Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 25: Of Dreams and Earscratches

“Oh c’mon, you coward! Why not another run?” Mare punched Raan playfully in the shoulder.

Raan batted her hand away, grumbling something as they left the simulators, “Don’t you think you’ve kicked my ass enough already?”

She just laughed, this time patting his shoulder, “Aww, don’t like losing?”

“I’ve got no problem losing,” Raan said in a high and mighty tone, “I just don’t like watching both my wingmates turn and shoot at me along with the enemies.”

That got Mare laughing even more, “You never saw it coming! Ahh, what I would have paid to see the look on your face.”

“I should kill you for that,” he grumbled in response, rounding the corner towards the turbolift.

“But you didn’t,” she waved a finger grinning still, “I killed you.”

Once in the turbolift, Raan noticed things were...off. Raan? Wait...Mare’s dead. Isn’t she? The thought clicked things into place, and suddenly he could see the small defense platform on Coruscant. The two of them were running as fast as they could to get out before the charges detonated. He and Mare climbed into their respective X-Wings and were already heading up before the canopy was down thanks to the astromechs.

“Hurry it up!” Mare’s voice sounded over the comm in his helmet.

Raan glanced over to her X-Wing, which was already starting towards the atmosphere, “I’m coming! I’m coming!”

As he started to catch up, something he hadn’t anticipated occurred. Turbolaser fire. From the planet. He yelled a warning and pulled his X-Wing to the side, using his instincts to quicken his reactions and feel where the right place to go was. For the first time in his life, he saw something. It was...like a flash of what was about to happen. He had only a moment to comprehend it, and when he did, yelled out over the comm, not even caring about call signs or encryptions, “LIZ! EJECT!”

Raan’s eyes watched the world in slow motion then. He could see the large green blast shooting upwards. Just as it impacted with Mare’s X-Wing, penetrating the shield and hitting the hull. Over the comm, he heard Mare starting to say something, but it was cut off as he watched the X-Wing tear apart in a ball of flame. There was no scream, no sound beyond what she had tried to say.

Akan’s eyes shot open and his had his mouth open in a silent yell, though no sound came out. Slowly things caught up with him, and his vision cleared, though the image of Mare’s X-Wing burnings to pieces was still etched clearly in his mind. Jen was sitting on her knees next to him, looking surprised. She then asked the question she already knew the answer to, “You alright?”

And to keep in with the correct answer, Akan lied, “Yeah...I’m fine...” he trailed off to look around, seeing that they were still in the dock. Next to him was a small puddle of blue liquid. Blood? His? BLUE?! Not another blue...he was getting tired of this whole color scheme to his life, “What happened?”

Jen shrugged and helped him to sit up, “Voort knocked you out...got his lightsaber...and then left.”

Now it was Akan’s turn for the stupid question, “Are you alright?”

Even though Jen’s response was the same as Akan’s, she wasn’t lying, “I’m fine...he...didn’t do anything to me. Just walked past me and then left.”

Akan raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he focused on trying to focus. Mainly stopping the world from rotating slightly. It worked after a few moments, and he managed a weak smile, “You know, I’m really bad at this kind of stuff.”

“You do have a habit of getting your butt kicked,” Jen acknowledged, patting his shoulder. He cringed slightly at the words, remembering what he’d...dreamed? So similar it was scary.

“Well, we don’t really need him anymore,” Akan lied, getting to his feet and checking that he had everything.

“You mean you know the system he was talking about?” Jen asked with a look that showed she knew he had no idea.

Akan managed a weak shrug, “Well...I know where the Corporate Sector is. Start there, work out. Simple.”

Jen just stood there with her hands on her hips giving him that look that would make anyone admit they were complete idiots. He smiled and shrugged again, “Look, we need to either get a new ship or fix this one. Currently, I’m thinking that a new ship would take less time and...somehow, be less expensive.”

Seeing the expression on his face, Jen immediately caught onto his next thought. It wasn’t hard, he was easy to read, “And you want me to do the talking?”

Again, he smiled, “Why not? I can stand back and look menacing!”

She just shook her head, “You realize you look like a big cat, yes? That’s not menacing.”

“Yes it is!” he managed a growl and to unsheathe his claws, “Grr! See, menacing!”

An evil grin passed across Jen’s face, and she idly stepped over to him. Akan kept his ‘menacing’ look, but watched her curiously. She reached up to his head, finding a spot right behind his ear, and scratching gently. Akan’s mind melted. He found himself leaning his head towards her hand and...a sound started. Purring. He was purring. Loud, and somehow similar to a growl, but obviously purring.

Suddenly, she stopped, laughed at his pathetic whimper, and started towards the exit to the dock. Over her shoulder, she called to him, “Very menacing.”

“That wasn’t fair!” Akan yelled back, doing his best to catch up, part of his mind wondering how to get her to do that again, “I wasn’t ready! Do it again! I’ll stay menacing this time! I mean it!”

She gave him a look, laughed again, and left the dock. She was doing the perfect imitation of one who had such a ‘menacing’ pet as a bodyguard. She just ignored him. This of course, was driving him crazy as they walked through the streets of the large city and they tried to find a good dealer.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 26: Deals and Mistakes

It had taken nearly two hours of wandering the streets of the city, but they finally found someone who was both interested in buying a beat up Y-Wing and willing to sell a larger ship. The ship in question was an older Lambda-class shuttle, commonly used as Imperial transport ships. They weren’t combat ships, and this particular one had its weapons removed, and some cargo area reduced for better crew quarters and a better hyperdrive. The ships were good quality, and Akan had encouraged Jen to go for it. Of course, he was being ‘menacing’ so he’d had to find an interesting way to do that. His thinking failed, and he ‘cheated’, using the Force to send her the message directly.

Jen showed no hint in her expression that she’d heard him, as that might give away to the man she was sitting across from that the big pet was more than just a bodyguard. She had pulled her hair back and was attempting to be much more stiff of a negotiator than she was with things like this. The way she did this was easier than she’d expected. Jen simply thought about buying the ship as she would a project she deeply believe in. She figured this was why the man was giving in and allowing her to negotiate for lower prices. She sounded like she really was good at this.

“One ten,” Jen said, leaning back in her chair at the small outdoor tapcafe and giving the older looking man across from her a long look.”

He had demanded to be called ‘Slick’, stating that this was what everyone knew him by. From the look of the people around him, even if they had any idea who he was, they didn’t care. Jen humored him. Slick was probably in his early fifties, and how exactly he’d picked up this Lambda shuttle was kept just as quiet as to why their Y-Wing was in such bad shape. He was examining her expression, “One twenty. She’s a good ship.”

“One ten,” Jen repeated, waving a hand in the air, “Good ship or not. Its well used, doesn’t even have an ion cannon, and really it should be ninety. The Y-Wing’s worth at least that much, but I’m willing to let it go for less. If you’re smart enough to see a good deal that is.”

Talk like that and you had any good salesman interested. They hated being shown up, and especially hated missing out on a good deal. Slick obviously knew it was a good deal and was just trying to get more for his money. There was that long, calculating silence between them before Slick finally nodded, “Deal. One ten.”

When he extended his hand across the small table, Jen knew he wasn’t requesting her to shake it. He wanted the money. So, she handed him a credit chip. This, he examined for a long moment, and before he spoke, she raised a hand, “One ten is on that chip. You can check it if you like. Now, what are the codes to the ship?”

Slick sighed and dug through his pockets before pulling out a small datacard. As he did this, Akan reached over Jen’s shoulder and handed her a similar card, which held the codes to the hangar the Y-Wing was in. They’d cleaned it out already, and were carrying the very small amount of equipment in two packs. Or rather, Akan was carrying them.

The two of them exchanged datacards, checked them, and Slick then disappeared without even a ‘thank you’. Once he was out of sight, Akan took the seat across from Jen and finished looking over the information on the card, “Private hangar not far from here,” he grinned suddenly and looked over to her, “You’re good at that fast talking.”

Jen shrugged. What could she say? She honestly didn’t know where she’d gotten it from. It was just something she’d needed to do, so she’d focused and done it. She couldn’t help a small smile and eventually nodded, “You know what the best part of it is?”

Akan tilted his head slightly, “Hm?”

She was surprised. Of all people, she’d have expected him to have caught on to it first. Her smile became a grin, “Remember the docking officer? We only paid half of those fees. We’re supposed to pay the other half when we leave.”

Slowly, Akan’s face formed into a devious grin. He started to laugh, “You’d be a great politician with the way you make people forget things like that,” Akan suddenly went silent, and Jen got worried until she realized he had thought of something else, “Where did you get a hundred and ten thousand credits? I thought we said we’d split the cost.”

Oh. That. She laughed this time, shaking her head, “My treat. Well, no. Think of it as the New Republic’s treat. It was the last payment of commission money to the facility on Endor. We used it to buy supplies...the Imperials arrived about three weeks before the next supply ship and I just had a hold of it.”

Akan smiled but didn’t say anything for a while. From the look of it, he was thinking about what to do. Jen was doing the same. The thing that was getting her the most was that Imperial, Voort. He’d just walked by like she didn’t even exist. Arguably, that was a good thing, but it was still strange. Still, Akan had said that Voort had sounded like he’d recognized Akan’s species. As far as Jen(and Akan for that matter) knew, he and Shadow were the only two of their kind in the galaxy. It was now more likely this was wrong. Hmm...she let her thoughts run on and then asked, “You said Voort called you something when he saw you, right?”

“Hm? Oh!” Akan nodded and welcomed himself back into reality, “Yeah...Alrax.”

“Shortened version of Alraxian?” Jen suggested, not completely believing it herself.

Akan shrugged, “I dunno...the way he said it made it seem like it was a name.”

“So he knew another Alraxian?”

Again, Akan shrugged, “It seems that way.”

Jen leaned forward and gave Akan a very serious look, “And you just let him walk away knowing what you are, and likely, what you can do?”

Slowly, what Jen had said dawned on him. Jen watched it creep onto his face before he cursed and kicked the table. The table nearly impaled her, but thankfully he caught it, his anger suddenly gone and a sheepish look on his face now. He was obviously still getting used to the strength of the body. He then just sighed, “One thing at a time...lets get that shuttle, get out of here, and get Shadow.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 27: Spacious Ships

“I almost feel guilty,” Akan commented over his shoulder as he finished the final checks on the shuttle’s systems and started warming it up to leave.

Jen had been looking at the other areas, and had barely heard him, “What?”

“Oh nothing,” he turned and flipped a few switches and the main lights came on, “Just that this is probably worth a good deal more than we paid for it.”

The lambda shuttle was in a small private hangar off on the other side of the city. They had walked for a good distance, and then just given up and hired an aircab to get them to the place. Night was falling by the time they’d gotten there, and Akan wasn’t completely comfortable with seeing the ship in such low light. That had a habit of hiding battle scars. However, he was surprised to find that he could see as well, if not better, in the dark than he could in the light. So he’d taken extra time to inspect the exterior of the ship, too. Jen had taken to looking over the interior, telling him that there was one fairly large sized quarters and two smaller ones. Apparently, she had claimed the large one as payment for being the one to actually pay for the ship. The fact that it was the New Republic’s credits was not brought up. Akan wasn’t stupid.

He switched on the repulsorlifts and slowly, the ship started upwards. Jen eventually came over and sat in the copilot’s chair next to him. Honestly, this was much better than the Y-Wing. Not only was it more spacious, but it was almost surprising to see such a nice view out of the much larger and more open viewport. As the ship pulled up and out of the hangar, they got a good view of the city. Most of the buildings were smaller, but in the distance was the larger public docking bays where the old Y-Wing was. Part of Akan was going to miss that ship...the part that for some reason enjoyed not being able to stretch.

Putting his focus ahead, he angled the ship upwards and looked to the sky above, seeing a few glints of spaceships and a single large spacedock. Still getting familiar with the controls, Akan remembered to reach over in front of Jen and hit the switch to bring the two folded wings out and down to give the lambda its inverter Y look. Ironic how he went from one Y to another...just like those damned blues. Even the walls in the ship was a light metallic blue colour. Almost close to his stripe. Jen had commented that his stripe was shiny, though.

Shiny? How was he supposed to take that? Oh, yes, well I make sure of that every day. I pride myself in my shiny stripe. How was it shiny anyway? Akan was going to drill Shadow full of a thousand questions once he got her back. Cutting off the repulsorlift engines and switching to the sublight engines, Akan felt a slight shudder as the older shuttle started on its way out of the planet’s atmosphere. The silence was starting to unnerve Akan, and though he liked the sound that the sublight engines emitted, it was getting worrying.

“You have the course plotted?” he asked pathetically.

“It’ll be a day and a half trip to the Corporate Sector,” responded Jen with a nod.

No, it wasn’t the silence that was bothering him. It was something else. Almost like something in the back of his mind telling him to focus on it. Akan brought the ship to the correct bearing and then switched the chrono on. He stood up and started to head back to the quarters, “You think you can pull those levers when that hits zero and get us into hyperspace?”

Jen looked at him, noticing something was bothering him, but nodded and slid over into the pilot’s chair. Akan left the cockpit’s door open and simply wandered back into the room that was off to the side. Finding the small, but adequate bed, he sat down on it and let his mind go. What was that? His mind flowed through a thousand thoughts, most of which he didn’t understand. But then...something. Something that was wrong. Not him, but near. A feeling. The link? Shadow? No...closer. The planet? Sluis Van? No...the Imperials hadn’t taken notice. Imperials...

Voort. Voort. Akan had felt it before. First on Endor when he’d been shot by the underpowered blaster...a shot that shouldn’t have been able to hit him. Then, on Naboo after Shadow had gone...the first time was too late. The second, nearly so. But why now? He couldn’t possibly have...

Voort. Akan slowly opened his eyes and stood up. What was it about that man? He found himself unhooking the lightsaber from his belt, almost surprised at himself. But he didn’t stop. That...feeling was growing. Too late...just in time...warning? Voort. Voort had been a captive within that base on Naboo...yet he was an Imperial. A captive among his own? Why? What did ‘Alrax’ really mean? It all came down to Voort. Every thread, lead back to him. Why? Warning...

Akan hadn’t realized that he’d walked into the main section of the ship. Still acting more on auto than thought, he closed the door to the cockpit, not giving Jen a chance to say anything. As he turned back, the sight of a human man in an Imperial uniform didn’t surprise Akan at all. He looked over the man, noting the short, cropped hair and sharp features of Voort’s face. He was likely in his late twenties...but the eyes. Always, with every warrior, it was the eyes. Akan had it. Shadow even had it. But Voort had it to an extreme. His eyes didn’t show pain and death...simply hatred. Akan could almost see light red flecks in the man’s eyes. From the look on Voort’s face, he was studying Akan in much the same way.

The major difference was that Voort didn’t hold anything. In Akan’s right hand, resting against his leg, was the lightsaber hilt. Despite the fact that they both stood casually, that was a vital piece in the puzzle. To Akan, it meant one of two things. Either he had the upper hand, or Voort did, and was hiding his advantage. Behind him and past the closed door, Akan could hear Jen moving. Through the Force, he sent her a firm message. ‘Stay where you are.’

He knew she heard it. And from the sound of things, she listened. Akan’s attention never waved from Voort, however. Eventually, one of them would have to speak. For the second time, he took the initiative, “You could have stayed behind and saved us both a lot of trouble.”

Voort simply nodded, speaking in the same slow, dangerous tones that Akan was, “I have unfinished business with Sadrak.”

“You have unfinished business with me,” Akan corrected.

Again, Voort nodded, “It is not as vital as Sadrak. I offer a truce, Jedi.”

He was speaking honestly. Akan could feel it. But still, one could speak the truth and hide layers of lies within it to make it truth, “How can I trust that?”

“The pact of one warrior to another.”

Akan watched Voort’s eyes...again, truth. His voice conveyed a strong sense of honor in those words. Slowly, Akan tried something else, “Why Sadrak?”

There was silence for a long time as Voort just watched him. There was no actual show of surprise, but the feeling through the Force was almost that. Eventually, the Imperial said, “He killed my wife.”

“And you shot me,” Akan growled, still not liking being shot. He didn’t close his eyes, but let out a calming breath and spoke in a calmer tone, “And once our business with Sadrak is completed?”

Voort wasn’t dumb enough to have missed the word ‘our’ in that. He knew then that it was Akan’s way of accepting the ‘truce’. A tiny hint of a smile crept onto the Imperial’s face, “Then we can complete ours.”

Slowly, Voort took two steps forward, now nearly in the center of the room. He reached out with his right hand, extending it towards Akan and waiting in a very dignified manner. Akan placed the lightsaber back on his belt(slowly, of course), then took two steps forward. Extending his own hand, he gripped Voort’s tightly. His own grip was much stronger than the Human’s, but Voort showed no sign of pain when Akan shook his hand.

They were still eyeing each other though....like predator and prey. But both were the predator, and both were the prey. Waiting for one slip. Just one...small slip. Then, it would end. But Sadrak first.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 28: Interesting Times

Over the course of the trip, Akan didn’t sleep. Voort didn’t either. The two of them never left each other’s sight. Jen hadn’t been happy about the arrangement, but hadn’t argued it much. Besides, what were they going to do now? Stop and kick him off? It wasn’t worth the trouble. So Akan took advantage of this time to learn about his enemy. Both of them. He learned about Voort through his questions about Sadrak, focusing on how the Imperial...no, ex-Imperial(Voort insisted on that, and Akan didn’t doubt him for some reason), answered the questions and the words he used.

Apparently, Sadrak had been one of the Emperor’s many Inquisitors. Force Sensitive maniacs who were experts in torture and interrogation. All of them were dangerous, but most were assumed dead. When the Emperor was killed, many of the Inquisitors and others that had the Emperor’s ear, simply fought amongst themselves for power and control over the Empire. Sadrak had not. He simply disappeared. Or at least, for a time. Not long after the New Republic’s taking of Coruscant, Sadrak resurfaced. He was in the Mid Rim this time, working with a large compliment of Imperial scientists and a fleet. He had spent his years in seclusion developing his power and control over the Dark Side. He had, according to Voort, uncovered many ancient artifacts that the Emperor had kept hidden on an out of the way planet. This planet was left unnamed, to the annoyance of many who had flocked to Sadrak to steal his secrets.

“I don’t know what exactly he had found or what he was doing,” Voort said, sitting across from Akan in the main cabin of the shuttle.

For a long moment, Akan watched the man to see if he could detect a hint of a lie. But he didn’t, “How did you get involved with Sadrak?”

At first, Voort looked like he wouldn’t answer. However, a strange trust was growing between the two of them, and he sat back almost casually, “I was the Emperor’s Hand. He trained me personally after I was pulled out of the normal ranks of the Army. After he died, I stuck myself back into the Army. Of all the Inquisitors, the Emperor distrusted Sadrak the most. I watched Sadrak for years before Endor...and after. I didn’t like that he’d disappeared, and tracked him down. Once he showed up again, I managed to work myself into his force.”

Interesting...Akan listened to how Voort spoke of the events, but found this last part, especially the way Voort’s voice had changed, the most interesting of it all. A question begged asking, and Akan wasn’t about to let it go, “Why were you a prisoner?”

Obviously, Voort had expected this, “The Emperor trained my well...but Sadrak was no fool. I underestimated him, and he used his...talents to break me,” a hand came up to his forehead, and he tapped it gently, “Your memories. Fears...he uses them to break you. So I was living two lives. One, I was just as my troops knew me...the best shot in the Empire, loyal to fault. But inside, I tried to stop myself. Sadrak used me...my body acted without my mind.”

“It had to be more complicated than that,” Akan said, trying to think things out and learn as much about this Sadrak as he could, “Breaking a man is one thing...but forcing his body to act without his mind is another.”

Nodding, Voort said, “The artifact he found that he prized so greatly. A poison. An ancient poison developed by the Sith. The Emperor kept a single vial of it, but even he feared using it. It twists the mind, changes it...changes the person.”

“I’m assuming he developed more than just that vial...” Akan said quietly, more to the side than anything.

“Much more,” Voort responded with another nod, “Usually, its effects are permanent. However, my body’s immune system was able to fight it off...so he had to keep me locked up and restrained most of the time”

Slowly, Akan took all of this in. Sith poison. This Dark Sider Sadrak was producing Sith poison, which twisted the subject to evil itself. Voort didn’t need to say it, the message was conveyed easily. But why so much? What did he plan to do? Spreading it would only do so much...there was more to this.

“Did he only research into producing more of this poison?” Akan asked after going through a thousand thoughts.

“No,” Voort’s answered confirmed Akan’s fear. But why was that bothering him? Voort continued on that thought, “The majority of the scientists were doing genetic research. Continuing a project started by Yssane Isard.”

Akan knew that name, “Director of Imperial Intelligence. They called her, Iceheart...”

“Among other things,” responded Voort, “He took this project of her’s, a cloning project, and took it to a new level. He discovered me and began torturing me before I could discover what advancements he made. Before that, I was the main security advisor for the project. I was there at every stage...”

Slowly, Akan’s mind caught onto ebbs in the Force. All coming from this Voort. Something...he latched onto one. Focused. Then, it hit him. Akan found his tail twitching slightly at the realization, “Alrax.”

“Despite everything we did to her...all the torture she endured, she tried to kill me,” Voort sounded nostalgic, obviously leaving out some important details, “I don’t know what happened to her. However, I never thought that I would see another of her kind.”

So he did recognize Akan’s species. Akan started to open his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Voort interpreted this differently than Akan would have expected, “You came looking for her? She...confided much in me. It was strange, but she became like a sister to me. I wanted to protect her from what we did. She told me about your people. I promise you, that Sadrak knows none of it. The details of your home,” he touched his forehead, “I have kept them safe.”

Still, Akan didn’t know what to say. So many questions...Voort didn’t know that Akan wasn’t actually Alraxian. Or rather, had only been one for a matter of days. Voort was still seeing this as something else, and his voice took on an almost comforting tone, “If I knew where your Empress-to-be was, I would take you to her. It is a debt I owe her...but...only Sadrak really knows.”

Empress-to-be?! They were doing genetic research on an Alraxian Princess? Akan didn’t even know where the Alraxian home planet was, and now he was told that he had an Empress-to-be out there. An Empire? Not THE Empire, but an Empire. Where though? Anything of size worth calling an Empire would be known. Wild Space, maybe? But that was small, and called Wild Space for a reason. Hyperspace routes were unreliable and impossibly dangerous. Alright then...the Unknown Regions. They’re huge. Easily could fit an Empire. Alright, calm...don’t show this Imperial you have no idea what he’s talking about. Akan kept a composed face, “I didn’t think you Imperials cared about debts.”

Voort shook his head, “I honor those who deserve it. Alrax...she became a friend in those strange days. I regret what we did to her. But please, tell me something. When she spoke with me of the Force, she told me that though they have the ancient weapons, they have their own traditions in the Force. No Jedi. How is it that you are trained as one?”

Another piece of information to take in. Alraxians didn’t have Jedi...what did they have, then? He mentally shrugged and tried a mostly honest answer, “I taught myself.”

Nodding, Voort found a smile growing on his face, “Interesting days these are. An ex-Imperial and an Alraxian Jedi.”

Akan couldn’t help but agree, “Yes, well we can settle which one is right after we get Sadrak. Should arrive in another hour.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 29: Swamps, Tails, and Princesses

The Garek system was one of the many uninhabitable places in the galaxy. The double star at the center of the system orbited dangerous close to itself, and would likely destroy itself within the next few thousand years. The readings on the shuttle’s sensors showed that if any of the planets were remotely close to sustaining life, it was the fifth planet in the system. Akan wanted to argue with the computer, as Garek V looked like a large pile of green mush placed together in a sphere. Part of him was sure he could smell the place even from orbit.

“Covered in swamps,” Jen confirmed his suspicions as she looked over another of the sensor screens, then down to the planet below.

Voort was sitting behind them, though Akan had an eye on him at all times. As Akan brought the ship down through the atmosphere(which was as thick as the swamps below), he found himself looking around with a sigh, “Can you scan for anything remotely solid to set down on?”

Jen had started to comply, but when the viewport cleared, Voort pointed to a place off in the distance, “There.”

Akan looked. Jen looked. They continued looking. Then, they looked to each other. Gaining no new knowledge, they both turned back to Voort. He pointed again, “There’s a patch in the trees there.”

Oh, wonderful, the man could see solid ground through mush. This just got better by the minute. However, Akan didn’t argue, and the shuttle flew towards the spot. As they got closer, Jen scanned it and found that yes, Voort was right. Also, not too far off was something metal. No too far off in the terms of the sensor was kilometers. This meant a nice long trudge through the swamps to get there.

They set down on the small section between trees, vines, and other things that Akan worried about. Voort and Jen left to get their equipment, and Akan finished powering down the shuttle. A vine suddenly fell on the viewport. Akan jumped and nearly yelped in surprise. Composing himself, he tilted forward and looked up to see movement in the trees. He glared and grumbled, “Just bought it and the natives are already putting dents in it.”

He sighed and got up, finding the two others talking about something he had no interest in. Akan simply got the boarding ramp down, and nearly gagged at the smell. Voort and Jen seemed to notice it was bad, but didn’t seem to have it as bad as he did. Wonderful thing these Alraxian noses were. He and Voort started down the ramp at about the same time, and as Akan looked down at the mucky ground below, he sighed again, “Look, I’m just getting my friend out and leaving. If you want off, you leave when we leave. Understand?”

Voort raised an eyebrow as his foot tested the soft, but still supportive moss covered ground, “Selfish for a Jedi. However, I understand.”

Then, the man started leading the way through knee high swamp gunk. Jen gave Akan a weary look and Akan returned it, trying to keep his tail above the water but finding it strangely difficult. Soon he just gave up and decided to worry about getting that stuff out of his tail fur later. They were all very glad to have long and fairly heavy trousers and boots on, as it kept the actual swamp off of them. Instead, they just felt the heavy weight of it all far too close to their skin.

“Well, if this doesn’t keep visitors out, I don’t know what would,” Jen commented. There was no grin on her face, and it was apparent she was being very serious. Akan could only nod as they continued the long walk. It was uneventful except for an incident where Akan swore something bit his tail. He had screamed like a child(which, after some reminding, he technically was) and the rest of the walk through the ‘water’ he was holding his tail in his hands. It was a strange sight to see Voort laugh at that, especially since Akan was still expecting the man to turn and murder him in a second. The uneasy truce was still just as uneasy before, both of them simply kept it hidden. Voort was better at this than Akan. Much better.

Slowly, the water level lowered and the land rose. Akan didn’t give a look to his trousers, not wanting to see the colour or any live things still attached. As they got to more ‘land’, trees grew denser and not far off, a light grey gleam could be seen. The building. Now, they slowed their pace. Voort started moving to one side, and Akan found himself moving to the other. Jen, not completely sure what she should do, followed Voort(who was closer). As they approached, they saw the building was in fact just a large opening in the ground. There was a central door large enough for a landspeeder, though that made Akan wonder how anyone could get use from a speeder in this environment.

After they stood without moving for a while, watching to see if there were any defenses, Voort moved. He started towards the door almost casually. Now, he did have a blaster in hand, but it was the way he walked. Jen looked over to Akan, who shrugged and followed. Jen caught up, giving them both a somewhat lost look, though she said nothing. When Voort got to the door, he simply hit the switch. It opened. Somehow, this didn’t surprise Akan. Why lock anything on a planet like this? It wasn’t on many charts anyway.

Carefully, Akan followed Voort into the dimly lit corridor. It was a stairwell. Long and very steep. Akan made a comment about watching where you step as Jen stepped in and closed the door. A good distance down, they could see the floor evened out. Voort and Akan simply headed down, as there was no other way to go. When they got to the even floor, they discovered that two halls went left and right, but the stairwell also continued down. Voort had started to go down, but Akan caught the Imperial’s shoulder, “Wait.”

Something was...there. No. Left? Yes. What? Alive. Dim though...Sadrak? Maybe. But...

[Akan...?] the ‘voice’ in his mind was low and weak sounding. It confirmed where his thoughts were leading to. Shadow.

[Where are you?] Akan asked, feeling it out anyway. Left corridor. The link was not as strong as it had been before, but it was there. Without a word to the others, Akan took his lightsaber in hand and moved quickly to the left. Voort had started to say something, but Akan didn’t hear it. He also heard no response from Shadow. That was worrying.

Akan followed the corridor a for a while, then found that it went two directions. Still empty though. Trying to feel for Shadow, his thoughts were interrupted by Voort, “Sadrak knows we’re here.”

“What do you mean?” Jen asked, sounding worried.

“Your young friend here is leading us to a trap,” commented Voort a little too loudly as Akan started to the right this time, following his instincts. Yes, it probably was a trap, but did it matter? Nope. He was going to get Shadow out and leave. Part of him knew he should deal with Sadrak...but, Voort wanted to do that. Akan wasn’t about to stop him. It’d get the Imperial out of his hair.

Rounding one more corner, Akan found himself in a large room. The walls were a slate grey, and there was a large amount of equipment scattered across tables and desktops. On the far side, the room turned into more of a lab, with containers, sealed objects, and equipment that Jen probably recognized. Then, Akan’s eyes saw Shadow. In the far corner, on the floor with something covering her face. He could see her ears out of the metallic looking ‘hood’, but noticed she wasn’t moving at all. Nothing was holding her down. But also, no one else was there. Akan didn’t like that.

He stepped towards her, and Voort growled something about him being a fool. Akan ignored him, going to Shadow anyway. Jen was following closely, but her attention was on the equipment. Much of it was similar to what she’d worked with on Endor. That worried her. Most of the things on Endor were simply theoretical, but this looked like someone was actually toying with living creatures. She couldn’t help but shudder at the thought.

Voort had stayed back. This was obviously an elaborate set up. Sadrak had known that this...boy would come for his friend. But had he expected Voort to follow? He wouldn’t put it past Sadrak. This was a moment that required caution and checking for any kind of trap. But the boy simply walked over to the figure on the other side of the room like nothing was wrong at all. He was going to get them all killed. Voort could tell the boy was idealistic. That was most likely the root of the problem. For some reason, most people thought that being idealistic meant you didn’t have to use your brain at all.

When Akan made it over to Shadow, he knelt in front of her and noticed she seemed to be in a strange coma-like state. Breathing...slowly. Heartbeat...wait...he put his head to her chest and listened. Two heartbeats. Hmmm..For the first time, Akan put his hand over his own chest. Two heartbeats. Okay. Two hearts. So maybe that was normal. How had he missed that?! Not important right now. Akan took a closer look at the ‘hood’ of sorts over Shadow. It covered her mouth, nose, and eyes effectively, but curved around her head to leave room for her ears. He knew it was dangerous to attempt without really checking, but Akan carefully removed the hood from her head.

Nothing happened once it was off. No explosion like he’d for some reason expected. What he did notice was that Shadow had a long scar across her face. It hadn’t been there last he knew...Carefully, he shook her, “Shady. Wake up.”

Her eyes did open slowly, two silver circles watching him carefully. Her ears moved, and her mouth opened. Nothing came out. She closed her eyes, mentally focused, and tried again. But she didn’t get a chance, as a voice from behind all of them laughed, “Ahhh, so easy to predict.”

Akan, Jen and Voort all turned around to see a man wearing all black(Akan wondered when evil people would get with the times and get away from such a cliche). He had a hood pulled back from a heavy robe, and looked to be near human. Two deep, cruel red eyes watched them from a disturbingly young face. It had to be Sadrak, but usually those devoted to the Dark Side saw their bodies ravaged...this man, though. He was young looking, and attractive. No in any way what one would expect from an Imperial Inquisitor. Sadrak smiled and opened his arms, “An amazing development here, Titus! Our little pet has made herself a friend!”

Akan couldn’t help a low growl that escaped him as he watched the man. Shadow was still only barely aware of things around her, and he was doing his best to hold her up straight. Jen had stepped back and gotten slightly in front of both Akan and Shadow. She had her blaster up and Akan found it interesting that she was actually taking on a very protective role suddenly. Voort had a hand on his lightsaber, and watched Sadrak with a careful eye. At Sadrak’s words, he turned and looked to the Alraxian that Akan had unmasked. She looked so similar to Alrax...but, no. She was different. Her hair was too short. Her body that of a child’s...the scar.

Then, realization dawned on him, though he didn’t speak it. Instead, he focused on what had been said about this Akan, “What are you talking about?”

Again, Sadrak laughed, “Oh, yes, I forgot! You were locked up by the time we’d learned of that little trick! The animals have another interesting trait...they can make a body out of their own for another. Did you actually think that another of those animals came looking for her?!”

Something was still wrong. Voort could feel Sadrak probing through his mnd(as could the others), but he couldn’t feel Sadrak. It was like...he wasn’t there. Voort pulled out his blaster, then fired a shot. It went through the former Inquisitor. Hologram? No...there would need to be a projector.

Another long laugh from Sadrak’s image, “You think I’m that stupid, Titus? Oh, no, I’m no where near that dreadful planet. Do you think you could bring that animal to me? I did not have time to finish the tests before I learned of your approach.”

Again, Akan growled, louder and more threatening. Honestly, he didn’t know where it was coming from. It kind of just happened. Sadrak’s eyes fell on him, “How does it feel to be an animal, boy? It is so good to know there are two of you now. We really must meet. You don’t want her to get too far ahead of you, now do you?” he smiled again, and then looked over all of them, “I am sorry, but I must go. Pressing matters, you understand, Titus. But don’t worry, you didn’t travel all the way out there for nothing. I did leave some toys for you! I do hope we are able to meet boy, and please, if you survive, bring Three with you! She just has a few more things left!”

Three? Who...? Shadow. Three, though? The image of Sadrak faded, and when Voort turned and looked around the walls for weapons or explosives or anything...he found nothing. Akan started to his feet, and Shadow, who was waking up some, said nothing as she regained her own balance and remembered all that was going on. She was going to say something when Jen turned towards the hallway, “I hear footsteps.”

“Loud ones...” Akan commented, hearing the approached of many heavy footsteps.

“We need to get out of here,” Titus said, starting towards the hallway, “We can figure out what’s going on after we’re gone.”

We. We. Again with the ‘we’. Of course, Akan was thinking it too. The business with Sadrak was still not over...so whatever had to be done about Voort
would have to wait. Too many unanswered questions. When he looked to Shadow, she nodded towards the hallway. [Thanks for coming...but lets try to survive this before I ask you what’s going on, okay?]

Akan nodded, as he, Jen, and Shadow came up next to Voort. The footsteps were nearing as they also approached the corner. Not boots. Too heavy. Stormtroopers? No. Then what? Whatever it was, it was no friendly. Akan had his lightsaber drawn and activated, blue green blade ready in front of them as the steps got closer. Voort had followed suit, holding his own orange blade out. Jen was behind them with her blaster pistol. Shadow had mentally composed herself, and was ready to pounce. After that hood being on her head, she was ready to maul something. And that something was about to be in front of her.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 30: Turbolasers and Blasters

It was almost like Akan, Voort and Shadow were shoving each other out of the way to get in front. Jen had no problem with fighting, but the three of them(especially Shadow after being comatose) seemed far too eager. Only a few steps behind them, she caught sight of the source of the footsteps at about the same time. In that short second it took to round the corner, they stood facing six stormtroopers. Six...two meter tall stormtroopers with very large repeating rifles aimed at them. There was a very long stand off, with Akan, Voort, and Shadow staring down the long barrels of the repeating blaster rifles. At least Akan and Voort had lightsabers up and in front of them, but Shadow had nothing. Not even her usual knife.

Then, it was like something in the air just clicked. Voort, on the left, ducked low and sent his lightsaber thrusting towards one of the troopers. One the right, Shadow also ducked low, claws unsheathing as she dove towards a hole in the armor plating. With both of the other two next to him ducking, Akan brought his lightsaber across in a long horizontal arc. In that flash of movement, the first three of the troopers were down(and all of them in at least two pieces). The other three were farther back, and started backing as their blaster rifles started firing. Jen dropped to her knees against the wall, aiming up over Voort and firing her blaster pistol. Voort and Akan were then both up and deflecting blaster fire, and Jen watched Shadow draw Akan’s blaster pistol dropping back behind him and using him for cover as she fired the pistol. Jen moved over behind Shadow, also firing her pistol. Their shots downed two of the troopers, and in a moment Voort’s lightsaber took of the head of the last one.

Akan took a moment to stand there, then glanced back over his shoulder. Shadow stood up and slipped the blaster back into the holster on his belt, and Jen also stood up, shrugging. He couldn’t help a grin, and lowered the lightsaber, “You’re welcome.”

The floor shook. No, not just the floor. The building shook. Instinctively, they all looked up. They saw nothing but the ceiling. Then, following second instincts, they looked down. Nope, the floor was fine. While the others were trying to figure out what happened, Voort started down the corridor, “Come on.”

“What was that, though?!” Akan asked, jogging to catch up.

Shadow and Jen were there in a moment, and they all had a tough time holding their balance when the building shook again. Jen looked around her and then to Akan as they rounded the second corner, “You can stay and find out if you want.”

“No, he can’t,” Shadow growled, in no mood for sarcasm.

The got back to the stairwell, and Akan took a look down. He could see pieces of the ceiling on the stairs, “What’s down there anyway?”

“I don’t know, and don’t plan to find out,” Shadow commented as she was already starting up the stairs. Akan sighed and followed, now behind Voort and running next to Jen. The building shook a third time...above. Right above them, too. A large piece of the ceiling came down over Akan and Jen, but there wasn’t anywhere to move to. Both of them simply continued trying to move forward without falling on their faces, and just before it reached them, the panel was forced back and tumbled down the stairs. Akan glanced up to see Voort nod to him, and then continued upwards.

Jen seemed to be alright, as she was moving up again. Akan decided catching up was a good idea. But that sound...there it was again. From above, this time slamming into a section of the ceiling far behind them. He glanced back a moment then up to the others, “I really hope my hearing’s just toying with me!”

“It isn’t,” Voort called back as he reached the door, “Those are turbolasers!”

Akan glanced up again, “Are we worth all this trouble?!”

No one answered, but when the door was opened, a hail of blaster fire shot out towards them. The four of them quickly dove to the sides, with the only damage to them being singed hairs and tail fur. Jen looked over to Akan, “Apparently, we are worth this much trouble.”

All eyes were then on Shadow. She noticed this, and just shrugged, “I didn’t do anything! This isn’t my fault!”

Blaster shots were still coming through the door as they all tried to work a way out of this. Akan sighed, “I saw about ten or so stormtroopers.”

“There’s more then just ten out there,” Voort commented, trying to get a look out the open door but not finding a long enough break in the barrage to warrant the risk of sticking his head out.

[What were they doing to you anyway?!] Akan asked over their link. He could have spoken it, but being on opposite sides of the door made it annoying to yell over the blaster fire.

He did see Shadow give him an almost glare. [I don’t know! You saw! They had one of those damned hoods!]

Akan was about to ask what the hood was when there was a loud explosion outside. The blaster fire stopped. No, it didn’t. It just wasn’t coming in through the door. The sounds of the shots could still be heard. The four of them exchanged confused looks, and Voort took this time to look outside. The troopers and other soldiers were all looking up, firing their rifles into the sky at something he couldn’t see. But he could hear it. They all could. It was like nothing they’d ever heard before. Well, no, Shadow recognized it. However, she wasn’t sure she could believe her ears at this point. Akan glanced outside to see what was going on, and looked just in time to see two large blue blasts unlike anything he’d ever seen slam into the ground, sending pieces of swamp, troopers, and trees everywhere.

Before anything could be said, the two of them watched something coming down through the trees. Jen was now looking over Akan’s shoulder, but Shadow sat back. She was afraid of what that was...if she was right, it didn’t exactly mean good things for her. In fact, it was probably going to be bad for all of them...but especially her. And Akan. But mostly her.

The only way Akan could think to describe the thing that had landed was like a smaller, more...almost organic looking Mon Calamari cruiser. It was about the size of a YT-1300 transport, but had long swept back wings coming from the nose. In the sky in the distance, he could see another, similar craft with shorter wings. However, the one in the sky looked much larger, at least the size of a Star Destroyer. And it was in the atmosphere...

Then, Shadow, Akan, and Voort suddenly looked up. The Force had triggered something in the three of them. Something...there was the sound of another turbolaser blast. Voort had grabbed Jen and got out of the building. Shadow was moving too, outside in time to see the green bolt slam into the roof of the entrance to the building. Debris scattered everywhere as the roar of the explosion temporarily deafened all of them. Jen and Voort were on the ground not far away. Shadow hit the ground and glanced back to Akan to see a large chunk of the building coming down on him before he got out. He had continued moving somehow, but the rest of the building came down. A good amount of it on him.

The dust cleared and they all heard another noise. Looking up into the sky, they could see the faint silhouette of a small Star Destroyer(most likely a Victory class). In a short explosion, the large ship tore apart. Shadow knew what had happened, but neither Jen nor Voort had seen the blue energy blasts from the strange ship in the atmosphere that had impacted the Star Destroyer so far away. Her head hurt...back hurt. Everything hurt. Akan wasn’t dead, but he felt unconscious and from the feelings running through Shadow’s legs, his were probably broken. As were a few other places along the spine and important areas.

Ignoring the fact that the larger ship was starting to move their direction and come down to the swamp to land, Shadow ran over to dig Akan out and force him to remorph before it killed the both of them. Jen and Voort, however, had their eyes on the ship that was already on the ground. A ‘hatch’ of sorts had opened like an iris. There wasn’t any bright light inside, but they could see an outline of a large humanoid figure coming out.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 31: Family...Who Needs It?

Jen watched the larger ship coming down not far off, noting how strange it looked. She’d never even heard of anything remotely similar..Voort was standing up now, and he had said something to get her attention on the approaching...four figures. Each of them were well over two meters tall, holding large weapons that seemed to cover the arm more than being held. As Jen stood up, she noticed a near shocked expression on Voort’s face. She followed his gaze to the nearest of those approaching, and her face soon mimicked Voort’s.

They were Alraxian. If the ears, tail, and generally feline features didn’t give it away, the skin tight suits they wore did. Though these suits were covered with larger plates that looked like armor of sorts, they didn’t seem to be in any way hampered by it. The four of them raised their weapons and simply aimed them at the two humans. They did not speak, but watched them with a close eye. Behind them, more were coming off of the smaller ship. All of them had the similar weapons, and to Voort’s trained eye, he could tell they were creating a very secure perimeter around the area. Why? No. The real question was why were they here in the first place.

Shadow wasn’t paying them any attention. She was pulling large pieces of metal off of where Akan was, and tossing them aside. When she pulled one piece off, she felt a sudden pain in her leg. Oops...must have cut him. Ah well, he probably wouldn’t notice at this point anyway. After some more digging, she managed to see the leg...and the cut. Oops. So it had nearly took his leg completely off. He could remorph it...again. From the look of it, he had attempted to remorph his limbs and injuries, but had passed out before finishing.

By the time Shadow had him mostly uncovered and was pulling him out, she saw that there were about seven of the guards around her. Those palace guards had never liked her...always looking for an excuse to shoot her. Now, though, they seemed genuinely surprised to see her pulling an unknown Alraxian out of the debris. Something clicked in one of the guard’s minds, and he quickly turned and ran towards where the larger ship had landed. Shadow sighed as she watched him return with at least ten other Alraxians. Not soldiers though. Redstars. Medics. Three of them pushed her aside, quickly moving to Akan and treating him. The others were poking and prodding her. It took Shadow a moment to realize they weren’t just checking her for wounds, but weapons.

“I’m fine! Leave me alone!” she growled in her native tongue, which she hadn’t spoke for so many cycles she’d nearly forgotten what it sounded like. When she pushed the Redstars back, the guards raised their weapons and looked about ready to shoot. As usual. Amazing how things could return to normal after so long.

One of the guards, who had reddish tabby markings along his hair and tail, gave her a stern look, “The Empress comes.”

In that short sentence, he’d explained that if she made any sudden moves, even the twitch of an ear, she would be killed. Shadow knew that she could easily take one of the guards by herself...maybe even two or three. But not the entire compliment of guards aboard the two ships that had nearly emptied themselves onto the swamps of Garek V. It wasn’t long before she could see the Empress and Emperor. The Empress was tall and thin, with long black and grey hair. She had the stature of a healer, not a warrior. However, the stern look on her face showed she wasn’t about to be taken advantage of by anyone. Next to her, the Emperor wore a much softer expression. He was slightly shorter, and had thick silvery-grey hair. When he caught sight of Shadow, she saw him smile.

They passed the guards and the Redstars stepped aside. For a long moment, the two just stood staring at Shadow. Then, the Empress turned to Akan(who had been helped as best as the Redstars could, and would just have to regain consciousness). She nodded to her husband before stepping over and kneeling down next to the blue-striped Alraxian. Shadow was watching her when she was suddenly surprised. The Emperor stepped over and wrapped his arms around her in a tight bear hug. She made an ‘umph’ noise and stood there feeling awkward. He spoke in Alraxian, “Oh, I missed you, little girl.”

She kept her hands firmly at her sides, and spoke through gritted teeth, “I’m not short.”

He laughed and patted her shoulder, pulling back to give her a look over. He had a big smile on his face when he glanced past her to Akan. Then, he whispered to her, “You know, your mother did the same thing for me the day before she asked me to be the Emperor.”

Shadow’s mind took a moment to process that, but when she did, a shocked look came onto her face and she nearly shrieked. She pushed him away and looked up at him with a glare, ‘I...! He...! I didn’t...! You!!!”

With another laugh, her father just hugged her again, “Whatever you say, Miss Ice Heart.”

When Akan’s eyes opened slowly, he found himself looking up into two kind and soften purple eyes. He could see black hair and a smile on a face, but his vision was still blurry. Feeling someone lifting him up slightly, he heard a voice speak. It wasn’t in any language he recognized. As his eyes focused, he realized he was being held up by an Alraxian...an Alraxian?! Huh?! How...?

The woman’s smiled grew and she tried speak again, this time in Basic, “You will be alright. How do you feel?”

“Ah..uh...um...” Akan looked around, seeing many Alraxians all over the place. In the distance, he could see Jen and Voort watching with a confused interest, and up close...well, a big Alraxian was hugging Shadow and she looked panicked. He turned back to the woman holding him up and managed a lost look on his face, “Feel um...uh...”

She laughed and patted his back, “I am sorry we did not arrive sooner. It was only recently that I learned of my daughter’s location. I must admit...I am surprised she has a Nothlit now.”

Akan opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Daughter. Nothlit...him. Shadow’s mother?! Shadow even had a mother?
[Of course I have a mother! We all do! No matter how much we try to get them to go away!] Shadow’s voice cut into his thoughts.

Slowly, Akan looked over towards Shadow. He could see a resemblance. But...mother?! Hell, he hadn’t even been sure there were any more Alraxians beyond himself and Shadow. Now there were hundreds of them. And parents, too! After she helped him to his feet, the Empress looked to both of them, “I am sorry, but we cannot stay. We learned that you were here...but did not realize certain...” her glance fell onto Akan, “...certain things. I must speak with you privately if you will give me the chance.”

For a moment, Akan saw Shadow giving him a ‘help!’ look, but she nodded and the mother and daughter walked off(with all of the guards following). The Emperor watched them go, then turned to Akan, smiling proudly he spoke in Basic, “Soo...what do you think of my daughter?”

That caught Akan off guard. Was he saying what it sounded like he was saying?! Akan saw the grin on the Emperor’s face. Yes, he was saying that. All that Akan managed as an answer was a steady stream of ‘uh’ ‘um’ and nervous laughter.

This brought another laugh to the Emperor, who extended his hand to Akan. When Akan took it, the man shook his strongly, “Call me Cole. Or dad. Either works. You’re name is...?”

Dad?! This was just getting worse and worse every second. For the first time in his life, Akan suddenly didn’t want a family or parents, or anything similar. When he opened his mouth this time, Akan managed to speak, “I’m uh...Akan...”

“Well, Akan,” Cole said putting an arm around his shoulder and leading him towards the smaller ship, “I’d really like to get to know you better right now, but we don’t have that much time. Just do me a favor and keep my daughter safe, will you?”

“Ah..um..okay?” Akan tried, noticing just how much taller that Cole was.

“Good good,” Cole patted his shoulder, “Next time we talk I expect a full report. I also expect you to be able to speak properly.”

After Akan nodded, Cole patted him on the shoulder again and walked off. As Akan stood there in a dazed confusion, the guards and Alraxians walked off to the ships. It was only five or so minutes and Jen, Voort, Akan, and Shadow were alone again. Shadow had walked over looking worried, but wasn’t saying anything. Akan had a feeling he knew about how she felt. Jen and Voort, though, were even more lost. They’d been kept far away from any actual speaking.

So of course, Jen asked, “What in the Force just happened?!”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 32: Shared History

It was an hour later. They had returned to the shuttle and were in hyperspace on their way to, of all places, Corellia. Shadow had insisted on it, and after much argument over the why, Akan simply gave in and plotted the coordinates. Once they were safely on their way, Akan, Voort, and Jen sat Shadow down to get some explanations.

Shadow had the look of one who was on trial, and in a sense, she was. Voort was angry that he’d been treated like an inferior. To that, Shadow simply shrugged and told him that he was. Jen was more angry that she’d just not been allowed to ask any questions. Apparently, when she’d tried asking one of the guards something, they’d put the gun far too close to her face. Akan was just wondering what all was going on.

“They...apparently have been searching for me since I left,” Shadow said with a sigh, “Mother knew why I left...exile is the closest there is, but only a few know the truth.”

For a moment, her eyes flashed that silver colour again, then faded back to a softer blue, “Among our people...some children are born with silver eyes. They are the Tam-Day-U. For as long as I know, young children with silver eyes are taken away and trained as assassins...or worse. To the people of the Empire, we are the black sheep of the race. To have the Empress’ daughter and heir born as a Tam-Day-U would have been a horrible blow. So my eyes were...altered to hide that. However, as must happen to all Tam-Day-U, I left to train with the rest of my kind at the right age. After my...last mission, I left. I did not expect to be followed, ever.”

She sighed and looked to the floor, almost ashamed, “Sadrak discovered Imperial records on Alraxians. They were not detailed, as the scout ship was quickly chased away, however they learned some of our history. Mother is afraid he may be trying to...to bring the Darkwings back.”

When Shadow looked up, she noticed that none of them had any idea what she meant. Giving a slightly desperate look, she tried to explain, “Thousands of cycles ago, our people were exposed to a...a...poison. It morphed them...no, not a morph. Changed. Evil creatures. Impossibly dangerous and evil. The war against them lasted for ages. If Sadrak is attempting to attempt another Darkwing War...”

She trailed off and Akan picked up on the stray thoughts. He sighed and spoke quietly, “Not taking over the galaxy, but simply exterminating it.”

Taking all of it in, Jen looked to Shadow, studying the Alraxian for a long moment, “Why Corellia?”

Shadow thought about how to explain it, then said, “My ship is there. I left him there cycles ago.”

“Him?” Jen asked, finally able to find a good point to bring up the subject of ships.

For the first time since they’d left the Garek system, a smile crept onto Shadow’s face, “Our ships are living creatures. Kanyaks. You saw Ferina and Eledanic on that planet...I had to leave Loki behind on Corellia a few cycles ago.”

“We need to find Sadrak,” Voort said flatly. He had been listening intently to all of this, but it all simply put his focus more firmly where it had already been. A detour to Corellia was foolish and would simply waste time. Sadrak needed to be eliminated. If he was allowed more time to enjoy his own peace, he would end up killing more families.

“Why don’t your people just attack Sadrak?” asked Jen, stating a question that was in all of their minds except for Shadow’s.

Shadow just shook her head, “If he has the ability to recreate the poison, then it is suicide to send an army of Alraxians against him.”

One more big, obvious question left. Akan fielded it, “Where is Sadrak anyway?”

At this, Shadow shrugged and made an almost pathetic whimper. Though she said nothing to the others, she looked to Akan apologetically. [I...don’t know.]

There was a long silence where they all thought about the things that had happened and what had to be done. Then, Voort spoke up in a strangely calm voice, “I know where he is.”

The three others suddenly turned to Voort with an expectant look. None of them knew what to say, though Akan was preparing to call the man an idiot, he held back. Mainly because Shadow had caught that thought and told him to shut up for now. She knew, as well as Voort, that bickering between them was not going to do anything but help Sadrak. Voort didn’t want to explain what he was going to have to. He had known Shadow looked familiar, but now he could pinpoint it. It caused a stinging pain in him similar to what he felt when his wife was killed.

He took a deep breath, and ended the silence, “I’ll admit it...I am not a good person. I’ve killed so many simply for killing. I learned to use the Force from the Emperor himself. But I am still human, and I still feel all of the emotions there are,” with his prelude done, he looked up to Shadow to speak the rest of it, “A few years after Endor, I found myself in the service of Ysanne Isard. At the time, I didn’t know who Sadrak was, but now I know he was directing her project from a distance. Obviously waiting for the right time to step in. I was the head of security for this project. From what I was told in he initial briefing, they had captured a young creature of which we’d never seen before. She claimed to be called an Alraxian. She swore that she would kill us for this, and after long hours of us ignoring this, she told us that others would come after her. As time passed, I...I grew to be her friend. I do not know exactly how, I just know that I pitied her. I hated the tests that I watched performed on her...I hated seeing her treated like an object.”

Shadow stared at him, searching for something she couldn’t find. Akan could feel her mind trying to break through something...something she wasn’t even sure existed. Her mouth opened, and she managed to speak, “But...I’ve never met you before.”

Jen also looked confused, and asked pointedly, “What was this project?”

“Cloning,” Voort said, answering both of the females with that one word, “Isard was making an army of assassins. Almost like living droids. Loyal to a fault. The perfect weapon. First, they had to learn this new species’ genetic makeup. They found an...interesting trait in the growth cycle.”

At this, Shadow nodded, “Children for twenty cycles...then, an adult. No long transition, just one sudden change.”

Voort also nodded, “About a seventy standard year long childhood. At first, they attempted to create clones of the same age. It...didn’t work. The knowledge to do that for such an unknown species wasn’t there. So, they tried a younger age. With less variables to deal with, they succeeded. Eventually, it was discovered how to create older clones. By this time, many of the younger ones were sent out on missions, testing their efficiency. Not long before Sadrak had me arrested...one of the clones failed to return.”

Slowly, Shadow took this in. She knew what it meant. It explained the large gap in her memory...why she could remember leaving Loki on Corellia, and then working for the Hutts what felt like only a day later. But...a clone? A clone could never be accepted in the Empire. They were horrible mockeries of life. And she was one?! How could she do anything?! Her family obviously didn’t know, they wouldn’t have come to assist her! But...Marix. The real Marix. Wasn’t she an adult before?

“Marix should have been an adult by now!” she blurted out, finding it strange to hear her own name like that.

Voort hung his head, “She was kept in stasis to stop that. If they haven’t move the facility, and I doubt they have...we should go to Coruscant.”

“Coruscant?” Akan was even surprised by this one.

Again, Voort nodded, “Deep within the lower levels. The perfect place for such a facility.”

Shadow stood up and walked off to one of the small quarters without a word. Akan stood up, giving the other two a long look, then followed her. He found her sitting on the bed(in what was actually supposed to be his quarters), staring blankly at the wall. When he entered, she took no notice. He stood there watching her, feeling out her thoughts and picking out a particular one that was dragging her down.

“You aren’t just a copy,” Akan said quietly, stepping over towards the bed.

She glanced up at him, the silver completely gone from her eyes, “You’ve seen through the link what our people believe about clones.”

Sitting next to her on the bed, Akan nodded, “But you’re an individual...you broke away,” he smiled slightly, “If you want proof. Look at me.”

There was no reaction for a long time, then she nodded, a smile almost tugging at the edge of her face, “Mother said you were cute.”

“What was with them, anyway?” Akan asked, doing his absolute best to ignore what had just been said.

The smile on Shadow’s face turned into a grin, “One of those things I didn’t mention...you’re a BlueIce now. By all rights, you’re a member of the Empire, and their son.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 33: Tails of Balance

Corellia was a well populated planet, but thankfully Shadow had directed them to a smaller city near the northern coast of the largest continent. Apparently, the place was a haven for smugglers and thieves. But this was Corellia. No matter what CorSec did to keep them away, the smuggles an thieves were everywhere. The city itself was small only compared to the capital of Coronet. Of course, most anything that wasn’t Coruscant was smaller than Coronet, so it wasn’t the best comparison.

After they’d exited hyperspace, an argument had started. Voort argued they should go to Coruscant immediately. Even Jen agreed with him. Akan did to a point, but part of him was pulled to agree with Shadow in getting her ship. Of course, that was a large amount due to curiosity. With the vote essentially tied on what to do, Akan offered a suggestion. Drop Shadow and him off and then they could meet on Coruscant. This had the advantage of not having to be anywhere near Voort, who had been getting on Akan’s nerves more and more lately. However, leaving Jen with him...strangely, though, she didn’t seem to have problem with it. Apparently she trusted the Imperial. Or rather, former Imperial as Voort had insisted multiple times.

Having set down outside the city, the plan was to just drop the two Alraxians of and leave. Currently, they stood in at the edge of the ramp, and Akan gave the grass below a careful look. It’d been a very long time since he’d been back on Corellia. Shadow had already said her goodbye and good luck, and was waiting at the bottom of the ramp impatiently. Akan looked to Voort, who was wearing his Imperial uniform minus the patches and insignia. Giving the ex-Imperial a fairly dirty look, Akan said simply, “After this is over...”

Eventually, Voort nodded, but there was a hesitation in it. Akan didn’t catch it, but Jen, knowing what was being said, did notice. Somehow, it didn’t surprise her. Akan then looked to her, a weak smile on his face, “You be careful.”

To his surprise, Jen stepped over and hugged him. Stepping back after a moment, she nodded, “You, too.”

After standing there for a short moment in a state of confusion, Akan backed down the ramp, then turned and caught up to Shadow. The shuttle started up, and Akan turned back to look in time to watch the two wings folding down as it shot off into the sky. Honestly, Akan had never understood people that well. So, as was usual for most males, he understood women even less than most. This, of course, caused a fairly constant state of confusion when dealing with others.

“Close your mouth before you choke on a bug,” Shadow commented, a grin on her face as she started walking towards the city not too far off.

Akan glared at her for a moment, but then just gave up and followed. As they approached the city, he found that he was starting to get a feeling like they were being watched. When he had been about to say something, Shadow shook her head. [Don’t talk about it.]

[Aren’t we going to be noticed?] Akan asked worriedly, watching an airspeeder fly not too far over them. [I meant, the New Republic’s probably got people looking for me. And I’m a bit...well, easy to notice in a crowd. Especially on Corellia.]

She didn’t stop, but she did turn to give him an accusing glare. [You didn’t tell me you’re wanted now.]

[I thought you were smart enough to pick that up.] he responded flatly, watching a few people carefully as they started into the streets of the city. They both got some looks, but with the myriad of species in the galaxy, and the fact that Alraxians were fairly similar to at least one, meant they didn’t stand out too much. People were content to go about their business, anyway. Akan did make sure not to run into anyone, though, as that was never a good thing. Seemed like everyone in these smuggler cities took things like that personally. Following Shadow through the slowly gathering crowd of people, Akan realized he had no idea where they were actually going. [Um...so where’s this ship of yours?]

Shadow glanced over her shoulder a moment to make sure he was still keeping up, then nodded ahead. [An old warehouse. My old...friend used to own it.]

Eventually, Akan did managed to catch sight of the building she was talking about. It wasn’t that old, actually. Well, not in terms of any of the buildings around the city, but he’d expected a run down and beat up building. Instead, he saw a large, well painted and generally pristine look to it. There was a very small feeling in the back of his mind though. Something bothering him.

[We’re being followed.] Shadow ‘said’, confirming his thoughts.

Instinctively, Akan found his hand moved to rest over his blaster pistol. Thankfully, his jacket concealed the weapon and would hopefully not tip off anyone watching them. He did his best to reach out with the Force, trying to find the source of those following them. It didn’t take long. Determined minds were usually easy to pick out. At least three or four of them...

He noticed Shadow drop back next to him. Using Akan as a bit of cover, she glanced over his shoulder. It looked like she was looking to him, and to add to this, she said, “Aren’t you hungry? Its been hours since any decent meal.”

He didn’t answer, but that was because she’d faced forward again and ‘spoke’ through the link. [Two Humans, a Trandoshan, and a Mon Calamari. One of the Humans has a New Republic uniform on.]

[Let me guess, one of the others is wearing CorSec colours?] Akan asked sounding annoyed. He hated being right...especially when it was about being easy to notice.

Shadow didn’t respond, but he took that to be a ‘yes’, which did feel right. Sometimes even words through the link weren’t needed to understand. This was still odd, but Akan was finding it easy to get used to. It was amazing how things worked when you had a fairly certain idea what the other person was thinking. Honestly, Akan should have mentioned something about the New Republic most likely being on the look out for him earlier, but he hadn’t thought they’d be traveling anywhere near the Core Worlds anytime soon. One day he was going to learn to stop anticipating actions, as he was nearly always wrong about things in the long term.

[There’s a break in the crowd up ahead of us.] Shadow interrupted his thoughts with her’s, [When we get there, break and run as fast as you can to the warehouse.]

Alright. That wasn’t the best plan, but it was more than he’d come up with up to that point, so Akan decided to go with it. There was obviously more to what Shadow was planning than just running. He couldn’t pick it up though, only subtle hints that there was more. Once they reached the break in the crowd, Akan didn’t even glance over his shoulder. Instead, he took off running. He heard someone yell, “HEY! STOP!” behind him, and then people cursing as they were pushed aside by the four who were most likely right on his tail now. Approaching the warehouse, he noted there was no entrance on the side where he was running to. Cursing, Akan turned and started as fast as he could to get around through a small alley.

Hearing blaster shots behind him, he watched as a few red bolts hit the wall in front of him just before rounding the corner. Out of habit, he glanced behind him. This was when Akan realized Shadow wasn’t with him. In fact, he realized she hadn’t even run...turning forward, he climbed over a low durasteel wall and continued to get around the large building. Akan could still hear the men behind him, but they were slower and having trouble on the wall.

[No time for questions] Shadow’s voice suddenly said in his mind, [Just do what I tell you. Get a mental image of you. How you were as a Human. Focus on it. Focus as hard as you can and make it be. Okay?]

Akan glanced over his shoulder again, seeing a human in CorSec green helping the Mon Calamari over the wall. Forgetting that Shadow couldn’t see, he simply nodded at what she’d said. Focus...him. Rounding the corner, he started across the back of the warehouse, looking for a door of some kind as he ran and tried to think all at the same time. Focus...he put together a mental image of what he remembered looking like. Not tall...somewhat average build, tanned skin. Less scruffy brown hair...no tail, normal ears. Once he had it, he held onto the image, and did as she said. Make it be? How? Well, it had sounded a lot like many of the things in using the Force...so...he tried using that line of thinking to do whatever it was.

A sudden pain shot through his body. Overcome with surprise, he nearly tripped and fell flat on his face, but somehow Akan managed to keep running. The pain ended after a few moments, and Akan suddenly found it was much harder to keep his balance. He stumbled slightly, noticing that he wasn’t even running as fast. His vision was a bit less focused to...and he couldn’t hear those footsteps behind him. They had to be there. They wouldn’t have just stopped after he got around the corner, would they? A slightly dizzy moment hit him, and Akan finally lost his balance. Stumbling to the ground, Akan fell flat onto his face on the hard, paved ground. Pain shot through his face an arm(which he’d landed on awkwardly), and before he could get up, suddenly felt himself being dragged away from the warehouse.

A somewhat familiar voice said, “Gods, your even heavy like this.”

He was dragged into a second alley behind the warehouse, and when rolled over, he looked up into the face of a young human girl. She looked about nineteen or twenty, with short, jet black hair and two soft blue eyes. It took him a moment to realize the girl was wearing the same clothes Shadow had been. That’s about when he realized the hair of his fringe was brown.

“No tail makes it hard to balance,” she said simply, looking out down to he warehouse, obviously looking for the men who’d been after Akan, “You really shouldn’t do other things while morphing until you’re used to it.”

“Huh...?” Akan asked, realizing his voice sounded...different. After a moment, he looked down at himself. Skin was a lot lighter than before. Still tan, but, not the dark mocha colour as before, “What happened?!”

Shadow patted his head idly, “Your first lesson in morphing. Going to have to find a better time to teach you, though. And next time you fall, please land on your back.”

He watched as she rubbed her face, and Akan realized that was where sharp pain continued to be on his own face. Putting his hand up to it, he felt a little blood. Akan pulled his hand back and looked at the blood. Red. More normal at least. Akan managed an apologetic look, but Shadow shook her head, “Just remorph that. Do it the same way you did the first time. There were at least five or six more waiting to pick us up, so I figure we’ll wait here until its clear.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 34: An Excuse to Die

“After Alderaan was destroyed, I did what most of us who were off planet did,” Jen said, looking out the viewport of the shuttle and into the blue of hyperspace, “I joined the Rebellion. But I wasn’t a fighter...I helped with more of the technical things. I was actually at the Battle of Endor aboard one of the smaller ships as part of a technical crew.”

Voort, sitting in the pilot’s seat of the shuttle, had a somewhat sullen look to his face, “I was on the ground at Endor. When things started turning bad, I ordered my unit off the ground and we pulled out with one of the retreating Victory Destroyers.”

There was a long, strangely uneasy silence between them. It had been about an hour in hyperspace so far, and the trip would only be another hour at most. They hadn’t left the cockpit for some reason, simply talking about the past. There was one question Jen had continually avoided, but she found herself unable to continue without asking it. Carefully, she said, “Do you...regret your time with the Empire?”

Voort looked to her a moment, studying her face and then slowly shook his head, “I should. Any decent human would considering the things I did...but somehow, I don’t. It was my job. My duty. I killed because it was my job to do so...” he trailed off, and then noticed a near horrified expression on Jen’s face, “I’m not heartless. Just because I don’t regret it, doesn’t mean I don’t remember it. I have a small datapad with the names of every one of my confirmed kills in it. Family, history, even a picture. One hundred and twenty eight of them. I believe that was the only way for me to keep my humanity...”

Jen’s expression seemed to soften, but she still looked worried and in a way, afraid. She chose her next words carefully, “You...had a wife?”

A smile tugged at the edges of Voort’s face, but he kept it under control, “Her name was Calina. The day she was killed by Sadrak...that was the day I realized that the Empire had truly fallen. My Emperor respected me...he treated me with dignity and did the same for my wife. But Sadrak...we’re all pawns and toys to him.”

A very surprised look was currently on Jen’s face, “Respect? Dignity? Are you sure we’re talking about the same Emperor here? That man was evil incarnate.”

“You say that like I’m not,” responded Voort flatly, looking out into hyperspace and closing his eyes, “I am not a good person. I never was. I’m not doing all of this out of any other reason beyond revenge. Don’t start thinking otherwise.”

Jen sighed and nodded, sitting back in her chair and also closing her eyes. Part of her had hoped that Voort was more...more...more human maybe. She wasn’t sure how to explain it. However there was still something there in him that she could see. He looked...tired. No, exhausted. But not from lack of sleep. More a general exhaustion about him than anything. After she started to feel like the silence was making her uneasy, she tried another topic, “So how do we plan to get clearance to land?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Voort commented, opening his eyes again and checking the chrono, “They get a large amount of civilian traffic these days, so what’s one more?”

It made sense. Still, there were other things, “If he’s on Coruscant, wouldn’t he have been noticed by now?”

“Not if he’s n the lower levels,” Voort responded, shaking his head, “So much down there even the Empire stopped caring. Except for a few projects, of course. Don’t have any idea where most of them are, but I do remember where Isard ran her project.”

“Didn’t she escape Coruscant in a Super Star Destroyer not long after the New Republic took the planet?” Jen asked, obviously worried that what they were looking for wasn’t even on the planet anymore.

“She didn’t keep this project anywhere near the Lusankya,” Voort said, noting the chrono still indicated they had a good amount of time left, “It was too dangerous to keep the clones so close to all of those prisoners. The less everyone knew the better. She kept the cloning project in a small facility far below the city itself off in the industrial district.”

After that, they spoke little for the remainder of the trip. It was about half an hour later that the small shuttle was starting through the atmosphere of Coruscant. They’d gotten clearance to land on a platform near the center of the old Imperial Center section of the planet stretching city. That meant a long trip to the industrial district, but Voort didn’t seem to care. One thing he was having to count on was that the New Republic didn’t think he was stupid enough to actually go to their capital after escaping from one of their ships barely a day before. It was likely that the faces of Jen, Akan, and Voort were all over the place by now, but unlikely that the large amount of people on Coruscant would have seen them, or would care if they did. It was all a matter of avoiding security.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Akan and Shadow?” Jen asked after they’d set down and the ship had been powered down.

Voort had been ready to leave, but gave in to this. It was probably a good idea, “We’ll wait a day. They have the comm frequency for the shuttle. If they don’t contact us within a day, I’m going after Sadrak without them.”

The way he kept it as such a personal task to go after Sadrak no longer surprised Jen. What did surprise her, though, was her response to him, “If you go, I go.”

The expression on Voort’s face changed slightly, and he raised an eyebrow, “I thought you weren’t a fighter.”

“You’re right that Sadrak needs to be dealt with,” she admitted, shrugging as she spoke, “And besides, I’d like to know the man who plans to kill Akan after all of this.”

Voort’s expression again changed, this time to that old exhausted look, “That kid is the one who wants that to happen.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jen, not understanding what he had said. She hadn’t actually expected any response out of him in the first place.

The former Imperial gave her a serious look, “He reminds me a lot of myself when Calina died. Whether he realizes or not, I can see it in him. He’s looking for a way to die. An excuse to die.”

Biting her lip, Jen did her best to hold back what she’d been about to say. But why not? Akan hadn’t told her not to speak of it with anyone else. Besides, here was someone with a very similar past, and the fact that Voort had seen himself in Akan said even more. Carefully, Jen spoke, “He...he was very close to someone who was killed in the attack on Coruscant.”

Slowly, Voort turned back towards her, a curious expression crossing his face, “He was with the New Republic?”

She nodded, “From what he told me, at least. He’s got a deep...hatred for the Empire. Doesn’t speak about it, but its easy to see.”

Nodding, Voort said, “War has a habit of taking the ones we love the most.”

Jen opened her mouth to say something, but then decided against it. He was right. She’d lost her entire family on Alderaan and most of her friends. Akan had lost Mare. Voort had lost Calina. Shadow had lost...well, Jen wasn’t sure what Shadow had lost, but it was something they were most likely going to find out. A slow realization came over her, and she opened her mouth to speak again, “You...you’re not going to kill him, are you?”

This time, Voort did smile, but it wasn’t comforting at all, “No. I won’t.”

“Because you’re looking for an excuse to die,” Jen said, quoting the Imperial’s own words.

Again, Voort nodded, “But not until after I’ve killed Sadrak.”