.
Of course, things were never that easy, and it was immediately apparent that Coruscant was going to be much more difficult than either of them had expected. The comm clicked, and the second Shadow hit the ‘switch’ to activate it, an odd sounding, definitely not human, voice came on, “Unidentified transport, this is Coruscant Planetary Defense. You will power down your engines and any weapons and hold your position to be boarded. Any attempt at resistance or escape will result in the full Defense Net coming down on your ship. Acknowledge this transmission by complying immediately.”
“Oh sithspit,” Jyren cursed as he glared up at the ceiling and growled a few more curses, “Should have realized Loki would be identified with us in the bounty!”
Shadow also cursed, but in about four different languages, each of which sounded worse than anything Jyren could have come up with. She then sighed and looked down at Loki’s controls, “Power the engines down, Loki, and sit tight.”
“You’re actually going to follow along?!” Jyren either sounded outraged or shocked. Shadow could couldn’t figure out which. Either way, he sounded like he was going to have a heart attack. At least Alraxians had two hearts.
“Jyren, dear, this is the heart of the New Republic. The only defense we have is that stolen X-Wing in the hold,” Shadow let that linger for a moment before looking him in the eyes, “Do you really want to tempt faint anymore than we have to?”
He looked right back into her eyes, “Then you have a plan...?”
“Of course not,” Shadow admitted with a shrug, “But just don’t do anything stupid like killing anyone else and cooperate and I might be able to talk us through this.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Funny,” she rolled her eyes, and got up to go and hide some of the weapons that were in easy to find places, “But I thought you couldn’t feel a damned thing without the Force.”
There was a trail to follow. It was faint, but it was there. On one planet, a simple report of a Corellian freighter that fit what they were looking for which simply landed for a few hours before leaving. On another, disappearances and even the possibility of a death, and the ship had been there...with the same transponder as the planet before. And when they had that, it was how they tracked the ship from one short hyperspace jump to another, always just a few hours behind, despite Loki’s speed.
But there was more to it than just the physical trail. That could have easily pointed to any traveler in the galaxy. They could have been following anyone. But there was more. Shadow could feel it. Distantly, someone was there, faint in the Force but running...running from something. And it always followed that transponder code. No, no it was always ahead of it, helping Shadow know exactly where to go to not lose the trail. But even Jyren could have put those two together. Or rather, he couldn’t, as he was still being a stubborn idiot and refusing to use the Force. That meant, of course, that Shadow was doing pretty much all of the work while he tried to look useful when he knew he wasn’t. Eventually, she was going to harm him if this kept up too long.
A week and they had tracked the ship from the Smuggler’s Moon all the way to Bothan Space. Another two days and they hit the Corellia Run. The second they made their first jump along the run, Jyren had a thought. And, of course, he spoke it.
“Alderaan.”
“Huh?” Shadow turned away from the swirling blue outside the viewport and back to Jyren who was sitting next to her as usual.
“She’s going to Alderaan,” he elaborated.
For a moment, Shadow just looked at him, though she was actually working this out in her head, trying to see if it connected with where the Force was leading her. She got nothing, and sighed, “You can’t be sure. She could be going anywhere in the Core this way.”
“She’s going to Alderaan,” Jyren repeated himself in the exact same tone as before.
Shadow just rolled her eyes, “Fine. She’s going to Alderaan. I’m sorry I argued with you, oh-all-knowing-one. I should have known you were such a genius that you could figure these things out all on your own.”
Thankfully, Jyren was smart enough not to argue. Not only would he have only made a fool of himself, but it would only have added to the tension these long days in hyperspace was causing. And they were long days. And to make matters worse, they weren’t even over.
They spent another four days following the Corellian Run, dropping out of hyperspace at even minor star systems to see if there was any sign of their ‘prey’. But there wasn’t, and so they kept going. Finally, arriving at Corellia, they stopped. Or rather, took a short break. But when Jyren asked a few pointed questions to a CorSec officer that confirmed the ship had been through the system only an hour earlier, they were gone again, following the hyperspace route even deeper into the Core.
“Why go this way?” Jyren asked out loud as they sat in the cockpit yet again.
“Hmm?” for some reason, Shadow was still responding to him, despite how useless he’d been the last couple of weeks.
He leaned forward and pointed out into the nondescript blue of hyperspace, “The Hydian Way goes right by the Alderaan system. She should have jumped off the Corellia Run lightyears before Corellia.”
Shadow cleared her throat before attempting, “And maybe she’s not going to Alderaan...?”
Silence. For the first time, Jyren actually looked like he was really considering that. Finally. He finally sighed and looked to her with a helpless expression, “Then where? Coruscant’s about the only system this direction that would make any sense.”
“Then, logically, she may be going to Coruscant...?” Shadow posed this as a question, just to see if Jyren’s logic was still working in there somewhere.
“But why Coruscant?”
Maybe they were working, but they sure weren’t working hard enough. It seemed like when one thing went wrong with him, everything else started shutting down afterwards. With an exasperated sigh, Shadow threw up her hands, “I don’t know, Jyren! Why Alderaan? Why anywhere, for that matter?!”
An old instinct kicked in and Jyren’s mouth opened before his mind could comprehend just how stupid what was about to be said would be, “I’m sor—“
”And don’t you dare finish that,” Shadow growled, now finally angry with him, “You damn well know you could be more helpful, but you just have to be stubborn and foolish. If you want to act that way, fine! But don’t expect any sympathy from me and don’t even think about trying to apologize for it!”
That shut him up. At least he had some intelligence left in there.
After taking the time to calm herself down, Shadow added, “We’re already en route to Coruscant, so we’ll get there and find out what we can, then just keep following this trail until we either lose it or reach the end.”
And in another two hours, they exited hyperspace in the Coruscant system. As usual, starships of all shapes and sizes were everywhere. Shadow was glad to take the controls from Loki and actually do something, flying them in towards the central planet in the galaxy. It felt good to actually take the controls every once in a while. Sure, she was no pilot like Jyren was, but after so long in hyperspace, it was doing something and that was all that mattered. They’d get in, land, do the usual “We’re Security Officers from planet such-and-such”, give the fake ID cards that Shadow had cooked up for them before leaving Nar Shaddaa, and then confirm whether or not the ship they were after had been around.
Of course, things were never that easy, and it was immediately apparent that Coruscant was going to be much more difficult than either of them had expected. The comm clicked, and the second Shadow hit the ‘switch’ to activate it, an odd sounding, definitely not human, voice came on, “Unidentified transport, this is Coruscant Planetary Defense. You will power down your engines and any weapons and hold your position to be boarded. Any attempt at resistance or escape will result in the full Defense Net coming down on your ship. Acknowledge this transmission by complying immediately.”
“Oh sithspit,” Jyren cursed as he glared up at the ceiling and growled a few more curses, “Should have realized Loki would be identified with us in the bounty!”
Shadow also cursed, but in about four different languages, each of which sounded worse than anything Jyren could have come up with. She then sighed and looked down at Loki’s controls, “Power the engines down, Loki, and sit tight.”
“You’re actually going to follow along?!” Jyren either sounded outraged or shocked. Shadow could couldn’t figure out which. Either way, he sounded like he was going to have a heart attack. At least Alraxians had two hearts.
“Jyren, dear, this is the heart of the New Republic. The only defense we have is that stolen X-Wing in the hold,” Shadow let that linger for a moment before looking him in the eyes, “Do you really want to tempt faint anymore than we have to?”
He looked right back into her eyes, “Then you have a plan...?”
“Of course not,” Shadow admitted with a shrug, “But just don’t do anything stupid like killing anyone else and cooperate and I might be able to talk us through this.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Funny,” she rolled her eyes, and got up to go and hide some of the weapons that were in easy to find places, “But I thought you couldn’t feel a damned thing without the Force.”