Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 17: We Never Get a Break

After taking forever to get back to his quarters(with Shadow’s help still), Akan had sat down and tried not to think too much. Shadow had gone off to...explain things as best she could. Hopefully it would be better than what she’d explained to him. For a long time, he simply stared at the wall, letting his mind slowly go over everything and get used to...things. He found that while he was stronger, faster, and generally better at most things...simple things distracted him. Especially moving objects. Fast moving ones. He had found the strength to not pounce and maul anything that did that, but it was still slightly disturbing.

Akan brought his hand up to look at it for a long time. Exactly the same as before...a little bigger, but human like. Not padded or anything else like that. But there was something...he thought about it, and in a moment claws extended. That was strange...they didn’t come OUT of the hand so much as...the hand became the claws. He thought about it a moment, and when the claws faded back to his hand, he’d figured it out. Morphing. Simple, yes...but that’s the only thing that could explain it.

Next, he found himself looking up at the hair in front of his face. White. Well, no...the hair that was over his the side of his face was the blue colour, though he could see a hint of the white in the corner of his eyes. Akan turned to look over his shoulder, down at the tail. He moved it, and found himself a bit too fascinated by that movement. Somehow, he had a feeling that pouncing and mauling one’s own tail was not a good idea.

His attention then turned to the morphsuit he wore. It was a blueish colour. Strange how blues kept coming up. There was probably a reason for that, as Akan had decided that coincidences did not exist at this point. The suit clung to him comfortably, but he still felt somewhat cold. An odd cold, as he’d never felt the ship to be that cold before. The temperature in his room had been turned up significantly, and that had helped. He sighed, and looked to his brown jacket and trousers sitting next to him on the bed. They would probably still fit, but the matter of tail and trousers was paramount in his mind. He attempted this anyway, finding that the jacket itself was no trouble, and still quiet comfortable(if not a little tight across the chest). The trousers, however, took some work, but he managed to find a comfortable place for them. Stupid tail.

A knock at the door made him jump. And when he did that, it nearly sent him into the ceiling head first. Calm. Calm...okay. Just the door. Just the door, “Um...come in?”

The door slid open and Jen Zaarin stood there. She looked somewhat surprised, but obviously she’d been told what had happened. She ran a hand through her hair nervously and managed a smile, “I’m not here to uh...stare or anything. Shadow said what happened, but Ansion. He wanted you to know what was going on.”

“Oh! Oh, right,” Akan nodded and stepped over to the small desk and had a seat. He motioned for her to come in. Jen did so, and had a seat on the bed.

There was an awkward silence, then she spoke up, “We’re not going to Coruscant...Ansion spoke with the New Republic and he got some information. He seemed very adamant to find the Imperials who attacked us, and with the Republic’s help, they’ve tracked them down to an old Imperial outpost on Naboo. The planet’s still mostly under Imperial control...an Ansion’s got us heading that direction.”

Naboo. Mare’s home. He’d never been there before. Interesting how some things turned out. Akan did his best to keep his focus on what she had said, though, “We lost a good amount of friends on Endor. He doesn’t like losing people.”

Jen nodded, her eyes more on the floor than anything. That was really all she had to tell him. The silence was annoying, and she broke it with a fairly stupid question, “How do you...feel?”

“I’m alright...I guess...” he trailed off, almost grinning. How was he supposed to feel? Akan looked over to Jen, “Don’t really know what I’m supposed to do. I mean...I’m still me. Mostly.”

Again, she nodded, obviously not sure what to say. She’d not known him for long, but to have him now being all...different suddenly was enough to confuse anyone. Without really saying anything, Jen started to get up and leave.

Upon noticing this, Akan blurted out a question that had just popped into his head, “You’re staying with us?”

That stopped her. It was an innocent question, really, but it was more in the way he’d said it. She was smart enough to know that it came from the fact that she knew about his past. From what Ansion had said, Akan never talked about it. The fact that he talked about it with her was another thing. She had to choose her words carefully, but she did nod, “My job with the New Republic is pretty much over with. They didn’t say that I was needed anywhere else...so I guess I’m staying for a while.”

Without giving him a chance to say anything else, she left. Akan looked to the desk and sighed. Everything was all strange. Why had he said that? Sure, she was nice and good at listening, but even he had recognized the way he’d spoken. She’d obviously taken it as him being interested in her. But no...that wasn’t it. It was more like a child asking a parent not to leave. But he’d not even meant to...why? Everything was so...

[Technically, we’re children...] Shadow’s ‘voice’ interrupted his thoughts.

AH! She’d been listening? Well, okay, he’d listened in when she was talking with Ansion and such. Her thoughts were interesting, but he hadn’t expected she was paying so much attention to his to pick up things like that. [Children...?]

Her ‘voice’ sounded strangely sheepish. [Um...yeah. One of those things I forgot to tell you...]

[One of?!] he stood up to go find her. [Where are you anyway?]

[On the way to you, actually...need to clear up some things before we arrive.]

She did...feel closer. He could figure that from a mix of the Force and their, for lack of a better word, Link. Its what she’d called it, and worked well enough. Akan wondered how long it would be before they arrived. Naboo was a good distance from Endor. Probably a day...though depending on when they’d changed routes, it could be a matter of hours. There would likely be a meeting before arrival to go over what was going to happen, so Akan let worries about that slip out of his mind. There were enough worries at this point. He closed his eyes and let the Force assist in calming himself as he waited for Shadow.

 

[DethStryke]

Well I am officially hooked. The story alone reads wonderfully.

Is this still all considered "background" or have you broken into things that happened in actual role play?

If it is the latter, I would have loved to see the Shadow & Raan's players RPing the "I have a tail!/stop playing with our tail!" interaction!

I was laughing out loud at work with that part! I'm also getting ramped up to run my own D20 SW games. The feel of this storyline so far mirrors what I have in mind pretty closely. Kind of a Cyberpunk 2020/ShadowRun version of SW.

Btw, watch out for your posting style of every day. I'm sure alot of people, including myself, are loving the great story and bountiful updates, but you may put more than a few people through horrible withdrawal if you miss a few days!!!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Is this still all considered "background" or have you broken into things that happened in actual role play?

The actual game started with the Endor raid, however a few things have been changed to fit a better story telling. Its really hard for even me to tell anymore, as after we worked together to put it into a more story format anyway. It wasn't very coherent though, so that's my excuse for writing it now(and the fact that there were some REALLY crazy things in the original game that just needed to be changed for the story)

If it is the latter, I would have loved to see the Shadow & Raan's players RPing the "I have a tail!/stop playing with our tail!" interaction!

That was a mix of RPing and working it together. We had an interesting style of running things, where I would trade of GMing with one other. We both knew the general direction of things, but would trade off every few sessions and run a part of things to get it moving. During the whole tail thing, that was me as the PC for Raan/Akan/Whatever(Yes, he does end up having one more name, but its that FINAL one...still a while until that one, though).

And while I love that, my favorite is what became a running "You KILLED me!" comment every so often.

Btw, watch out for your posting style of every day. I'm sure alot of people, including myself, are loving the great story and bountiful updates, but you may put more than a few people through horrible withdrawal if you miss a few days!!!

Don't worry, I won't miss too much, and if I do, I'll warn ahead of time. I've got a good amount of time on my hands, so I usually end up just writing one part at a time, then post it. Probably should start on tommorrows(wait, its 12AM...), err, today's soon.

And a little note: We HAVE encountered the 4th PC mentioned in the first post already. Voort will officially join up later and add to the insanity.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 18: The Mind is a Fragile Thing

For once, Akan was early to the meeting. Despite his long talk with Shadow, and how much it truly caught his interest, he just wanted to relax some and pretend things were mostly normal. No one else was there yet, so he had a little time to mentally go over everything. Of all the things she’d told him, one stuck in his mind the most. All of his life, he’d lived on names that he’d created for himself. Since he’d never known his parents, Akan simply decided on a name that fit him. Raan Maxwell fit well for a long time, but then he changed. He changed so much that the name no longer was him. So he became Akan Tavos. But now...

Shadow was not her actual name. It was a call sign she’d picked up ‘cycles ago’ as she’d put it. Her real name was Marix BlueIce. She had not gone by that name for as long as she could remember(in fact, she’d spoken of it as if it were more of a dream). Because of this, she had literally ordered him to still use the name ‘Shadow’, as that was who she was. But now...

Now, Akan was her ‘Nothlit’. The word meant nothing to him, but it was the term she used to refer to the body she had created, and him on occasion. And as her Nothlit, he was in all respects her equal. This meant that he was now apart of the same Clan. BlueIce. Interesting that it was another ‘blue’...three at least, four counting the morphsuit. Akan BlueIce. One day he’d find a stable name. Obviously, today had not been that day. In fact, it wasn’t the day for a stable anything.

He couldn’t help but grin at that. Shadow had explained morphing to him, but he’d not grasped it well. The idea of forcing his cells to become something they weren’t felt painful just thinking about it. According to her, it was painful without proper training. Apparently, she planned to train him. Wonderful. He’d not had a say in this, either. But he’d not fought this decision, as a small part of him was strongly interested by it. This, of course, was the same part of his mind that had to be told not to pounce Shadow’s tail when it swished, so it wasn’t to be trusted.

The most interesting thing she had spoke of was the Force, itself. She’d almost been preaching to him more than suggesting the ideas she had. According to Shadow, her people saw no definite distinction between the ‘Dark Side’ and the ‘Light Side’ of the Force. To them, it was simply the Force. Magick. You could not have one without the other, so one must learn to balance both within themselves. She told him that she would be watching him carefully, as he was close to offsetting this balance with too much Light. She wouldn’t have cared if not for their new connection. It could effect each of them. Which brought her into a delicate discussion about pain. The Link they shared was a great advantage, but held the weakness that pain was transferred across it. Not as bad as the pain that was felt directly, but an echo of sorts. She’d demonstrated this be digging her claws into her own arm. Akan had cringed, feeling a strange shadow-pain in his own arm.

It was something to keep in mind, of course. One of many things. The foremost being ‘Don’t die, because then we’ll both die’. This was quickly answered with ‘Well, don’t kill me again!’. It then had devolved into the tossing of insults, but never going so far as violence. They were only...half serious. Being able to know the other’s thoughts so clearly made it much easier to see the truth about the other. Some of the things were strange, but all they really picked up without trying was to surface thoughts. Anything else would have to be worked on...and Akan was in no way going to do that...yet. Shadow, however, had taken great interest in his mind. It was odd because Akan could feel her ‘looking’ through things.

And then, the others entered the meeting room. No Shadow this time, just the normal five of them. Ansion and the four Division leaders. Of course, all of them gave Akan a long look, but said nothing about what had happened. In a few moments, after some general small talk amongst them, Ansion quieted them down and motioned to the holoscreen. On it, was an image of the green planet, Naboo. One section was marked with a red square, as were two sections in space.

Ansion pointed to the two marked off sections in space, “According to the latest reports from the New Republic have two fleet groups placed in orbit around Naboo. The only planets that have this kind of security are Kuat, Bastion, and the other major planets. This indicates that there is something serious occurring on the planet. The section there on the planet itself is the Imperial garrison. It has grown considerably in the last year, and has more than just the New Republic worried. Now, you all know how much I hate losing good people...but we may lose a lot in this.”

The female Duros, Elona, looked to Ansion with a critical eye, “In what? You are doing your best to avoid telling us exactly what is going on.”

Sighing and nodding, Ansion closed his large eyes a moment, “We’re going to work with the New Republic in assaulting the planet. We will arrive about ten minutes after the Republic’s fleet has. They will engage the first fleet and attempt to also attract the attention of the second. We will exit hyperspace and move directly to the planet. Once the assault transports have launched, the Claw will leave. There is simply no way for this ship to survive out there. This means that once we’re done, we’ll be getting out with the Republic. Our destination is the garrison, of course. However, I will again be taking Division Three and leading them in an assault on a nearby city as a diversion. Division Two will also provide a diversionary assault, and their efforts will be aided by a Republic ground team that should already be down by the time we get there.”

The map zoomed in to a large complex, the Imperial garrison. Ansion allowed them all a moment to look it over, and then said, “Division One will land on the north side and begin their assault there. Four will take the east. The south will be taken by another group of Republic soldiers. And the west...Akan, Shadow, and Zaarin are going that way.”

“Wait wait wait,” Akan raised his hand, “Jen? She’s no good in a fight.”

“Yes, but our goal is to find out what is going on there,” Ansion said simply, “And once that is known, decide whether it needs to be taken out or not. Zaarin can assist with computer codes, and determining what is happening. You and Shadow should think of yourselves as he bodyguards.”

Ahh, fun. Not that he considered it babysitting...but, well, it was as close as he’d been to that in a long time. [You’re not the only one.] AH! Shadow was listening in...he’d have to get used to that. And probably mention something to Akan. [Awww, its not like I won’t find out anyway.]

Akan sighed a little too loudly, and got some looks. [Do you mind?]

[Yes] Shadow responded simply. Of course, Ansion had gone on talking again, and was explaining that there were many troopers stationed at the garrison. It went on with generally pointless details(to Akan at least), and they left to get ready.

No break. No rest. Off they went again. But this time, Akan understood Shadow much better. Perhaps that would help them out. But taking Jen along...he didn’t like the idea of having to worry about one life, but he was stuck with two lives now. Jen just added a third. Akan stretched some, finding that he was doing the same cat-like stretch that he’d found amusing from Shadow. Damn! How was he supposed to focus like this? How was he even supposed to fight? Hearing Shadow’s thoughts was distracting even when he wasn’t trying. But having her digging through his just made it even worse. Did she plan to do that the whole time?!

[Yes] came the same response as before. He got the feeling that she was just fascinated by humans, and had never had a chance to really learn so much about them. Damn! Why did it have to be Akan?!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 19: Not-So-Rough Landings

Chaos didn’t exactly describe the scene around Naboo well enough. At least the Y-Wing and the three of them aboard were fine. Akan was piloting as before, Jen in the gunner’s seat, and Shadow(in her kitten like form again) purring quietly at getting an ear scratch in Jen’s lap. Filling the viewport in front of him was the planet Naboo. But that wasn’t the source of the chaos. The source was far to the left side of the planet, where three very large fleets were engaged. The New Republic had sent a considerable force against the planet, catching the Imperials off guard. This meant that both of the defense fleets responded immediately, as did the fighters on the ground. To add to the chaos, word had gotten out on the planet, and riots were breaking out.

The people of Naboo were never friends to the Empire, but such a strong hold had been taken on the planet that the people had simply lived with it. There was nothing they could do. Of course, now they could. Many New Republic ships had come down near major cities, taking out Imperial garrisons and forces. Akan had thought this was more of a hit and fade move at first, but now he realized it was a full blown planetary assault. Which meant he’d have to get his job done quickly. The Empire would do its best to get anything important off the planet, even if they succeeded in driving off the Republic. Ahead of him, the four assault transports from the Claw were diving in to their respective points on the planet. The Claw was already retreating out of the planet’s gravity well and preparing for hyperspace.

So far, so good. Which meant it was going to get very bad soon. As the ship dove through Naboo’s atmosphere, Akan’s sensors locked onto the garrison they were to get into. Strangely enough, it was easy to see. This was because of the green lights that were shooting up into the sky from it. Turbolaser batteries. That was overkill. Thankfully, they weren’t good at hitting starfighters(even slow Y-Wings). The assault transports were what had to worry.

“Going to have to make a run and take some of the ground forces out before landing,” Akan said in a strangely calm voice over his shoulder. This was strange because the entire flight he’d been fidgeting, whimpering, and whining about the seats not being designed for tails.

He soon spotted their side of the station(which was almost as big as a city, itself), and noted it was only occupied by two blazing turbolasers. The Republic forces already on the ground on the other sides were keeping most of the troops occupied. Good. Or bad, since that was yet another thing to go wrong. Before leaving, Akan had switched the systems so that he had weapons control locked forward. This meant that the ion cannon could no longer fire as a turret, but at least he didn’t have to worry about Jen or Shadow breaking anything.

[HEY! I can shoot things!] Shadow responded to his thoughts.

He simply sent her a mental growl and let the targeting reticle on his HUD slowly come to bear on one of the turbolasers. The second it locked on, the turbolaser spun around to start firing at him. They hadn’t detected such a small fighter coming in(as his was the only fighter to come into the atmosphere and they had been looking for assault ships). As the turbolaser fired shots over and around the Y-Wing, Akan shot off a single proton torpedo. The ship shook slightly from the force of the blue streak now leaving it, a testament to the age of the Y-Wing.

In a few more seconds, the torpedo impacted with the large battery, destroying it in a bright flash. Alright, so that was probably overkill. Akan couldn’t help but grin a little as he started to level out the ship. The other battery had taken notice of him, and was bearing its two turrets on the Y-Wing as he switched to the lasers. Dropping to an almost dangerously low altitude(which just happened to be below the firing arc of the battery), Akan held in the trigger. Bright red blasts shot out at the battery, impacting it one after another until it shattered in a flash. Quickly, Akan pulled the Y-Wing up and out of the way, starting in a long loop to get them into a position to land.

Through all of this, he’d not noticed the fact that Jen was clinging to the seat. She wasn’t a fighter...and being in a starfighter and being shot at pulling the stunts he had was more than enough to make anyone nervous. The fact that she could only see the aftermath(and the turbolaser shots flying PAST them) made it worse. Shadow on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the excitement, though Akan could feel that she’d rather be out there having ‘fun’ instead of sitting around. But then again...ear scratch. That single action had pretty much made her useless to the world.

In a few more moments, the Y-Wing was down. As the canopy opened and Akan got out, he heard a whimpering noise from Shadow. He glanced back to see Jen had gotten up and was also climbing out. This, according to Shadow’s thoughts, was bad because ear scratch had stopped. Then something changed, and he looked to see the ‘usual’ Shadow also climbing out looking like nothing had happened. Akan was on the grass covered ground first, and helped Jen down. He was going to help Shadow, but she had hopped down gracefully and was looking to the complex in front of them with interest. It wasn’t all that different from the one on Endor, except that it was much more obviously Imperial. The flags, markings, and general no-fun straight lines everywhere did that. There was a single entrance, a small single door almost hidden in between two of the buildings and a wall.

Shadow and Akan exchanged looks, and without a word(they didn’t need them anymore, anyway) started towards it. Jen had drawn her small blaster pistol and followed them. The quiet was unnerving her some. She found it odd that Akan was so quiet. Maybe that was because of all the changes recently. He did have a lot to think about. But now wasn’t the time for this. She had a job to do...even if it wasn’t her place on the battlefield.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 20: One Day You Won't Be So Lucky

The garrison was proving to be very much true to its namesake. It seemed like no matter where they went, there would be at least a small group of Imperials. This would normally have annoyed Akan...but something was different. He felt...felt...playful wasn’t the right word, but it was probably the closest thing there was to it. Currently, they stood within a small room, where Jen was searching through the files on the computer. He and Shadow simply stood around waiting, but Akan caught a hint of a grin on her face.

“What?” he asked, sounding worried because he could tell he was the cause of that grin.

Her grin grew suddenly, and she fought back a laugh, “You! Its funny watching you trying to fight back being so constantly happy.”

Akan realized that he had been fighting back a smile on his face, but he still wasn’t sure why, “Is this another thing you ‘forgot’ to tell me about?”

Shadow laughed this time, “Awww, you just like being depressed all the time. Poor little jai...”

He glared at her. Of course, a very small part of him felt he should pounce and maul her, but Akan had the self control to know that this was not the time. He’d get her for that later.

[Hah! No you won’t!] she ‘said’, easily catching onto his thoughts.

Akan didn’t get a chance to respond. Jen let out a sigh and turned from the computer, “There’s not much here. Nothing at all to indicate any kind of research of secret project. Only thing that they seem to be keeping protected is an officer.”

“Well, that’s something to look into,” Akan said with a raised eyebrow, “Can you find out anymore than that?”

Jen took a moment to search through files, then nodded and said over her shoulder, “Being held in a lower level of the garrison. Apparently, its off limits to all but a select few in the base.”

That even got Shadow’s attention. Breaking into things that she was supposed to be in seemed to peak her interest. Or at least, that was what Akan figured from the thoughts he was getting. Akan couldn’t help the grin, feeling strangely good about all of this, “I guess three more can be added to that list. Where to?”

Jen looked over the computer more, than turned it off and pointed to a door on the other side, “First left, then room on the right. Should be a turbolift beyond that.”

Shadow was already moving to the door. Akan was going to mention that she should be careful, but then he realized he didn’t have to say it. She knew he was thinking it, so she knew it. That train of thought caused him a slight headache. There was such a thing as being too young for insanity. Akan believed he currently fell into the category, but the galaxy decided otherwise...as usual.

When Shadow opened the door, they found themselves looking down a long hallway with a strangely large amount of white. The white was not the walls, but at least ten stormtroopers aiming rifles at the door. Behind them, was the olive green of an Imperial Officer’s uniform. From that distance, they heard a haughty and far-too-proud-of-himself voice, “Move and die.”

[You think they’ll shoot us for breathing?] Shadow asked, mentally grinning in Akan’s direction. She really was enjoying the ability to share her wit with the universe...or rather, with Akan. He just ignored her and looked ahead to the troopers. He had an idea. It was basic, stupid, and if it worked would cause many good stories to tell over some Corellian Ale. Oh, why not?

Akan dove to the door. No, he dove to the side of the door. At that moment, the stormtroopers opened fire, blaster shots from the rifles streaking in towards the open door. Suddenly, though, the door was no long open. Sounds of the bolts hitting the now-closed door rang out. Akan looked to the other two, grinning with his hand on the door switch. Both of them were giving him a look that showed they, too, were ready to fall to the floor laughing. He took this time to shrug, “I don’t think they’ll just stand there and shoot at the door. And I don’t think that trick will work again. Um...probably should get some cover and wait for them.”

Jen nodded and moved around behind one of the large desks on the opposite side of the room from the door. She had her small blaster pistol drawn and rested it over the desk, waiting. Akan knew that his lightsaber would most likely cause more annoyance in such a tight situation, so he moved back next to Jen and got out his own blaster. While Shadow did have a blaster pistol, she had decided long ago that it wasn’t as useful a weapon as she was. So, she stood on the left wall next to the door. Her vibroblade was drawn and ready, and on her free hand her claws were extended.

They all listened(though Shadow and Akan had better ears and could therefore hear it much more clearly) as the troopers came up to the door and prepared themselves. There was the usual long pause where both sides were obviously trying to either outwit the others or just weren’t sure if they were doing the right thing. Then, the door slid open. Akan and Jen didn’t even wait to see if anyone was in front, and both pulled the triggers on their blasters, letting out a volley of red shots. At the same time, the stormtroopers had obviously had the same plan. Shots streaked inwards, impacting against the wall behind them, the floor, and the computers. Some got close, but both sides were just shooting blind because of the wall of red that had developed from all the shooting. Then they saw a small concussion grenade roll into the room. That was not good.

Somehow, between the volleys of blaster fire, Shadow managed to roll through, pick up the grenade, and toss it back before getting to more cover. The only drawback to this was singed tail-fur. And while this was a horrible fate, indeed, it could have been much much worse. There was a short pause in the blaster fire as the stormtroopers scattered from the grenade. Akan caught sight of three of them being taken down from shots that he and Jen were still sending, then there was a flash and a loud explosion. His ears flattened against his head and he couldn’t help but whimper slightly at the noise. No shots were came back at them. Carefully, Akan got up and looked through the clearing smoke. Well, that was quick work.

A single blaster shot suddenly rang through the corridor. Akan started to move, but was moving too late. It caught him hard in the chest, sending him to the floor on his back. Jen quickly responded with a few shots from her small pistol, and she watched the Officer who had fired on Akan drop after taking at least one shot to the face. She then looked and saw Akan on the ground groaning painfully. Strangely, she noticed Shadow was cringing too.

Before Jen could ask why, Shadow quickly moved over to Akan and said tiredly, “New lesson for you. Think about the wound closing...think about it. Let it happen. Your body should know what to do.”

Akan whimpered and found the pain hard to think through. However, he managed to and found the burn mark on his chest faded(well, on his skin at least, the brown jacket was still blackened). The pain faded, and Akan looked up at her with an amazed face that was shared by Jen. Shadow half grinned, “Complete morphing is hard to do without training...but simple things like that are normal. You just have to focus enough.”

“Uh-huh...” Akan mumbled, getting up as best he could, “Still burns...”

“It should fade,” Shadow said as she moved to look down the corridor that was littered with bodies and debris from the explosion. She turned back to the other two and motioned down the corridor, “We need to keep moving.”

Jen was helping Akan up, and as they started down the corridor, asked quietly, “You...um...okay?”

Akan managed a slow nod, “Yeah...well, physically. Mentally I could have sworn that what just happened couldn’t have happened.”

“I know what you mean,” Jen said with a slight grin.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 21: The Plot Thickens...again...

“We took the wrong left,” Jen said flatly, standing with the other two in a small room that was once most likely a closet.

“How could we have taken the wrong left?!” Akan growled, having had this argument when they’d past two left corridors that were right next to each other. He and Shadow had said one way felt right, but Jen had insisted on the other. By rule of voting(and the fact that Shadow and Akan were bigger, stronger, and didn’t like being wrong or lost) they went with Akan and Shadow’s way. This, after many turns, led them to three small offices that were empty, and the closet.

“Obviously you two were wrong!” Jen said harshly, turning and starting back the way they’d come.

Akan grumbled something under his breath and stalked after her. Then he realized Shadow hadn’t followed, “Hold on...where’s Shady?”

Shady? Ah, why not. Jen seemed to take notice of the name and instead stopped and looked around. The two of them searched some, and Akan found that he could feel Shadow’s mind but she was...he couldn’t figure out where exactly she was. Then, from the back of the closet, a door slid open to a turbolift. Within it, was Shadow, a huge grin on her face an standing with her hands on her hips, “You two coming or not?”

Akan managed a ‘hah, I was right’ noise and strutted back to the turbolift. Jen didn’t care as much about being right as the other two, and simply followed, not bringing it up so as not to encourage the two of them. They were like children. Very annoying children that made you wonder why the parents had let them live more than three months. Once in the turbolift, the door closed and it started down. They didn’t seem to have much control where it went, but assumed it simply only went to one place.

The turbolift stopped, and Akan stepped in the front. Shadow stood behind him, and next to her, Jen had readied her blaster pistol. The door slid open, and they found themselves looking into a large, circular room. There was an outer section around it, with the inner section separated by pillars and a few computer consoles. It was a strangely disturbing design, and the soft red lighting didn’t help at all. Seeing no one, Akan carefully stepped into the room, moving to the side to see into around a pillar and into the center.

It was worrying. Everything felt wrong. The Force itself was oppressive. The center of the inner section of the room held a slightly raised section on the floor, and on that was a large metal sheet. It was humanoid shaped, and had obviously held someone. Torture? Maybe, but there was no other evidence. It looked more like some form of a prison complex. Very high security. Akan took another small step, and then noted that there were restraints on the metal. They were broken.

[Something is watching us...] Shadow ‘said’ in a strangely quiet voice in his mind.

Akan nodded slowly, and took one more step, nearing the center section. [Keep Jen in the turbolift if you can.]

Then a smell started to rise. A strong one. Something he knew but didn’t know...his nose was obviously more sensitive than before, and he knew what this was but couldn’t seem to put a name to it. [I smell fresh blood...] Shadow answered his thoughts. This was confirmed by a small amount of blood he could see on the floor. Fresh was right.

As Akan took another step, this time pacing him at the edge of the center of the room, he got the lightsaber off of his belt. Everything in him was telling him something was very wrong about this place. Shadow was right...something was watching. But something else was there. Something searching their minds. But Akan could see nothing. But other senses were more acute in this body...

His ear suddenly caught a sound off to the far left. Quiet, but as he heard the noise of metal being torn from something else, the Force sent a quick, almost violent warning. Akan reacted without thinking, finding himself spinning towards the sound and activating his lightsaber. The snap-hiss echoed throughout the disturbingly quiet room, and the second that he had gotten the blue-green blade into the usual defensive position in front of him, a large sheet of metal(most likely from the wall) was sliced cleanly in two and fell past him

Recovering from the shock, Akan was suddenly hit by a strong fist. It wasn’t physical. It was the Force itself. He grunted painfully as he slammed into him like a wall strapped to a landspeeder, sending him into one of the pillars hard, and then to the ground. He could hear Shadow whimper from the pain, but then he heard a noise he hadn’t expected.

Jen yelled out, “SHADOW!”

Akan felt Shadow’s movements distantly, turning to react to a threat that Jen had seen. Suddenly, a wave of pain shot through Akan from his head. He felt like passing out, but managed to stay conscious. Shadow didn’t. He heard her thud as she slammed into the floor Akan’s head was spinning as he heard Jen yell something else, then another loud thud. In blurred vision, he saw a dark cloaked figure move into the turbolift. It was holding...Shadow. He could tell because his arm ached from the way she was being dragged. Jen had been thrown out of the turbolift, and he could see her just barely, crumbled on the ground against a pillar.

Before he could do anything, the turbolift door closed. He heard it leave. Whoever it was had gone, and taken Shadow with him. Starting to get up to go after them, Akan suddenly realized he still could feel the same person watching him. The attacker wasn’t the one watching them? Or rather...he was better at hiding. On his feet again, Akan got his lightsaber up in front of him and carefully looked around the room. He could...hear breathing. It was Jen’s though. If there was someone else, he couldn’t tell beyond the feeling through the Force.

Slowly, his brain came to the conclusion that there was only one way to do this. It was stupid and simple. For some reason, he grinned and then just said, “I know someone’s there...come out.”

He heard movement from the right side. Quickly, Akan turned and faced that direction to show he could tell where the other was. Then, from a section in the wall, he saw a humanoid figure step out. The figure was a little taller than he was, and was wearing a very clean cut uniform. In the red light, it took a moment for Akan to realize it was the olive green of an Imperial Officer. But something...Akan could feel the man strongly in the Force. A voice spoke, sharp and obviously that of a man in the military, “You’re a Jedi.”

Akan forced back a grin. Same old answer wouldn’t work in a stand off, so he held his stance, “Yes. Who was that?”

“His name is Sadrak,” the voice responded flatly.

Something was still bothering Akan. He put his finger on it, and asked, “You were hiding from him?”

“He would have found me if not for you,” the voice sounded strangely happy. When the man took a step forward into clearer light, Akan saw the face of a seasoned warrior. He wasn’t old, but had the look of a man fighting all his life. He didn’t look like the average Officer who was there because of family connections and wealth. This man showed in his stature that he had earned his position. It seemed that the man got a clearer view of Akan, too, as a look of surprised washed over the Imperial’s face, “Alrax...”

“You know what I am?” Akan asked, for some reason lowering his lightsaber slightly and looking just as surprised. Somehow, he didn’t notice the fact that he’d truly accepted no longer being human so easily.

The surprise left the Imperial’s face, and it became one of determination. He looked to his left, and extended an arm. Akan watched suddenly as a small object shot towards the Imperial’s hand. The Force. That couldn’t be good...and that object...

With the small object in his hands, the Imperial started moving forward. A moment later, the object was easily identified by a snap-hiss and a blade of pale orange light extending from it. Akan quickly brought his lightsaber up and caught the Imperial’s blade high. How did he have a lightsaber?!

The two of them stood there, blades locked high for what seemed like an eternity. They were studying the other’s features. Reading. Learning. And the Imperial seemed amazed to at what he was seeing. Suddenly, he pulled back from the deadlock and brought a swing to Akan’s right side. Akan parried the blade and countered with an attack of his own aimed at the man’s legs. The Imperial jumped over the sweeping blue-green blade and landed a few meters away. He gave no time for Akan to recover, diving in with the blade swinging up. Again, Akan parried the attack, but found himself having to step back as the Imperial swung the lightsaber more frantically and dangerously. Each time, Akan had managed to get his blade in the right place just in time, but it wasn’t going to stay that way forever.

Yet again, a stupid idea came to mind. Two so far had worked. So he’d try his luck with a third. As the Imperial’s orange blade swung in from the left at neck level, Akan brought his blade into a position to parry it easily. But the second before they made contact, he deactivated his own lightsaber and ducked. Pulled around by the momentum of the swing, the Imperial was left open for a half second. Just long enough for Akan to punch him hard in the stomach. The man stumbled back after losing his breath, and Akan gave him no chance to attack again. With the Imperial’s lightsaber off to the side in a horrible position for defense, Akan planted a strong punch to the man’s face.

He was sent sprawling against the center of the circular room. The lightsaber fell out of his hand and rolled to the other side. Akan had started to move to get in the way, but the Imperial wasn’t moving anymore. Unconscious. Akan let out a long sigh of relief and put his lightsaber on his belt as he went to Jen. Yet again, that was a fight he shouldn’t have been able to win. Last time he’d been involved in one of those, Shadow had killed him. This time...this time he’d pulled a cheap trick to stay alive.

Whatever works was not the motto of most Jedi, but then again, Akan was not exactly the most exemplary example of a Jedi. Getting over to Jen, he knelt down beside her and helped her to sit up. She was conscious and a little dazed, but thanked him and told him what happened. He had seen it(and felt it) enough to not need the reminder, but let her speak it anyway. Once she’d finished, he explained the later half of the encounter.

Doing her usual ‘are you alright’ drilling of questions at him, Jen looked to the body of the Imperial, “What do we do?”

Akan sighed heavily and helped Jen to get to her feet, “We put him in the cargo compartment like that last one. Then we get Shadow.”

“But what if...” Jen started to say something, but Akan cut her off.

“If she dies, you’ll know. I’ll die too,” he had said it sharply and almost bitterly as he walked over to get the Imperial, “But she’s...distant. Moving away. Far away,” once he’d lifted up the Imperial and gotten the man’s lightsaber(can’t just leave those lying around), he looked up to the ceiling, “She’s already off the planet.”

“I...” Jen was probably about to apologize, though she wasn’t all that sure why. Instead, she stopped herself and got the turbolift open.

“We’ll get her back,” Akan said strongly as he stepped into the turbolift with her, “And I’ve got the feeling we have the key to tracking whoever took her down in this man.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 22: Plans Within Plans

Problems started quickly, once they’d arrived aboard the Republic Nebulon-B Frigate that was to get them out of Naboo and back to the Claw. The troubles centered around the Imperial Akan had stuffed into the cargo compartment(amazing how much use that was getting). The Republic wanted to keep him for interrogation, and no matter what Akan said, they wouldn’t let him in to talk. Akan had thought to try pulling ‘rank’ on them, but the problem that he’d left long ago(and under a different name) was quickly dwarfed by the fact that he was a species none of them had seen before. If that didn’t kill a lie, nothing would, because Alraxians were easy to notice. Especially since(as far as Akan knew) there were only two of them.

Two...Shadow. He had to find her. Not just out of the selfish reason of continuing to live, but...she was his partner. They did work well together. And she was...a good friend despite the fact that they’d only known each other for a short time. They had ‘talked’ through the Link a good amount, learning about each other and truly becoming friends. And now...she was gone. Part of him felt like it was his fault. He’d lost Mare years before, and now...another. But Shadow wasn’t dead.

Jen put a hand on his shoulder, noticing the expression on his face, “You said it yourself...we’ll get her back.”

“Yeah...” Akan said, looking around the small tapcafe within the frigate, “But I can’t...I can’t feel her there anymore. Or rather, she’s distant. Too distant. I don’t think she’s conscious either.”

“Its only been a few hours,” Jen said, trying to be helpful and feeling a little more than useless, “Whoever took her can’t have gotten too far away.”

Akan nodded, but didn’t believe it for a second, “We’ll never find her without the Imperial. I thought about that place down there...and started to wonder. What if that Imperial we brought back was the one held in that room?”

Jen raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? I would think it was the person who got away with Shadow.”

Shaking his head, Akan closed his eyes to remember it, “He told me he was hiding from the other. And I got a look at his wrists before getting him out of the Y-Wing. Burned. Ankles are probably the same.”

Slowly, Jen’s face started to show her realization of what Akan was saying, “You mean...that you think that entire garrison was just to hold one man?”

‘I’ve seen the Empire do crazier things,” Akan said shrugging, “And it all fits.”

“No,” Jen ran a hand through her hair, “No it doesn’t. Why did he attack you if he was the one being held?”

Alright, so Akan hadn’t thought that far. He shrugged again, looking down to the table, “I don’t know...but he looked like he wasn’t going to attack me until he saw who...wait, no...what I am.”

“The lightsaber does attract attention,” Jen said with a grin on her face.

“No, I mean me,” he pointed to himself, “He mentioned Jedi, but it was how I looked that seemed to set him off.”

“Strange,” Jen admitted.

Akan sighed and thought of his next words carefully. When he spoke, he kept his voice low, “The only way to find Shadow is to talk with that Imperial. The Republic isn’t going to let us talk with him...so...”

Jen’s eyes widened slightly, and she suddenly lowered her voice too, “You can’t break him out! I mean...well, even if you could, you’d have the New Republic on your tail everywhere!”

“It’s the only way,” Akan said with a slow nod, “They’ll just take him off somewhere and he’ll rot in a Republic cell. There’s something about that Imperial...he knows something.”

“You’re insane,” Jen said, again grinning a little.

“And you’re going to help me,” Akan said with a short laugh.

So, they were going to break an Imperial Officer held in a high security cell within a Republic Frigate out. Then, they were going to fly away, and hope to the Force that Akan was right. This would mean not going back to the Claw, though...it would endanger them if he tried to get back there. On his own. No. On their own. He and Jen would do this...and hopefully this Imperial would shed some light onto what was going on without attempting to kill Akan again.

A foolish hope, probably, but without hope, life got depressing fast.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 23: Unique Idiocy

Jen had complained at him for five minutes. She was going to go along with this, of course, but wanted to make it very clear that she thought Akan was being a complete idiot. He understood this, and was trying to alleviate her fears. Most of them along the lines of ‘we’ll get shot’. In fact, all of them. Some involved getting shot later...but still, that was getting shot nonetheless.

The Frigate had just left hyperspace and was finishing up the transfer of Ansion’s personnel over to the Claw. Akan figured this was about the right time, so he and Jen were walking down the long corridor to the ‘cell’ where the Imperial was being kept. It wasn’t as much a cell, rather a well guarded small room. Technically, well guarded meant two armed men at the door. This was really only to prevent the Imperial from leaving. No one could possibly be stupid enough to attempt to break him out.

No one, except Akan Ta...BlueIce. As they approached the door, Akan was glad to see that the only others visible in the corridor were the two guards. They wore simple vests and held large blaster pistols. Whatever conversation the two of them were having quickly stopped as they noticed he and Jen. Once he got close enough, Akan stepped over to the guard on the far side. Jen knew the plan. Hopefully she’d stick to it...

“Mind if I talk to the guy in there?” Akan asked innocently.

Both guards gave him one of those ‘are you stupid?’ looks that would have made Akan smile if he was as stupid as they seemed to think. The guard he stood in front of spoke flatly, “Not unless you’ve got some authorization.”

“Oh,” Akan smiled suddenly, “Good! I’ve got some right here.”

He then drew his blaster pistol fired a stun bolt at the guard. The blue rings covered the guard and he collapsed to the floor. At the same time, the other guard was drawing his weapon and opening his mouth to call for help. It was cut off by another stun bolt. This one from Jen’s blaster. Akan couldn’t help a smile as the second guard fell, “Thank you.”

“Lets get this over with,” she said, putting the blaster away. Akan nodded and knelt next to one of the guards. He shuffled trough the man’s chest pocket and pulled out a small card. It should unlock the door from the inside. When Akan stood up, Jen was reaching over and hit the switch to open the door. It slid open and revealed a room just barely larger than a storage closet. There was a small cot, and a desk that looked like it had been put together by Ewoks.

Sitting on the cot, the Imperial turned his head tiredly and gave them a slow look. He’d been about to say something then realized who was standing there. His mouth reformed new words, “You...”

“Listen,” Akan raised his hands to show he wasn’t going to attack, “You know where that man went with my friend?”

The Imperial nodded after a moment. His eyes widened slightly as realization dawned on him, “You’re breaking me out?”

“Only if you’ll help me,” said Akan, glancing back down the corridor and seeing no one still, “But you have to decide now. Don’t even think of betraying me, because she,” he nodded to Jen, who smiled to the Imperial, “She will shoot you. Are you in?”

The Imperial took no time to think about it. He nodded and started to get up, but Akan put up a hand to stop him and kicked in one of the guards, “Put on that. They’ll figure out you’re gone quickly, but that’ll at least give us some time.”

The man nodded and Jen and Akan waited. When the door closed again, Jen was grinning. Akan knew why. She might shoot that man, but not in the way Akan had threatened. It would be a stun shot. If it was normal bolt, it would be aimed at his foot and probably miss anyway.

“You realize that was the oldest line in the galaxy, don’t you?” Jen asked. Huh? What was she talking about?

“What do you mean?” Akan asked, genuinely confused. So maybe he was wrong in what she was grinning about.

She laughed and did her best imitation of Akan’s voice, “Good! I’ve got it right here.”

Akan couldn’t help but smile at that, shaking his head and shrugging, “He left it wide open. I had to. It was just too tempting to not say that.”

Jen was about to say something when the door opened and the Imperial stepped out wearing the guard’s uniform. In his hands was his olive green officer’s uniform. Akan sighed, but just told the man to hide it as best he could. They then made their way to the hangar. Once there, they had to explain that there were some things that the Imperial had that were left in the Y-Wing, and that’s why the guard was with them. Akan was going to give him the things before they left. Thankfully, it had worked and the hangar itself was fairly empty. The Y-Wing was also in an out of the way section that would provide at least some cover.

Suddenly, Akan winced. He’d forgotten to tell the Imperial an important detail. Carefully, he said over his shoulder, “Forgot to tell you something...important...”

“I don’t like this,” he responded slowly.

Akan grinned nervously, “We have a Y-Wing...and there’s not enough room...you’ll have to uh...ride in the cargo section.”

“What?!” thankfully, he kept his voice low with that one.

“We can turn around now and go back if you want,” Jen said before Akan knew how to respond. Whew. At least one of them was a quick thinker.

They walked around to the Y-Wing, and Akan moved to get the cargo compartment open, “Its cramped but we’ll take a short jump and then find a better ride.”

With a heavy sigh, the Imperial stepped over and climbed in the very small, cramped space. His last words were, “I’ve killed men for less than this.”

Then, Akan closed it and grimaced. Jen smiled and patted his shoulder, “That went well.”

They climbed up and got into the Y-Wing, getting clearance from the docking control to leave. He did not, however, contact the Claw. As they started to leave the small hangar of the frigate, Jen was preparing jump coordinates to a nearby system. Hopefully it wasn’t too long, because an irrate Imperial Officer like that man was not something Akan wanted to deal with after being cramped in the cockpit. There was something ironic in that, but he ignored it.

Just as the Y-Wing was pulling out of the hangar, the comm beeped and a voice came on, “Y-Wing! Return to the Frigate immediately!!”

“Great, they caught on already,” Akan cursed and quickly set the engines to full throttle, diverting as much as he could from the weapons systems. They rocketed out into space and Akan quickly started weaving as he knew they’d try to get a tractor beam lock on them. He glanced over his shoulder to Jen, “Get those coords quickly!”

“Power down your engines!” the voice called out over the comm, “If you do not comply we will be forced to fire.”

Yeah, yeah. They were always ‘forced’ to fire. On the HUD, a set of coordinates and a bearing appeared. Good, Jen had gotten it done. He started pulling the Y-Wing around when the frigate below lit up. Bright red blasts of energy shot up at them. That was not good. Nebulon-Bs, like Lancer Frigates, had been designed by the Empire as anti-starfighter ships. Their targeting systems were specifically designed to target small, faster ships. Y-Wings weren’t exactly the fastest, but a frigate like the one below them was better at aiming at such a ship than say, a Star Destroyer. A few shots missed, but suddenly the ship rocked violently. Akan cursed and called back to Jen, “Shields are out! Hitting it now...”

As he reached for the hyperspace lever, another of the frigate’s laser cannons fired and scored a hit. Where exactly the hit landed, Akan didn’t know, but there was a loud explosion, frying of systems within the cockpit, and they started to roll. The biggest problem was that Akan was already pulling the hyperspace lever...and from what happened next, he knew the system wasn’t damaged.

The stars extended, and they shot out into hyperspace. Except the roll had pulled them into a different bearing. Akan had no idea where they were going. Jen had cried out but a sudden silence engulfed the cockpit as they both realized the danger of what had just happened. Neither even thought about the fact that the Imperial in the cargo compartment(which was on the underbelly of the cockpit) could be dead. What worried them was that they were blindly flying through hyperspace. They could easily fly through a star, planet, or some object.

In a disturbingly calm voice, Jen said, “I’ll...try to figure out our trajectory...”

“Yeah...” Akan said with a slow nod as he went to figuring out the extent of the damage...not that it would matter if they didn’t make it out of hyperspace, “Yeah, you do that.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 24: Never Trust the Empire

“Pull us out of hyperspace in two minutes...” Jen said quietly, that eerie calm still consuming the cockpit, “Should come out in open space...then make another jump to any place near.”

“Right...” Akan was feeling slightly worried still, but they hadn’t died yet, and it’d been five long minutes, “At least we know the hyperdrive isn’t damaged. But I think the sublight engines are dead, if not on their last life. We’ll find out the hard way. Hopefully that’s the only trouble.”

They were silent after that, and Akan simply watched the chrono counting down. He shifted slightly in the seat, moving his tail out of the way again. Why did it have to be so damned sensitive, anyway?! One day he’d have to actually take time to figure out small details like that, as they continually drove him crazy. Somehow, though, he doubted he’d get the time to do that for a while now.

The chrono was nearing zero, and Akan glanced over his shoulder to Jen. Neither of them were going to say goodbyes or similar, but they were thinking it. If Jen’s calculations were wrong, they could easily revert to realspace through a star, or worse. And there was a good chance she was wrong, as there had only been a short second between being shot off course and the jump to lightspeed. The navcomputer had fried itself trying to comprehend what had happened, and that helped even less. Part of him wanted to close his eyes when he reached to the lever, but Akan wanted to see what appeared in front of them, even if only for a split second.

The chrono reach zero. Slowly, Akan pulled the hyperspace levers back. The blue tunnel around them faded, and the stars reverted back to their places. The ship shook violently, but beyond that...Jen had been right. Deep space, no planets, or objects around. Both of them let out long sighs of relief, and Akan quickly went to rechecking the damage. Sublight engines were at half power. The hit was low on the deflector shield(which had already been taken out), so now there wasn’t even a chance of the shield being able to recharge.

As he did his best to reroute a little more power to the engines, he heard Jen’s voice, “We’re somewhere out beyond the sector and close to...Malastare.”

“Malastare, eh?” Akan thought about it a moment, then couldn’t help a smile, “Right near the Hydian Way...can you plot us a course there and then along to...I dunno, isn’t Sluis Van down that direction?”

There was a moment where Jen was going over maps, “Yes...we’ll have to make a couple jumps though. Sluis Van’s on the Rimma Trade Route. You sure about that, though? Isn’t Sluis Van occupied by the Empire?”

“What isn’t these das?” he replied, turning the Y-Wing towards the bearing that the navcomputer was starting to feed to the HUD, “At least there we can be fairly sure of getting a new ship. Can probably get some average money for this old piece of junk.”

The journey was fairly long, but thankfully travel across hyperspace routes was faster than trying to make your own. Akan had slept, and figured that Jen had done the same. He awoke to the beeping of the navcomputer and reverted the ship to realspace. A fair distance away was the large pale blue of the planet Sluis Van. A few grey marks could be seen orbiting the planet. The shipyards...Imperial shipyards. Thankfully, the entire planet wasn’t covered in troops. After convincing the docking authority in one of the smaller merchant cities that they were having engine trouble(which was true), that they were just planning to stay a short time(another truth), that they were also in the market for a new ship(three truths), and they wouldn’t cause any trouble(Akan didn’t believe this one himself), they were given clearance to land.

The nice part about the docks was that each ship had a nice, large area that could locked. The problem with this was that the man who’d approached them at the docks wanted a lot of money for it. Akan had given in, too exhausted to concentrate and use the Force to convince the man to be a little more friendly, and just paid him the extra hundred credits for the lock code. Once that was done, Akan locked the door as Jen got the poor Imperial out of the cargo compartment.

The man fell out cursing. You couldn’t blame him, really. Jen explained what had happened when he had tried yelling and cursing more, and eventually he calmed down. Though he had no weapon, Akan was still worried about this Imperial. It was in the eyes and the way he stood. Dangerous. His last encounter with this man did nothing but help the ‘dangerous’ feeling.

“Captain Titus Voort,” the Imperial said when asked his name. Funnily enough, Akan didn’t care, it was Jen who’d asked it. Akan would have been happy calling him scum, sithspawn, or any number of colorful names that seemed to fit the mane very well.

“Alright, Voort,” Akan said stepping over and leaning against the Y-Wing, “We just finished our end of the deal. Now your turn. I think my questions can be summed up simply. What the Sith was going on at Naboo and where did that freak take my friend?!”

Akan was getting annoyed more, because he knew he should be able to still feel Shadow there. Somehow, though, he couldn’t. Shadow had explained the distance didn’t matter with their Link. It would always be there and always be very strong. But why was it silent? She couldn’t still be unconscious. She couldn’t be dead. Then what could she be? He sighed and just looked to the Voort to answer.

Voort had obviously been thinking about what to say, when realization came over him, “Ah ha! Thought I recognized you. You’re a little taller, but I’d know that anywhere!”

That what? Akan glanced at where the Imperial was pointing. He was pointing to Akan’s shoulder, with the burn mark from the blaster shot that had hit him on Endor. Why would he be...? Realization then his Akan, “You’re the one that shot me?!”

“Would have killed you, too,” Voort went on with a shrug, “Shot got glanced off by something.”

Akan had the look that Jen was quickly learning to recognize. He was going to kill this Voort. It was in the glare, and the flattening of the ears. She put her hand up, “Look, let’s just get to business, okay?’

Somehow, that calmed Akan some. His tail still swished across the ground slightly, and his ears were still mostly flat, but he didn’t look ready to pounce and maul anymore. Voort couldn’t help an almost cruel smile and said, “Sadrak would have taken her to his secondary base. It was where he was going to take me. I believe its somewhere out in the Garek system not far from the Corporate Sector.”

That was too easy. Far too easy. Akan raised an eyebrow, “You’re so open. Why is that, Imperial?” he said the last word slowly and as if it were the worst curse in the books. In his mind, it sure was up there.

Voort shot him a venomous look for only a short second, “I want him dead. And I always keep my word. Now, our deal is finished.”

The Force suddenly went crazy. Akan glanced to his left, where the warning had come from, and then realized that there was one very large piece of the wall flying at he and Jen. He dove to the ground, pulling Jen down with him and it slammed into the Y-Wing. Great, that’ll take at least another hundred credits off the worth. It would probably fetch barely enough to get a used blaster, by now.

Akan was getting up and starting towards Voort, who had began running to the door. He reached for his blaster, and aimed to the Imperial, but was suddenly hit in the back of his head with another piece of dock. Akan fell face first into the metal ground of the dock. Before he blacked out, he caught sight of Voort moving back their direction. He also remembered why he never liked or trusted any Imperials. Especially ones that were so willing to ‘help’.