Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind
- Thread starter Ankh-Morpork Guard
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Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Truthfully, I have no life at the moment. Working on GETTING one, but that won't slow down the updates. Funny, I used to live up in the Atlanta area...9 years. Must be a common move.Kangaxx said:I'm amazed by the frequency with which you update this SH. It's great being able to come here and find something new everyday. I'd ask how you have the time, but I used to live in Gainesville, so I know how little there is to do in that city.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 51: Awakening Imperials
Slowly, the blurred vision began to focus. Head hurt. Badly. It could be lived with, though. Arm likely broken. Legs alright. A few bruises. Voort blinked a few times, his eyes finally managing to focus through the daze. The shuttle was a mess. He couldn’t tell exactly how bad things were at the moment, but could feel a strong, and hot, wind that suggested at least one hole in the hull.
He was on his back, still in the pilot’s chair. It had been ripped out of its position and now rested against what the had been the ceiling. It was now the floor, and the transparent viewport had been shattered in multiple places, allowing a small amount of the sand beneath to coat the interior. Voort unstrapped the crash webbing, glad he’d strapped in and surprised he’d taken so little injuries. The rest of the cockpit was empty, though the door to the main cabin was open. Slowly standing up, Voort looked to the mess that was the cabin and found the hull breach. There were many, and some small fires that were burning themselves out. The cabin itself was only half the length it should have been, torn apart at an angle from the impact. The bright sun poured in through a large open gash through the hull, and Voort climbed up out onto the sand above.
The ship was buried to a point, and it was hard to tell how deep. Outside the ship, next to one of the large wings of the shuttle that had torn off, stood Landau. He was facing the other direction, looking off towards the rock formations to the north. The man looked in about as bad shape as Voort was in, and at the sound of movement, turned to see Voort, “Sorry I left you there...didn’t want to move you. Couldn’t tell how badly you were hurt.”
Voort nodded, understanding Landau’s decision. It was the correct one, and Voort took that moment to snap his shoulder back into place. It hurt, but one had to learn to deal with pain. A question came to his mind suddenly, “Where’s Jen?”
Landau sighed, wiping a red streak of blood from his forehead, “There are tracks leading to the rocks there. When I woke up, she was gone.”
“You didn’t go after her?” asked Voort sounding annoyed.
The other man shook his head, “Wasn’t going to leave you here to bake.”
Emotion drained for Voort face, and he simply nodded again, “It is hot out here.”
At that, Voort unsnapped the jacket he wore to get a little air. Annoyingly, the air wasn’t anything but more hot. From the look of Landau, he’d already attempted this and failed. Voort was glad he hadn’t worn the cloak. Though it was comfortable on other planets, it would have just helped to cook him here. The problem of not having it was that it revealing the weapons on his belt. The blaster pistol was no surprise, but Landau gave a long look to the large metallic cylinder. Voort ignore this as best he could, then looked towards the rocks again, “The tracks go that direction?”
“I followed them for a short while, but didn’t go to far,” Landau commented as the two of them started walking, “The tracks were well covered, but after a short time on this planet you learn to notice things like that. Boots. Which means it was Narani.”
“Why would they take her?” Voort asked after crossing the first dune. It was going to be a long way, and he was already feeling dehydrated.
Landau shrugged, “I’m surprised we’re still alive. They should have killed us.”
“Obviously, they had better things to do,” grumbled Voort, hating this long trek already. Nothing made sense.
“There’s movement off in the distance,” Landau said, interrupting the start of Voort’s thoughts. Arik pointed off towards their left, near a somewhat closer outcropping of the rocks. Of course, closer was still very near the horizon. Stopping on top of the second dune, Voort looked closely. There was movement. He knelt down to make himself at least a little harder to see, though the colors he wore would make him easy to spot no matter what.
Landau knelt beside him, pulling out a pair of electrobinoculars from the small pack of salvaged equipment he’d gathered while Voort was still unconscious. He focused them, then made a confused look, “Well, those aren’t Narani...don’t know what they are.”
Voort took the binoculars when Landau offered them, and zoomed in. The image was obvious. Alraxians. At first, he’d only seen Akan, looking tired but walking in a way that showed he was bored. About ten paces ahead of Akan, Shadow looked like she was sulking. Almost like a child told that play time was over. A grin grew on Voort’s face. That was probably what had happened.
He handed the electrobinoculars back to Landau and stood up, “Looks like the two of them made it out alright.”
“So that’s what they look like...” Landau commented to himself as Voort started down the dune to cut off the two Alraxians. Catching up, Landau raised an eyebrow, “You know how easily we can get lost out here, yes?”
Voort just nodded, “Think about this. We were shot down on approach without a word. Then, Jen was taken by a group who had to be waiting on us. Couldn’t have been unconscious for more than half an hour.”
“We were expected then?” Landau asked.
That got a shrug out of Voort, “It would seem that way. If not us, someone else was...but that still doesn’t explain why they took Jen. Or even where.”
“That one’s easy,” said Landau, motioning back towards the rock formations, “The Narani are the ones who took over Haladin after the Empire pulled out.”
“And Sadrak was one of them...” Voort said, thinking out loud as he tried to figure things out, “Just why Jen? And how did they know she was here? They had to be waiting nearby. Its Sadrak’s style to leave people alive to set a trap, so it hints at him being here like we expected...but...”
“But it goes back to the same thing,” Landau finished as the started on their fourth dune, hoping the two Alraxians would spot them so they didn’t have to walk the whole way and back, “How did he know we were coming?”
“Well, whatever it is, I know it wasn’t you,” Voort commented, alleviating a small fear in the back of Landau’s mind, “But that makes it even more complicated. I already don’t like this.”
At that, Landau laughed and patted his friend on the back, “Now you know how I felt when I was stationed here all those years ago. Consider this my revenge.”
“For what?” Voort asked, a smile creeping onto his face, “I only recommended you needed a better command than aboard a small Victory Destroyer.”
Landau scowled, “I had assumed I’d get an Imperial class after that, but no, they put me in charge of this rock. I’m so glad you made that recommendation.”
It was Voort’s time to laugh, but it was short and almost forced, as there was too much else on his mind, “You’re right, you do deserve revenge. Just next time, how about taking that revenge on a planet with some water? The dry air is getting to me already.”
Slowly, the blurred vision began to focus. Head hurt. Badly. It could be lived with, though. Arm likely broken. Legs alright. A few bruises. Voort blinked a few times, his eyes finally managing to focus through the daze. The shuttle was a mess. He couldn’t tell exactly how bad things were at the moment, but could feel a strong, and hot, wind that suggested at least one hole in the hull.
He was on his back, still in the pilot’s chair. It had been ripped out of its position and now rested against what the had been the ceiling. It was now the floor, and the transparent viewport had been shattered in multiple places, allowing a small amount of the sand beneath to coat the interior. Voort unstrapped the crash webbing, glad he’d strapped in and surprised he’d taken so little injuries. The rest of the cockpit was empty, though the door to the main cabin was open. Slowly standing up, Voort looked to the mess that was the cabin and found the hull breach. There were many, and some small fires that were burning themselves out. The cabin itself was only half the length it should have been, torn apart at an angle from the impact. The bright sun poured in through a large open gash through the hull, and Voort climbed up out onto the sand above.
The ship was buried to a point, and it was hard to tell how deep. Outside the ship, next to one of the large wings of the shuttle that had torn off, stood Landau. He was facing the other direction, looking off towards the rock formations to the north. The man looked in about as bad shape as Voort was in, and at the sound of movement, turned to see Voort, “Sorry I left you there...didn’t want to move you. Couldn’t tell how badly you were hurt.”
Voort nodded, understanding Landau’s decision. It was the correct one, and Voort took that moment to snap his shoulder back into place. It hurt, but one had to learn to deal with pain. A question came to his mind suddenly, “Where’s Jen?”
Landau sighed, wiping a red streak of blood from his forehead, “There are tracks leading to the rocks there. When I woke up, she was gone.”
“You didn’t go after her?” asked Voort sounding annoyed.
The other man shook his head, “Wasn’t going to leave you here to bake.”
Emotion drained for Voort face, and he simply nodded again, “It is hot out here.”
At that, Voort unsnapped the jacket he wore to get a little air. Annoyingly, the air wasn’t anything but more hot. From the look of Landau, he’d already attempted this and failed. Voort was glad he hadn’t worn the cloak. Though it was comfortable on other planets, it would have just helped to cook him here. The problem of not having it was that it revealing the weapons on his belt. The blaster pistol was no surprise, but Landau gave a long look to the large metallic cylinder. Voort ignore this as best he could, then looked towards the rocks again, “The tracks go that direction?”
“I followed them for a short while, but didn’t go to far,” Landau commented as the two of them started walking, “The tracks were well covered, but after a short time on this planet you learn to notice things like that. Boots. Which means it was Narani.”
“Why would they take her?” Voort asked after crossing the first dune. It was going to be a long way, and he was already feeling dehydrated.
Landau shrugged, “I’m surprised we’re still alive. They should have killed us.”
“Obviously, they had better things to do,” grumbled Voort, hating this long trek already. Nothing made sense.
“There’s movement off in the distance,” Landau said, interrupting the start of Voort’s thoughts. Arik pointed off towards their left, near a somewhat closer outcropping of the rocks. Of course, closer was still very near the horizon. Stopping on top of the second dune, Voort looked closely. There was movement. He knelt down to make himself at least a little harder to see, though the colors he wore would make him easy to spot no matter what.
Landau knelt beside him, pulling out a pair of electrobinoculars from the small pack of salvaged equipment he’d gathered while Voort was still unconscious. He focused them, then made a confused look, “Well, those aren’t Narani...don’t know what they are.”
Voort took the binoculars when Landau offered them, and zoomed in. The image was obvious. Alraxians. At first, he’d only seen Akan, looking tired but walking in a way that showed he was bored. About ten paces ahead of Akan, Shadow looked like she was sulking. Almost like a child told that play time was over. A grin grew on Voort’s face. That was probably what had happened.
He handed the electrobinoculars back to Landau and stood up, “Looks like the two of them made it out alright.”
“So that’s what they look like...” Landau commented to himself as Voort started down the dune to cut off the two Alraxians. Catching up, Landau raised an eyebrow, “You know how easily we can get lost out here, yes?”
Voort just nodded, “Think about this. We were shot down on approach without a word. Then, Jen was taken by a group who had to be waiting on us. Couldn’t have been unconscious for more than half an hour.”
“We were expected then?” Landau asked.
That got a shrug out of Voort, “It would seem that way. If not us, someone else was...but that still doesn’t explain why they took Jen. Or even where.”
“That one’s easy,” said Landau, motioning back towards the rock formations, “The Narani are the ones who took over Haladin after the Empire pulled out.”
“And Sadrak was one of them...” Voort said, thinking out loud as he tried to figure things out, “Just why Jen? And how did they know she was here? They had to be waiting nearby. Its Sadrak’s style to leave people alive to set a trap, so it hints at him being here like we expected...but...”
“But it goes back to the same thing,” Landau finished as the started on their fourth dune, hoping the two Alraxians would spot them so they didn’t have to walk the whole way and back, “How did he know we were coming?”
“Well, whatever it is, I know it wasn’t you,” Voort commented, alleviating a small fear in the back of Landau’s mind, “But that makes it even more complicated. I already don’t like this.”
At that, Landau laughed and patted his friend on the back, “Now you know how I felt when I was stationed here all those years ago. Consider this my revenge.”
“For what?” Voort asked, a smile creeping onto his face, “I only recommended you needed a better command than aboard a small Victory Destroyer.”
Landau scowled, “I had assumed I’d get an Imperial class after that, but no, they put me in charge of this rock. I’m so glad you made that recommendation.”
It was Voort’s time to laugh, but it was short and almost forced, as there was too much else on his mind, “You’re right, you do deserve revenge. Just next time, how about taking that revenge on a planet with some water? The dry air is getting to me already.”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 52: Out of the Sand
Akan had spotted the two former Imperials from a good distance off. Shadow confirmed who it was, or at least, she confirmed that it was Voort and likely the man named Landau. Upon meeting up, they exchanged greetings(which were short) and then, the inevitable question was asked by Akan.
“Where’s Jen?” he sounded like he already knew the answer to it, though.
Voort shook his head, “Don’t know. Landau said the Narani took her.”
“Violent robed people?” Shadow asked, shifting her weight and looking bored at just standing still.
Landau gave them a confused look, confirming the description was correct. Akan shrugged, “A group of them were waiting outside of Loki.”
At that, Voort just nodded and motion towards the rocks formations, “Tracks lead back in the direction of Haladin.”
“Well then,” Akan said, stepping past Voort towards where the man was pointing, “Onward.”
He didn’t think about the effect of the planet’s conditions on the two humans. It wasn’t noticeable in either of their appearances, and even if it was, the fact that Akan(and Shadow for that matter) was quiet comfortable despite the dry air meant that the thought that it was hard to survive with didn’t even cross his mind. Neither Voort nor Landau felt bad enough to comment on it, so they simply followed, with Landau eventually taking the lead as he knew which direction was the correct one.
After three dunes, fatigue was showing on Landau’s face. He didn’t speak of it, but it was obvious in his expression and the way he moved. Even Voort was showing signs of fatigue, though he was much better at masking the effects of it. Shadow could tell, though Akan wasn’t paying enough attention to. Somehow, he’d come to terms that this Dark Sider and man still loyal to the Emperor was not currently a threat. But it was bothering him. Voort was, no matter what, an evil person. He did not have anyone else’s best interests at heart other than his own. Akan had no idea how wrong he was, but the truth in his mind grew stronger with each passing moment. But now was not the time.
Suddenly, as Akan took a step over the dune and was ready to start down the opposite side, the sand around them exploded into the air. But not an explosion of flames. In the reversed rain of sand, dark brown robes could be seen shooting upwards out of the sand. In a quick moment, the sand was falling back to the ground and the four of them were surrounded by at least fifteen of the robed Narani. Akan would have already been attacking them if they’d been armed as the last ones they’d encountered. Instead of knives, though, these Narani aimed weapons. Not blasters...more likely, advanced slugthrowers. They looked about one step behind the leap to blaster technology. In other words, primitive, but still very dangerous.
Shadow was moving, but when she latched onto his thoughts, she froze. Not because she couldn’t handle them...but because they had slugthrowers. Which meant they fire a physical projectile. As advanced as the slugthrowers looked, it was a safe assumption that the ammunition was a metal. Next to cold, that was one of the most dangerous things to an Alraxian. In fact, it was the reason all of their technology was organic and not metallic as much of the rest of the galaxy’s. Yet again, one of those things she’d not told Akan, and he didn’t pick up on it this time either. Voort had his hand on the lightsaber at his belt, but was also frozen in place, not out of shock but waiting for the right moment. They hadn’t shot...so they wanted to at least speak for a short time.
Landau had been so close to the explosion of sand that he’d been sent to the ground on his backside. Currently, he looked up into the barrel of a slugthrower. Following it, his eyes met with a pair of dark green ones behind the visor. The silence continued for a moment, and then the one who Landau was watching spoke. Not in the strange tongue, but in Basic, even sounding like he had a hint of a Kuati accent, “Arik?”
It was muffled behind the mask, but Landau recognized it. All eyes were on him at this point, and he tilted his head. Another long silence, then Landau’s mind connected the voice, though muffled, with a face. He looked closer at the eyes behind the visor. Then, “Hansen?”
At that, the robed figure threw back his...no, her hood. Either that, or it was a man with long, wavy brunette hair. When the hood went back, the visor tinted to black to protect the wearer’s eyes from the intense sunlight. Two straps were undone from the back of her head, and pulled the mask and visor off. Which then confirmed that this Narani was female. She looked surprised, paused a moment, then reached down to pull Landau to his feet, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t think you’d ever come back!”
Akan and Shadow exchanged looks, stepping closer with a ‘safety in numbers’ feeling running through both of their minds. Not that they didn’t trust Landau, but there were far too many coincidences occurring on this planet far too close to their arrival. Akan then caught sight of Voort. The man had a surprised look on his face, though he was fighting it back.
The woman seemed to notice this, and her eyes widened, “Titus, you too? Its been even longer!”
“Ten years,” Voort commented quietly, looking to the other Narani who had lowered their weapons. This, of course, did not mean he wasn’t ready to draw his lightsaber at a moment’s notice.
Landau looked around, not feeling comfortable out in the open. Hansen seemed to catch onto this, and motioned back towards where Loki had gone down, “We should get out of the open. I’ll explain things there.”
Landau and Voort nodded, and then followed her and the Narani without a single question. Akan and Shadow were weary of this, not liking the lack of explanations but eventually followed anyway.
[Keep your eyes open.] Shadow ‘said’ quietly, even though no one else would hear it.
Akan just nodded, saying nothing and watching the way these Narani moved. Quickly, yet in a way that they were walking in one another foot prints. One of them took up the back, covering the tracks as best as possible while keeping up with the group. So they hid...from what? Things were making less and less sense as time passed. Or rather, it made sense to everyone except Akan.
Akan had spotted the two former Imperials from a good distance off. Shadow confirmed who it was, or at least, she confirmed that it was Voort and likely the man named Landau. Upon meeting up, they exchanged greetings(which were short) and then, the inevitable question was asked by Akan.
“Where’s Jen?” he sounded like he already knew the answer to it, though.
Voort shook his head, “Don’t know. Landau said the Narani took her.”
“Violent robed people?” Shadow asked, shifting her weight and looking bored at just standing still.
Landau gave them a confused look, confirming the description was correct. Akan shrugged, “A group of them were waiting outside of Loki.”
At that, Voort just nodded and motion towards the rocks formations, “Tracks lead back in the direction of Haladin.”
“Well then,” Akan said, stepping past Voort towards where the man was pointing, “Onward.”
He didn’t think about the effect of the planet’s conditions on the two humans. It wasn’t noticeable in either of their appearances, and even if it was, the fact that Akan(and Shadow for that matter) was quiet comfortable despite the dry air meant that the thought that it was hard to survive with didn’t even cross his mind. Neither Voort nor Landau felt bad enough to comment on it, so they simply followed, with Landau eventually taking the lead as he knew which direction was the correct one.
After three dunes, fatigue was showing on Landau’s face. He didn’t speak of it, but it was obvious in his expression and the way he moved. Even Voort was showing signs of fatigue, though he was much better at masking the effects of it. Shadow could tell, though Akan wasn’t paying enough attention to. Somehow, he’d come to terms that this Dark Sider and man still loyal to the Emperor was not currently a threat. But it was bothering him. Voort was, no matter what, an evil person. He did not have anyone else’s best interests at heart other than his own. Akan had no idea how wrong he was, but the truth in his mind grew stronger with each passing moment. But now was not the time.
Suddenly, as Akan took a step over the dune and was ready to start down the opposite side, the sand around them exploded into the air. But not an explosion of flames. In the reversed rain of sand, dark brown robes could be seen shooting upwards out of the sand. In a quick moment, the sand was falling back to the ground and the four of them were surrounded by at least fifteen of the robed Narani. Akan would have already been attacking them if they’d been armed as the last ones they’d encountered. Instead of knives, though, these Narani aimed weapons. Not blasters...more likely, advanced slugthrowers. They looked about one step behind the leap to blaster technology. In other words, primitive, but still very dangerous.
Shadow was moving, but when she latched onto his thoughts, she froze. Not because she couldn’t handle them...but because they had slugthrowers. Which meant they fire a physical projectile. As advanced as the slugthrowers looked, it was a safe assumption that the ammunition was a metal. Next to cold, that was one of the most dangerous things to an Alraxian. In fact, it was the reason all of their technology was organic and not metallic as much of the rest of the galaxy’s. Yet again, one of those things she’d not told Akan, and he didn’t pick up on it this time either. Voort had his hand on the lightsaber at his belt, but was also frozen in place, not out of shock but waiting for the right moment. They hadn’t shot...so they wanted to at least speak for a short time.
Landau had been so close to the explosion of sand that he’d been sent to the ground on his backside. Currently, he looked up into the barrel of a slugthrower. Following it, his eyes met with a pair of dark green ones behind the visor. The silence continued for a moment, and then the one who Landau was watching spoke. Not in the strange tongue, but in Basic, even sounding like he had a hint of a Kuati accent, “Arik?”
It was muffled behind the mask, but Landau recognized it. All eyes were on him at this point, and he tilted his head. Another long silence, then Landau’s mind connected the voice, though muffled, with a face. He looked closer at the eyes behind the visor. Then, “Hansen?”
At that, the robed figure threw back his...no, her hood. Either that, or it was a man with long, wavy brunette hair. When the hood went back, the visor tinted to black to protect the wearer’s eyes from the intense sunlight. Two straps were undone from the back of her head, and pulled the mask and visor off. Which then confirmed that this Narani was female. She looked surprised, paused a moment, then reached down to pull Landau to his feet, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t think you’d ever come back!”
Akan and Shadow exchanged looks, stepping closer with a ‘safety in numbers’ feeling running through both of their minds. Not that they didn’t trust Landau, but there were far too many coincidences occurring on this planet far too close to their arrival. Akan then caught sight of Voort. The man had a surprised look on his face, though he was fighting it back.
The woman seemed to notice this, and her eyes widened, “Titus, you too? Its been even longer!”
“Ten years,” Voort commented quietly, looking to the other Narani who had lowered their weapons. This, of course, did not mean he wasn’t ready to draw his lightsaber at a moment’s notice.
Landau looked around, not feeling comfortable out in the open. Hansen seemed to catch onto this, and motioned back towards where Loki had gone down, “We should get out of the open. I’ll explain things there.”
Landau and Voort nodded, and then followed her and the Narani without a single question. Akan and Shadow were weary of this, not liking the lack of explanations but eventually followed anyway.
[Keep your eyes open.] Shadow ‘said’ quietly, even though no one else would hear it.
Akan just nodded, saying nothing and watching the way these Narani moved. Quickly, yet in a way that they were walking in one another foot prints. One of them took up the back, covering the tracks as best as possible while keeping up with the group. So they hid...from what? Things were making less and less sense as time passed. Or rather, it made sense to everyone except Akan.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 53: Those Left Behind
Her name was Annika Hansen. Neither she, nor the fifteen among her group were actually Narani. They were former Imperials all. According to her, not long after the Battle of Endor, the a large group of Narani assaulted Haladin. Those with her were the only ones who managed to get out alive. They had managed to get a hold of Narani robes and equipment, disguising themselves as the desert people and have simply lived posing as a Narani tribe since then. As the tribes had little contact among each other most of the time, it was not hard to simply stay in the caves and live. No one ever spoke of leaving the planet, simply surviving.
That explained how she’d known Landau, as they had both served on the planet together. Hansen as his second in command until Landau left. It didn’t explain Voort, though. Once this question was brought up, Hansen explained that they’d graduated from the Academy in the same class. She had been a good friend of his wife, who was a civilian, and through Hansen, the two had met. So, in the small cave network among the larger rocks just south of where Haladin was reported to be, the three Imperials talked of old times. This left Akan and Shadow feeling awkward.
First, they were the only non-humans among the group. Getting stared at drove them crazy to the point where they found a nice, quiet place, morphed human, and got no looks other beyond ‘you’re the new people’ after that. Well, except from those that had seen them before, and both Akan and Shadow just shrugged at the questions of their current appearance. Shadow was having trouble as a human. Lack of tail was causing her balance problems, so she had taken to leaning against the wall for assistance...not that she’d admit it. Akan had been forced to argue with her to convince her to morph human, noting that it would be harder for them to be noticed by anyone after them if they weren’t Alraxian. Once she’d finally morphed, only to shut him up, she’d been amazed by the immense heat of the place.
Akan was ignoring the heat, trying to listen to the three Imperials talking and keeping an eye on the people who would walk back and forth. He didn’t feel comfortable in this place...the Empire had fallen, yes, but these people were still Imperials. Only Landau truly considered himself no longer among the Empire. Even Voort, despite his speaking otherwise, was still loyal to the long dead Emperor.
“And you think its Sadrak?” Hansen asked, looking to Voort. Akan had missed most of what they’d said, but it was something to do with more organized movement by the Narani and crude starships that were being built in the city.
Landau was the one to nod, “It fits.”
“You said you killed him, didn’t you?” asked Hansen, her eyes still on Voort.
He just shrugged, “There are ways he could have escaped that fate. And I’d not put any of them past him. Nor would I put it past him to have made it here and be working towards getting some of his power back.”
The three of them went on babbling about something when Shadow poked Akan in the arm. He glanced to her, and she ‘said’. [Look over towards the hallway over there.]
She didn’t point, but rather mentally pushed him in that direction. Around the corner, he could see the two guards that were there the entire time. The two men were standing around facing the other direction, talking among each other about nothing in particular. But it was past the man to the right that Shadow was pointing Akan towards. He’d never have noticed if she’d not done that. A face could be seen between the wall and the guard. Small, probably kneeling against the wall opposite the guard. Akan looked closely, identifying the face as that of a girl probably a year or so younger than him. Strange...that would mean she was a child when Haladin was assaulted if his time sense was correct.
The girl’s eyes widened a moment, and then she was gone. Akan looked back to Shadow, raising an eyebrow. [Spying on us?]
[On you.] Shadow corrected quickly.
[What do you mean?]
Shadow shrugged. [She was only watching you.]
Akan was about to respond, but a man walked into the room, still covered in robes and taking off the face mask. Hansen caught sight of him and quickly stood up, stopping the conversation she was having with Voort and Landau, “What are you doing here, Caars? You should be in Haladin.”
“I’m sorry, Annika,” the man Caars shook his head, looking exhausted, “Don’t worry, the rest are still there. But there was news too important to risk being intercepted.”
Hansen nodded, but looked worried suddenly, “What is it?”
Not taking notice of either Voort or Landau, Caars said quickly, “A group of scouts returned from one of the downed ships two hours before I left. They arrived with a woman. One of the passengers aboard the shuttle that went down.”
Voort, Landau, and Akan all exchanged looks, and moved enough to look like they were all going to speak at once. But Shadow beat the three of them to it, saying simply, “When do we leave?”
Hansen, for the first time, really looked to the two false humans standing on the opposite wall. She seemed to be ignoring them and acting like they didn’t exist. It annoyed Akan, because he’d seen it before from Imperials. The way they treated non-humans. But what was this prejudiced Imperial to do now that the non-humans wore human skin? At that, he couldn’t help but smile.
But Annika’s mind was working on other things, and she quickly said, “Caars, get yourself some rest. Once you’re rested, we’re going back with you.”
The man nodded, seemed to relax, and left the room. Silence hung in the air for a long while. Eventually, Voort spoke, “We’ll need a holo of the city layout.”
“And anything else you’ve got,” Akan added, stepping over to the small table for the first time. Shadow didn’t follow him, but she did move slightly closer and seem to pay more attention as the six of them started working on a plan to get into the city. Honestly, it was suicide. To Akan, that just mean more fun.
Her name was Annika Hansen. Neither she, nor the fifteen among her group were actually Narani. They were former Imperials all. According to her, not long after the Battle of Endor, the a large group of Narani assaulted Haladin. Those with her were the only ones who managed to get out alive. They had managed to get a hold of Narani robes and equipment, disguising themselves as the desert people and have simply lived posing as a Narani tribe since then. As the tribes had little contact among each other most of the time, it was not hard to simply stay in the caves and live. No one ever spoke of leaving the planet, simply surviving.
That explained how she’d known Landau, as they had both served on the planet together. Hansen as his second in command until Landau left. It didn’t explain Voort, though. Once this question was brought up, Hansen explained that they’d graduated from the Academy in the same class. She had been a good friend of his wife, who was a civilian, and through Hansen, the two had met. So, in the small cave network among the larger rocks just south of where Haladin was reported to be, the three Imperials talked of old times. This left Akan and Shadow feeling awkward.
First, they were the only non-humans among the group. Getting stared at drove them crazy to the point where they found a nice, quiet place, morphed human, and got no looks other beyond ‘you’re the new people’ after that. Well, except from those that had seen them before, and both Akan and Shadow just shrugged at the questions of their current appearance. Shadow was having trouble as a human. Lack of tail was causing her balance problems, so she had taken to leaning against the wall for assistance...not that she’d admit it. Akan had been forced to argue with her to convince her to morph human, noting that it would be harder for them to be noticed by anyone after them if they weren’t Alraxian. Once she’d finally morphed, only to shut him up, she’d been amazed by the immense heat of the place.
Akan was ignoring the heat, trying to listen to the three Imperials talking and keeping an eye on the people who would walk back and forth. He didn’t feel comfortable in this place...the Empire had fallen, yes, but these people were still Imperials. Only Landau truly considered himself no longer among the Empire. Even Voort, despite his speaking otherwise, was still loyal to the long dead Emperor.
“And you think its Sadrak?” Hansen asked, looking to Voort. Akan had missed most of what they’d said, but it was something to do with more organized movement by the Narani and crude starships that were being built in the city.
Landau was the one to nod, “It fits.”
“You said you killed him, didn’t you?” asked Hansen, her eyes still on Voort.
He just shrugged, “There are ways he could have escaped that fate. And I’d not put any of them past him. Nor would I put it past him to have made it here and be working towards getting some of his power back.”
The three of them went on babbling about something when Shadow poked Akan in the arm. He glanced to her, and she ‘said’. [Look over towards the hallway over there.]
She didn’t point, but rather mentally pushed him in that direction. Around the corner, he could see the two guards that were there the entire time. The two men were standing around facing the other direction, talking among each other about nothing in particular. But it was past the man to the right that Shadow was pointing Akan towards. He’d never have noticed if she’d not done that. A face could be seen between the wall and the guard. Small, probably kneeling against the wall opposite the guard. Akan looked closely, identifying the face as that of a girl probably a year or so younger than him. Strange...that would mean she was a child when Haladin was assaulted if his time sense was correct.
The girl’s eyes widened a moment, and then she was gone. Akan looked back to Shadow, raising an eyebrow. [Spying on us?]
[On you.] Shadow corrected quickly.
[What do you mean?]
Shadow shrugged. [She was only watching you.]
Akan was about to respond, but a man walked into the room, still covered in robes and taking off the face mask. Hansen caught sight of him and quickly stood up, stopping the conversation she was having with Voort and Landau, “What are you doing here, Caars? You should be in Haladin.”
“I’m sorry, Annika,” the man Caars shook his head, looking exhausted, “Don’t worry, the rest are still there. But there was news too important to risk being intercepted.”
Hansen nodded, but looked worried suddenly, “What is it?”
Not taking notice of either Voort or Landau, Caars said quickly, “A group of scouts returned from one of the downed ships two hours before I left. They arrived with a woman. One of the passengers aboard the shuttle that went down.”
Voort, Landau, and Akan all exchanged looks, and moved enough to look like they were all going to speak at once. But Shadow beat the three of them to it, saying simply, “When do we leave?”
Hansen, for the first time, really looked to the two false humans standing on the opposite wall. She seemed to be ignoring them and acting like they didn’t exist. It annoyed Akan, because he’d seen it before from Imperials. The way they treated non-humans. But what was this prejudiced Imperial to do now that the non-humans wore human skin? At that, he couldn’t help but smile.
But Annika’s mind was working on other things, and she quickly said, “Caars, get yourself some rest. Once you’re rested, we’re going back with you.”
The man nodded, seemed to relax, and left the room. Silence hung in the air for a long while. Eventually, Voort spoke, “We’ll need a holo of the city layout.”
“And anything else you’ve got,” Akan added, stepping over to the small table for the first time. Shadow didn’t follow him, but she did move slightly closer and seem to pay more attention as the six of them started working on a plan to get into the city. Honestly, it was suicide. To Akan, that just mean more fun.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 54: Haladin
After six hours, Caars was ready to go. All of them were given the robes to wear, and Akan found it interesting that under the main heavy robe was a light almost leather-like material. Spread out along the material were small cooling units. The mask also had this, and a water pack was hidden underneath the robes near the belt with a tube connected to the face mask. Something was bothering Akan, though. On their way to Arranis, Landau had emphasized that there was less water on this planet than Tatooine...yet, it seemed like there was no problem at all getting a hold of it. Again, something was missing in the chain.
Without any words spoken, they had left the small cave and began the navigation of the rocks, ledges, and sharp drop offs that led to Haladin. Though they didn’t speak, Shadow was constantly complaining(mentally) about still being human. She’d not fallen over at all, but the thing she was complaining about the most was being the shortest. Eventually, it just devolved into her thinking in a language Akan didn’t understand. Strangely entertaining to listen to while trudging through such horrid terrain.
Caars led them through pathways that led up to the highest of the rock faces. The paths wound back and forth as they slowly rose upwards. From a distance, they would be impossible to see. Even up close, Akan had a little trouble keeping on the actual path and not falling off and having that wonderful fall down the jagged surface to the next ledge about forty meters below. But thankfully, they were reaching a ledge that Akan had figure was the ‘top’ as it were.
He was soon proved right, though taking up the back of the group with Shadow meant that everyone else knew first. The rock ledge did level off into a huge plateau that expanded to the horizon. Well, not all the way. The horizon was quickly cut off by the risings of a large stone wall with buildings that topped it within. The architecture was strangely similar to that of Tatooine, or perhaps it was just the sand blasted color of the wall that gave that effect. The turbolaser batteries were easy things to see, though most of them were well defended again rocks or in small valleys that cut through the top of the plateau. The designer of Haladin’s defenses was an extremely intelligent tactician. It looked so much more open to attack than it really was...of course, the designer did not seem to expect an attack from the ground. Evident from the report of how the city was lost, and the ease of their approach.
“Stay close, stay quiet, and don’t attract attention,” Hansen commented over her shoulder as they approached.
“Where are we going, exactly?” Landau asked.
Caars was the one to respond, albeit quietly through the mask, “A safe house of sorts. Get updates there on where the woman is, then go from there.”
Akan and Voort both ended that in the minds with a simple, ‘but not with Caars’. Not that they didn’t trust him, but he had nothing to do with this. Though Akan didn’t exactly care about Hansen going, she knew the planet and Landau trusted her. Somehow, Akan felt he could trust the man. Unlike Voort, Landau had an aura about him that just showed him to be an honest man. No matter how many times he tried to convince himself that the Empire was full of evil men, someone like Landau would show up and prove that it was like anything else. People fought for the Empire for the same reasons people fought for the Rebellion. For a great many, that was family. Landau was like that.
Upon entering the opening in the wall that was the entrance to the town, they were all surprised. Well, except for Hansen and Caars. But the others had expected to at least see guards. Nothing. Sure, there were people walking here and there, some speaking next to buildings or conducting whatever kind of business they did. None of the humans they passed wore the heavy robes or masks. Instead, they wore light, comfortable looking clothing. In fact, the city itself was much more modern looking on the inside. Consoles against buildings, older landspeeders and even a couple of airspeeders were parked in a local garage that they walked by. There were no buildings that seemed to indicate a central defensive structure as had been expected, and the only way Voort had identified the old Imperial garrison building was a sand blasted and faded insignia.
About three blocks from that building, Caars led them to a small building that looked like a good place for a shop, considering the market stands that were all along the street side. They entered the building, and Hansen waited until last to step in and make sure the door was locked. Once that was done, Caars removed his hood and mask. The others followed suit, looking around the small room that was only decorated by a faded green coat of paint and beat up chairs. Caars motioned for them to sit, which Landau, Hansen, and Shadow did. Akan had thought about it, but Shadow had taken the seat he’d been eyeing. He knew she did it on purpose.
[There’s still sand in my hair...] she grumbled one last complaint out and dusted herself off.
Caars walked over to console near the wall and accessed some information. Voort found himself checking the room. Not noticeably, but he was looking over every inch in a casual way...just in case. Akan had noticed it, but said nothing. Even if he didn’t trust Voort, checking for any kind of listening devices or anything similar was a good idea.
“There’s a report of an airspeeder being prepared to leave to the deep desert in an hour,” Caars said over his shoulder.
“This is unusual?” Voort asked, running an idle hand along the rough textured wall.
Landau was the one to answer that, “Two things wrong with it, if you ask me.”
“Anything interesting?” Shadow asked, sounding bored though she was obviously trying to find some kind of entertainment out of it.
“First, other than the random Topsider settlement, there’s nothing out in the deep desert,” Landau commented, giving Shadow a look and obviously trying to alleviate her boredom, “Second, the sand always gave us trouble with any kind of airspeeder. We brought them down at first, but the intakes got clogged too easily. Combat landspeeders never had the problem, but it was pointless to go exploring out there.”
At that, Caars nodded, “We’ve gotten reports for the last few weeks of more activity out in the deep desert.”
Akan and Voort exchanged looks, thinking the same thing. Sadrak. This time, it was Akan’s turn to ask a question, “Where’s she being held at the moment?”
Caars turned back to the console, then said over his shoulder, “The old Imperial detention center. There’s only two cells left in there...looks like they’ll be moving her soon.”
Shadow was the first one to stand up and start towards the door, “Well, what are we waiting for?!” quickly she pulled the mask back on and got the hood up, “Lets go! I’ve had it with all this talking!”
After six hours, Caars was ready to go. All of them were given the robes to wear, and Akan found it interesting that under the main heavy robe was a light almost leather-like material. Spread out along the material were small cooling units. The mask also had this, and a water pack was hidden underneath the robes near the belt with a tube connected to the face mask. Something was bothering Akan, though. On their way to Arranis, Landau had emphasized that there was less water on this planet than Tatooine...yet, it seemed like there was no problem at all getting a hold of it. Again, something was missing in the chain.
Without any words spoken, they had left the small cave and began the navigation of the rocks, ledges, and sharp drop offs that led to Haladin. Though they didn’t speak, Shadow was constantly complaining(mentally) about still being human. She’d not fallen over at all, but the thing she was complaining about the most was being the shortest. Eventually, it just devolved into her thinking in a language Akan didn’t understand. Strangely entertaining to listen to while trudging through such horrid terrain.
Caars led them through pathways that led up to the highest of the rock faces. The paths wound back and forth as they slowly rose upwards. From a distance, they would be impossible to see. Even up close, Akan had a little trouble keeping on the actual path and not falling off and having that wonderful fall down the jagged surface to the next ledge about forty meters below. But thankfully, they were reaching a ledge that Akan had figure was the ‘top’ as it were.
He was soon proved right, though taking up the back of the group with Shadow meant that everyone else knew first. The rock ledge did level off into a huge plateau that expanded to the horizon. Well, not all the way. The horizon was quickly cut off by the risings of a large stone wall with buildings that topped it within. The architecture was strangely similar to that of Tatooine, or perhaps it was just the sand blasted color of the wall that gave that effect. The turbolaser batteries were easy things to see, though most of them were well defended again rocks or in small valleys that cut through the top of the plateau. The designer of Haladin’s defenses was an extremely intelligent tactician. It looked so much more open to attack than it really was...of course, the designer did not seem to expect an attack from the ground. Evident from the report of how the city was lost, and the ease of their approach.
“Stay close, stay quiet, and don’t attract attention,” Hansen commented over her shoulder as they approached.
“Where are we going, exactly?” Landau asked.
Caars was the one to respond, albeit quietly through the mask, “A safe house of sorts. Get updates there on where the woman is, then go from there.”
Akan and Voort both ended that in the minds with a simple, ‘but not with Caars’. Not that they didn’t trust him, but he had nothing to do with this. Though Akan didn’t exactly care about Hansen going, she knew the planet and Landau trusted her. Somehow, Akan felt he could trust the man. Unlike Voort, Landau had an aura about him that just showed him to be an honest man. No matter how many times he tried to convince himself that the Empire was full of evil men, someone like Landau would show up and prove that it was like anything else. People fought for the Empire for the same reasons people fought for the Rebellion. For a great many, that was family. Landau was like that.
Upon entering the opening in the wall that was the entrance to the town, they were all surprised. Well, except for Hansen and Caars. But the others had expected to at least see guards. Nothing. Sure, there were people walking here and there, some speaking next to buildings or conducting whatever kind of business they did. None of the humans they passed wore the heavy robes or masks. Instead, they wore light, comfortable looking clothing. In fact, the city itself was much more modern looking on the inside. Consoles against buildings, older landspeeders and even a couple of airspeeders were parked in a local garage that they walked by. There were no buildings that seemed to indicate a central defensive structure as had been expected, and the only way Voort had identified the old Imperial garrison building was a sand blasted and faded insignia.
About three blocks from that building, Caars led them to a small building that looked like a good place for a shop, considering the market stands that were all along the street side. They entered the building, and Hansen waited until last to step in and make sure the door was locked. Once that was done, Caars removed his hood and mask. The others followed suit, looking around the small room that was only decorated by a faded green coat of paint and beat up chairs. Caars motioned for them to sit, which Landau, Hansen, and Shadow did. Akan had thought about it, but Shadow had taken the seat he’d been eyeing. He knew she did it on purpose.
[There’s still sand in my hair...] she grumbled one last complaint out and dusted herself off.
Caars walked over to console near the wall and accessed some information. Voort found himself checking the room. Not noticeably, but he was looking over every inch in a casual way...just in case. Akan had noticed it, but said nothing. Even if he didn’t trust Voort, checking for any kind of listening devices or anything similar was a good idea.
“There’s a report of an airspeeder being prepared to leave to the deep desert in an hour,” Caars said over his shoulder.
“This is unusual?” Voort asked, running an idle hand along the rough textured wall.
Landau was the one to answer that, “Two things wrong with it, if you ask me.”
“Anything interesting?” Shadow asked, sounding bored though she was obviously trying to find some kind of entertainment out of it.
“First, other than the random Topsider settlement, there’s nothing out in the deep desert,” Landau commented, giving Shadow a look and obviously trying to alleviate her boredom, “Second, the sand always gave us trouble with any kind of airspeeder. We brought them down at first, but the intakes got clogged too easily. Combat landspeeders never had the problem, but it was pointless to go exploring out there.”
At that, Caars nodded, “We’ve gotten reports for the last few weeks of more activity out in the deep desert.”
Akan and Voort exchanged looks, thinking the same thing. Sadrak. This time, it was Akan’s turn to ask a question, “Where’s she being held at the moment?”
Caars turned back to the console, then said over his shoulder, “The old Imperial detention center. There’s only two cells left in there...looks like they’ll be moving her soon.”
Shadow was the first one to stand up and start towards the door, “Well, what are we waiting for?!” quickly she pulled the mask back on and got the hood up, “Lets go! I’ve had it with all this talking!”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 55: Flashy Heroics
“What do you mean stand guard?!” Shadow asked in the most annoyed voice she could manage as a human and through the mask. It was strangely funny because her voice was higher than usual and she didn’t seem to notice. When Akan grinned, she somehow knew and backhanded him hard in the chest. [Shut up, Jedi Boy.]
There was no answer to Shadow’s question beyond Voort saying swiftly, “Just do it.”
Then, the three former Imperials stepped into the Garrison leaving the two not-so-humans to stand around annoyed and amused. Well, only Akan was amused. Shadow, obviously, was not. More standing around. More boredom. More of this damned planet that was already getting on her nerves. Forget all of this. Loki needed help. As best as a human could manage, she growled under the mask. And the being human just didn’t help. Too many things were just wrong. She felt weak, slow, and half blind. All of which were true when compared to her Alraxian body.
The two of them were spared the fun that was already occurring inside. The door had opened to a short hallway, which then led to a single guard room. This was occupied by a middle aged Narani who was wearing what looked to be half of an Imperial uniform with other random pieces of clothing with it. Landau was the only one not annoyed by this, but it did not change any actions. The moment of their entrance, the Narani’s eyes widened, and he nearly fell back in his chair trying to get to his feet while drawing a blaster from under the desk. He managed to get as far as leaning back before Hansen put a blaster shot into his face.
“You had slugthrowers earlier,” Voort commented as he searched the man’s body and got out a small keycard.
Hansen nodded as she moved to the door on the other end of the room which led to the cells, “They’re common outside of Haladin. Here most of the blasters are from the old armory.”
“Lightly defended in here,” Landau thought aloud, remembering the days when the small detention building was guarded by at least five men.
Again, Hansen nodded. Voort was moving over and slid the keycard into the slot. When the door opened, Hansen said, “They don’t get many prisoners. Its easier to just kill someone and make a mistake than try to hold them.”
“Wonderful way of thinking,” sounded a voice from inside the now open door, “Glad they make exceptions.”
Voort smiled and stepped in, seeing a room with two large doors on the opposite walls. The doors each had holes cut out of them, through which one, Jen’s face could be seen. Despite her lighthearted words, Jen looked terrible. Even only being able to see her face, that fact was obvious. There were cuts and bruises along her forehead, and her left eye was only half open. Managing a smile, Voort stepped over and got the door open. This revealed Jen to be worse off than expected.
The main thing that caught his attention was her leg. There was a long, crude brace strapped to it. Broken. That meant they’d be slowed down, and getting out was going to be trouble. Jen noticed his expression and shrugged weakly. She noticed Hansen, and the two women’s eyes met. Something there bothered Jen. What exactly it was, and if it was even anything beyond paranoia.
The moment passed when Voort helped her to walk, albeit slowly, out towards the main guard room. Greetings where exchanged quickly, and it was decided to leave anything more to once they were out. The plan meant that they weren’t going back to Caars’ safe house, but all the way back to Hansen’s base. Voort had decided that Jen could be carried when the rocks got steep if they needed to move quickly. He didn’t mention this, though, noticing something about the way Jen looked at him that said she was fine and if he tried anything she’d injure him.
When Landau made it to the exit and reached for switch, he suddenly stayed his hand. When Hansen started to bark at him to keep going, he waved for her to keep quiet. They all followed the signal, more out of curiosity than anything. It took only a moment after they all went silent for the reason Landau didn’t open the door to be apparent. A low, constant hum could be heard outside. To Voort and Jen, the sound was obvious. Landau had stopped out of surprise, not actually identifying the noise. Hansen was in much the same boat.
It was the hum of a lightsaber. But it wasn’t as constant as it sounded at first. The sound changed in pitch every few seconds. Again, Voort and Jen recognized this. Movement. The two exchanged glances, and Voort started forward, “Trouble,” was all he said.
Landau reached an arm out to push the other man back, “If its trouble we’re safest in here until its passed.”
“I can help him,” Voort said flatly.
“The less of us they notice, the better,” answered Hansen, also keeping Voort back. He sighed, but nodded. Jen was going to need all the help she could get, whether she wanted it or not, in their now ruined escape. Or at least, it sure felt ruined. A quick in and out with no flashy heroics was the plan. Voort hoped that Akan hadn’t fallen victim to said flashy heroics.
It was ironic that Voort blamed the current situation on Akan. Sure, he’d activated the lightsaber and drawn the attention of near twenty people. But most of them scattered. And besides, it was Shadow’s fault. If she hadn’t cursed in her native tongue, they wouldn’t have been noticed by the passerby as anything but two Narani. But no...Shadow was complaining about being human again, and she’s spoken a curse out loud and in a language that these people wouldn’t have known.
At the accusing comment(or at least, it sounded that way, neither Akan nor Shadow actually understood it) from the passerby, Shadow had knocked the Narani out. She had failed to remember that there were many other people all around them. She also didn’t know how very out of character that was. These were both quickly proved as facts when those that did not scatter brandished either knives, blasters, or an interesting combination of the two while yelling the Narani word for ‘offworlder!’. Again, neither Akan nor Shadow knew that was the word, but it had to be that or something similar from the context and tone.
And that was the point when Voort’s blame on Akan could be considered correct. He reacted to the brandishing of weapons without thinking that it wouldn’t be a good idea to respond in kind. By the time Akan had realized this, his lightsaber had already been drawn from underneath the heavy robes, and the blue-green light of the blade was illuminating the hood and relfecting off the visor to create a strange mix of black and transparent sections. The noise heard inside the door was that of Akan moving back and forth...swaying in anticipation for the first move to be made.
[I’m going to draw them away.] he said to Shadow in the moment of inaction. [Disable anyone that stays behind and get out of here.]
Shadow had thought to respond to that, but the idea was a sound one...for once. As long as he didn’t get them killed. That’s when Akan made what would have been considered a rash move if it hadn’t been planned. He charged the nearest of the Narani. Plowing over the surprised man after arranging a meeting between the butt of the lightsaber and the Narani’s face, Akan ran down the street. He stayed in sight, but kept close enough to the walls of buildings that the blaster shots caught that instead of him.
It worked. In fact, it worked better than Akan had expected. The Narani had been so outraged and surprised by the sight of an unknown in their own garb killing one of their own that they’d ignored Shadow and charged down the street after Akan. Shadow started to go after them, but instead did what needed to be done. She opened the door to the garrison, seeing a very surprised Landau.
“No time to explain!” Shadow said quickly through the mask, “Just come on!”
She grabbed Landau’s arm and started sprinting towards the way they’d entered. Hansen was right behind them, not asking for an explanation as it didn’t sound like she was going to get it anyway Voort put an arm around Jen and helped her to keep up. As they ran, Jen called out to Shadow, “Where’s Akan?!”
Shadow just glanced over her shoulder, and made an annoyed look. Sure, it could only be seen in her eyes, but Voort picked up on it. He glanced to Shadow, following around a corner and grumbled, “Flashy heroics.”
“What do you mean stand guard?!” Shadow asked in the most annoyed voice she could manage as a human and through the mask. It was strangely funny because her voice was higher than usual and she didn’t seem to notice. When Akan grinned, she somehow knew and backhanded him hard in the chest. [Shut up, Jedi Boy.]
There was no answer to Shadow’s question beyond Voort saying swiftly, “Just do it.”
Then, the three former Imperials stepped into the Garrison leaving the two not-so-humans to stand around annoyed and amused. Well, only Akan was amused. Shadow, obviously, was not. More standing around. More boredom. More of this damned planet that was already getting on her nerves. Forget all of this. Loki needed help. As best as a human could manage, she growled under the mask. And the being human just didn’t help. Too many things were just wrong. She felt weak, slow, and half blind. All of which were true when compared to her Alraxian body.
The two of them were spared the fun that was already occurring inside. The door had opened to a short hallway, which then led to a single guard room. This was occupied by a middle aged Narani who was wearing what looked to be half of an Imperial uniform with other random pieces of clothing with it. Landau was the only one not annoyed by this, but it did not change any actions. The moment of their entrance, the Narani’s eyes widened, and he nearly fell back in his chair trying to get to his feet while drawing a blaster from under the desk. He managed to get as far as leaning back before Hansen put a blaster shot into his face.
“You had slugthrowers earlier,” Voort commented as he searched the man’s body and got out a small keycard.
Hansen nodded as she moved to the door on the other end of the room which led to the cells, “They’re common outside of Haladin. Here most of the blasters are from the old armory.”
“Lightly defended in here,” Landau thought aloud, remembering the days when the small detention building was guarded by at least five men.
Again, Hansen nodded. Voort was moving over and slid the keycard into the slot. When the door opened, Hansen said, “They don’t get many prisoners. Its easier to just kill someone and make a mistake than try to hold them.”
“Wonderful way of thinking,” sounded a voice from inside the now open door, “Glad they make exceptions.”
Voort smiled and stepped in, seeing a room with two large doors on the opposite walls. The doors each had holes cut out of them, through which one, Jen’s face could be seen. Despite her lighthearted words, Jen looked terrible. Even only being able to see her face, that fact was obvious. There were cuts and bruises along her forehead, and her left eye was only half open. Managing a smile, Voort stepped over and got the door open. This revealed Jen to be worse off than expected.
The main thing that caught his attention was her leg. There was a long, crude brace strapped to it. Broken. That meant they’d be slowed down, and getting out was going to be trouble. Jen noticed his expression and shrugged weakly. She noticed Hansen, and the two women’s eyes met. Something there bothered Jen. What exactly it was, and if it was even anything beyond paranoia.
The moment passed when Voort helped her to walk, albeit slowly, out towards the main guard room. Greetings where exchanged quickly, and it was decided to leave anything more to once they were out. The plan meant that they weren’t going back to Caars’ safe house, but all the way back to Hansen’s base. Voort had decided that Jen could be carried when the rocks got steep if they needed to move quickly. He didn’t mention this, though, noticing something about the way Jen looked at him that said she was fine and if he tried anything she’d injure him.
When Landau made it to the exit and reached for switch, he suddenly stayed his hand. When Hansen started to bark at him to keep going, he waved for her to keep quiet. They all followed the signal, more out of curiosity than anything. It took only a moment after they all went silent for the reason Landau didn’t open the door to be apparent. A low, constant hum could be heard outside. To Voort and Jen, the sound was obvious. Landau had stopped out of surprise, not actually identifying the noise. Hansen was in much the same boat.
It was the hum of a lightsaber. But it wasn’t as constant as it sounded at first. The sound changed in pitch every few seconds. Again, Voort and Jen recognized this. Movement. The two exchanged glances, and Voort started forward, “Trouble,” was all he said.
Landau reached an arm out to push the other man back, “If its trouble we’re safest in here until its passed.”
“I can help him,” Voort said flatly.
“The less of us they notice, the better,” answered Hansen, also keeping Voort back. He sighed, but nodded. Jen was going to need all the help she could get, whether she wanted it or not, in their now ruined escape. Or at least, it sure felt ruined. A quick in and out with no flashy heroics was the plan. Voort hoped that Akan hadn’t fallen victim to said flashy heroics.
It was ironic that Voort blamed the current situation on Akan. Sure, he’d activated the lightsaber and drawn the attention of near twenty people. But most of them scattered. And besides, it was Shadow’s fault. If she hadn’t cursed in her native tongue, they wouldn’t have been noticed by the passerby as anything but two Narani. But no...Shadow was complaining about being human again, and she’s spoken a curse out loud and in a language that these people wouldn’t have known.
At the accusing comment(or at least, it sounded that way, neither Akan nor Shadow actually understood it) from the passerby, Shadow had knocked the Narani out. She had failed to remember that there were many other people all around them. She also didn’t know how very out of character that was. These were both quickly proved as facts when those that did not scatter brandished either knives, blasters, or an interesting combination of the two while yelling the Narani word for ‘offworlder!’. Again, neither Akan nor Shadow knew that was the word, but it had to be that or something similar from the context and tone.
And that was the point when Voort’s blame on Akan could be considered correct. He reacted to the brandishing of weapons without thinking that it wouldn’t be a good idea to respond in kind. By the time Akan had realized this, his lightsaber had already been drawn from underneath the heavy robes, and the blue-green light of the blade was illuminating the hood and relfecting off the visor to create a strange mix of black and transparent sections. The noise heard inside the door was that of Akan moving back and forth...swaying in anticipation for the first move to be made.
[I’m going to draw them away.] he said to Shadow in the moment of inaction. [Disable anyone that stays behind and get out of here.]
Shadow had thought to respond to that, but the idea was a sound one...for once. As long as he didn’t get them killed. That’s when Akan made what would have been considered a rash move if it hadn’t been planned. He charged the nearest of the Narani. Plowing over the surprised man after arranging a meeting between the butt of the lightsaber and the Narani’s face, Akan ran down the street. He stayed in sight, but kept close enough to the walls of buildings that the blaster shots caught that instead of him.
It worked. In fact, it worked better than Akan had expected. The Narani had been so outraged and surprised by the sight of an unknown in their own garb killing one of their own that they’d ignored Shadow and charged down the street after Akan. Shadow started to go after them, but instead did what needed to be done. She opened the door to the garrison, seeing a very surprised Landau.
“No time to explain!” Shadow said quickly through the mask, “Just come on!”
She grabbed Landau’s arm and started sprinting towards the way they’d entered. Hansen was right behind them, not asking for an explanation as it didn’t sound like she was going to get it anyway Voort put an arm around Jen and helped her to keep up. As they ran, Jen called out to Shadow, “Where’s Akan?!”
Shadow just glanced over her shoulder, and made an annoyed look. Sure, it could only be seen in her eyes, but Voort picked up on it. He glanced to Shadow, following around a corner and grumbled, “Flashy heroics.”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 56: Through the Streets
Akan had only rounded two corners when he’d started having second thoughts. After being cut off by ten more Narani and having to quickly turn around at the third corner, barely managing to slip past his original pursuers to another street, he started having third thoughts. They had been shooting at him for the first leg of the run, but had quickly stopped as Akan found more populated areas to run into. But after that third corner, he’d found that the word must have gotten around to get out of the area. It was empty. In fact, it opened up into a huge, wide open market area. He’d not planned on falling into the horrible and usually fatal cliche of stopping in the exact center of the market, but Akan had present with no choice.
Well, there was another choice. That was to plow through a group of twenty other Narani who were aiming weapons at him. Seemed like all of Haladin had gotten annoyed of his killing of just one of them. Akan would have admired that if he wasn’t the one who they were stalking. When he came to a stop in the center, he brought up the lightsaber and thumbed the activation switch again. The snap-hiss and sudden appearance of the blade caused most of the Narani to jump back slightly. This gave Akan a good twenty meter distance between him and the now large circle. So, very slowly, Akan found himself circling in his position so that none of them had a long look at his back. During the run, he’d already pulled the hood down so that he had better peripheral vision, an was glad for it now.
The mask still on, his vision was limited just a little more than normal. It was acceptable though, and the mask was keeping his sand filled dark brown hair out of his eyes. Part of him wished he couldn’t see the current situation though. The Narani were not moving in to enclose him further. They didn’t need to. Seeing as there were well over thirty of them, most with rifles aimed on him, getting any closer was not required to just shoot him. But they were hesitating. Akan could only assume the lightsaber was what bought him time.
But there was a feeling growing among them that Akan could detect. The surprise the weapon had caused was quickly fading, and they were going to act. Akan’s mind raced in those few seconds he had before one of them was going to forget that there were comrades on the opposite side and fire. Not really even thinking, just letting the Force guide his actions. It had gotten him out of worse things before...Akan found himself drawing upon the Force, weaving it around and under him. His eyes only half open as he concentrated on the timing, Akan heard the first shot of a slugthrower ring out as an impossibly loud noise when compared to a blaster. It nearly broke his concentration, but he used that moment to release the energy he’d collected.
In a flash of movement, Akan was no longer where he’d been, and a Narani opposite the one who’d fired was on the ground, the shot having caught him in the heart. The only Narani that managed to see what actually happened were the two that Akan had leaped over. Their eyes followed the blur of motion up and over them, landing behind them, running for a few steps before performing another amazing leap to bring Akan on top of the nearest building. By the time Akan landed on the building, the other Narani had caught sight of him. More loud shots from slugthrowers sounded, nearly catching Akan’s arm as he turned to run out of sight.
Leaping from one building to the next, over the short alleyways between them, Akan ran as fast as he could in whatever direction he was going. With his spinning around in the circle, he’d quickly lost track of the direction he’d come from. The lightsaber had once again been deactivated, though he still held it tightly in his right hand. Though his legs were aching horribly from the continuous run with only that short break, Akan didn’t seem to be noticing how exhausted he was. He found out the hard way.
It was the fourth leap to another building, and Akan hadn’t judged it well. His left foot caught the edge of the roof as he was coming down, and his run was ended with a hard, face first meeting with the roof of a building. He didn’t roll, but slid on his face against the sand covered and coarse roof of the building. There had been a very loud crack when his face had hit, and sharp pains ran through the skin along his brow and disturbingly close to his right eye. Despite the sudden wave of fatigue that overran him when he’d fallen, Akan was on his feet again as quickly as he’d stopped sliding.
Pain shot through the palm of his hands when he pushed himself up, and he looked down to see the sharp pieces of his shattered visor all across the roof. He could now see through a strange mix of tinted visor that was cracked and destroyed in so many places that he was half blind from the intense sunlight. Nearing the edge of the building and preparing another jump, Akan realized he’d dropped his lightsaber. Spinning around and easily seeing the metal cylinder off near the left side, he reached out with the Force and pulled it to his hand. He caught it easily in his right hand, ignoring the sudden pain from the impact, turned and jumped across to the next, much larger building.
Akan made this jump with no trouble, but nearly slipped from a misplaced foot on an uneven patch of the roof. Keeping his footing somehow, Akan realized the problem at this point was that he was letting the pain get to him. That problem, currently, was mixed with the blood trickling into his eyes from the cuts the shattered visor had made. While he continued his run across the roof, Akan remorphed the injuries on his face and hands, glad to feel the pain subside. Annoyingly, this didn’t cause blood that was already out to disappear, so he still had to deal with that.
But quick thinking was about to be required again. The line of buildings was about to end in an intersection of streets. Sure, he could try for another very long jump, but they’d likely still be looking on the roofs for him. He managed to get a quick look over the street before jumping down, and was glad to see it was empty. Reaching the edge of the building, Akan came down to the sand covered street hard, stumbling and not able to keep his footing. Yet again, Akan’s face met with the ground underneath him, this time getting sand in the mask and his eyes. Yet again, though, he didn’t let the fall stop him. At least this time he’d been more ready for it.
Shaking his head to get the sand away as he stood up again, Akan looked to his left. Why he didn’t look to his right, he didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. He simply saw the left street was clear, and tore off in that direction, not looking back to see if anyone was anywhere near him. With the planet’s sun having been directly above them the entire time, he still had no idea what direction he was running in. But he did see the wall around the city. He was running right towards it...that meant he needed to turn at the next intersection and hope to go in the right direction for getting out of Haladin. But when Akan got close to the intersection, he saw that a door to a building directly in front of him was open. Standing in the door was a figure. Not aiming a weapon. Not looking ready to kill him. But motioning towards him. Frantically motioning for him to enter as he approached. If he’d not seen that, it was unlikely that his body would have given in to the exhaustion that was consuming every muscle.
However, his mind saw a place to rest. There was no warning through the Force. His mind was just as tired as his legs and aching body to second guess this. Everything just shut down two steps out from the doorway. The figure saw this, and moved in to try and slow Akan’s third fall. He didn’t have a chance to enjoy it, though, as his vision had blurred and head was spinning so much from the non-stop run that Akan finally let himself go. Mid fall, Akan blacked out.
Akan had only rounded two corners when he’d started having second thoughts. After being cut off by ten more Narani and having to quickly turn around at the third corner, barely managing to slip past his original pursuers to another street, he started having third thoughts. They had been shooting at him for the first leg of the run, but had quickly stopped as Akan found more populated areas to run into. But after that third corner, he’d found that the word must have gotten around to get out of the area. It was empty. In fact, it opened up into a huge, wide open market area. He’d not planned on falling into the horrible and usually fatal cliche of stopping in the exact center of the market, but Akan had present with no choice.
Well, there was another choice. That was to plow through a group of twenty other Narani who were aiming weapons at him. Seemed like all of Haladin had gotten annoyed of his killing of just one of them. Akan would have admired that if he wasn’t the one who they were stalking. When he came to a stop in the center, he brought up the lightsaber and thumbed the activation switch again. The snap-hiss and sudden appearance of the blade caused most of the Narani to jump back slightly. This gave Akan a good twenty meter distance between him and the now large circle. So, very slowly, Akan found himself circling in his position so that none of them had a long look at his back. During the run, he’d already pulled the hood down so that he had better peripheral vision, an was glad for it now.
The mask still on, his vision was limited just a little more than normal. It was acceptable though, and the mask was keeping his sand filled dark brown hair out of his eyes. Part of him wished he couldn’t see the current situation though. The Narani were not moving in to enclose him further. They didn’t need to. Seeing as there were well over thirty of them, most with rifles aimed on him, getting any closer was not required to just shoot him. But they were hesitating. Akan could only assume the lightsaber was what bought him time.
But there was a feeling growing among them that Akan could detect. The surprise the weapon had caused was quickly fading, and they were going to act. Akan’s mind raced in those few seconds he had before one of them was going to forget that there were comrades on the opposite side and fire. Not really even thinking, just letting the Force guide his actions. It had gotten him out of worse things before...Akan found himself drawing upon the Force, weaving it around and under him. His eyes only half open as he concentrated on the timing, Akan heard the first shot of a slugthrower ring out as an impossibly loud noise when compared to a blaster. It nearly broke his concentration, but he used that moment to release the energy he’d collected.
In a flash of movement, Akan was no longer where he’d been, and a Narani opposite the one who’d fired was on the ground, the shot having caught him in the heart. The only Narani that managed to see what actually happened were the two that Akan had leaped over. Their eyes followed the blur of motion up and over them, landing behind them, running for a few steps before performing another amazing leap to bring Akan on top of the nearest building. By the time Akan landed on the building, the other Narani had caught sight of him. More loud shots from slugthrowers sounded, nearly catching Akan’s arm as he turned to run out of sight.
Leaping from one building to the next, over the short alleyways between them, Akan ran as fast as he could in whatever direction he was going. With his spinning around in the circle, he’d quickly lost track of the direction he’d come from. The lightsaber had once again been deactivated, though he still held it tightly in his right hand. Though his legs were aching horribly from the continuous run with only that short break, Akan didn’t seem to be noticing how exhausted he was. He found out the hard way.
It was the fourth leap to another building, and Akan hadn’t judged it well. His left foot caught the edge of the roof as he was coming down, and his run was ended with a hard, face first meeting with the roof of a building. He didn’t roll, but slid on his face against the sand covered and coarse roof of the building. There had been a very loud crack when his face had hit, and sharp pains ran through the skin along his brow and disturbingly close to his right eye. Despite the sudden wave of fatigue that overran him when he’d fallen, Akan was on his feet again as quickly as he’d stopped sliding.
Pain shot through the palm of his hands when he pushed himself up, and he looked down to see the sharp pieces of his shattered visor all across the roof. He could now see through a strange mix of tinted visor that was cracked and destroyed in so many places that he was half blind from the intense sunlight. Nearing the edge of the building and preparing another jump, Akan realized he’d dropped his lightsaber. Spinning around and easily seeing the metal cylinder off near the left side, he reached out with the Force and pulled it to his hand. He caught it easily in his right hand, ignoring the sudden pain from the impact, turned and jumped across to the next, much larger building.
Akan made this jump with no trouble, but nearly slipped from a misplaced foot on an uneven patch of the roof. Keeping his footing somehow, Akan realized the problem at this point was that he was letting the pain get to him. That problem, currently, was mixed with the blood trickling into his eyes from the cuts the shattered visor had made. While he continued his run across the roof, Akan remorphed the injuries on his face and hands, glad to feel the pain subside. Annoyingly, this didn’t cause blood that was already out to disappear, so he still had to deal with that.
But quick thinking was about to be required again. The line of buildings was about to end in an intersection of streets. Sure, he could try for another very long jump, but they’d likely still be looking on the roofs for him. He managed to get a quick look over the street before jumping down, and was glad to see it was empty. Reaching the edge of the building, Akan came down to the sand covered street hard, stumbling and not able to keep his footing. Yet again, Akan’s face met with the ground underneath him, this time getting sand in the mask and his eyes. Yet again, though, he didn’t let the fall stop him. At least this time he’d been more ready for it.
Shaking his head to get the sand away as he stood up again, Akan looked to his left. Why he didn’t look to his right, he didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. He simply saw the left street was clear, and tore off in that direction, not looking back to see if anyone was anywhere near him. With the planet’s sun having been directly above them the entire time, he still had no idea what direction he was running in. But he did see the wall around the city. He was running right towards it...that meant he needed to turn at the next intersection and hope to go in the right direction for getting out of Haladin. But when Akan got close to the intersection, he saw that a door to a building directly in front of him was open. Standing in the door was a figure. Not aiming a weapon. Not looking ready to kill him. But motioning towards him. Frantically motioning for him to enter as he approached. If he’d not seen that, it was unlikely that his body would have given in to the exhaustion that was consuming every muscle.
However, his mind saw a place to rest. There was no warning through the Force. His mind was just as tired as his legs and aching body to second guess this. Everything just shut down two steps out from the doorway. The figure saw this, and moved in to try and slow Akan’s third fall. He didn’t have a chance to enjoy it, though, as his vision had blurred and head was spinning so much from the non-stop run that Akan finally let himself go. Mid fall, Akan blacked out.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 57: One Found, Another Lost
“We cannot go back,” Hansen said flatly. By now, the group had made it out of the city and to the path leading down from the plateau. Though they had not been spotted by anyone, and made it without any trouble, they had heard slugthrowers firing. When the sound stopped, worrying over what had happened started. It was quickly put to an end when Shadow pointed out she wasn’t dead. She did not add, however, that if Akan landed on his face one more time she was going to make his face hurt much harder when he got back.
Jen took one more look at the walls of Haladin before allowing Voort to help her onward. Shadow was right. If she was doing fine, it was proof that Akan was okay. She did not mention going back for Akan again, and simply did her best to make it down the steep slope of the path through the rocks. The splint on her leg, though crude, did its job perfectly. Shadow, Hansen, and Landau were moving quickly, but not so fast that it was impossible for Jen to keep up. Voort was part of that, but not all of it.
They were silent for the rest of the way back to the protected cave network that Hansen’s people lived in. Jen did notice that every so often Shadow’s expression would glaze over very slightly. A subtle hint that she was trying to speak with Akan. Jen didn’t completely understand how, but had noticed that expression on Shadow’s face before. Voort did take some time to explain what was going on, emphasizing that Hansen was someone they could trust.
Jen didn’t keep track of time well enough to know how long they had taken before finally arriving. She did know that it had been well over an hour, at least, and she was tired. Not having to say anything about this, Hansen indicated a room for each of them(something that wasn’t important upon their first arrival). Voort helped Jen to the bed, and once she’d sat down, she thanked him and asked, “Are we going to go back?”
He shrugged, “I doubt it will be easy to get back into the city now,” quickly, and almost awkwardly, Voort changed the subject, “Are you alright?”
It had been the first time he’d actually opened up and asked a question like that with that kind of tone. Nodding, Jen dusted herself off some and tried to forget about the bruises and scratches, “There’s something out in the desert.”
“Sadrak?” Voort asked, taking a seat next to her.
Jen shook her head, “Maybe, but I think there’s something else. Those...people are almost afraid of what it is. It seems like they’re doing everything out of fear.”
At this, Voort raised an eyebrow, “You think its worth checking out?”
This time, Jen nodded, “I’ve just got a feeling about it...can’t really explain it. Almost like...”
“...like something’s calling to you?” Voort suggested.
Jen eyes widened slightly at Voort’s words. Exactly what she’d hesitated to say. Again, she nodded slowly, “Exactly like that.”
Voort took a moment to think about this, and a hint of a smile crept onto his face, “Get some rest first. I’ll talk with Hansen and see what we can figure out.”
He then stood up, starting to leave. But he was stopped when Jen caught his arm. Turning around to ask what it was, Voort found that Jen was standing in front of him again. She smiled and embraced him. This wasn’t as much of a surprise as it should have been. Neither of them moved for a long time, but Voort eventually pulled back, “Get some rest, Jen.”
Slowly, Jen stepped away and sat down on the bed again. As Voort left the room, he heard her say, “Thank you.” very quietly.
Voort found his mind was strangely blank as he walked off towards the main room where he expected Hansen and Landau to be. He passed a few of the other former Imperials, finding that he still looked at them that way. Imperials. Honestly, he’d given up that life many years ago, but continued living it out of some strange nostalgia. Ever since Calina had died, the light had just left his life. He’d embraced the darkness even more than before, and now found himself feeling the true effects of it. It had eroded his family, his friends...his life. But now...maybe, just maybe, the light was back. Dim, yes, but light. He would not be sure until the situation with Akan was finalized. Hopefully, not in either of their deaths. He hoped for the light, but wasn’t sure he could reach for it anymore for fear of losing it again.
Finding Landau, Hansen, and even Shadow in that main room. Shadow was leaning back in an older looking chair with her eyes closed. She didn’t look asleep, but was somewhere near it. Upon seeing Voort, Landau said, “They sent out a team to the shuttle wreckage to salvage what they could.”
Voort took a seat and thought about this, remembering the things that were on board, “Hopefully there’s still something there to salvage.”
A silence then came over the table as the more important topic was avoided by all of them. Hansen was the first one to broach the subject, speaking carefully so as not to gather any ill feelings, “We can’t go back to Haladin.”
Both Voort and Landau had expected this, and nodded slowly. Landau was the next to speak, asking carefully, not sure if Shadow was listening, “So what do we do about the boy?”
Another silence. Landau risked a glance to Shadow, who had not moved. Or at least, he didn’t see that her ear had turned ever so slightly towards them to listen easier. Next it was Voort’s turn to speak, “There’s nothing we can do. What he did was stupid, but I think he knew that,” the man paused and closed his eyes a moment, “He is resourceful, though. Jen mentioned that she believes there is something else out in the desert besides Sadrak.”
“You think we should go and see for ourselves,” Hansen commented, knowing how Voort thought and correct in her assumption. She thought about this, and eventually said, “We’ve got an older landspeeder with modified intakes that don’t have trouble with the sand. It can seat four.”
Thus, the next problem. Hansen would have to go, as she knew the terrain well. Landau was just as experienced, and had good eyes for such a scouting job. Voort wanted to go, and saw no reason why he shouldn’t. But Jen was injured, and it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to travel.
“Take Jen with you,” Shadow said suddenly, not having moved and still showing no signs of really paying attention to anything they were talking about. Slowly, she opened her right eye and gave Voort a casual look, “I’ll go get Jedi boy out of whatever mess he’s gotten into.”
Hansen started to protest, but Voort waved her silent, saying instead, “Good luck.”
“I’ll need it,” Shadow grumbled as she leaned forward and then got to her feet. She started towards the exit, then paused and ran a hand through her hair, “Do me a favor. Next time Akan tries to show off or do his heroic ‘I’m a Jedi’ thing, hit him. Alright?”
Voort laughed, “Only if I can do the same to you, animal.”
For some reason, she laughed too, “I’ll keep that in mind, Imperial.”
“We cannot go back,” Hansen said flatly. By now, the group had made it out of the city and to the path leading down from the plateau. Though they had not been spotted by anyone, and made it without any trouble, they had heard slugthrowers firing. When the sound stopped, worrying over what had happened started. It was quickly put to an end when Shadow pointed out she wasn’t dead. She did not add, however, that if Akan landed on his face one more time she was going to make his face hurt much harder when he got back.
Jen took one more look at the walls of Haladin before allowing Voort to help her onward. Shadow was right. If she was doing fine, it was proof that Akan was okay. She did not mention going back for Akan again, and simply did her best to make it down the steep slope of the path through the rocks. The splint on her leg, though crude, did its job perfectly. Shadow, Hansen, and Landau were moving quickly, but not so fast that it was impossible for Jen to keep up. Voort was part of that, but not all of it.
They were silent for the rest of the way back to the protected cave network that Hansen’s people lived in. Jen did notice that every so often Shadow’s expression would glaze over very slightly. A subtle hint that she was trying to speak with Akan. Jen didn’t completely understand how, but had noticed that expression on Shadow’s face before. Voort did take some time to explain what was going on, emphasizing that Hansen was someone they could trust.
Jen didn’t keep track of time well enough to know how long they had taken before finally arriving. She did know that it had been well over an hour, at least, and she was tired. Not having to say anything about this, Hansen indicated a room for each of them(something that wasn’t important upon their first arrival). Voort helped Jen to the bed, and once she’d sat down, she thanked him and asked, “Are we going to go back?”
He shrugged, “I doubt it will be easy to get back into the city now,” quickly, and almost awkwardly, Voort changed the subject, “Are you alright?”
It had been the first time he’d actually opened up and asked a question like that with that kind of tone. Nodding, Jen dusted herself off some and tried to forget about the bruises and scratches, “There’s something out in the desert.”
“Sadrak?” Voort asked, taking a seat next to her.
Jen shook her head, “Maybe, but I think there’s something else. Those...people are almost afraid of what it is. It seems like they’re doing everything out of fear.”
At this, Voort raised an eyebrow, “You think its worth checking out?”
This time, Jen nodded, “I’ve just got a feeling about it...can’t really explain it. Almost like...”
“...like something’s calling to you?” Voort suggested.
Jen eyes widened slightly at Voort’s words. Exactly what she’d hesitated to say. Again, she nodded slowly, “Exactly like that.”
Voort took a moment to think about this, and a hint of a smile crept onto his face, “Get some rest first. I’ll talk with Hansen and see what we can figure out.”
He then stood up, starting to leave. But he was stopped when Jen caught his arm. Turning around to ask what it was, Voort found that Jen was standing in front of him again. She smiled and embraced him. This wasn’t as much of a surprise as it should have been. Neither of them moved for a long time, but Voort eventually pulled back, “Get some rest, Jen.”
Slowly, Jen stepped away and sat down on the bed again. As Voort left the room, he heard her say, “Thank you.” very quietly.
Voort found his mind was strangely blank as he walked off towards the main room where he expected Hansen and Landau to be. He passed a few of the other former Imperials, finding that he still looked at them that way. Imperials. Honestly, he’d given up that life many years ago, but continued living it out of some strange nostalgia. Ever since Calina had died, the light had just left his life. He’d embraced the darkness even more than before, and now found himself feeling the true effects of it. It had eroded his family, his friends...his life. But now...maybe, just maybe, the light was back. Dim, yes, but light. He would not be sure until the situation with Akan was finalized. Hopefully, not in either of their deaths. He hoped for the light, but wasn’t sure he could reach for it anymore for fear of losing it again.
Finding Landau, Hansen, and even Shadow in that main room. Shadow was leaning back in an older looking chair with her eyes closed. She didn’t look asleep, but was somewhere near it. Upon seeing Voort, Landau said, “They sent out a team to the shuttle wreckage to salvage what they could.”
Voort took a seat and thought about this, remembering the things that were on board, “Hopefully there’s still something there to salvage.”
A silence then came over the table as the more important topic was avoided by all of them. Hansen was the first one to broach the subject, speaking carefully so as not to gather any ill feelings, “We can’t go back to Haladin.”
Both Voort and Landau had expected this, and nodded slowly. Landau was the next to speak, asking carefully, not sure if Shadow was listening, “So what do we do about the boy?”
Another silence. Landau risked a glance to Shadow, who had not moved. Or at least, he didn’t see that her ear had turned ever so slightly towards them to listen easier. Next it was Voort’s turn to speak, “There’s nothing we can do. What he did was stupid, but I think he knew that,” the man paused and closed his eyes a moment, “He is resourceful, though. Jen mentioned that she believes there is something else out in the desert besides Sadrak.”
“You think we should go and see for ourselves,” Hansen commented, knowing how Voort thought and correct in her assumption. She thought about this, and eventually said, “We’ve got an older landspeeder with modified intakes that don’t have trouble with the sand. It can seat four.”
Thus, the next problem. Hansen would have to go, as she knew the terrain well. Landau was just as experienced, and had good eyes for such a scouting job. Voort wanted to go, and saw no reason why he shouldn’t. But Jen was injured, and it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to travel.
“Take Jen with you,” Shadow said suddenly, not having moved and still showing no signs of really paying attention to anything they were talking about. Slowly, she opened her right eye and gave Voort a casual look, “I’ll go get Jedi boy out of whatever mess he’s gotten into.”
Hansen started to protest, but Voort waved her silent, saying instead, “Good luck.”
“I’ll need it,” Shadow grumbled as she leaned forward and then got to her feet. She started towards the exit, then paused and ran a hand through her hair, “Do me a favor. Next time Akan tries to show off or do his heroic ‘I’m a Jedi’ thing, hit him. Alright?”
Voort laughed, “Only if I can do the same to you, animal.”
For some reason, she laughed too, “I’ll keep that in mind, Imperial.”
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Chapter 58: Ghost of the Past
Many times, Akan had awoken after blacking out. It was something one got used to in the profession that he had pursued. Not pilot, but commando. Usually, capture was a common thing, and that meant either a stun blast or a hard hit to the back of the head. It was common that one awoke in a daze, head spinning and vision blurry. Rarely did one awake as Akan was. Comfortably was the best word for it.
Sure, his vision was blurred, but it focused very quickly. He tried to move, and found the aching muscles of his body protested vigorously. So, he sighed, and just went back to laying on his back and looking up to a bleak and boring ceiling. His head was resting on a soft pillow, and the bed(it had to be a bed) was just as comfortable. Again, not something one expected after the events that led up to his previous memories.
“I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” a voice said from off on the other side of the room. Akan turned his head very carefully, trying to ignore the muscles that even remorphing couldn’t convince to stop hurting. When he did managed to get his head to the side, he saw that the room he was in was a combination kitchen, bedroom, and living room. Akan had never actually seen a true ‘one room’ apartment before, but this one sure qualified as such. Sitting over at the single table in the room, giving him a curious look, was someone he’d seen before.
Of course, at first his brain only registered the person as a young human woman with long, dark brown hair. In fact, for a quick moment Akan swore he was looking at Elizabeth Mare. When his brain caught up and processed the information his eyes had taken in, he recognized her as the girl who had been watching him back in the cave. Figuring this out, Akan suddenly worried she was a spy or something worse. But why the comfort, and why wasn’t he dead?
Finding his voice, Akan asked the most obvious question, “Who are you?”
The girl smiled warmly, again it was hauntingly similar to how Akan remember Mare looked. Thankfully, her voice sounded different...or maybe just younger, “My name is Shira. I was supposed to...keep an eye on you.”
“Really?” Akan asked, not sounding the least bit interested despite the fact that he was, “Who wanted you to do that?”
Shira paused, went a little red and turned to stare at the floor. Akan wasn’t sure how to interpret this, and was glad that he didn’t have to. A moment later, she turned back and said carefully, “My...um...I mean Annika.”
Hansen. Hmm. Something was still wrong here. Why would Hansen keep an eye on him? Really, Shadow was much more worrying of the two of them. Unconsciously, he braced himself to get hit. It didn’t come, and Akan found himself feeling at a loss of what to do without the usual retaliation. Under his breath, he grumbled, “Been around Shadow too long...”
“What?” Shira asked, head tilted to the side slightly.
Not having meant for her to hear, Akan quickly waved his hand, “Nothing...you were about to say something else. What was it?”
Again, Shira’s face went red. She didn’t look away this time. Seemingly ignoring the color in her cheeks, she said quietly, “I...asked her if it was alright.”
That wasn’t the answer to the question Akan had asked, though it was going to be his next question. Akan took a moment to study her again, both with the Force and other senses. Satisfied that she truly didn’t have any ill intent, Akan tried again, “No...you said ‘my’ and then changed your words.”
“Oh!” somehow, Shira seemed relieved by this question and said with an awkward smile, “I was very young when we were driven out of Haladin. My mother was...killed. Annika raised me. I uh...sometimes call her mother without thinking about it.”
At that, Akan couldn’t help but smile. An interesting thing considering what he’d just run out of. That’s when he realized he was only wearing the cooling suit that was worn under the heavy robe. Looking around quickly, Akan saw what could only be his robe hanging against the door. What surprised him were the many small circular holes and tears he didn’t recognize from before. Thinking about it, Akan realized where they had come from. A grin suddenly grew on his face. Somehow, it felt like it was an honor to have been shot at and missed that much. And he’d only been in range for a matter of seconds.
“What?” Shira asked, turning to follow his gaze and not really understanding what was causing him to hold back laughter.
Again, he said, “Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Akan then paused and let his mind focus. It was only Shira here...no one else. It had obviously been some time since he’d fallen unconscious, and the others were likely out of Haladin. If they weren’t, Akan had a feeling he’d have found out the hard way. His mind then found its next course of action to be taken, and he sat up(with a cringe, of course), saying, “I need to get back.”
Shira shook her head, “Haladin’s gone crazy since your now famous escape. The Narani are crawling all over looking for you and the others.”
“The others...” Akan trailed off, then, “Did they get out?”
Nodding, Shira motioned to a small comlink resting on the kitchen unit, “Annika told me they used your diversion to get out and I was supposed to look out for you. That’s when I opened my door.”
“Amazing luck,” mumbled Akan under his breath, slowly turning and stretching to get his human muscles used to moving again after the strain they’d been put through, “So am I just suppose to sit here and wait until things die down?”
Nervously, Shira bit her lower lip and managed a slow nod, “Its not...safe out there right now. They haven’t gotten to searching private homes yet, and we shouldn’t give them any reason to.”
Sighing, Akan looked around the small room. Very small. And he was stuck here. Again, he looked to Shira. So much like Mare...too much. In his life, he’d learned that there was no such thing as a coincidence. Everything happened for a reason. Everything. He’d even convinced himself that Mare’s death had occurred for a reason, though he had no idea what and the very thought of any reason for that hurt deeply. But why was Shira such a mirror image of a long dead friend? And why the hells was he stuck here?
Grumbling, Akan got to his feet and started towards his robe.
“What are you doing?” Shira asked, turning in the chair and nearly getting to her feet.
As he pulled on the patchy robe, Akan gave her a strangely cold look, “I’m leaving. You can come with me if you want to get back, but I’m not going to wait on you.”
That was a lie. He knew it. There was no way he was going to leave this girl behind. He’d failed Mare once already, years earlier. This was not Mare, yet part of him was sure there was something important about this. So, whether he liked it or not, he was not going to let Shira get killed. The other part of him should have been intelligent enough to realizing how dangerous of a situation he was setting up for himself for the second time in his life. Especially since the first had nearly driven him to the dark side and destroyed his mental state so much that he’d assumed a completely new life.
But Akan was too caught up in the moment to think. If Shadow was there, she’d have finished that with an ‘as usual’.
Many times, Akan had awoken after blacking out. It was something one got used to in the profession that he had pursued. Not pilot, but commando. Usually, capture was a common thing, and that meant either a stun blast or a hard hit to the back of the head. It was common that one awoke in a daze, head spinning and vision blurry. Rarely did one awake as Akan was. Comfortably was the best word for it.
Sure, his vision was blurred, but it focused very quickly. He tried to move, and found the aching muscles of his body protested vigorously. So, he sighed, and just went back to laying on his back and looking up to a bleak and boring ceiling. His head was resting on a soft pillow, and the bed(it had to be a bed) was just as comfortable. Again, not something one expected after the events that led up to his previous memories.
“I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” a voice said from off on the other side of the room. Akan turned his head very carefully, trying to ignore the muscles that even remorphing couldn’t convince to stop hurting. When he did managed to get his head to the side, he saw that the room he was in was a combination kitchen, bedroom, and living room. Akan had never actually seen a true ‘one room’ apartment before, but this one sure qualified as such. Sitting over at the single table in the room, giving him a curious look, was someone he’d seen before.
Of course, at first his brain only registered the person as a young human woman with long, dark brown hair. In fact, for a quick moment Akan swore he was looking at Elizabeth Mare. When his brain caught up and processed the information his eyes had taken in, he recognized her as the girl who had been watching him back in the cave. Figuring this out, Akan suddenly worried she was a spy or something worse. But why the comfort, and why wasn’t he dead?
Finding his voice, Akan asked the most obvious question, “Who are you?”
The girl smiled warmly, again it was hauntingly similar to how Akan remember Mare looked. Thankfully, her voice sounded different...or maybe just younger, “My name is Shira. I was supposed to...keep an eye on you.”
“Really?” Akan asked, not sounding the least bit interested despite the fact that he was, “Who wanted you to do that?”
Shira paused, went a little red and turned to stare at the floor. Akan wasn’t sure how to interpret this, and was glad that he didn’t have to. A moment later, she turned back and said carefully, “My...um...I mean Annika.”
Hansen. Hmm. Something was still wrong here. Why would Hansen keep an eye on him? Really, Shadow was much more worrying of the two of them. Unconsciously, he braced himself to get hit. It didn’t come, and Akan found himself feeling at a loss of what to do without the usual retaliation. Under his breath, he grumbled, “Been around Shadow too long...”
“What?” Shira asked, head tilted to the side slightly.
Not having meant for her to hear, Akan quickly waved his hand, “Nothing...you were about to say something else. What was it?”
Again, Shira’s face went red. She didn’t look away this time. Seemingly ignoring the color in her cheeks, she said quietly, “I...asked her if it was alright.”
That wasn’t the answer to the question Akan had asked, though it was going to be his next question. Akan took a moment to study her again, both with the Force and other senses. Satisfied that she truly didn’t have any ill intent, Akan tried again, “No...you said ‘my’ and then changed your words.”
“Oh!” somehow, Shira seemed relieved by this question and said with an awkward smile, “I was very young when we were driven out of Haladin. My mother was...killed. Annika raised me. I uh...sometimes call her mother without thinking about it.”
At that, Akan couldn’t help but smile. An interesting thing considering what he’d just run out of. That’s when he realized he was only wearing the cooling suit that was worn under the heavy robe. Looking around quickly, Akan saw what could only be his robe hanging against the door. What surprised him were the many small circular holes and tears he didn’t recognize from before. Thinking about it, Akan realized where they had come from. A grin suddenly grew on his face. Somehow, it felt like it was an honor to have been shot at and missed that much. And he’d only been in range for a matter of seconds.
“What?” Shira asked, turning to follow his gaze and not really understanding what was causing him to hold back laughter.
Again, he said, “Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Akan then paused and let his mind focus. It was only Shira here...no one else. It had obviously been some time since he’d fallen unconscious, and the others were likely out of Haladin. If they weren’t, Akan had a feeling he’d have found out the hard way. His mind then found its next course of action to be taken, and he sat up(with a cringe, of course), saying, “I need to get back.”
Shira shook her head, “Haladin’s gone crazy since your now famous escape. The Narani are crawling all over looking for you and the others.”
“The others...” Akan trailed off, then, “Did they get out?”
Nodding, Shira motioned to a small comlink resting on the kitchen unit, “Annika told me they used your diversion to get out and I was supposed to look out for you. That’s when I opened my door.”
“Amazing luck,” mumbled Akan under his breath, slowly turning and stretching to get his human muscles used to moving again after the strain they’d been put through, “So am I just suppose to sit here and wait until things die down?”
Nervously, Shira bit her lower lip and managed a slow nod, “Its not...safe out there right now. They haven’t gotten to searching private homes yet, and we shouldn’t give them any reason to.”
Sighing, Akan looked around the small room. Very small. And he was stuck here. Again, he looked to Shira. So much like Mare...too much. In his life, he’d learned that there was no such thing as a coincidence. Everything happened for a reason. Everything. He’d even convinced himself that Mare’s death had occurred for a reason, though he had no idea what and the very thought of any reason for that hurt deeply. But why was Shira such a mirror image of a long dead friend? And why the hells was he stuck here?
Grumbling, Akan got to his feet and started towards his robe.
“What are you doing?” Shira asked, turning in the chair and nearly getting to her feet.
As he pulled on the patchy robe, Akan gave her a strangely cold look, “I’m leaving. You can come with me if you want to get back, but I’m not going to wait on you.”
That was a lie. He knew it. There was no way he was going to leave this girl behind. He’d failed Mare once already, years earlier. This was not Mare, yet part of him was sure there was something important about this. So, whether he liked it or not, he was not going to let Shira get killed. The other part of him should have been intelligent enough to realizing how dangerous of a situation he was setting up for himself for the second time in his life. Especially since the first had nearly driven him to the dark side and destroyed his mental state so much that he’d assumed a completely new life.
But Akan was too caught up in the moment to think. If Shadow was there, she’d have finished that with an ‘as usual’.