Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Glad to see people are actually reading/liking this! More to come probably later tonight, but until then...just got around to throwing up some links to a couple of images of some of the characters.

They're over in the RG thread that's linked in the first post.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter Six: Shadows of the Past:

The meeting room was much like the rest of the ship. It was obviously designed with Imperial aesthetics in mind, and had been given a good pale blue paint job to hide the boring grey it used to be. It was a large, cylindrical shaped room with a long oval desk in the center. At one end was the entrance to the room, and the other a large holoscreen. There was also a holoprojecter in the center of the table that hadn’t worked for two and a half years.

Akan Tavos sat back in the high-backed chair on one side of the table. He sat close to the far end, looking over towards where Ansion stood near the holoscreen. The insectoid Verpine looked like a two meter tall stick with green colored chitin layers of plating. His two long arms had only two fingers and an opposable thumb, and many a time Akan wondered how the Verpine had ever come up with the name “Claw” for his group, as Ansion’s hands were much closer to stubs. Ansion’s large black eyes looked across the room as the two antenna down the back of his head twitched slightly. They did that when he was nervous or feeling agitated.

There were four others in the room not including Ansion and Akan. Looking around, Akan identified all of them except one. The three he knew were the other Division leaders. Across from him was Sorak Tallone, a tall Trandoshan who led Division Two. Next to Tallone was a Rodian with one good eye, the other covered by an eyepatch. His name was Eslick Seero, but they all called him Patch because of his refusal to have his eye replaced. Patch was the leader of Division One, and the one who had to deal with most all the new recruits. Across from Patch and to Akan’s left was the leader of Division Four. Her name was Elona D’ares, and she was a grey skinned Duros with a mean streak. It was joked, quietly and far away from Elona, that she was grey because she’d scared her skin color away.

Akan’s eyes then fell on the one he didn’t recognize. She sat on the other side of Elona, and was seemingly staring off into no where. Akan was fairly sure that it was a she, but this was mostly in the face structure than...anywhere else. She wasn’t human, but at the same time, was very close. The only real indications that she wasn’t human was that her ears looked wrong, and were in the wrong place. The sat close to the top of her head, and were feline. Her skin was also an almost mocha color, and her hair was white except for a long black streak down the center. She glanced to him, and Akan noticed that her eyes had a feline quality to them. A strange, silvery color with a vertical slit down the center. She then turned away, though her ear turned slightly towards him still. Something that caught Akan as odd was that she looked to have ‘extra’ muscles. This was easy to see as she was earing a form fitting white and blue tunic with a simple jacket over it. There was something else too...something he couldn’t pinpoint. A feeling in the Force, or his memory...or both.

Before he could further inspect this unknown creature, Ansion spoke up. In his usual scratchy yet somehow insect sounding voice, the leader of the Claws indicated to the map of the Endor system that had appeared on the wall’s holoscreen, “But now you all know where we’re going. We will arrive in the Endor system in less than a standard hour, and then we should be in orbit around the forest moon within the next thirty standard minutes.”

The map zoomed in on the green planet, and a red box appeared over a small section near the northern end of the planet, “This is where the New Republic’s science installation is. It is suspected that those stationed there fled for an unknown reason. This is based on a communication that was sent out three days before we were contacted. In this, the leader of the installation’s security team requested that help be sent. He spoke of something attacking the installation, and said they were going to attempt to hide in the forest. Because it is still a dangerous planet, we will be sending two Divisions down to secure a perimeter of the installation itself, while the other two will explore the surrounding area for any sign of life. Divisions One and Four will form the perimeter, while Two and Three will search the area.”

“Ansion,” only Tallone spoke in that nasal sounding voice that his Rodian vocal cords produce, “What about the installation itself? Are we to ignore it?”

The Verpine shook his head, “No. I will be leading Division Three in their search of the surrounding area, and this will free up Tavos to use his own...talents for such a search.”

At this, Akan simply nodded. It wasn’t the first time he’d gone in alone to check an area. It was easier with no one else...besides, the last time that he’d done that with assistance...well, that was one of those moments his memory didn’t allow to come through.

“But you won’t be going alone, Tavos,” Ansion said, interrupting Akan’s thoughts and putting a confused expression on his face. He paused, putting pieces together just as the Verpine explained. One long fingered hand extended towards the creature that Akan didn’t recognize...or rather, wasn’t sure he recognized, “This is Shadow. She has skills that will...compliment yours in the search of the facility. I do not expect there to be any problems with this arrangement.”

Great. Not only was he not going alone, but it was with someone that he had on idea about. Before he could express his feelings on the matter, the holoscreen shut off and Ansion waved them out, “Get your Divisions ready to move. Akan, you and Shadow go to the hangar and prep the Y-Wing. And at least exchange a hello.”

The meeting broke up, and Akan just sighed. As he stood up, he noticed that Shadow had not moved except to look up at him. That’s when he noticed two other things about her...the first was that she had a long tail with the same color markings as he shoulder length hair, and the second was in her eyes. Something young and...innocent almost. But it was masked by another thing. A coldness he knew all to well from his own life. Raising an eyebrow at this, and the feeling he was getting through the Force that he couldn’t seem to interpret, Akan motioned for her to follow and shrugged his shoulders, “C’mon...”

She got up and followed him like a droid. No words. Very fluid movements. Somehow, this disturbed Akan in a way he’d never felt before. There was something wrong with this...woman? Girl? Female? Shadow...compliment his skills? What was that supposed to mean. Mentally kicking himself for getting annoyed and arrogant about this, he gave up and just went to the hangar.

 

[ragboy]

Ragboy, Threshel, I'm gonna have to start just following you guys around, I keep finding you at all the good new story hours

Nice work so far, I'm liking it quite a bit.

I'm a sucker for a good Star Wars story... which is weird since I haven't liked the couple of Star Wars books I've picked up over the years. So far, I like this one because it takes the starwars-iverse and tells a compelling story without feeling like it's written inside a 'sacred bubble' of canon.

Keep it up man!

*/hijack - ledded! When are you guys going to play WWGO again? --hijack/*

 

[ledded]

I'm a sucker for a good Star Wars story... which is weird since I haven't liked the couple of Star Wars books I've picked up over the years. So far, I like this one because it takes the starwars-iverse and tells a compelling story without feeling like it's written inside a 'sacred bubble' of canon.

Keep it up man!

That's the same thing I think I like so far here, the very same thing I think I told Ragboy in his SH. You own the tale while still making it fit into Star Wars, which if most of the Star Wars books I've picked up are an indicator, is apparently quite difficult . And anyway, Ankh-Morpork Guard, your handle was enough to get me to take a look, those are some of my favorite Pratchett books. Keep up the good work.

*/hijack - ledded! When are you guys going to play WWGO again? --hijack/*

Tonight, and baby are they in for it. I'm tired of all this 'survive to laugh at the dangers stuff'. The gloves are off (sorry for the hijack Ankh-Morpork Guard).

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

You own the tale while still making it fit into Star Wars, which if most of the Star Wars books I've picked up are an indicator, is apparently quite difficult .

You wouldn't believe how right you are. I know when this game started we all tried to do our best to fit it in where it wouldn't contradict timelines or anything. It mostly worked, though a few little things popped up here and there.

And anyway, Ankh-Morpork Guard, your handle was enough to get me to take a look, those are some of my favorite Pratchett books. Keep up the good work.

Ha! Knew the username was good for something. Apparently it was once mentioned in a Knights of the Dinner Table in something talking about creative usernames.

Glad to see people are actually reading this! I was doing this more for myself than anything(well, and the PCs in the game, though they probably won't get to see it until it gets farther along)

Another update coming(most likely) tonight...just have to get around to working on it.

 

[ragboy]

You wouldn't believe how right you are. I know when this game started we all tried to do our best to fit it in where it wouldn't contradict timelines or anything. It mostly worked, though a few little things popped up here and there.

I just take the tact that I could care less about the details of the Star Wars arc. I mean, my characters aren't going to give Darth Vader a wedgie or anything, but I keep the overall arc and make the details my own (while avoiding, as much as I can, the main characters of GL's story).

Glad to see people are actually reading this! I was doing this more for myself than anything(well, and the PCs in the game, though they probably won't get to see it until it gets farther along)

I've found that two things motivate me to write more: Reading a great story hour and seeing feedback on your own. It's amazing how much it motivates you when people start begging!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter Seven: Questions Without Answers

The most interesting thing about this Carrack Cruiser was the fact that it had a large hangar bay. Most Carracks, at most, had clamps on the underbelly to hold a fighter or two. This one, however, had a huge portion, that was once devoted to crew quarters and extra cargo, turned into a functional hangar bay able to hold the four assault transports(one per Division) and a couple of fighters. One of these was Akan’s Y-Wing. The Y-Wing was older than the Carrack, most likely, but had a fresh paint job with green and black(the Claw’s colors) painted across it to give it the new ship look. That look died away once you were anywhere close.

Akan was currently checking the fuel and making sure the built in R3 unit(which had so many memory wipes it could do nothing but its primary function) was doing alright. Behind him, leaning against one of the sublight engines, stood Shadow. She had her arms folded across her chest and was watching him with a critical eye. She looked like a droid collecting data. Sighing as he climbed up to reconfigure a few systems in the cockpit, Akan called over his shoulder, “Do you just plan to stand there or are you going to help out?”

He heard movement, and a moment later she was up on the ship next to him, an inquisitive look on her face. Akan glared as she just sat there and grumbled, “Can you even speak?!”

“Yes,” she said in a calm, controlled voice, “What do you require assistance with?”

Still giving her the same look, Akan pointed towards the rear-facing gunner seat, “Configure the systems so you’re comfortable with them. Just make sure I still have access to the weapons systems.”

Carefully, and with a strange look on her face, Shadow nodded and sat down in the seat. For a long moment, she stared at the controls. Then, she looked up to him and asked, “How?”

Oh. Great. Just wonderful. Akan sighed again, and then spent the next half hour teaching Shadow the basics of the controls. From the sound of it, she picked up on it quickly...but she had no idea what was what before he’d shown her. Strange...Ansion usually made sure everyone of the Claws had at least some piloting skills. By the time Akan had finished going over the basics, they were in orbit around Endor. Great. Now there wasn’t anymore time for preparation.

The members of the other Divisions were already loading up into the other transports, and in a few moments Ansion found the two of them. The Verpine’s antenna twitched, and he tilted his head, “Are you prepared?”

“As good as I can be...” Akan mumbled, hopping down and stepping over to Ansion, speaking in a lowered voice, “What the hell is this girl?”

For the first time, Akan watched as Ansion shrugged, “I do not know of her species. However, she has skills much like yours...and you have shown ah...dangerous tendencies on the last missions alone. I believe she will do well to keep up with you.”

“You don’t trust me?” Akan looked genuinely hurt, a confused look on his face.

The Verpine shook his head, patting Akan on he shoulder, “No...no...it is not that, Tavos. We worry about you. We trust you. If we didn’t, you wouldn’t be in charge of Division Three, and you wouldn’t be allowed to carry that,” Ansion indicated to the ‘holster’ that held Akan’s lightsaber, “But that is where we worry. We don’t need the senses you have to know you’re dealing with a lot. Its not healthy for you to bottle all that up...especially being in command. Talk to someone,” Ansion glanced back to the Y-Wing’s cockpit, where Shadow was sitting and poking buttons carefully, “All I can tell you is she was used by the Empire. Its all I know. An assassin...much like you once told me you were.”

“I never did anything like that,” Akan said flatly, his conscious mind being honest. However, Ansion could remember when he’d first met the young human, and how...desperate he had been. Desperate to get away from a life he had blinded himself from.

“Fine...” Ansion stepped off towards Division Three’s assault transport, “Do a good job down there. Our sensors picked up life readings all over the area, so many we couldn’t pinpoint them. Keep your eyes open, alright?”

“I always do,” Akan said as he turned and headed to the Y-Wing. He climbed up the ladder, then pulled it into its section inside the cockpit. Dropping down into the pilot’s seat, he closed the canopy and glanced over his shoulder as the Y-Wing’s engines started to warm up and the systems come online.

There was something...something...Akan felt it. Couldn’t be...no...could it? He looked at the side of Shadow’s head, and his mind slowly worked out that strange feeling. It was...”You’re Force Sensitive, aren’t you?” he asked.

Shadow turned her head to give him a look as best was possible in how the seats were situated. She nodded slowly, “Yes. Does this disturb you?”

Strange question. The engines were online, and Akan started the starfighter moving up and then slowly out into space. He’d wait until at least two of the other transports landed before even going into orbit, “Disturb me? No...just surprising,” But there was something else he felt. A feeling of...deja vu? Similar. Akan could swear he’d seen her before somewhere...or at least, something like her. But he couldn’t put his finger on where or when, and when he tried to, he saw the face of a human girl. She was probably only a couple years younger than him...bright green eyes, shining brown hair, and an amazing smile on her face. Pain suddenly shot through him, and he quickly pushed the images away.

Behind him, Akan heard Shadow move to turn her head to see what had happened. She had obviously felt the pain. She said nothing, though, and simply turned back to facing the consoles in front of her and waiting to land. This human was odd...

 

[Sidekick]

AMG I'm reading too. I know nothing about Star Wars d20 but this story makes for a good read.

keep it comin!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter Eight: Into the Unknown

Trees everywhere. How the assault transports had found room to set down eluded Akan at the moment, though he knew they had landed and were already going about their assigned tasks. Through the trees, he could see the science facility, but couldn’t find enough room to actually bring the Y-Wing down. Shadow had pointed out one spot, but it was off towards the transport for Division Two, which was just too far away. They had argued on this point for a good two minutes, which surprised Akan because of how strongly Shadow was speaking. She just couldn’t comprehend why anyone didn’t see the obvious position that she held.

Finally giving up, Akan growled for her to shut up and he centered the Y-Wing just above a small clearing that was in the front of the installation. There was room on the ground to land, but the trees had bent and arched inwards. Grumbling to himself, he told Shadow to hold on and brought the ship down anyway. There were cracks, scraping noises, and Shadow yelling at him for being a fool, but they made it down in one piece. To the ship’s right side was now the sprawling installation, a dull grey series of sharp corners and straight lines that stood out far too easily within the green and natural forest.

Akan hit the switch to open the canopy, and pulled on his comlink as it opened. The comlink was military issue, a headset which left the hands free. He clicked it on, and then finished powering down the ship, “We’re down, Insect. Heading in now.”

“Alright, Sword” Ansion voice replied, sounding even stranger through the mechanical comlink, “We’ve caught signs of Imperial activity around here, so keep your eyes open.”

“Understood,” Akan said as he climbed out and then hopped down to the ground. Shadow was already down, inspecting something on the ground near the entrance to the installation. He walked over and looked down. Footprints. The ground was somewhat soft here...but not enough so that it would be easy for them to remain.

Catching onto his thoughts, Shadow stood up and said simply, “Boots. Imperial issue from the markings.”

“How do you know that?” Akan asked sounding genuinely surprised and giving the tracks a closer look just in case.

“I’ve worn them before,” Shadow then stepped over to the entrance and began to examine the large, closed blast door. Worn them before? That either implied a good amount or simply meant she’d killed Imperials and stolen the footwear...or both. Not time for that now...

Akan moved over and watched her struggle with the door. She gave him an emotionless look and said flatly, “They have been sealed. Someone’s in there. I can’t slice the code, though.”

“I can do better,” Akan responded, reaching to his belt and getting his lightsaber out. Slice in, eh? A bit of a literal point of view, but it would work if the door wasn’t too thick. He ignited the lightsaber and felt a strange comfort from the snap-hiss and the sudden blue-green light. He then planted his feet, and jammed the blade deep into the door. It took nearly five minutes for him to cut through completely, and then it was only a small hole that both of them had to squeeze through to get inside.

The walls of the interior looked much the same as the outside...greys and greys. Blocks, straight lines, and few actual curves. Ahead of them, the corridor went straight for about thirty or so meters before it hit a T shaped turn. Lightsaber still activated, Akan switched it to his left hand, still just as able to defend with it there. He then pulled out his blaster and gave Shadow a look. She had seemed somewhat surprised by the lightsaber at first, but was now focused on the job at hand. Her once blue skin-tight suit was now a grey colour that matched that of the walls. Interesting...though her face, hair, and tail were easy to see, the rest of her was just that much harder to notice. In her hand was a small vibroblade.

Almost like they’d worked together their entire lives, both of them moved slowly towards the end of the corridor. Shadow was against the right side, looking ready to literally pounce at a moment’s notice...her tail was even twitching slightly as were her ears. On the left side, lightsaber in front of him, was Akan. He took one careful step at a time, blaster ready in his right hand as they moved. The low hum of the lightsaber was drowned out by noises from the walls. A deep rumbling noise that sounded similar to large power generators that weren’t working all that well. With his sense of hearing thus drowned out, Akan moved onto other...more reliable senses.

He reached out with the Force, now only a few steps away from the corner. Nothing...except that strong feeling from Shadow again. Ignoring that and trying to focus, he let his mind flow outwards, trying to see if there was anyone...He gave Shadow a look. She simply nodded to him. The feeling got across.

At the exact same moment, they both spun around the corner to face the opposite directions. Akan had his blaster outwards and his lightsaber off to his side. The corridor in front of him was...the reason for the noise. Five or six worker droids were doing repairs to a faulty power generator. He could tell it was faulty from the flames that one of the droids was putting out. Akan turned around again, seeing that Shadow was against the wall again, moving towards a door at the end of the corridor.

Deactivating the lightsaber and sliding it back into its holster on his belt, Akan caught up to her and they both stood a safe distance from the door. He could feel life on the other side...how many, he wasn’t sure. Shadow seemed to have the same kind of focus, but he knew she wasn’t using the force. He would be able to feel that. Instead, she seemed to be...watching. Listening. No doubt her ears were very sensitive. Carefully, he stepped forward towards the door, blaster ready. When Akan was sure that Shadow was ready also, he hit the switch and pivoted around the corner to see inside, blaster out in front of him.

The room was trashed, consoles and tables smashed and scattered in pieces across the floor. Searching through something was a human. He wore an olive green uniform of an Imperial Officer. He was bent down digging through a pile of metal, and didn’t seem to have heard the door open. Silently, Akan walked over to him, avoiding anything that would make noise under his feet. Just a few steps away, he placed his blaster against the back of the officer’s head, “Fr–“

”Don’t move,” the modulated voice of a stormtrooper said from behind him, “Drop the blaster and step away from the Captain.”

Damn. Caught at his own game...and by a stormtrooper of all people! Part of him wondered where Shadow was and why there hadn’t been a similar order direct towards her. Slowly though, he did as the stormtrooper had ordered. Jyren could hear more movement, and was sure that there were now at least two others. He let the blaster drop to the ground, and held his hands out just slightly. Close enough that he could get the saber with one quick movement...

“Hands on your head,” said a second trooper with a slightly deeper voice. Almost old and grizzled if stormtroopers ever got that way. Somehow, Akan doubted that. This was when he’d have to act...it would be tough, but he knew that he could...

A growl cut off his thoughts. Loud and sounding like one of the larger feline predators. There was a cry from one of the stormtroopers, and a noise of slashing, blaster fire, and more growling and screaming. The officer in front of Akan had started to get up, drawing his small blaster in the process. Not one to let an opportunity disappear, Akan quickly pulled out his lightsaber, and started swinging it in a long arc towards the officer. It activated halfway through the arc, cleanly dividing the Imperial into two. Akan’s momentum spun him around on his right foot to see a closed door with three stormtroopers sprawled out in front of it. Scratch marks and bite marks all along their armor...and through it. Sitting there in front of them, was a large panther-like creature. It was white furred, with a long black stripe all the way own its body. It tilted its head to him, then Akan’s brain hurt.

The creature...changed. It was impossible to describe exactly what he watched, but in a few moments, Shadow was standing in front of him. She had a strange, predatory grin on her face. That grin was not something that would comfort anyone. Akan had seen a lot in a short twenty one years, but this was something new. His mouth was wide open, and she stepped over, tilting her head in the same way the panther creature had, “Close your mouth or you might swallow a bug,” that grin still on her face, Shadow spun around and started towards the door the stormtroopers were dead in front of. Over her shoulder, she called back, “And if we’re here to get information on why those scientists left, I’d suggest you not kill the officers.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter Nine: Starfighters Aren't Made for Passengers

The two of them had moved unobstructed through the installation for a what seemed like an eternity. The place was big. They had exchanged no words since hiding the bodies of the stormtroopers and the officer. Currently, they were standing on either side of a large access door to some research labs. Akan had felt many people on the other side, and Shadow, apparently, could hear some talking. After a few moments, she looked over to him and spoke quietly, “They have two scientists locked up in a food storage room past this lab...they still don’t know anyone’s here, and said something about a search of the area.”

“Good ears,” Akan mumbled, not really meaning for her to hear him say that ut realizing the irony in that thought almost immediately, “We aren’t here to save any captives, just figure out what’s going on.”

“I’m getting them out one way or another,” Shadow said, a hint of a growl in her voice. There was something about that Akan obviously had missed.

Instead of arguing the point, he simply put out a hand to signal she wait, and tapped the comm on his ear. In a short moment, he heard Ansion’s voice, “We’re a bit busy right now, you think you can wait to call at a better time?”

Akan grinned slightly, hearing the Verpine speaking like that was always funny, because the way his vocal cords were, sarcasm always sounded somewhat...childlike was they best way Akan could describe it, “Just telling you that we’re going to be coming back with some guests if all goes well. Shadow here wants us to get some captives out.”

“You deal with them,” Ansion said after a long pause and other loud noises, “We’ve got enough trouble out here with an Imperial transport that just landed that you’ll have to get out on your own. We’re not pulling out of here yet, but you’ve got about half an hour before we jump this rock. If you aren’t back on the Claw by then, well you’ll have to catch up on your own.”

“We’ll be there,” Akan responded, looking to Shadow and relaying the information he’d gotten.

She gave him a strange look, “What do the Imperial want with a science station way out here?”

“We’ll figure that out later...lets just do what we’re here to get payed for and go,” he said, nodding to the door and bringing his blaster up slightly, “Right now, the New Republic wants to know what happened, and the only way to that is through this door.”

Shadow got the idea, and put her hand over the switch to open the door. She gave him a look to make sure he was ready, and when he nodded, she opened the door. Akan quickly moved in, blaster raised and ready. The room was huge. The ceiling was domed with a transparasteel so that the trees on the outside could be easily seen. It almost looked like the room was once a hangar that had been converted to some other use, as there were two large bay doors and the many tables, desks, and consoles looked to be more recently installed. In the center of the room, there were at least six stormtroopers and four officers. Immediately upon his entering, the Imperials reacted.

Even if he hadn’t had his blaster pistol out, he’d probably have been greeted with the shots from the troopers that quickly moved in his direction. However, he might have at least had a chance for them to question him. But that wasn’t the case. Letting off three quick shots of his own, Akan dove and rolled behind a larger circular console off to his right. Blaster shots flew off past him and burned the other side of it. He quickly put the blaster back in the holster and got the lightsaber back out. Range? No. But the intimidation factor was always worth it.

Before he moved, he heard someone yell, “Another one!!” then blaster fire followed. Well, Shadow had moved in. Akan glanced to the side to see her, vibroblade in hand, duck and jump in an interesting pattern before she, too was pinned behind a console. She had, however, gotten closer than he had. Alright, no more spectator. The snap-hiss of the lightsaber cut off the voice of one of the officers who had just started to say something about being under arrest. They could probably see just the tip of the blue-green blade above the console, which made Akan grin even more. Letting the mood sit for just a few seconds longer, he got to his feet and spun around to face the Imperials. All but one of the officers were out of sight...Akan hadn’t heard any doors opening or closing, so he assumed they’d gone of and hid or were sneaking around. There were enough consoles and other large devices for that to be easy to do.

At seeing him, the six stormtroopers turned back to fire on him in a more panicked fashion. Most of the shots went wide, but Akan caught more the one on his lightsaber, sending them back at the stormtroopers who had quickly gotten the idea that it might be smart to spread out. One blaster bolt he even managed to send back to the faceplate of a stormtrooper, sending him sprawling onto his back, a puff of smoke now rising from the helmet. Shadow then took advantage of the situation, and with all the attention currently on Akan, she hopped up and over her cover, diving onto a stormtrooper and pinning him down. Her vibroblade was dug deep into the man’s unarmored neck, and then the others realized they’d have to divide their attention.

While they backed away, three of the troopers turned their weapons back onto Shadow, sending a barrage of blaster fire at her. The officer had also drawn his blaster pistol and fired at the feline creature. She had no trouble finding more cover, a large mainframe looking block that was placed close by. But when she rounded it, she found another of the officers. The Imperial was more surprised than Shadow, and let off a stray shot in panic that went past her ear, singing the fur slightly. She growled at that, and dug the vibroblade into the officer’s stomach, which caused him to cry out in pain before crumbling to the ground. Not dead, but close and wishing he was.

Akan had stayed in the open to keep as much of the attention on him as possible. However, two of the stormtroopers were moving slowly around to get to Shadow. The other two were still firing on him, and the officer who was in the open quickly moved behind a large holoprojecter that was the centerpiece to the room.

“Watch yourself, two coming around your way,” Akan ‘said’, sending the message to Shadow through the Force. He wasn’t sure if she’d gotten it, or even understood, but it was the best he had at this point. With a quick, upward sweep of the saber, he deflected two of incoming blaster shots at once, one of them flying back and catching a stormtrooper in the chest plate. He crumbled back onto the holoprojecter, and as Akan slowly started to move forward, still deflecting shots from the other trooper still focusing on him. When a short break in the constant blaster fire came up, he switched hands with his lightsaber, and drew his blaster pistol, letting off a shot at the trooper in the same motion. It hit dead center on the trooper and he crashed back against a small console. Deactivating his lightsaber, Akan fired off another shot, this time at one of the troopers that had gone after Shadow.

He missed by a good distance, but in a moment he saw a foot contact with the trooper’s helmet, and before he could fall, a vibroblade was inserted into his neck. Akan couldn’t see the other trooper, but assumed that Shadow had already dealt with him. That left...three officers. One was still behind the holoprojector, firing madly at Shadow. Akan ran over so he could get a sight on the man, and flipped a switch on his blaster pistol. He was heard, and the officer turned to get one shot off before the blue stun blast hit him and he collapsed.

Shadow was nearly already on top of the man, and she gave Akan a strange look before he motioned around, “Still three others.”

“Two,” Shadow corrected, her ears swiveling to catch something. She growled a little and looked towards the far wall, which did not have a large hangar door, “Door just closed...”

“This one will be out for a while, we’ll pick him up on the way back,” Akan commented, currently working out how to get three people into a Y-Wing. The officer could easily fit into the cargo compartment...but if they got one of the captives to bring back? The cockpit was going to be cramped...