Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 95: An Ancient Weapon

The sun had finally set, and the city of Haladin had its few lights to illuminate the streets. But neither Shadow nor Akan could tell. The dim light was much brighter for their Alraxian eyes, and the sliver of a moon above provided more light than the previous night had held. All in all, they barely noticed that it was night, save for the orange sunset that had just passed. Shadow had finished with what she called the ‘important stuff’, and was actually much calmer now. It wasn’t easy for Akan to continually take orders from her, as she spoke more like a slave owner than a teacher, but he’d gotten used to it. Now though, he stood looking a bit lost. After running him through a battle preparation ritual just as the sun set, Shadow had gone silent. Not really knowing what he was supposed to do, Akan just stood there and tried not to look as awkward as he felt.

[Bored yet?] Shadow’s ‘voice’ made Akan jump, as he had finally gotten used to the silence around them.

Letting out a deep breath and slowing down his breathing, Akan shrugged, “A little.”

“Well then,” she turned to face him, holding that old grin on her face. The one that meant she was planning on getting into trouble. Well, that or she was going to maul you. Sometimes those were so similar it wasn’t worth picking out a distinction. After stretching some, Shadow said, “How about we get to the fun stuff?”

“Fun stuff?” that sounded both interesting and worrying. Probably more of the latter than of the former. But the way she spoke had that happy little child tone to it. If Shadow could ever be described as a ‘happy little child’, of course. Literally being a child didn’t count for her, either.

At his question, Shadow’s grin only got bigger, “Well...its been a while, and I know you’re probably still touchy about it since last time. But then again, its something that’s always good and you enjoy it as much as I do. Besides, with a week or so to prepare, we’ve got lots of time...”

“It’s a lot easier to just say what you mean instead of all those hints,” Akan grumbled, his ears flattening a bit and showing his annoyance.

Seeing the gesture, Shadow couldn’t help a quiet laugh, “How about a little sparring match?”

“When you say ‘little’, you mean ‘dangerous’, yes?” Akan’s voice hadn’t changed, though he did look interested. Sure, she’d killed him last time, but now he had the same advantage that she did. And he knew how she fought. And...and...of course he couldn’t resist.

“Dangerous, little...same thing in the end,” was all Shadow said. She could tell he wanted to do it, but raised a hand suddenly, “One little thing this time. I need to go back to Loki for it, though. You mind waiting here?”

“Don’t take long.”

She grinned, “I’ll just make sure he’s alright and get what I need then be right back!”

Akan didn’t bother to mention that neither of them were completely sure where Loki had gone down. Even when she’d gone out of his sight, he knew that warning her of this was still possible through the link. Yet, Akan stayed silent for some reason. Perhaps she already knew about his thoughts...in fact, she probably did. He was still getting used to the link again, and getting used to the strength of it was bringing that same odd feeling from before. So he waited. At first, he’d just stood there, but that got even more boring quickly. After half an hour, though, he decided that standing around was just wasting time.

Sitting down in the sand(and trying to ignore all of that sand that was all through his tail fur), Akan calmed his mind. It had been too long since he’d simply allowed the Force to flow through him. Yet it felt odd. Different. How, he didn’t know, and it was something he wished to blame on the planet itself. Why that was the first thing to mind, Akan didn’t think about. It just felt right. Something was simply wrong with this planet. Wrong in more ways than the obvious ones. If one didn’t look closely, it would be easy to assume that Sadrak had done something to the very fabric of the planet. Yet in his calm, Akan could feel that Arranis had always been this way. Or similar. Sadrak’s presence was having some effect, yet, but it was not the true reason. But did reason matter? This planet was not right. The Force itself did not flow correctly here. And then Sadrak...in Akan’s brief encounter with the dark robed figure, he knew something was wrong. Perhaps the planet itself had changed Sadrak? Just speculation...or was it? Sometimes it was hard to tell what were thoughts and what was the Force speaking. From that old book he’d found, Akan always remembered one statement. True wisdom came from knowing when it was the Force speaking. The Dark Side was the other path, the path in which one told themselves that every thought was the Force to simply justify their own power.

A sudden tremor caused Akan’s mind to revert quickly to the present. His eyes opened and he saw Shadow. The moon was higher up...how long had it been?! Slowly, Akan traced the tremor back through the link to Shadow. A sort of ‘wake up’ push that was not at all gentle. With everything finally bringing itself back into the moment, Akan started to stand up. Shadow waved for him to stay seated though, and sat in front of him. In her hands, she held a small box. It was wooden, with amazingly intricate carvings all along it. Akan knew the runes that were carved along the top to be the Alraxian language, though he did not know what they said.

Shadow was holding the box very carefully, as if it would break if handled wrong. After tracing her hand across a few of the runes over the top, she said quietly, “Despite what you’ve seen, our people are not war like. I...we are exceptions to the norm. Our Empire is a peaceful one, with only the Mrrakesh to worry about. The have not probed our borders in hundreds of cycles, though. The one dark secret of the Empire are the Tam’day’u. Children born with silver eyes. They are taken away and trained as assassins from a young age. To speak the word in even a private setting is enough to have you cast out of someone’s home forever. But we do have a standing army. It is more a peace keeping force than a true army. They settle border disputes and deal with pirates, both are rare but do occur. But it wasn’t always that way. The Empress once wielded a powerful weapon as a symbol. This was so many cycles ago that even my mother’s grandmother would not have known this time. Yet...we still keep the symbol. Passing it down from mother to daughter, to each heir to protect. My mother...is a healer. She does not care for weapons, so she gave it to me before I left.”

Pausing, Shadow looked to make sure he was paying attention. He was. In fact, Akan looked very caught up in all of this. Ever since she’d chastised him earlier that day, Akan had found himself nearly begging for more information about the Alraxians. Here she was, finally giving some explanation. Shadow couldn’t help a small smile at seeing and feeling his enthusiasm. It was needed, as things would not be easy for him as time went on. But that wasn’t important now.

Forcing those thoughts away, she slid open the top of the box. Akan noticed that it truly was made of wood, then, as even artificial wood plating didn’t splinter like this had in places. Amazing. This box was a relic of an ancient time from a planet that survived in a hidden section of the galaxy. Akan almost didn’t notice when Shadow reached in and pulled out the contents. It was shape he knew well. Cylindrical, shining metal despite its obvious age, and a even more runes inscribed along it.

“A lightsaber...” Akan said quietly, surprise obvious in his eyes. The design was so similar, yet so foreign. It didn’t look as old as it was. Still well polished and shining in the dim light. It was a beautiful weapon, constructed with obvious care and even love. An artist’s work, truly.

When Akan reached for it, Shadow pulled back and shook her head, “It is only for the Empress. I should not even be touching it, but mother told me to use it if the time came. I feel it has.”

“Shadow...” he trailed off, not sure what to say. After unhooking his own lightsaber from his belt, he looked at his own weapon in a way he never had before. In it, he saw the same care and love in the design. So similar...strangely similar. What artist had crafted this one? His mother? Father? Or perhaps that was all just some illusion he’d cooked up and it was stolen. No...that didn’t feel right. It was in his family somewhere...questions, questions.

She didn’t seem to here him, slowly putting the box off to the side in the sand. Shadow then got to her feet, and looked down to Akan, “I am not very...proficient with this weapon, but I believe I can provide some challenge.”

Akan grinned and also got to his feet, “That’s the first time I’ve heard even a hint of modesty from you.”

“Fine!” Shadow grinned, suddenly her old playful self again, “We’ll do this the hard way! Best of fifteen, then!”

Both of them took a few steps back and got ready. Akan knew not to expect the usual duel with her. In fact, he had a feeling that the lightsaber would be more of a diversion than actual attack. Either way, it would be fun. Even if they didn’t have a stated prize, the idea of being the winner was just too good to ignore. Planting his feet, Akan thumbed the activation switch on his lightsaber. The usual snap-hiss was accompanied by the same old blue-green blade, illuminating his face and the area around him. It was only a moment later that the same noise sounded from Shadow’s blade, which bathed her in a soft violet light. Ha! Finally, something that wasn’t blue! This was going to be good...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 96: Draw

By the time Landau had walked out to see what the two Alraxians were doing, they had already finished five ‘rounds’. He’d caught them during a short break, which he soon realized only lasted a minute or so. But at seeing him, both Shadow and Akan had allowed themselves a slightly longer rest. This was provoked by Landau questioning the amount of blue liquid that he’d learned to be blood that was now fairly thick across the sand. Despite this, both Alraxians looked just fine, if not a little tired. They had just laughed and when he realized that he was in the way, Landau stepped back and found a comfortable spot to lean against on Haladin’s wall. And he watched.

To him, it was mostly a series of blue-green and violet lights colliding after bouts of quick motion. As the moon rose in the sky, though, it provided more light and allowed Landau a better view of what was happening. From what he could tell, Shadow was just using the lightsaber to keep Akan occupied, while her free hand(or claw) lashed out at him. The first few ‘rounds’ that Landau watched saw Akan getting beaten fairly quickly, but that didn’t seem to last too long. It wasn’t long at all before the lightsabers were held away or deactivated all together and the fight devolved into old fashioned hand to hand combat. Landau saw that Akan was not nearly as adept at this as Shadow, but he was doing a good job of moving out of the way and taking a few hits without trouble. Of course, through all of this, Landau still wasn’t sure how the two of them were keeping score.

In fact, neither Shadow nor Akan really knew. Every so often, both of them just knew who had lost. That was mostly from a mix of the link feeding emotions between them and the occasional loss of a body part. How long this lasted, even Landau had lost track of. But it was enough for the moon to now be high above them and shining straight down. Both Akan and Shadow were breathing heavily, exhausted but not even thinking of giving up. There was sand all over them, along with the blueish blood and a good amount of bruises and smaller scratches that neither of them bothered to remorph. The original target number had long sense passed.

“Ten all...” Akan said as he calmed his breathing and planted his feet again, “One more?”

Shadow nodded, bringing her own lightsaber up in front of her and looking at him past it, “One more.”

Nothing else needed to be said. Boasting and taunting wasn’t necessary anymore, as they could both feel each other’s thoughts more clearly. Amazing how this fighting had cleared up the link and gotten them both used to the strength of it again. But they just stood there for a few moments, waiting to see if the other would make the first move. Waiting...

Shadow broke first, not able to simply stand there and allow him the chance to catch his breath any longer. With her left foot, she kicked up some sand at Akan, and then pushed off towards him with her right foot. Though the sand bothered his vision somewhat, the lightsaber she held gave away her position. His eyes following the violet blade, Akan easily brought his own weapon to block the strike aimed at his left side. But even as the two blades met in a crash, he still saw movement. This was not the first time she’d done this. As Shadow held their blades up and to the side, she arced inwards and delivered a strong kick towards Akan’s other side.

Having seen this before, Akan had already learned how to hold the blades away and move. This meant he had little trouble slipped to the side, away from her foot, and at the same time batted her lightsaber away. Using his momentum, Akan spun around on one foot, swinging the lightsaber in a long, low arc. Shadow saw this out of the corner of her eye, and quickly leaped up and over Akan and his strike. Landing behind him, she lashed out with her free hand, backhanding him hard across the back of his head. Akan stumbled forward for only a half second, then recovered his footing and reacted to the sudden spark through the Force. His lightsaber went left and low, barely catching Shadow’s blade before it lopped off his ankle. However, he was still facing the other direction and reaching across his own body to hold the blade there, and the awkward angle made it extremely difficult to hold her blade where it was.

Seeing this, Shadow grinned and suddenly pulled her lightsaber away. The force with which Akan had been using to hold the blades steady no longer had any resistance, and Akan’s arm, along with his lightsaber, went high before he could compensate. This provided an easy opening for Shadow, and she took advantage of it by sweeping his feet out from under him. Akan hit the ground face first, but the fall didn’t seem to phase him or slow down his reaction. A forward roll avoided a follow up strike from Shadow’s foot, and easily got him to his feet again, though he was still facing the wrong way. Shadow made an attempt at a similar attack as before, swinging his towards his other side and a little higher with her lightsaber. This time, Akan reacted differently.

Instead of using his own lightsaber to deflect her attack, Akan spun to the side enough to put them only inches apart. The move sent Shadow’s strike past him, and he batted her arm away with his free hand. It also surprised Shadow just enough to give Akan another opening. Pulling around again, he planted a strong kick of his own to her stomach. This time, it was Shadow who ended up on the ground, but Akan didn’t attempt to follow up with a strike. Mainly because Shadow had landed on her hands, and easily flipped up to her feet again, facing him with a grin. He didn’t even notice the same grin on his face as he planted his feet again.

She’d almost won there...almost, though, didn’t cut it. The mental equivalents of taunts flowed through the link, wordless but in no way difficult to translate. It had only been a half second before Shadow dove at him again. Akan sidestepped her charge, avoiding a combined vertical lightsaber strike and high claw slashing. That would have been his face even if he’d blocked the lightsaber. The speed of Shadow’s charge had sent her barreling past him when he’d moved, and Akan had spun around and his arm swept out towards her. In a slightly off balanced spin, Akan’s lightsaber left his hand and flew at Shadow. She had noticed this just as her charge was stopped, and ducked under the flying blade just in time, feeling a few hairs get singed by the weapon. Seeing he was without a weapon, Shadow grinned and went after Akan again. Only a few steps out of reach, she heard the wobbling sound of a spinning lightsaber coming at her.

Her eyes then noticed that while both of Akan’s hands were held in a defensive position, his left hand looked to be directing something. Shadow’s mind realized what was going on just in time. Again, she ducked. This time, she lost a few more hairs and nearly part of her ear. Easily, Akan caught the weapon he’d called back to him, stepping forward and striking down at Shadow. Already coming back up, Shadow didn’t have much trouble getting her own lightsaber above her head to block Akan’s blue-green blade. For a short half-second, the two put all their strength into winning that lightsaber grapple. And then Akan used Shadow’s trick, only altered slightly. She didn’t see him thumb the switch of the lightsaber, but she did have time to watch the blue-green blade of energy sink back into the hilt of the weapon. The energy that Shadow had been using to hold his blade still was suddenly released, and her lightsaber arm went high and out of the way. She wasn’t an idiot, though, and knew how to counter her own trick. Lashing out with her free hand, Shadow’s fist slammed into Akan’s face. Her surprise came when, just as her fist hit him, a knee drove into her gut.

Akan stumbled back from the blow, while Shadow bent forward. Neither of them had a chance to counter, as both had been sent into a short shock from receiving a blow so in time with their own attack. They recovered at the same time, however, and dove at each other. Shadow hadn’t even heard Akan’s lightsaber reactivating. It was a blur of motion as the fight became a swift series of lightsaber strike followed by lightsaber strike, each parried and followed by a series of vicious attacks. Akan was amazed at how fast Shadow was, and despite her lack of intense training with the weapon, her improvising and other skills made up for that. An elbow caught Akan in the cheek, and as the pain shot through him he wondered if it had actually been broken. But no. This wasn’t the time to think. Just react. He did just in time, as Shadow had been spinning around to deliver a lightsaber strike aimed to slice off his legs. Akan’s blade batted her’s away easily, and then he slashed at her with his claws extended. Because she was moving, the sent long gashes across her shoulder and back, and he quickly recieved another fist to the chest as a response. Somehow, Akan didn’t lose his breath, swinging low with his lightsaber.

The blade was caught by Shadow, and they were frozen again in that grapple of strength. Even. So cheating was necessary. So close together, Shadow had no trouble head butting Akan. This got a cry of surprise out of him along with him taking a few unsteady steps back. After letting go of her lightsaber, Shadow charged at Akan again. This time, though, Akan got a new surprise. He’d brought his lightsaber up in an unstable parry to an attack that never came. Instead, Shadow was at his leg, taking him down after biting hard into his leg. The teeth dug in deep, and Akan was brought down by that large panther like creature that he knew was Shadow.

Just as he hit the ground, Akan kicked at her with his other leg. His foot hit Shadow’s torso, getting a pained yelp out of her before she dove to pounce on his chest. Being almost larger than he was, this wasn’t going to take long. Shadow pounced, diving on his chest and holding his body down with heavy clawed paws. Her head dove in for his neck, but she held back, simply resting her teeth on his neck.

[HA!] was all she ‘said’ to him, a strangely loud purring noise emitting from the creature’s throat.

Akan didn’t dare speak, as it would be just the kind of movement to get his neck torn apart. Sure, he could fix it...but it would still hurt. So he replied through the link. [Ha...?]

The way he said it seemed to kick in the rest of Shadow’s senses. Her ears twitched and one turned back towards the low hum that had to be a lightsaber. Still keeping a careful ‘hold’ on his neck, Shadow tilted her head to look back towards the sound. Just over her tail, and positioned in a way to cleave her in two, was Akan’s lightsaber. The purring stopped. For what seemed like an eternity, both of them just waited to see who would give in first. It was Shadow.

She flopped down on him, nearly crushing Akan in the process. Fatigue washed over both of them, and Akan just lay back, deactivating his lightsaber and letting his arm fall down to the sand. By the Force it felt good to just lay down...even though she was laying on him like he was some kind of pillow. Akan then noticed that she was breathing heavily, almost like a panting sound from the feline throat. He didn’t seem to realize he sounded even more winded, but Shadow did.

[...draw?] sounded Shadow’s suddenly exhausted ‘voice’ through the link.

Closing his eyes, Akan felt the adrenaline rush of the fight fade. [Draw.]

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 97: Losses

Akan didn’t completely remember how he got back into the garrison. All he could be sure of was that there had been movement, his legs hurt(well, everything hurt, but legs more so), and he had been placed in an uncomfortable chair before being handed a cup of hot liquid. It took him a few moments to drink some of it, but was glad for the caffeine heavy drink. After a couple more minutes, he saw Landau enter the room, doing his best to carry Shadow. He was half dragging her in the process, and the way her legs scrapped across the ground gave Akan an idea of why his legs hurt. Landau placed her in a chair next to Akan, and the two of them just sat in dazed exhaustion. When Shadow was handed a similar cup of liquid, she didn’t seem to have the energy to pick it up. Her arm reached to the small table in front of them, but never made it. Instead, her head fell to the side, resting on Akan’s shoulder before closing her eyes and going quiet.

Landau couldn’t help a slight smile. He got himself another drink of his own from the food processor before stepping over to Akan, “You alive in there?”

Still not all aware, Akan turned his head to look up at Landau in an awkward motion, but managed a slow nod before taking another sip of his drink. His movements were taking into account the weight on his shoulder, which made them even more awkward as he barely looked like he had the strength to hold himself up. He didn’t even look capable of opening his mouth to speak. Lifting the cup and drinking was the extent of it at this point. Landau had a seat across from the Alraxians, deciding that it was a good idea to at least keep an eye on them.

After a half hour, Akan seemed more awake and had managed a short worded conversation with Landau. Shadow was still asleep. Well, Landau assumed she was asleep, as it looked like she was just unconscious. If not for the soft movement caused by the slow breathing, he’d have figured her to be dead. The conversation was more questions from Landau, all along the lines of ‘why’ and ‘what were you doing?’ and ‘what were you thinking?’ and even a ‘you call that practice?!’. All of Akan’s answers were simple one or two words, usually yeses and nos, but sometimes more detailed. It seemed like the poor kid’s mind had just left without him. Or maybe he was talking in his sleep.

When the door behind him opened suddenly, Landau nearly jumped out of his skin. Akan just tilted his head to look around the man, and said in that dazed, half-awake voice, “Hi, Jen.”

Jen walked into the room with a smile on her face and a generally happy demeanor all over. Her hair was tied back again, and she wore a lose-fitting tunic that looked to have been scrounged from one of the old lockers. She nodded to Akan, but noticed the completely exhausted features of the two Alraxians. Idly stepping over next to Landau, she raised an eyebrow, “What’s with them?”

“The children were playing,” Landau responded with a grin, “Though Akan swears it was practice, looked to me like they were trying to kill each other.”

Jen laughed, “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Akan seemed to be ‘waking up’ more, though he didn’t say anything. Jen stepped around the table and passed by the two Alraxians to the food processor. She waited a few moments for some kind of dish that Landau didn’t recognize, then walked back towards the door. On her way, she reached over to Akan and ruffled his hair playfully. His feeble attempt at defense got a laugh out of the two humans, and then Jen was gone. As Akan was grumbling to himself and attempting to ‘fix’ his hair without letting Shadow fall and hit the floor like a brick, Landau grinned.

“That was interesting,” was all he said, and he hadn’t even realized it had been out loud.

Landau realized that, though, when Akan raised an eyebrow, “What...?”

That got a short laugh out of Landau, and he leaned back in the chair. For a moment, he seemed to be making sure that Jen was gone, then just said, “I’d say they did it.”

“Huh...?” Akan’s mind didn’t exactly have the capability to catch the subtleties in any speech just yet. When Landau didn’t respond, it left the poor Alraxian to think for himself. That only took a few moments before realization washed over his tired face, and his eyes widened, “Oh...um...oh!”

* * * *​

The next week passed without any surprises. Scouts left and returned, Topsiders slowly filtered in to show that Trker-Hon was having success, and the two Alraxians continued their ‘practice’ on a near daily basis. When Trker-Hon finally returned, though, things changed. Near five hundred Topsiders had already arrived, and Trker-Hon promised that five times that many were still on their was. Twenty five hundred Topsider warriors. This would have been comforting news if not for the more recent scout reports.

As the days went by, more and more reports came in of defenses being gathered at that desert facility. The amount of creatures that had been seen was impossibly large, and worried the five of them that had gone in there before. Especially considering they’d seen so little within those corridors. Where were all these creatures coming from? But that wasn’t the only question. Another was more basic. What were they? Each scout reported that they were humanoid in general shape, but with four arms and a disfigured body. Heads were more oval shaped with larger eyes than that of a normal human. The curious part was that no Narani were seen at all. It was as if they had simply disappeared into the desert. No one thought that likely, and rumors were spreading about the ‘true’ origin of the creatures. These rumors only flourished when reports of the number of these creatures filtered in. Upwards of ten thousand, possibly even twice that many. It seemed like someone had told Sadrak that there was a ground battle coming, and he wasn’t about to take any chances.

It was the third day before the planned briefing to decide on a planned attack when Landau, Voort, and Jen decided to do their own scouting. They took one of the working airspeeders out, but were forced to set it down farther than they’d originally planned. Patrols were out a good distance, and the three of them couldn’t even get in close enough to see the actual facility. Looking over a dune, though, it wasn’t too much trouble to see the extent of the defenses.

“They’ve built up five or six large walls...” Jen said quietly, noting the large, metal things that stuck out of the sand like unfinished buildings.

Voort nodded, “Break up troop formations and bottle them up to get around. They’re obviously getting ready for a head on attack. I don’t recognize the weapons though.”

“Narani slugthrowers,” Landau responded quietly, pointed to a larger tower that looked like a turret, “Though some of them seem to be on a much larger scale.”

“Horrible weapons,” mumbled Jen, more to herself than anyone else. The other two heard it, and couldn’t help agreeing. It was hard to call a weapon more civilized than another, but most of the galaxy agreed on the brutal nature of slugthrowers. One didn’t have to have an Alraxian aversion to metal to be disgusted and worried by such weapons.

“We should get out of here before we’re spotted,” Landau said, breaking the momentary silence. Voort and Jen nodded in agreement, and they started to sneak back to the airspeeder. When they finally got far enough away to walk upright, Jen caught something odd in Landau’s eye. She wasn’t sure that it was a sight as much as a feeling. One day she’d figure out how to explain these Force things to herself...but it was something. It was odd...wrong...and then...she didn’t know. Voort didn’t seem to notice anything, so Jen decided to ignore it for the moment.

Once they arrived back at the speeder, Voort climbed straight in and started to power up the speeder. As Jen was getting in, she heard Landau’s voice behind her. It was forced, stilted, and not right, “Do not move.”

Jen moved only to turn around and see Landau standing in a strangely forced position with his blaster aimed at her. Though his body was still, she noticed his eyes were darting around, and got this feeling of someone trapped. Trapped?! What was that?

“Arik, what are you–“ Voort went silent when he saw the situation. He was looking around Jen, and obviously did not like this. Knowing Landau for as long as he had though, it was easy for Voort to tell something was wrong. The details were the key...Landau wasn’t left handed, and he knew how to aim a blaster at someone. Why was he holding the weapon in his left hand and looking like he was going to fire from the hip?

“Do. Not. Move.” the voice was even more forced this time, and suddenly something clicked in Jen’s mind. She’d heard that sound before. It was more in an echo in her mind, but that sounded like Sadrak. Similar at least...hidden within Landau’s normal voice. Voort’s mind was also racing, though he was smart enough not to move. This was just like the descriptions he’d heard from Hansen a few days earlier. Men not acting themselves and attempting to kill her.

“Landau...what’s wrong?” Jen was the one to ask that, though it was obvious in the way she said it that Jen already had an idea of her own.

At her words, Landau just stepped closer, an almost droid-like motion without any bending of the knee. This put the blaster barely a half meter from Jen’s stomach. His eyes showed fear and even looked to be pleading, but his voice continued in that wrong way, “You will. You will return to me.”

Me? That wasn’t Landau. If anything confirmed it was Sadrak, those words did. If Jen and Voort could have exchanged knowing looks, they would have. Both of them, though, knew the danger in attempting anything. Neither of them knew enough yet, and even though Landau’s movements were so forced, it was likely he wouldn’t have trouble squeezing the trigger on that blaster pistol.

When neither of them responded to Landau’s words, he turned slightly. It was just enough to move the blaster from aiming at Jen’s stomach to Voort’s face, “You are not necessary.”

Somehow, Jen saw Landau’s finger making that small motion to pull the trigger on the blaster pistol. Voort was about to dive out of the way, but before he could Jen was reacting. With a strength that amazed all of them, she batted Landau’s wrist to the side, slamming his hand against the speeder. The blaster shot went high, flying off into the sky before Landau could drop the weapon. Landau’s eyes showed panic and fear, but Jen was still reacting. With her free hand, she’d drawn her own blaster and placed it against Landau’s chest.

Voort had just enough time to yell ‘NO!’ before she pulled the trigger. The proximity of the blaster pistol to Landau’s body caused more than just the usual burning scorch mark. Instead, the blaster bolt went straight through him before darting skyward. A horrible smell of ozone and burned flesh covered the area suddenly, and Landau’s body hit the ground face first. Jen’s hand was shaking now, as her mind caught up with her actions. Even Voort was frozen in surprise. That is, until yelling and other voices could be heard in the distance.

They creatures had seen and heard the blaster fire! Damn! Grabbing Jen’s arm, Voort yanked her into the speeder and got them into the sky. Neither of them spoke. Jen sat next to Voort, shaking slightly and staring off into no where. She’d murdered him...no...no it was self defense! Protecting Voort! Landau would have killed him! But...but why had she killed him? Why had she shot?! He had dropped the weapon! He couldn’t have done anything else! Slowly, Jen leaned into Voort’s shoulder, buried her face and wept.

Voort carefully wrapped an arm around her as he piloted the speeder away. He’d lost friends before. He’d lost family. But never like that. Jen had done the right thing...yet, Voort couldn’t help worrying about her. It was possible that he was having more of a dangerous influence on her than he’d have liked. Perhaps she would have been better of with Akan...but no...no it was too late for those thoughts. Just get back. Think then. Talk then. He wouldn’t grieve yet, but Voort wasn’t one to stop Jen. It was her first time really killing someone and seeing their face. That was always a horrible moment, and even worse when that face was a trusted friend.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 98: Planning

“No! We have to go back!” Shadow yelled, trying to claw out of Akan’s grip to barrel past Voort and Jen, probably mauling them in the process. Akan nearly lost his grip on her, but switch to her arms and did his best to ignore the claws that were now digging into his wrists.

Jen couldn’t speak. She just stayed close to Voort, eyes red from tears. Voort just slowly shook his head, “He’s gone.”

“NO!” again, Shadow wrenched violently against Akan’s hold. That odd glazed expression passed over her face, and Jen knew that Akan had ‘said’ something to her. This was even more evident when Shadow just slumped forward. Akan didn’t let go of her arms, but wasn’t sure what to do. It didn’t look like she was going to murder anyone anymore. Carefully, he let go.

Shadow just brought her arms down and stared blankly at the floor in a state of shock. Akan watched her for a moment, not knowing what to think. He turned to look back to the two humans, and got the same helpless look from Jen. Voort though...he seemed strangely stoic. Akan recognized that, though. He’d been like that himself for a good three years. He also knew that Voort was better at handling himself than Akan was. It was just how Voort dealt with this kind of thing.

They’d arrived about ten minutes earlier. Hansen had been told first, and she’d tried to stay with them to get some kind of plan together afterwards, but had to leave to ‘think’ as she’d said. After that, Jen and Voort went to find the two Alraxians. Obviously, Shadow hadn’t taken it well. They didn’t have to explain it in any detail, as both Akan and Shadow seemed to pick up on the actual events with only a few words having been spoken. Akan had just gone silent, looking like he wanted to say something but never really finding any words. Shadow, on the other hand, had immediately launched into accusations. At first, she blamed Voort, then upon getting the ‘minor’ detail that Jen was the one who’d shot Landau, had nearly pounced the woman and torn her to pieces. That was when Akan had grabbed her, picking Shadow out of the air and dragging her back to the ground.

Now they just stood in silence. What was there to say? What was there to do? This planet was such a horrible place. Damn Sadrak. He’d done this, and they all knew it. Even Shadow didn’t truly blame Jen for it. Slowly, the Alraxian girl got to her feet, that old emotionless look on her face. In that quietly calm and controlled voice, she said, “There’s no time to wait anymore.”

On that, they all agreed.

* * * *​

In less than a day, they were all in the old briefing room of the garrison building. Sitting and standing around the large circular table with an older model holoprojector in the center, were Voort, Jen, Akan, Shadow, Hansen, and Trker-Hon. From what Akan could tell, Voort, Hansen, and the Topsider had spent the day refining their plan with the smaller number of warriors at their disposal. How many, exactly, only they new at the moment. Not for long, though, and the three others truly wished that they’d kept the bad news to themselves.

“Fifteen hundred,” Hansen announced quietly, almost trying to hide how badly outnumbered they were.

Voort was getting ready to say something, but Jen waved her hand to get some attention. Something had been bothering her, and Jen felt like she had finally figured it out. Through all of this, she felt like there wasn’t any place for her. Sure, she could go in alongside Voort or Akan or Shadow and help out there...but no. She was extra weight too often. Now, she was sure of what to do, distantly encouraged on by that part of her mind that wasn’t all Jen, “I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but I’m not going.”

“What do you mean?” asked Hansen, a confused look crossing not only her face, but all the others. Well, except Shadow. She seemed emotionless ever since Landau had died. Much like when Jen had first met the Alraxian.

Closing her eyes a moment, Jen attempted to confirm if she was going to do the right thing. That confirmation came twice. Once from herself, and the second from that non-Jen that she still didn’t have figured out completely. All she really was sure of is that it was to be trusted. Opening her eyes again, Jen said, “I need to go behind the lines and confront Him.”

Silence. Voort broke it, “Are you crazy?”

“Maybe,” Jen answered with a shrug, but her eyes then locked with his and she hoped he’d understand somehow, “But I have to do this,” she paused, searching for that key to understanding in Voort’s eyes, and then just said, “Trust me. Please.”

“Well I’ll go with you,” said Voort, almost too quickly and looking to both Trker-Hon and Hansen for some kind of support. He got it from neither.

Instead, Hansen said, “You know we need you out there.”

Another silence. Voort didn’t break it this time, instead stuck going over the conflicting situations. Allow Jen to run into Sadrak’s base behind enemy lines on her own? But going with her would force them to rework the entire attack plan. It was too late for that now...unless they were going to wait yet another long day. Thankfully, Voort didn’t have to make a choice. Instead, Shadow spoke, “I can get her in. I will go with her.”

[No revenge.] Akan’s voice sounded through her mind not a half second after she’d finished speaking.

She simply shot him a sideways glance, responding only with emotion. She may not get that revenge herself, but Jen was obviously up to something. If Jen killed him, so be it. As long as he died and Shadow was there to make sure of it. Jen was even surprised to see Voort nod at Shadow’s words. Hansen seemed reluctant to accept it, and the Topsider seemed to be waiting on the actual discussion to begin.

“Well...we can...talk about this afterwards,” Voort said slowly, motioning to the holoprojector. It activated, showing a flickering and faint image of the outlying dunes around the facility. Very old holoprojector...a few colored points appeared all along the inner section. They were red, and it was easy to tell from their position that they were Sadrak forces. It was a mass of red over the sand. So many...and it was only an estimate. A moment later, three green sections appeared, one to the center, one to the left, and one to the right. Then the image cut off.

Voort cursed and kicked the table. The holo image flickered on for a half second and then shut off again. When Voort got ready to beat the piece of junk, Hansen got to her feet and put a hand on his shoulder, saying, “You at least got a short look at it. We’ll divide the forces into three five hundred troop divisions. I will lead the right flank, Trker-Hon will take the left, and Akan the center.”

“I’ll what?!” Akan asked, leaning forwards and genuinely surprised at not having been notified of this beforehand. Really, leading a suicide mission was one thing...but a ground assault down the center of a suicide mission? He was a pilot! A special forces soldier! He wasn’t a grunt trooper! The only ground experience he had was sneaking around!

Voort couldn’t help a slight grin at Akan’s reaction. It was expected. Having a seat, the man said, “The groups on each side will be more diversionary forces than anything. Split the defenses to leave a hole. Your group needs to get inside the facility and clear it out. And...meet up with Jen and Shadow if you can.”

“You want me to just plow through the strongest point in their defenses?” Akan was asking honestly, no sarcasm in his voice at all for once, “I’m no officer, and never was, but isn’t that...well, stupid?”

“If that was the only part, yes,” responded Voort with a nod. He raised a hand to stop any comment and continued speaking, “But it isn’t. It seems that the armory here had a nice model sharpshooter rifle. I’ll be sitting back on a dune behind you and clearing a path.”

“How comforting,” grumbled Akan under his breath, looking down to the table and then over to the emotionless Shadow.

Hansen smiled, “Since this will be your first time doing anything like this, Voort and I figured you’d need a briefing in general tactics.”

“You mean I can’t just run in and chop things up until I get inside?” the sarcasm returned so quickly to Akan’s voice that even Jen grinned a little.

“Interestingly enough,” Voort said while leaning back in the chair, “That’s the extent of it. The tactics part is more, don’t get shot or stabbed. The usual. But there is something we all need to learn about,” he then motioned to Trker-Hon, “Topsiders. Specifically, the more useful words in their native tongue for this. Most of the Topsiders don’t understand Basic, so we’ll need to learn the words ‘charge’, ‘stop’, etc. The basics, really.”

“Can we learn curse words?” Akan’s sarcasm continued. It got Jen wondering how he ever lived through any kind of military briefing. She’d only been involved in one or two, and even the most arrogant fighter pilots she’d met wouldn’t continually make comments like that. But it was levity that they all needed, so perhaps he was doing it on purpose. Hopefully. Jen didn’t really hear the rest of the briefing. Most of the time, she found herself studying Shadow. With that morphing technique, getting into Sadrak’s base wouldn’t be too much trouble. But then what?

‘Then I will assist you.’

Oh. Great. So the voices in her head were going to save the day. One hell of a way to tell if someone was crazy, but it didn’t seem like there was any other option anymore.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

((Bit of a late update...at parent's house for the holidays, but should be able to keep up daily updates except for this Monday-Thursday. Will still try, of course, but no promises. ))

Chapter 99: Calm Before the Storm

As the troops were organized and readied to head out on that long trek out to the facility across the sands, Shadow and Jen also prepared to leave. Obviously, it didn’t take the two of them nearly as long to prepare, and it was soon time for them to leave. Voort and Jen had embraced, kissed, then exchanged some quiet words. Neither Akan nor Shadow could hear, but then again they weren’t particularly trying. Instead, Akan was getting lectured. Mostly being told to not do anything stupid, and being given a few pointless reminders.

They had performed some kind of battle preparation ritual only half an hour earlier. Though Akan wasn’t against this, he still didn’t feel all to comfortable with such things. But Shadow was dangerously insistent that he do those things. She’d also said something in Alraxian, but it was quiet and something was odd. No matter how much he pressed it, she wouldn’t explain what she’d said. That worried Akan, but then again, maybe this wasn’t the time to deal with such things.

“Good luck,” he said finally, patting Shadow on the shoulder.

She just raised an eyebrow, but eventually nodded slowly, “You too.”

And then Shadow stepped over to Jen, indicating that it was time to go. Jen nodded and they walked out to the sand, with Jen wondering exactly what they planned to do. They obviously weren’t taking an airspeeder, and Shadow was thinking of something. The solution to the transportation problems became apparent, as Shadow’s body changed. A few seconds later, Jen was standing next to a large, winged...thing. The first word she wanted to use to describe the creature that was three times her size was flying lizard. But then Shadow’s head spun around and gave Jen a toothy grin. Alright, there was another word for it. The creature Shadow had become looked very similar to the larger Krayt Dragons, except with wings and a more reddish color.

Leaning in, Shadow nudged Jen gently with a snout that was bigger than the largest humans. She then motioned up towards the scaled back, and Jen finally got the idea. Though it took a little work, Jen finally managed to climb up onto Shadow’s back. A few more moments passed, and they were in the air and flying off.

“Flashy,” Voort commented. Hansen just grinned, but turned and walked off to finish getting ready.

Akan shrugged, “She said it was fun. Is fun...whatever. But I don’t think she’s crazy enough to fly in too close.”

“I’d hope not,” grumbled Voort before following Hansen. Akan watched as Shadow slowly faded away into the distance. Sighing, he stepped off to follow the other two. Something was still bothering him. That dream was still there...and it was more than a dream. He knew it. Felt it. Even if Shadow didn’t believe him. But no. This wasn’t the time.

After everything was organized and ready, Voort gave Akan a last set of ‘advice’, as he called it. Akan felt like it was more of a lecture, but there was at least a good reason for it. As Akan had never really been involved in any kind of large ground operation like this, it was good to have advice from someone with experience. Especially considering that Voort was going to be shooting right over Akan’s head. Amazingly enough, this didn’t worry Akan. Previous experience had shown that Voort was a good shot. Voort was mostly making sure that Akan wouldn’t get caught up in a fight. Like it or not, the kid was the only one who could get inside to catch up with Jen and Shadow. Voort would be needed outside, as would Hansen and Trker-Hon.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long before they all left. Akan met with the troops he was meant to lead, and then they were off. The traveling was slow, and it was impossible to wonder if they’d be too late.

* * * *​

So what if she’d picked a Dragon? It’d been so long since Shadow had seen Falla and Jara that she was finding herself missing them more and more. What better to way to remember her two friends than being like them? It was fun, too...she felt so strong and fast. This nearly became a problem, as Shadow almost flew in too close. A Dragon would have been such an easy thing to spot in the empty skies of Arranis. Setting down a good distance away from the facility, Shadow flexed her large wings to indicate that Jen should get off. This took a few minutes, as Jen was windswept and slightly dazed from the quick flight.

Once Jen was down, though, Shadow changed again. This time, though, she didn’t return to her Alraxian form. It worried Jen when she saw that there was now a slightly disturbing creature standing next to her. It was one of those four-armed humanoids, relatively Shadow looking. Mostly in the black hair. Shadow managed a weak grin and shrugged, “Don’t ask. Just...c’mon, I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I,” Jen admitted. That’s when two of Shadow’s hand grabbed onto Jen in a not-so-gentle way. Alright, no more playing around. Though the details of the plan weren’t explained, Jen had a good idea of it now. Just play the captive and let Shadow do the talking...though hopefully talking wouldn’t be required all that much. It was no trouble at all as they passed through the defenses that had been placed. Those strange creatures walked here and there but took no notice of either of them. Jen just hoped it stayed that way...though there was a growing worry that was impossible to shake off. What if this was the wrong choice?

‘Be strong.’

Somehow, that was enough. She didn’t understand the source of that, but it was right. She had to be strong. It was too late to turn back now. Hopefully, Voort and Akan would get here soon. The sooner Sadrak was gone, the sooner they could go home. She smiled...and the sooner she could go through with that promise to Titus.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 100: The Plunge

It was a five hour march before they could see anything. Amazingly, none of them were exhausted. In fact, it seemed that the closer they got, the more energized all of them became. Now, they waited. Akan stood on top of one of the larger dunes, looking down across the sands and seeing for the first time the defenses that they were up against. So many thousands of figures littered the sands below, not to mention the towers and walls of metal that would definitely slow them down. The worst part, though, was that Akan couldn’t see the entrance to the facility. If he was going to head for that, it would be helpful to know exactly the right direction to be going. Well, forward, obviously, but something more specific than that would become important.

Looking to the left, Akan took in the sights of the lines of Topsiders and the former Imperials standing behind the distant figure he knew to be Hansen. For a moment, he looked the other direction, but knew it was pointless. Even though Akan stood on top of the dune, Trker-Hon and his group were out of sight, being behind an ever larger dune. Sighing, he turned back to look at the sands in front of him. Waiting. Those creatures were moving, though, forming up in makeshift lines, about as unorganized looking as the one behind Akan.

With a slight grin, the Alraxian turned around to face the Topsiders behind him. They were a diverse group, all with scales ranging from browns to soft reds. Some even had crests. Their ‘armor’ was even more diverse, and some of them simply wore cloth. What caught Akan’s eye were the weapons, though. While some of the Topsiders held large, interestingly designed rifles, all of them had at least one bladed weapon. Many had large, metal swords, shining in the rising sun. Some even had a series of ornately carved and sharply curving knives. Long knives. In fact, they were large enough to be considered swords. Akan made a note to be careful of them. The whole metal aversion was still a new thing to him, but having felt the phantom pain from Shadow..err, Light, had proved to him that it wasn’t something to ignore.

“Sssir...” one of the Topsiders spoke up. His name Akan didn’t remember, but he thought of the creature as ‘Red Tail’. This was because his tail was spotted with soft red spots...an obvious name, but it was easy to remember. Red Tail, as Akan had found out, was one of the leaders of a much larger tribes, and Trker-Hon’s younger sibling(of course, Akan had to take their word on the younger part, they all looked about the same age to him).

Snapping back into the moment, Akan turned to Red Tail, “I already said, don’t call me that.”

“I apologize,” Red Tail bowed his head in a gesture Akan was still getting used to, then spoke in a forced Basic, “Ssshould we wait here ssstill?”

Ah. Well, it was only something he could delay so long. Akan looked back to the forming lines of the creatures below, then back to Red Tail, “You’re right. Tell them to get ready.”

As Akan turned back to face the force ahead of them, he heard Red Tail yell something in the Topsider’s native language. There was the sound of movement, and as the order echoed across the sands, Akan knew that the other two groups would likely be preparing themselves also. They were waiting on him. All of the Topsiders were waiting on him. Voort was waiting on him. Hansen was waiting. Even those four creatures that were still forming up were waiting on him. And somewhere beyond his vision, Shadow and Jen were there...Shadow wasn’t dead, but the silence he’d gotten through the link for the last few hours was unnerving. He hoped she was just ignoring him.

But delaying was over. Everything waited on Akan. They had come to this planet to finish a job. Each for their own personal reasons, but all ending with the same thing. Sadrak. And now, it all rested on Akan. Even the calming techniques couldn’t lessen this burden. It was something he couldn’t stop thinking about. But waiting was the worst part. He closed his eyes a moment, then turned back to look over the large amount of troops that he could see. How many of them would survive? They were outnumbered at least five to one. That was even being generous. It was likely to be twice that many. Now Akan knew how his superiors always felt. So few would survive, and all of it depended on one person. Waiting. Always waiting. There was movement behind him, and Akan knew that the Topsiders were wondering why he still stood there.

No more waiting. Akan reached to his belt and unhooked the lightsaber. He sighed and looked down at the hilt of the weapon for a short moment. It looked so similar to Shadow’s weapon. There were no carvings, but the general feel of it was oddly similar. Why? Was this really the connection to his family that he’d always assumed it was? Perhaps it was something completely different. Just a lucky thing to have appeared in his hands. If he died today, out on these endless sands on a backwater world, Akan would never know. It wasn’t the first time he’d wanted to know the real origin of that weapon. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be the last. Wasting time with thoughts like these again. Carefully, he thumbed the activation switch on the blade. The snap-hiss was a loud noise that seemed to cut through the empty air. Watching the shimmering blade for a moment, he held it up. Hopefully, Trker-Hon had a scout up on the dune watching.

The blue-green blade shimmered above his head for a long moment, and Akan noticed that even the displaced lines of creatures below had frozen. This was it. There was no turning back now. This was all going to end here, one way or another. Akan sent a short mental message to Shadow, knowing it wouldn’t be responded to. He simply wanted her to know they had arrived. He lowered the lightsaber to a more comfortable position, then turned around to give the Topsiders behind him a last look. The second seemed to linger for an eternity as he saw the determination on all of their lizard-like faces. They all had their own reasons to fight. No one was forced here.

As Akan turned back to face the enemy, holding his lightsaber at hip level to his side, Akan wished those thoughts would have given him comfort. For the last time, Akan cleared his mind of all thoughts. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to. The first step Akan took forward seemed like it was the hardest he’d ever taken. The second followed much easier, and his heavy feet lightened as he started to a run. Behind him, the sound of the Topsiders following him was nearly deafening. It wasn’t long before a loud roar came from the Topsiders, and this was soon followed by similar roars to the left and right. For how many would that be the last sound to be heard? Even for Voort, sitting back with his rifle on one of the distant dunes, couldn’t help but wonder if this was it.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 101: Familiar Faces

It wasn’t that Shadow didn’t hear Akan, simply that she was having to keep her attention on the moment. She’d avoided a few of those four armed monstrosities who’d tried to ask questions in a language she didn’t understand, and was getting worried that the luck wasn’t going to last. Jen was doing a good job of being difficult, struggling against Shadow’s grip every time someone came into view. Other than that, they didn’t really speak. Honestly, there wasn’t much to say. Thankfully, it hadn’t take very long to finally reach the entrance. That did, however, bring more difficulties.

Three well armed guards(each of the four arms holding a weapon, though the pun was not lost on Jen), flanked the entrance and assaulted Shadow with a barrage of questions. Jen picked up on the general feel of the language, noticing that it was similar to an older form of Durese. This didn’t mean she understood it, though. Shadow, also not able to understand, did her best to look menacing without speaking. Hopefully, the strong silent type was a common stereotype among these...things. At first, they got weapons pointed at them, and Jen had the worst feeling that they got very close to being shot. Shadow had then thrust Jen forward as a sort of human shield, which had caused Jen to yelp suddenly. This managed to get the attention of the guards, and the three quickly moved to the side to let them pass.

Now...to navigate the halls. Jen could vaguely remember the way she’d gone to reach that domed chamber before, so she helped to direct Shadow. The corridors were packed with creatures, though, so Jen had to do this by shrugging a shoulder when they came to turns. At first, Shadow hadn’t picked up on this, and wondered what was wrong with Jen, but when Jen’s mind started feeling frantic, Shadow finally caught on. All of the creatures they passed by stopped and pressed themselves against the walls to let the two pass. Jen started to worry that they were expected. Shadow, though, already was sure of this. It was all too easy. The fact that she didn’t speak their language should have tipped off at least one guard.

Because of the time it had taken to walk across the sands and then Shadow having gotten them lost in the maze of corridors, the two of them were wandering for hours. This is what worried Shadow the most. No one took notice of the fact that they were going in circle aimlessly. Yet as time passed, there were fewer and fewer guards around. Both Shadow and Jen got the impression that the creatures were preparing for something. That something was obvious enough. Voort and Akan were on their way, and would likely be arriving anytime now. Maybe this taking so long would actually do some good, synchronizing the attack outside with whatever Jen was going to o with Sadrak.

And then, finally, they found the chamber. Empty. No guards. Lights were still on, but provided only a soft glow to illuminate the circular room. Near the center of the room was the same chair as before, up the few steps and below the brighter sections of lights. From what Shadow and Jen could tell, it was empty. Again, too easy. Shadow risked a glance behind them again, then finally let go of Jen. She then took a deep breath, and then morphed back to her own body. Sighing with relief to finally be herself again, Shadow swished her tail around in annoyance, “I don’t like this.”

“He’s watching,” Jen said quietly, suddenly realizing that she’d not even told her mouth to say that. Strange...those weren’t her words at all. In fact, she’d planned on just agreeing with Shadow and commenting on being glad to see her as an Alraxian again.

Shadow gave Jen a surprised look. Jen’s voice had sounded off. Shrugging, the Alraxian took a few steps over to the chair. Just as she got to the foot of the steps, the chair spun around and sitting there, in typical egotistical maniac style, was the robed Sadrak. He was even doing that horrible laugh. Jen wondered why they hadn’t just left the guy on this sandy planet, especially considering that he’d seen far too many holodramas for his own good. All he’d do to the galaxy as a whole would be to cause a good amount of annoyed sighs at all of his cliches. And if his ‘look’ wasn’t enough, his words were even worse.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the voice sounded from inside the dark hood.

Really, there were a thousand other things he could have said. But no. He picked that one. Shadow sighed, though neither of them actually said anything. Despite how stupid Sadrak seemed, he still radiated a strong aura of power. It was obvious he was still someone to take seriously...even more so, as something felt wrong about him. The voice was Sadrak, yet different.

As Shadow took a few step back and Jen stepped forward, Sadrak stood up. Though they couldn’t see his face within that hood, both Jen and Shadow could feel his eyes looking over them in that dangerous way. Studying them in some amused fashion as a child with a new toy. Neither of them could find any words to speak, and though that ‘other’ in Jen’s mind was feeling stronger, she couldn’t find any words at all. They could feel Sadrak’s smile beneath his hood, “I believe you finally understand me.”

How did Jen know He was talking to her? He was...but without being able to see his face, it was odd to realize this. And then Jen’s mouth opened, yet again speaking words that weren’t hers, “Leave them out of this.”

Sadrak laughed. It was an odd laugh that they’d never heard before, hauntingly familiar and alien at the same time, “It has been a long time, Shinai.”

Something clicked in Jen, and she found herself responding to that name. No...Jen didn’t respond. Instead, it was that non-Jen part of her mind that did. And now it had a name. Not it. She. Jen found that she wasn’t completely in control of her body at this point, and watched helplessly as she took a step forward, speaking words that yet again were not her own, “You die today, Sadrak.”

Another laugh from the hooded figure, and he reached out with his hand off to the left, signaling something. This wasn’t what Shadow and Jen noticed, though. What they saw was Sadrak’s hand, clearly extending out of the heavy robe. Three brownish colored and claw-shaped fingers attached to a very thin looking wrist. Yet this was Sadrak. It had to be. What did this mean?!

But this question was simply answered with another. Out from one of the darker areas of the chamber came a figure. It had four arms, and looked much like all of those guards, except that it was twice their size. The figure was twisted and broken, with odd scales grafted across the chest and legs. But that was not what got a gasp out of Shadow. The face did that. It was impossible not to recognize, especially for Shadow. The eyes, nose, shape, and even the slightly burnt hair were still the same. Landau. This...thing, standing there and looking out of dead eyes was Landau.

The thing stepped forward, a slow and hulking pace that made it even more painful to watch. Sadrak simply laughed again, and said from under the hood, “Now now, little cat, I did not forget you. We have business to take care of. In the mean time, you may enjoy yourself,” the hood turned to face the Landau-thing, “Kill her.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 102: Fighting a Losing War

Akan had crashed into the enemy lines in a blur. The details of everything that was occurring were lost on him for those first few minutes. All he truly knew was moving, swinging, ducking, and swinging again. Again and again and again his lightsaber cut down the four armed creatures. Worry came when his mind caught up with the insanity, and he realized that two of the four arms carried metal blades. The other two had slugthrower type weapons that weren’t getting much use. Or rather, not much use on him. Akan could still hear the weapons firing behind him, but he never took the time to turn around.

He simply pushed forward. And it was soon apparent he was not alone. Red Tail was not a half step behind him, cleaving through the enemy with only slightly more trouble. This was only because Akan’s blade cut through the enemy’s weapons, while Red Tail had to actually find an opening to attack. But the Topsider kept up, eventually making it right to Akan’s side as they continued plowing through the impossibly huge mass of creatures. It was impossible to tell how far they’d gone, and turning around was simply a stupid act. The only way Akan wasn’t chopping up Red Tail was through keeping tabs on the Topsider with the Force. He would have said something, but no sound could be heard above the loud roar of the thousand sounds of the battle.

To the sides, Akan knew that both Trker-Hon and Hansen were also just getting into the thick of things. But they were going to stand and fight, while Akan had to simply cut a path through and get into the distant facility. This meant that both he and Red Tail had put some significant distance between themselves and the majority of the other Topsiders, who’d also stood and taken the attention of the enemies. No sound that Akan’s Alraxian ears could hear indicated that Voort was doing his job, but the blaster bolt that would shoot past him every few seconds and drop an enemy was enough to prove it. The man was a damned good shot, each time the blaster making a head shot from the half glances Akan could manage.

From Voort’s view in the distance, he could see Akan and Red Tail as a small moving hole in the seemingly never ending mass of troops. They had gotten far, so much that the enemy was having trouble deciding what they should do. Attack these two mad warriors just plowing through the center without stopping or move forward and get rid of the actual troops they were facing? The confusion was obvious to Voort, and was an advantage he’d hoped on having. It made it easier for him to find targets, and obviously gave an edge to Akan while he cut a path through. Voort only wished that he could be the one to get to Jen. No. No, his place was out here. He could do the most good here.

“Sir!” that was one of the few Imperials who’d stayed back with him.

Voort didn’t look back to the man, but simply continued to take shots at creatures that Akan wasn’t looking at, speaking over his shoulder, “What is it?”

“Artillery is in place, but we’ve taken too long,” the man was having to nearly yell even though the battle was so distant, “The enemy platforms are already raining fire on the right and left flanks.”

“Take them out anyway!” Voort growled after letting off another quick shot, “Then pound the deep sections of the enemy troops and make us some weak points,” he paused a moment to quickly reload a new power pack into the weapon. In the short few minutes that had already passed, Voort had expended two of the packs. After resting the weapon down again and finding the blue-green blade that easily identified Akan in the distance, Voort continued what he was saying, “Tell the airspeeders to move in now. Forget waiting. Have them use their own judgement as to where to set down, but make sure they keep at least two gunners onboard each to give us some air support.”

“Understood,” and then the man was gone again. Thankfully, though, Voort was not the only sniper. He may have been the best skilled, but he was joined by at least twenty others, some Imperial, some Topsider. All had an array of various weapons, but all were doing a very good job. Only Voort fired towards Akan, though, as the shot was very dangerous from this angle, and it reached farther and farther off to push the range of the weapon itself. He’d soon be useless. By then, though, Akan should have made it over the first hill and be able to see the actual facility.

Of course, Voort still couldn’t help wondering what was behind those large metal walls that were scattered about and causing havoc with the sniper fire. It could be nothing, but Voort knew that if he was in charge, those things would have some heavy artillery behind them. Sadrak(or whoever was in charge) must not have thought the same way, as there was no evidence of anything but more troops. A waste of a good strategy, Voort thought to himself as he picked off the head of another enemy, the shot going right over Akan’s shoulder. The boy would probably have felt the heat on that one.

And then there were three loud booms. Voort didn’t flinch or look away, knowing that it was the artillery. Projectiles. Old, yes, but they still worked. A few loud explosions soon echoed across the sands, and he could hear some small talk amongst the others around him. No point in quieting them, as they were all still intelligent enough to continue with their jobs. The booms continued, and Voort couldn’t help being slightly curious as to how well they were doing. They weren’t going to be firing in front of his line of fire(that was made sure of before hand), so he really had no way of knowing the damage they’d done. Hopefully, the gunners would take out those metal barricades and other defenses along with the weapon’s towers that should have been the first to go.

Quickly switching another power pack into his very hot weapon, Voort turned back to firing straight across the sands. Akan had moved enough now that he was nearly on an even level with the sniper’s hill. Voort got four more shots off before the boy and his Topsider companion disappeared among that sea of troops. The farther the two had gotten, the more they’d been swarmed, yet they still were making it. And now it was out of Voort’s hands. Akan had made it over the dune, out of the valley. How many troops were beyond that, none of them truly knew except Akan and that Topsider. If the two of them survived, none of them would know either. Voort sat back a short moment to take in the whole of the situation now that his original focus was gone.

To the far left, Hansen’s group was having a lot of trouble. Though there were five or six large smoking ‘holes’ in the enemy lines from the artillery, the troops just continued to push forward. No longer did they just stand and wait, having no trouble pushing back after being pushed against. The majority of Hansen’s force was lost in the sea of enemies, and the only way Voort could tell this at the distance they were at(without the rifle’s scope at least), was through the slight coloration differences that were scattered around. Divided and easily being exterminated. He didn’t even take time to look over towards the other two groups before the sounds of the airspeeders joined the continued barrage of artillery. Voort watched the flying ships streak over the lines, taking a few shots from the slugthrowers below without trouble. Blaster fire along with slugthrower fire was rained down, doing little but put tiny holes in the endless lines of troops.

And then, two of the larger airspeeders dropped almost to ground level, nearly landing directly in the enemy lines. An insanely chaotic barrage of fire could be seen through Voort’s rifle scope(to which he even added a few shots), and in a few moments there were twenty more troops on the ground, trying to tear the lines apart little by little from the center. A desperate tactic, but with a little help from the snipers it would keep them alive for a short time. Not only that, but when the airspeeders got up into the sky again, they also helped. So far, things were going according to plan.

In other words, the enemy was winning. It was expected, and they’d need to fall back soon. But sadly, Voort knew how hard it would be to get that kind of order to the forces in the thick of it. Not only that, but half of the troops were surrounded and fighting for their lives. Voort suddenly found himself wondering if this had been such a good idea. They were outnumbered by so many more than had been expected. But it was too late now. Jen was already in the rancor’s den, along with Shadow. Akan was on his way there. Somewhere in that mass of fighting to his left was Hansen, and Voort would be damned if he didn’t at least try to help someone out. So, he continued to take shots at the enemies, one by one lessening their numbers as his scope searched for Hansen.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 103: Duty

Passing over that dune was not nearly as easy for Akan and Red Tail as it had looked to Voort. And truly, neither of the two truly were thinking of the dangerous task. There was simply no time at all. With so many creatures all around them each having four arms each and swords in two of those arms, there was no chance to stop moving. Far too many close calls and near misses occurred, and while Akan knew that it was both the Force and the faster Alraxian reflexes that were keeping him alive, he was truly amazed at Red Tail. Sure, Akan had a couple new scratches along some arms and had lost a few hairs and nearly his tail a couple of times, but Red Tail hadn’t been touched yet. The Topsider was a blur of movement, spinning and ducking and jumping around with such speed that Akan couldn’t help but wonder if this creature was at least somewhat Force sensitive. But nothing supported that idea...which would mean that this Red Tail was just extremely skilled. To Akan, this was even more admirable. Even he knew that sometimes the Force was used as a crutch.

Working together and sticking close, the two of them continued their push. It was once they got out of sight of Voort that the real trouble kicked in. There, the lines of troops were nonexistent. Instead, there was just a crazy mass of creatures in all directions. Even more chaotic, and forced even more attention to be divided. This ended up causing the two of them to slow down. It was all the worse for Akan because now he could see that entrance to Sadrak’s facility. It was just across the sands. Probably a hundred or so meters away from them. But now that there was no need for the enemy to divide their focus between the two crazy warriors plowing forward and the lines of troops ahead. On this side of things, with no opposition beyond Akan and Red Tail, they became the prime targets.

And to add to this, fatigue was setting in. Even for an Alraxian, this constant fighting and moving and fighting was tiring without any kind of break. This showed itself in Akan’s ignoring of minor cuts and bruises, not even bothering to remorph them. While Akan had learned how to morph efficiently, it was still impossibly taxing on his body and energy level. The more he had tried remorphing, the harder it became to do anything else. Even the minor cuts had gotten to the point of taking massive amounts of energy to deal with. Of course, Akan was smart enough to pick up on this and go back to that old fail safe of not getting hit in the first place.

Then something odd occurred. Akan’s lightsaber cleaved through two different creatures, and he found himself continuing to move and readying another attack...but there was nothing there. He stopped in his tracks, more out of reflex from surprise than anything, having gotten so used to being constantly surrounded. When he looked around, it was quickly apparent that Red Tail had also noticed this problem. The creatures weren’t just throwing themselves onto the weapons anymore. They had now set up a large circle around the two of them, not yet closing it in but that was the obvious result.

As Akan finally allowed himself a moment to catch his breath, he exchanged a look with the Topsider he was back to back with, “Should have seen this one coming...”

“Yesss...” Red Tail responded with a nod of his head, and a somewhat interesting looking flaring of the small crest on his head, “I do not expect that it will be easssy to reach the entrance anymore...”

Akan also nodded, raising his lightsaber in a more general defensive position but still looking to the Topsider, “Not much else we can do but try, yes?”

That got a smile on Red Tail’s face. It was a toothy, almost dangerous looking smile, but that was more from the lizard-like appearance. For some reason, reptiles always looked sinister and dangerous no matter how friendly and helpful they actually were, “You are correct,” Red Tail turned to look Akan in the eyes, that smile becoming an almost grin, “Forward it isss then.”

Akan even grinned. It was the way that Red Tail said that. You could tell he was actually enjoying himself in all of this. Not that Akan wasn’t...but...well, there were still other things on his mind. Currently, the largest being why Shadow was hiding from him. But no, that wasn’t important right yet. That would be something to worry about if he got inside. It was a good thing that Akan didn’t dwell on these thoughts, too, as Red Tail let out a fierce roar and suddenly charged forward. Raising his lightsaber, Akan was only a few steps behind the Topsider. It looked like the creatures had been surprised at the sudden charge, and this made it fairly easy to cleave through four of them before actually having any real trouble. And then the chaos of battle erupted around them again.

Akan was staying low, moving in all directions as he let the Force guide his blade and his movement to avoid the assault of an uncountable number of blades. These creatures were not unskilled, either, and Akan was having far too many close calls.. After quickly lopping off two arms from the left side of one creature, he was bringin his sword across to take its head off. But his blade never met with its target. Instead, a sudden and very violent pang shot through the him from the Force. Danger. No. Not just any danger. Immediate danger. Allowing his strike to fall short, Akan tried to jump back. His eyes caught sight of two blades where he was moving towards, and knew it was too late to stop the backwards jump. But when he reached the point where the two blades should have dug into his back, nothing happened. Well, no...something did. Instead, he slammed into the back of a heavy body.

At the same time, there was an awkward and pained sound that Akan could recognize in a haunting way. Risking a short glance to the creature he had fallen back against, he saw a what that small voice in the back of his head had worried about. Red Tail. That sound was coming from the Topsider’s throat. Akan spun around, taking down two enemies with his lightsaber in the process, and soon found himself side by side with his companion. A horrified look passed over Akan’s face as imagination and speculation on what had happened collided head on with reality.

The two swords Akan had been falling into were now dug deep into the Topsider’s chest and stomach. Blood dripped onto the sand below, and there was a strangely calm moment where everything seemed to stop. Akan just looked at this Topsider who he now considered a friend, with the reptilian creature focusing its anger and attention on the stunned abominations around them. No one moved. Akan wanted to say something. Anything. Through the Force, he could feel the Topsider’s life was dwindling into nothing. Yet he could do nothing about it.

Slowly, Red Tail turned to look to his Alraxian companion. Presenting his brother in arms with a smile, Red Tail spoke in a quiet voice, though it was not at all weakened by his state, “Go. Find your friendsss.”

“I won’t leave you here,” Akan said quietly, wondering why their enemies weren’t simply finishing the job. Was it shock? Or perhaps mere curiosity? Or possibly even something more dangerous...

Red Tail shook his head, “I do my duty. I ssserve my family. Ssserve yours,” the Topsider then turned back to the creatures who watched him with stunned looks on their faces, though still spoke to Akan, “We will meet again when the time isss right.”

And then, only a second later, all of the chaos returned in a flash. Despite the two swords dug deep into the Topsider’s body, Red Tail took a heavy step forward, and swung his sword at the wielder of the two weapons. In the moment that the creature’s head left its body, Akan started moving forward. He didn’t risk another glance back to Red Tail as he cut and stabbed his way to make himself a path through, but could hear the sounds that easily showed a fierce fight. That was one Topsider who would not die without a fight.

But it wasn’t over yet. Akan still had a good distance to go. Though the number of enemy creatures was lessening as he got farther, that fatigue continued to grow as muscles in his body began to ache. With just four more heavy steps and strong swings of his lightsaber, Akan was within a few meters of the entrance. His eyes fell on one of the enemy creatures that was moving towards him. It wasn’t any trouble to duck under the horizontal swing from its first arm, but the spin to avoid the second strike was ore complicated and even more tiring. Akan managed to sweep his lightsaber around with his spin, taking the creature’s life before another attack could be made. Two more were already at him, though, diving in recklessly with swords swinging down at the tired Alraxian.

Quickly jumping over a low strike towards his legs, Akan kicked out at the first attacker. His leg caught the creature across the side of the face, stunning it for a half second and enough time for Akan to land. His lightsaber was following up with a violent follow up blow to finish the creature off when a shock of impossibly intense pain rocked through his hand. He looked to the side to see that other enemy he’d ignored for some reason, and also took in the horrible sight of the missing right hand. The sword did not cut cleanly like a lightsaber, and instead left a blue bloodied and disturbingly grotesque image of Akan’s arm ending at the wrist. It wasn’t a second later that another shock of pain rocked through him, this time from behind. His eyes opened wide with pain, and somehow he avoided yelling out from the intense pain. When he had a chance to look down, he could easily see nearly a fourth of the metal blade extending out from his chest. He didn’t know what to think. In fact, the only thing that really crossed his mind was the realization that the weapons were metal. Such a stupid thing at a moment like this, as he could feel at least two of his internal organs had been punctured if not completely destroyed. Even if it wasn’t a metal weapon, he didn’t have nearly enough energy to remorph the tiny cuts along his body, much less his hand and internal organs.

It was in those moments that Akan found his mind race back towards the first time he’d lost his life. A thousand thoughts tried to get through, but the one that actually was clear as his eyes closed was an odd one. In a bright flash, he felt himself lying down in a warm bed. He felt warm, comfortable, and impossibly happy. It wasn’t long at all before he noticed some weight on his shoulder, and glanced down to see a head there resting. No...sleeping. A smile crept onto his face, but it was odd to not be able to pick out anything beyond that being a figure. And then it flashed away as quickly as it had came, but Akan was not sent back to the painful reality. Instead, he saw one last thing. Children. Three young children. They were playing some kind of game, laughing and obviously enjoying themselves. It took only a second before one of them saw him, grinned and pounced. The next thing Akan knew, he was on his back, tackled by three happy children who were trying to ‘kill’ him.

There was no flash back to reality. There was no last sight. The only thing Akan got that could have been considered close was confusion. What had those been? Why see things like that? Especially at a time like this! What could have been, perhaps? Or maybe it was the way of the Force to show one a last comforting sight before death. Akan didn’t find out, and he never actually felt himself hit the sand.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 104: Save Me Once...Save Me Twice...

Shadow took a few careful steps back, eyeing this...this...thing that was approaching her. It wasn’t Landau. It couldn’t be. It was some beast that had stolen his likeness. A familiar face grafted onto a horrible body. This hulking beast could never have even resembled the man who had been her friend. Yet Shadow still felt it was Landau. Despite everything she tried to convince herself of, this beast was Landau. The dead friend brought back as a disgusting monstrosity. Though this had the chance of revealing the origin of the creatures which fought against the Topsiders outside, Shadow didn’t think of it. Instead, her mind raced about what to do.

It had been ordered to kill her and was looking intent on following through with this. The obvious course of action was to defend herself and defeat her enemy. Yet...yet it was Landau. How could she kill him? Fight him even? He had been the one human who she’d learned to trust, possibly even care about, since the death of Max so many years before. It had been so long that she’d nearly forgotten it. And then her thoughts crashed into reality. Or rather, reality crashed into her.

This came in the form of Landau’s fist. One of the four arms of that thing hit Shadow hard across the face, sending Shadow skidding across the well polished floor of the chamber. With only her natural instincts guiding her at this point, Shadow got to her feet the second after her body had stopped moving. Landau was already upon her again, reaching in for another heavy strike. This time, Shadow wasn’t there to be hit. She ducked low under the strike, then spun to the side and jumped back, looking to Landau with a pleading look on her face.

“Please don’t do this...” Shadow said quietly, not even realizing that she was speaking her thoughts aloud. Of course, this wasn’t the only thing she had lost focus on. Her attention was on this Landau-thing, and even Jen and the robed Sadrak were no longer within her attention. It was as if they were all in a different world entirely as Shadow tried to figure out what to do.

But no answer came from Landau. He only approached again. This time much faster, and dove in swinging three of his four arms. Shadow had trouble dodging, but managed to get back and out of his reach in an awkward series of rolling and twisting. Her body was moving without even attempting to ask the brain what to do. This was because the brain was lost. She couldn’t kill a friend. It was unthinkable. No matter how much training she had gone through, Shadow couldn’t kill someone like Landau. He was a good human...a friend...and...and he should be dead from what they had been told. Jen had killed him. Shot him in the stomach. Yet there was no blaster mark on this creature’s twisted body. Only that haunting face. Closing in...getting ready for another strike at Shadow and obviously taking advantage of her indecisiveness.

And then something else happened that Shadow had not expected. She had quieted the link between herself and Akan to make it easier to focus on what she was doing. It wasn’t gone, but just weakened slightly so that all those surface thoughts and other things wouldn’t pass through and distract either of them. But the link suddenly came back, flowing in like an ocean crashing through a weak dam. In only a second, a thousand thoughts and images raced back and forth between Shadow and Akan. Just as these did, Shadow felt a sudden, extremely sharp and vivid pain in her right hand. For a panicked half second, she thought she’d lost her hand and tried to remorph it. That action soon proved impossible, as her hand was still there. Yet...yet...pain! So much pain, and it didn’t feel like a phantom pain that usually flowed through the link. It was so real...so...

Shadow’s thoughts were cut short again, this time not from the link, but from Landau. Two arms grabbed her shoulders, picked her up, and then through her across the chamber. Shadow hit the ground hard, gripping her right hand and trying to fight back the new pains streaking through her spine from the fall. Again, she slid across the floor until her body hit the wall. She stopped just in time for another, even more vivid pain wracked her body. With her mind still racing to understand why her hand was so pained, Shadow suddenly felt a stabbing pain through her back, then up through her chest. Involuntarily, Shadow let out a loud cry of pain. Her eyes closed for a half second before she looked down for the reason for the pain. No wounds. Nothing. No...hand was still there. Chest was still in one piece...yet it hurt. So much. Like...like...and then she traced it back to Akan. This wasn’t a conscious effort, but occurred because of a feeling that ran through the link. Shadow saw Akan’s vision of...children?! What the hell kind of thing was he doing?! Akan was nearly dead and the damn idiot was seeing kids!

Another pain shot through Shadow’s body, and she immediately knew its source. Again, it was Akan. The direct pain from whatever it was in his chest was suddenly pulled away, but not without one last horrible damage. Her second heart suddenly felt a violent pain and nearly stopped in the process. He’d lost his second heart...hand...and there was still a phantom pain from his chest. And his mind was fading...Shadow connected these and forced herself to ignore the pain. Eyes opening just in time to see Landau reaching down for her again, Shadow started moving. With the speed only desperation could provide, Shadow ran. She ran past Landau. She ran out of that chamber. She ran through the corridors that led to the exit of this underground maze.

Her mind had locked onto the fading light of Akan, and she just ran to it. Nothing else mattered anymore. Not Jen, or Sadrak, or even what had occurred to Landau. All that mattered to Shadow was Akan. He was dying. In fact, he was already unconscious and slipping away. There were only a precious few moments left before she would follow. And in a flash, Shadow was outside again, getting out those last steps and seeing a sight she’d never imagined.

All across the sands, she saw those creatures. Thankfully, none of them had Landau’s face, and they were all half his size. But still, they sent a pang of remembrance of what was inside...her mind focused through it to the next sight. Bodies. Hundreds of them were littered across the sand, leading to a point where her senses met with the link. Surrounded by a small number of those horrible four armed creatures, Shadow saw Akan. He lay face down in the sand and unmoving, a blood coat of blood around him and over his back. Those around his body had obviously not expected anyone to come from behind, and this gave Shadow an easy approach. The ancient lightsaber of her family was drawn and ignited only a step away from the first of the creatures. They heard the snap-hiss, and spun around just in time for the first to lose its head. Two more fell in one clean, horizontal strike at chest level. Then, as Shadow’s body started to feel the pains of Akan’s fading life, she saw sword swing her direction. It did not shine in the light, and Shadow barely managed to raise her lightsaber in defense.

The metal blade was sliced in half, and Shadow watched the blood-stained blade fall into two clean pieces. That was the sword that had dug into the wound Shadow could see in Akan’s back. The one still leaking a large amount of blood. Her eyes locked with this creature, and a free hand reached out to her left. Her mind had acted without notify the rest of Shadow, and the Force called Akan’s own lightsaber(minus the hand that held it) to Shadow’s free hand. She caught it in mid thrust with her own purple-bladed weapon towards the creature in front of her. As her weapon thrust straight into the upper chest of the thing, a second snap-hiss was followed by a short and swift strike to lop off the thing’s head. Now holding two blades, Shadow made quick work of the two remaining enemies before turning her attention to Akan’s body. The two lightsabers were deactivated and at her side just as she knelt next to the dying Alraxian.

But she didn’t pick him up. He was going to be dead in a matter of seconds, and she would follow. There was no way for her to force a morph on him to stop the bleeding and heal the internal wounds. At least his mind had allowed him to lose consciousness to avoid feeling the pain that Shadow could feel. There was an option. There always was, even if sometimes it meant heavy sacrifices. Last time, she’d given up a life as an individual and much more than Akan still didn’t know about. This time, at least, little would change. It was a good thing he was face down, as it made things much easier and took less time. Her hands came to rest on Akan’s shoulders, and Shadow allowed their bodies to merge. With Akan’s body and mind s subdued and silent, it wasn’t a challenge at all. In fact, it felt strangely good to take back part of herself again. It was odd, though, because she could still feel Akan’s mind. It was faded, distant, and on the brink of nothing.

As Shadow stood up, her body whole for the first time in a long while, she couldn’t believe that it felt wrong. Shouldn’t she feel good being whole again? No, this wasn’t the time. She allowed a part of herself to keep Akan’s mind alive, which was a difficult task as it was trying to do the natural thing and simply merge with hers. While she planned to give him his own body again, if his mind merged with hers, that would be impossible. So she kept him ‘alive’ in a sense that couldn’t be described in Basic. Even Alraxian had trouble detailing what she did, as it was not a common occurrence. Not yet, though. Ignoring the hundreds of creatures that were already converging on her, Shadow started running again. This time, back. Back into the facility below. Back down those corridors. Back to Jen...Sadrak...and Landau. No longer alone this time, though. And despite Akan’s current state, somehow it helped to give Shadow the determination that was needed to deal with what was there. She would fight. There was no other choice. If she didn’t, the thing that Landau had become would kill her. But that wasn’t what bothered her. Akan would die. She was responsible for his life. It wasn’t something she took lightly, and later she would no doubt question the choice of going back to that chamber to deal with Landau...no, not to deal with him. To free him from whatever that bastard Sadrak had done. And then...then Shadow didn’t know. There was too much going on now to think too far ahead anyway. Because of this, she wasn’t even sure that she would live through the day. At least Shadow wasn’t having to explain that to Akan anymore. Whatever was left of his consciousness was lost in other things.