Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 252: One Outcome

When someone came at you full speed with sword in hand and intent to kill in the eyes, it was usually expected that said person would finish their charge in front of you. Ket, however, proved right away that he was not playing games. Halfway to Jyren, the Alraxian leapt up and over, landing facing the other direction but swinging back with the metal sword.

The maneuver had been done so quickly, obviously with the help of the Force, that Jyren had only enough time to duck as the sword arced over where his head had been. He wasted no time in spinning around, knowing that his eyes were as necessary as all his other senses at this point. Jyren’s natural reaction on facing Ket was to raise his lightsaber up towards where he could see a blurred sheen of movement heading down towards his shoulder.

The sword fell, but Jyren suddenly found that he was not dodging one end of a cut sword. Instead, Ket’s blade was pressed against the lightsaber and he was forcing Jyren back with a tremendous strength. It would have been a lie to say Jyren wasn’t surprised by this, though he knew it was something he should have expected. When Ket finally pulled back, Jyren lunged forward and nearly fell face first into the ground. Nearly because he caught himself and regained his balance...but the nearly only lasted a fraction of a second.

Ket slammed the hilt of his sword into Jyren’s spine, and the loud crack of the impact was followed by the rough thud of Jyren hitting the floor. Someone ignoring the pain, Jyren rolled away and managed to just avoid taking the blade of the sword through his chest. He had to keep moving quickly, however, as Ket was not letting up at all. When the sword swung down at him again, Jyren was able to swing his lightsaber up to meet the blade.

Holding Ket’s sword up at arms length from him, Jyren quickly swept the other’s feet out from under him. By the time Ket had hit the floor, Jyren was up on his feet. He did not, however, press an attack as Ket had done. Instead, Jyren pulled back and brought his lightsaber up in front of him...calming himself and attempting to use the Force to keep him aware of everything around him. It was an amazingly difficult task when someone like Ket was trying to kill you.

And even well honed senses couldn’t be effective all of the time. A heavy, invisible hand hit Jyren hard in the chest, sending him back to the floor again and sliding across it towards the open balcony. At least that crystal thing hadn’t been behind him. It looked like it would have been painful to hit.

He was on his feet again just as Ket caught up. Jyren parried a quick strike to his side before ducking under a horizontal swing aimed at his head...something that Ket continued to attempt again and again, it seemed. Taking the small moment given to him by Ket’s heavy swing, Jyren took a step forward and thrust his lightsaber at Ket’s now-open torso.

Ket sidestepped the attack, using the momentum to slash at Jyren’s lower torso again. The attack was deflected again, with Jyren pulling his blade around to bat the other sword away. The two of them exchanged a surprisingly even number of strikes between them, but it was quickly obvious to both that Jyren was being backed up. Before he knew it, Jyren was in the sunlight of the Alraxian star, nearly pressed against the balcony behind.

Jyren ducked and spun left to avoid a vertical swing from Ket, which instead took a large chunk of the balcony out. Better than Jyren’s arm...even if there was a twinge of pain through the Force from the palace. Regaining his footing, Jyren swung his blade with all his strength at his opponent’s neck, but instead of meeting metal or flesh, the blade only reached air. Before the attack even got close, Ket’s hand shot out and caught Jyren’s wrist. In one swift motion, using Jyren’s swing against him, Ket twisted Jyren’s wrist around and wrenched the lightsaber away. Just as the blade’s safety hit in and it hit the ground deactivated, Jyren hit, too. Except he hit the wall on the other side first before once again meeting the floor face first.

One thing Jyren was getting the hang of, at least, was remorphing those broken bones that continually occurred. Not that it was easy, but it was taking less and less focus to do so each time. It also meant that Jyren was able to be up and react quickly enough to stay alive. This time, he was only halfway up when Ket was on him. A knee hit Jyren in the face, forcing him open and upright for the thrust of Ket’s sword.

But Jyren pulled the Force around him and then hit Ket as hard as he could with it. The other Alraxian was sent to the other side of the balcony, hitting the other corner but not falling off of his feet. Jyren took this moment to analyze the situation. Ket had chosen this place for the fight...which meant he likely had the advantage. A change of scenery was necessary.

With the Force, Jyren called his lightsaber back to him. The metal hilt shot past Ket, who was heading towards Jyren yet again. But this time, Jyren was not there when Ket arrived. Yet again calling upon the Force, Jyren leapt up and landing on the edge of the roof a few meters up and back. The roof was dome-like, slowly curving upwards to the central point which was likely also even to where the crystal was in the room below. Ket, of course, followed.

But before he was even on the ground, Ket launched his sword down at Jyren, throwing it like a torpedo...and with about the same speed, too. While Jyren managed to sidestep the sword which then dug deep into the ceiling, he didn’t completely avoid it. The sharp blade left a violent sting on Jyren’s lower right leg. It wasn’t a deep cut, but it suddenly took a great amount of effort to resist remorphing until he could be sure it was safe. So now Ket had him injured again.

Not only that, but Ket had landed right next to Jyren and there was another, smaller, blade now in his left hand. Ket landed while at the same time lunging the small dagger sized weapon at Jyren’s upper chest. The only reaction Jyren could manage was to lash out with a free hand and hit Ket’s arm hard enough to bat the attack away. Jyren had hoped to also force Ket to loose his grip on the blade, but that had been wishful thinking.

Quickly stepping back(and up slightly), Jyren reactivated his lightsaber and looked down at Ket. He wanted to say something. An insult. A witty remark. Sarcasm, even. Or plead for this to stop. Anything. But Jyren could see something in Ket’s eyes that he recognized all too well. It was the same deadly focus and determination that Shadow had. It was not something that could be reasoned with or even spoken to. As Ket came at him again, faster than before, Jyren knew there were only two outcomes to this now.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 253: The Roof

The farther up the curved roof of the Palace that they went, the harder it was becoming to maintain stable footing. Jyren quickly figured that it wasn’t because the surface under him was changing, but simply because the curve was becoming much steeper as it reached its top. And the strong, gusting wind didn’t help, either. It was something that, now at least, he knew he should have thought about before attempting this. No, this wasn’t the highest point, but Jyren could still see farther than he liked to be able to.

But none of this was affecting Ket, it seemed. The taller Alraxian was relentless, barely giving Jyren anytime to take a breath. The change in location wasn’t having any negative effects on Ket like Jyren had hoped. That was, though, really not all that surprising.

Jyren was still backing up, parrying the swift strikes from the small blade that Ket held and simply doing his best to stay out of the way. At this point, he realized he needed a new plan. And that was the problem. He wasn’t used to fighting with a plan. He went in, activated his lightsaber, and things just went the way they were supposed to. Even Shadow was never this dangerous in the times the two of them had sparred. But then again, she hadn’t been trying to kill him...well, except for the first time, but that wasn’t the point.

Catching the flash of movement in the corner of his eye, Jyren jumped back and over the attempt to take him off of his feet. He landed just in time to twist to the side and out of the way of the tip of Ket’s blade. Jyren reacted as quickly as he could, backhanding Ket’s wrist in yet another attempt to disarm him. Not that it would do much, but it was something, at least.

At the impact, Ket spun back, and for a half second Jyren thought he’d lost his footing. He was, of course, wrong. Instead, Ket pulled around, small blade switched to his left hand and the right reaching back to nothing. It wasn’t hard to guess what that meant. As quickly as he could, Jyren took a hand off of his lightsaber and used the Force to pull the second hilt from his belt. The weapon landed in his left hand, violet coloured blade snapping to life, just as the larger sword that Ket had held before returned to his free hand.

Jyren instinctively raised the violet blade up to parry the falling metal sword that was now once again in Ket’s right hand. While Jyren did block the sword from cleaving him into two, the force of Ket’s swing nearly knocked the lightsaber out of Jyren’s hand. Instead, he stumbled back, but forced his body and senses not to lose their edge. And not a moment later did Jyren bring his own blue-green lightsaber to parry a quick strike from Ket’s smaller blade.

Again, the two of them exchanged lightning fast blows, but this time it was becoming painfully obvious that Ket had the upper hand. Jyren was managing to avoid taking any hits, but was too busy defending himself to even manage the slightest attempt at an attack. And so he was pushed back, farther up the rooftop to the top of the dome. As Ket’s attacks grew in strength and speed, Jyren knew exactly what the other Alraxian was going to attempt to do. He’d been forced up...now it was time to push him down, and it was much, much more likely that Jyren would slip going that direction.

Jumping over a swing to his legs, Jyren hit the ground blocking another violent strike from Ket’s sword...but this time with both lightsabers. Immediately, the smaller blade flashed in towards Jyren’s undefended torso. The only defense he could manage was to use all his strength to force Ket’s sword back, at the same time attempting to spin to the side and away from the lightning fast knife. It nearly worked. Nearly because he wasn’t completely run through by the blade, but instead it left a long slash across his lower right side.

The pain was disturbingly easy to ignore, to the point that it only seemed to fuel Jyren’s determination rather than slow him down at all. He quickly took advantage of the small lapse in Ket’s attacks to present an attack of his own. Due to how close they were, it was impossible to Jyren to actually bring his arms around and use his lightsabers, so instead he took Shadow’s old advice and used the other things available to him. With all the strength he could manage, Jyren sent his elbow into Ket’s face.

There was a crack before Jyren took a knee to the stomach. Between them, a short moment of pain passed in which they backed off a few shaky steps. It was all the time Jyren needed to come up with one of those absolutely insane ideas that always seemed to work. This time, though, even he knew that it was more stupid than insane. When Ket came at him again, Jyren sidestepped the first stab and ducking under the heavy swing of Ket’s sword. Because of this, he took a knee to the face, but ignored it with the same Shadow-like determination. The strike sent him back a couple of steps, but also gave him enough time to completely step out of the way of Ket’s next overhand swing of the large sword.

As he stepped around the other Alraxian, Jyren deactivated the lightsaber in his off hand and quickly slung it back to his belt in one quick motion. Reoriented, Ket stabbed again and Jyren’s torso. The attack was deflected with a quick swing of Jyren’s blue-green lightsaber, and he immediately ducked under another of those swings meant to take his head off. This time, it was quickly followed by the smaller blade sliding up towards Jyren’s face. Again, he moved to the side, this time using the Force to speed his body up and then lashing out with a leg to kick Ket’s hand. This time, finally, the blade fell out of Ket’s grip and flew off down the long slope of the roof.

Jyren rose up to meet the sword with his lightsaber just centimeters from his face. Still focusing on the Force, Jyren pushed the attack away before taking a strong kick to the chestplate. It sent him back almost far enough to send him tumbling down like the smaller blade had done. But he held his footing, and before Ket could move in for another relentless series of attacks, Jyren attacked.

Extending a free hand, Jyren put all of his strength into throwing Ket. The invisible wall of energy slammed into Ket, and despite his own defenses in the Force that were up and strong, the Alraxian was hurled off of the stable roof. As Ket fell away, hitting the hard roof and sliding across it on his back, Jyren ran after him.

As fast as he could, Jyren ran down the roof, sliding at least part of the time and nearly ending up in the same position Ket was stuck in. But somehow, Jyren managed to stay up. Just a second later, Ket left the roof and began to fall out of sight towards the lower levels of the Palace far below. Jyren continued down the sloping roof at full speed. Just before reaching the end, Jyren took a deep breath.

And then he jumped.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 254: Of Gravity

One thing that Jyren always found to be vaguely interesting was that nearly all the planets he always ended up on, the gravity was about the same. It made him wonder if there really was any difference other than no gravity and some gravity. But the simple fact that he’d been on enough planets to experience the strength of its gravity didn’t say much for his intelligence. It was, sadly, not the first time he’d jumped off a building...and it probably wouldn’t be the last. It was, however, the first time he’d jumped off a building and come to the full realization of just how high up he had been prior to the jump. Usually, there would be something to land on relatively close below. Nothing a little assistance from the Force couldn’t handle. But now...

In all honesty, all that Jyren could really be sure of was that there was, in fact, some kind of place down there where he would, eventually, hit. There was a vague greenish colour all the way down, which gave him the idea that it was one of the many courtyard areas...but there weren’t any walkways or other areas anywhere near. Suddenly, Jyren became aware that his so-called ‘plan’ had been nothing more than pure insanity.

Maybe Shadow was right.

No, she definitely was. If anything confirmed it, the rushing air as he fell did. Jyren was, without a doubt, an idiot.

Not so far below Jyren, though, was Ket. The Alraxian hadn’t ‘righted’ himself in the air at all, still falling backwards and looking straight up towards where Jyren was. He hadn’t even attempted to morph! Jyren hadn’t either, but that wasn’t the point. After only a couple of seconds, Jyren felt a heavy grip on his body before he was yanked down faster. For obvious reasons, he wasn’t happy with that.

Suddenly, he was falling much faster than Ket and the other Alraxian was growing much closer(as was the green blur that was the ground, but Jyren was trying to ignore that part). Out of reflex, Jyren thumbed the activation switch on his lightsaber. In the loud roar of the rushing air it was impossible to hear the snap-hiss of the blade. Not that it really mattered, though.

In another short second Jyren was almost on top of Ket. And again, instinct took over where other more rational parts of the brain probably would have acted differently. Despite the fact that the two of them were falling at a very rapid speed to a quickly approaching and very solid ground below, Jyren swung his lightsaber in a long arc to cleave Ket in half.

Ket’s sword deflected the swing before pushing the weapon off to the side. A second later, Jyren’s faster momentum sent him slamming into the other Alraxian hard. Ket’s response was a sharp kick to Jyren’s gut that sent him ‘back’(or rather, up) very slightly. It was immediately followed by a quick, horizontal slash from Ket’s blade.

Jyren couldn’t avoid it, but managed to swing his lightsaber in and catch the metal sword before it cut across his chest. When Ket pulled back to thrust the blade and impale him, Jyren took the half second he had to kick Ket hard in the chest. The kick added enough speed to Ket’s fall that his sword-thrust fell short.

Short.

The thought yanked Jyren’s focus away from the Alraxian in front of him and instead to the ground beyond...or rather, below. There was, quite definitely, a very short distance between them and a painful landing now. So short, in fact, that Jyren was finally able to see the tops of trees and other plants throughout the large area. Ket obviously caught Jyren’s reaction to this new information, as he turned and glanced behind him.

The second he’d turned back, Ket put all of his strength into launching the sword the short distance up to Jyren. The point of the blade skyrocketed up the half meter distance in a blur, and Jyren could only attempt to twist away from it. He managed to avoid being completely impaled, instead one edge of the blade shot across his torso and left a long, deep gash before it shot up past him. Through the red that blurred his vision, Jyren caught sight of Ket changed shape before a large hawk-like bird shot off the other direction.

Cheater.

Jyren had never been very good at the whole morphing thing when it came to anything more than fixing simple wounds. Adding that inexperience to the unavoidable sight of the ground below and it was impossible for him to focus at all to even think straight. Except one thought continued to make it through.

He was an idiot.

But there was something just slightly off about that. If Jyren could have attached a word to it, the closest would have been distant, but then again that wasn’t all that right. The thought wasn’t distant...it just...wasn’t...his.

The realization of this hit Jyren about as hard as he expected the ground would. In the quick few seconds that he knew were still open for further living, Jyren spun around. He did not see the large cream-coloured, flower-like building that he had left not a minute before. Instead, he saw a brown colour. So much so that it completely encompassed everything in that direction. Jyren then quickly looked...back...no, up. The brown shape tapered off into a disturbingly familiar shape. His head snapped left and right(which were, thankfully, still left and right) to spot the two swept back, almost fish-like ‘wings’. The last place to look was ahead of him...which also happened to correspond with down. The brown shape came to a point at a nose.

As the whole shape slowly pulled out of its dive and started to arc up towards Jyren, he couldn’t help a slight grin. Maybe he would have grinned anyway...but it wouldn’t have been the same kind at least. Slowly, the entire shape began to tilt up, with Jyren inching closer and closer and almost sliding down the surface of it without even touching it.

Loki evened out about five meters above the tops of the trees in the courtyard. Jyren didn’t know this, though. Instead, he finally hit the top of the Kanyak, bouncing painfully on the strangely soft surface of the ship before realizing that he’d probably broken at least half of the bones in his lower body. Why that didn’t hurt, Jyren didn’t know...but it was better than the alternative.

He came fairly close to the alternative, however, and before Loki had set down on a nearby pad, Jyren had blacked out.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 255: Another Life

It was almost disturbing how many times in his life that Jyren had awoken from the black emptiness of unconsciousness. It was also getting to the point of being annoying. Sometimes he couldn’t help but wish he would either die, or just not pass out in the first place...usually the latter. And so, yet again after doing something completely stupid, the blackness gave way to a fuzzy an incoherent thing that he had come to learn was called reality.

Slowly, the world around him came back into focus. There was a blurry thing in the way of the blue-ish coloured sky...a thing which he eventually identified as Shadow thanks to the black and white hair and a little help from the Force. Detecting where the annoyance was coming from was a surefire way to find Shadow whenever Jyren was involved. He blinked.

When he blinked, it seemed to kick in the rest of his senses. Namely, his hearing. He could hear a voice that was definitely Shadow’s, but she was speaking words that made absolutely no sense to him. The Alraxian language, then. Another voice responded...sounded female, too, but much younger. Almost how he remembered Shadow’s voice before the whole growing up ordeal. Which was, quite definitely, an ordeal more than anything else.

Jyren’s eyes finally finished focusing as a smaller Alraxian left the...courtyard. Still outside. Shadow then turned down to look at him with an expressionless glare, something only she was capable of, “This is why I don’t let you go off on your own.”

He couldn’t help a tired grin as he searched for his voice. Finding it didn’t make sense rationally, but he did, and spoke in the usual voice of someone who was just coming back to consciousness, “But it was fun...”

Shadow rolled her eyes, “Oh, yes, fun. One day you’re going to get it through that thick skull of yours that anytime you think ‘fun’ you really mean ‘stupid’.”

Jyren shrugged weakly before doing his best to sit up. Staring at the world from up and down was getting very tiring. Shadow reached over and helped him to sit up, idly keeping an arm around him as he tried to forget the dizziness, “I thought you’d be around earlier...”

“I had to make a stop on the way,” Shadow said quietly before nodding off to the side. Jyren slowly looked that direction, seeing a couple of young looking Alraxians that had a vaguely familiar look to them. They were leaving the courtyard slowly, and it was suddenly driving Jyren crazy just what was odd about them. He finally figured it out a few moments later.

It was the way they were walking. Or rather, stalking. There was a predatory bent to the way the two of them were moving. And that thought immediately triggered the positive response from Shadow through the link. Jyren turned back and raised an eyebrow, “You picked up some friends?”

She nodded, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips, “They don’t deserve to be kept locked up in that station...not only that, but you know as well as I do that they’re the only ones other than us that can fight.”

“How many of them?” Jyren asked, his eyes turning back to watch the two Tam’day’u disappearing into the palace.

“All of them,” Shadow responded quietly. When Jyren tried to figure this out, she immediately picked it up through the link and added, “About twenty five.”

Jyren nodded, but it made his head spin and so he nearly fell over again. Shadow quickly caught him a second time, this time helping him to rest his head on her shoulder. She started to idly scratch his ear while they sat there, but eventually Jyren mumbled, “How long was I out...?”

“Its almost been an hour,” she said softly.

Jyren nearly jerked up at that...of course, he couldn’t without passing out again, so instead his eyes darted up Shadow’s neck and to her eyes as best he could, “Ket.”

“Has not left the planet,” Shadow said a little too quickly. When this brought a confused feeling to Jyren, she sighed quietly and decided he was going to need to be updated on everything, “The Tam’day’u are clearing the Palace of those droids. They’ve been at it since we set down and they’re about a fourth of the way through the whole pace. The fleet of ships is still up in orbit, so Ket hasn’t left yet. No more transports have come down yet, but we’re expecting it to happen soon.”

Instinctively, Jyren nodded into her shoulder as she talked. When he found a break to cut in, though, he did, “He doesn’t care about the Palace...he did all this to separate us and kill me.”

“I know,” Shadow said with a nod, then tilted her head to glance down at him, “And he nearly did. But Ket isn’t just going to run. He’ll try again...and its no doubt there are hundreds more droids up there waiting.”

“Then we should go up and get him before he attacks again,” Jyren grumbled.

“That was my plan,” the words almost shocked Jyren into unconsciousness again. Shadow picked up on this and grinned, tapping his ear gently, “Why do you think I’m here waiting on you and not in the Palace?”

He nodded at that. It did make sense. Which brought up the next comment, “There are fighters up there...we should take the X-Wing since Loki doesn’t have any weapons.”

At that, there was a pause and the air itself seemed to hold still. It was only broken by the slightest of nods from Shadow, one that Jyren only noticed from feeling her chin touch his forehead gently. The feeling that rushed through the link suddenly worried Jyren as much as Shadow was, and he asked very quietly, “How is Loki...?”

Shadow took a deep, somewhat shaky breath before shaking her head and whispering, “I...I don’t know.”

Slowly, Jyren sat up and rested his hands on her shoulders while looking into her eyes, “What do you mean?”

Shadow’s eyes looked down at the ground, “He was...unconscious when I found him. I didn’t try to wake him up because he is...hurt badly. It was a miracle I could manually fly him in the first place...his wiring and neutral network have been tampered with and I don’t know how to fix it.”

Jyren bit his lower lip, “Someone does though, right?”

She nodded.

“Then he’ll be alright,” Jyren said, this time pulling Shadow into a hug. It was her turn to lay her head on his shoulder. But in the short moment of silence, another important question darted into Jyren’s mind. After spending some time working out how to go on with it, he just asked, “Nine...?”

Shadow just nodded again. But it was slow, and again Jyren knew something else was wrong. It didn’t take a genius to get to the next question.

“...Kyren?”

When Shadow seemed to freeze up, Jyren had his answer. He did his best to hold her close and to comfort her, but knew there wasn’t much he could do...and that he wasn’t all that good at it in the first place. So Kyren was dead. Jyren didn’t have to link the other Alraxian to realize how hard this hit Shadow. And it angered him. Yet another thing that Ket had done to harm Shadow. And Jyren was getting tired of it.

Ket was going to pay for all he’d done, and he was going to pay with his life.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 256: Our Own Private Hangar

It had taken a long time for Jyren and Shadow to finally leave and head for the X-Wing. It had taken even longer to reach the starfighter, which was about five levels up and still in an area where the Tam’day’u were fighting the war droids. Thankfully, the ship looked to have been left alone. The only scorch marks and scratches were ones that Jyren already recognized. The starfighter had sure taken a beating since it came into his possession. Yes, he knew it was stolen, but didn’t particularly like thinking of it as anything but a theft of necessity.

As they both climbed into their respective seats and the canopy on the X-Wing lowered, Jyren looked over his shoulder and asked an important question, “You’re sure Ket is up there?”

“No,” Shadow said flatly, shifting around in the seat to find a good position where her tail wasn’t crushed and her head wasn’t hitting the top of the canopy. This thing really wasn’t designed for their body shape or height.

“No?” Jyren raised an eyebrow, but still went on warming up the engines anyway.

“No,” she repeated in the exact same tone, but then added, “But he’s no fool, and won’t just run off somewhere else on the planet. And he isn’t back at the Palace.”

Nodding slowly, Jyren began to bring the starfighter up and off of the flower-like landing pad, “So, yet again, we’re probably walking into a trap?”

“As usual,” Shadow said with a nod of her own. Because of his height over the back of the seat, she could still see his nodding...and she knew he could at least feel her’s through the link.

In another few moments, the X-Wing was flying up through Alraxia’s atmosphere, with Jyren simply heading up into orbit in a random place as he had no real idea where they were going at this point. Not that Shadow did either, but she was working on it while he was doing the flying. It was the best thing she could do to keep her mind off of everything else.

“There’s a group of ships not far ahead of us,” Jyren said, breaking the silence as he looked over the sensor readings. After a moment, he added, “And a smaller group heading our direction. I think he wants us dead anyway he can get it.”

“You fly, I’ll figure out where he is,” Shadow said out loud, even though she knew she shouldn’t have to. It was the unstated plan they were already going with, but sometimes it seemed like she just needed to say things out loud for them to get through Jyren’s head.

Taking note of the sensors again, Jyren reached over and powered up the shields while at the same time opening up the S-Foils, “This may get rough.”

“Just fly,” Shadow almost growled, no longer really caring what he did as long as he kept them alive. Her eyes then closed to eliminate the distractions that were about to appear, and she immediately reached out with the Force to find Ket. If he was here, it would be easy to find him.

Jyren, on the other hand, kept his eyes open. It was a good thing to do when flying, especially when someone was about to start shooting. Another second after that thought raced through his mind, the sickening green coloured blasts of energy shot out from ahead and straight to the starfighter. The X-Wing immediately rolled away before arcing back and letting loose a long stream of red laser fire.

There was a brief flash before Jyren manage to weave the X-Wing straight through the formation of four...five...six?! Yes, it was about six of those fighters, five of which were now wrapping around to pursue, the sixth just drifting off on its original course. At least one of them took a hit.

As Jyren pressed the X-Wing faster and doubled the shields on the rear of the fighter, he could now get a good sight of the fleet of starships in orbit. A large number of them were heading down towards the planet, too. Transports. But still more were staying up in orbit...all of which in odd pincer like shapes that were completely alien to anything Jyren was used to seeing, “Shadow...?”

“I’m working on it!” she suddenly snapped back before he’d even finished saying her name.

“Please work faster,” Jyren mumbled, even though he knew she could still hear him. As he continued the haphazard and zig-zag flight to avoid the pursuing fighters’ attacks, Jyren couldn’t help but have the bad feeling that those larger ships also had weapons. That would definitely be a bad thing. He didn’t even consider the possibility of shields at this point.

But at least the fighters that were shooting at them weren’t good shots. They didn’t seem to be very good at predicting Jyren’s movements, and so he didn’t have too much trouble keeping out of the way(while, of course, taking some help from the Force). But it wasn’t their accuracy Jyren was worried about. There were enough of them that they could just fire in enough direction that, eventually, he’d have no where to move to without taking at least one hit. And while the X-Wing could take one, he wasn’t about to risk it if he didn’t have to.

And then, as the larger ships began to grow even larger in the viewport, Jyren came to terms with the simple fact that everything he did was some kind of cruel joke in the Force’s mind...or whatever it had, but it had to think to continually pull such cruel tricks. Green lances of...similar whatever that was began to spout up from the large ships. Though most of them were closer to the size of Corellian Corvettes, they seemed to have as many guns as a Star Destroyer.

In a second, the black of space was alight with a wave of green. Jyren’s first reaction was to even out the shields...probably useless but it made him feel better. His second reaction was an immediate change of course. Instead of heading straight for the center of the group, he decided that he might as well at least use the ships for cover as best he could. So, rather abruptly, the X-Wing cut down into a vertical dive. Even Jyren was amazed that the fighter was capable of such a maneuver. Clearly the pursuing fighters weren’t, as most of them overshot the X-Wing before trying to wrap around...though at least two were caught in the insanely huge barrage of fire from the larger cruisers.

The dive was taking them to a point that would be right next to the nearest of the ships, which now was definitely like a giant, flying claw. Its weapons were slowly following down, but thankfully they were slower than the speed of the X-Wing. But as he got closer to the starship, other nearby cruisers began to open fire, causing Alraxia’s orbit to look more like a crisscross of green lines than anything else. Somehow, Jyren navigated through it, finding the larger holes and getting as close as he could to the nearest of the ships.

When he was probably just a few meters off, Jyren pulled up and skimmed over the cruiser’s hull. It had stopped firing, at least...as had the others. So they weren’t dumb enough to shoot on the larger ships. He wove the X-Wing around some larger tower-like structures and things that were vaguely familiar but still altogether alien in design, before coming to the conclusion that he could not simply skim the surface of this for cover forever. Sooner or later, they’d find a way to take the little X-Wing down. So, more urgently, he said over his shoulder, “Shadow...”

She didn’t respond this time. Or rather, her response was delayed. When Jyren had decided to head for one of the even larger ships that wasn’t too far off, and had made a run for it, the three cruisers around him reopened their barrage of fire...as did the ship he was heading for. And then, right on cue, Shadow said, “Go back! He’s on the one you just passed!”

Typical. If Jyren had ever done something like that to Shadow, it would have been an offense worthy of death. The only good thing was that the X-Wing was extremely maneuverable and wasn’t having too much trouble avoiding the weapon’s fire. And the pursuing fighters seemed to have backed off.

“Is there a hangar or something?!” Jyren asked quickly as one shot came a little too close, skimming the aft shields as the X-Wing spun around and nearly breaking through completely.

“I don’t know,” Shadow admitted, now with her eyes open and completely aware of the insanity around them. She was holding on again.

“Fine, we make our own,” Jyren growled, now outright angry at every single one of these energy blasts. The ship they were heading for(for the second time) had stopped firing again, likely because the X-Wing was in too close. That was one good thing, “Arm a torpedo and fire it somewhere at the hull.”

Shadow nodded, not having to ask anything as it had been half her idea which he’d simply pulled through the link. Carefully, she reached over and took the stick that was in front of her. At least it didn’t control the ship right now. It didn’t take too long to remember how to arm the weapons, and in a second she was ready. When that happened, she didn’t need to ask when to fire. She knew the answer as well as Jyren did.

And in a second, the whole X-Wing shuddered as a bright blue proton torpedo rocketed away. Jyren made a mental note that there were only about two left now. It was also becoming easier to weave away from the other ships’ firing as less guns were able to come to bear on them now. Then there was a bright flash.

Normally, at the speed they were going and considering how hard it was to see, pulling up and out of the way would have been the wise choice. But Jyren wasn’t about to push his luck and put them in range of all the weapons again. So, instead, he pushed his luck and squeezed the trigger on the quad cannons for good measure, firing into the still burry place where the torpedo had hit.

And then he could see it. Just a few hundred meters away and there was a huge gap in the cruiser’s hull...large enough for the X-Wing to get in and probably just barely deep enough. As quickly as he could, Jyren closed the S-Foils and cut as much power from the engines as he could to slow them down. He even put the landing gears out for good measure...but stopping to enter carefully wasn’t an option, and so they continued in at a speed that was definitely too fast.

No one said ‘hang on.’ It wasn’t necessary. It was an obvious fact that it was time to hang on. And then in a shatter and a crash, they ‘landed’ in the makeshift docking bay.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 257: Contagions

“I really should have thought this one through,” Jyren grumbled as he rubbed his forehead. The landing had been rough, but the ship itself was still intact and Jyren figured his head would eventually stop spinning from the mild concussion. Shadow had been intelligent enough to brace herself, and so didn’t hit her head on anything. But, then again, the canopy didn’t curve down in front of her. He was nearly to the point of never flying the X-Wing unless he was morphed Human just so he didn’t have to deal with tail and height issues.

“Yes, you should have,” Shadow agreed with a nod, looking around them in the stark, empty grey area that looked like some kind of cargo hold. There was a large door(about Mrrakesh height, so well over three meters high) on the other side from where the X-Wing was sitting...but that was currently the problem.

“Most ships have safety systems that seal off hull breaches,” Jyren was now growling under his breath, angry at the starship they’d now crashed into more than anything.

Shadow sighed and rolled her eyes, finally giving in and reaching over to flick his ear, hoping the next thing would get through, “Most ships do. But this is a Mrrakesh ship. They aren’t accustom to taking damage.”

It was annoying, but true. Jyren had been running on the assumption that they’d have the chance to get in before some emergency system cut in and sealed the breach. But no, instead behind them was the emptiness of space, and at least one of the large, pincer shaped cruisers could still be seen. Jyren sighed in return, “I don’t suppose there’s any kind of energy shield?”

“I doubt it,” Shadow’s words were calm, flat, and in that tone she used when she was already busy working out a solution and was simply responding to Jyren so that he would eventually shut up. She found it was amazingly easy to deal with both Jyren and Tobias this way because eventually, they both got bored with her patronizing.

Jyren didn’t get annoyed, but instead caught on, “You’ve got an idea?”

“The Force is a powerful ally,” she said succinctly, and it was enough that Jyren started thinking along the same lines she was already working on.

And as he did so, his head naturally began to shake in disagreement, “Even I’m not that crazy.”

“So you’d like to fly out and try this again?” Shadow snapped back immediately. The suddenness of it surprised him into going quiet again.

Well, quiet for about a minute. Then, “Its still crazy.”

“No more so than anything you’ve dragged me into before.”

A pause. A long pause. Then, Jyren raised a hand in defeat, “Good point...though usually I make sure we are still capable of breathing.”

Shadow gave the back of Jyren’s head a look as if she was staring at a complete idiot. Sometimes, she wondered, “And you seem to think I’m not planning on that...?”

Jyren couldn’t come up with a witty response to that. It was probably a good thing, but it annoyed him anyway to lose so quickly. Sitting back and undoing the restraints, Shadow nodded to herself, “Though don’t think I won’t strangle you after we’re out of this.”

“I’m very glad you’re so optimistic,” he said with a sigh, eventually following suit and undoing his own restraints. It wasn’t like they did much good when he was this tall anyway. After they were out of the way, he glanced over his shoulder to her, “What do I need to do?”

“Open the canopy and go for that door as quickly as you can,” Shadow said, stretching very slightly and getting ready. When she caught him reaching for the switch, she immediately gave him a good smack across the back of the head, “Not now!”

Grumbling something under his breath, Jyren stopped and waited. Through the link, he could feel Shadow drawing the Force around them and focusing. Readying herself...preparing. It took five minutes. Five long, silent minutes. And then, finally, Shadow sent a signal through the link, forgetting the fact that he usually noticed speech much quicker. But this time, he did pick up on it.

When Jyren hit the switch that raised the canopy, he naturally expected the rush of air that always accompanied rapid decompression. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d encountered it...but it would be the first without any kind of breather or face mask. He couldn’t help but wonder if it would feel different. But it wasn’t there. The canopy raised a good amount and there was no change.

Not that Jyren wasn’t holding his breath, of course.

Survival instinct kicked in a half second later and he immediately realized that Shadow had already pushed off and was heading to the door. Jyren followed as quickly as he could, trying to stay close...especially since he didn’t know exactly how far the small bubble in the Force that Shadow was projecting went.

When they hit the door and latched on with claws, there was no sound. It was worrying, but Shadow quickly pointed out through the link that their eyes hadn’t exploded so there was still pressure around them. At least some...Jyren was starting to feel a little lightheaded. He wasn’t alone in that, and Shadow hit the switch to open the door.

It didn’t open. Damn! Typical that there was an emergency lock on it! The thought of using a lightsaber to cut through it came to Jyren’s mind first, but Shadow shot that down before he’d even finished thinking it through. They needed to get in there without leaving a whole to decompress yet another part of the ship. She couldn’t hold the quickly dissipating air around them forever. Another idea came to both of their minds at the same time. Claws still out, both of them dug them in deeply to one side of the door, hoping it was the right side.

With all of their strength, they pulled. As they put more and more strength into pulling on the door, Jyren noticed that the ‘air’ around them was becoming lighter much quicker than before. He called upon the Force himself, but instead of assisting Shadow he used it to strengthen his own body so that he could pull even harder. Jyren didn’t know that the reason the air was fading out quicker was because Shadow was also doing the same thing.

There was a snap...one that they couldn’t hear, but definitely felt as a jolt that shuddered the door. Neither of them let up, and a crack soon appeared between the door and the wall. Red alarm lights could be seen blinking then, but they both ignored them to pull on the door with every shred of strength they could manage. It moved more, pushing against them as the computer systems tried to seal off the now-decompressing corridor. But it was still being pulled, and when Jyren saw there was enough room, he shoved Shadow through a little too roughly. Of course, she reacted by grabbed his arm and yanking him in after her.

This meant that both of them had let go of the door, which immediately slammed shut in a loud, echoing clank. Alarms could be heard now, with a soft red-orange colour blinking on lights that dotted the corridor. And the two Alraxians lay on the floor, face down and breathing hard. Shadow was actually starting to laugh. In a moment, after making sure he hadn’t lost a foot to the door, Jyren followed suit and embraced her tightly. He didn’t say anything, just glad to be able to hear her breathing openly, and also distantly amazed at how quickly the corridor had re-pressurized.

After they’d both stopped breathing so heavily, Shadow slowly stopping laughing and kissed him gently, “See? You’re a bad influence...that stupidity of your’s is contagious.”

Jyren laughed again as the two of them shakily got to their feet, “So does this mean you’re going to stop? I think you’ve better at it than I am.”

“I’m better at everything than you are,” she said with a grin, sticking out her tongue before pivoting around to head down the corridor, “Now let’s go find Ket.”

“He’ll be in the big room with a giant window open to space so that he can show off,” Jyren added as he fell into step with her. It was amazing how getting out of a near death situation put them in such good moods.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 258: Three Swords

The corridors of the ship were unlike anything Jyren had encountered before. He had gotten so used to the creamy white...life of the Alraxian buildings that any kind of metallic surface looked odd, but this...this was different in a way that he couldn’t pinpoint. The walls were all in a greyish colour, with small, dim lights dispersed every couple of meters at mid-height on the wall. The ceilings were a good four meters up, and even as tall as Jyren and Shadow were as full grown Alraxians, it was intimidating to look up so much farther.

Perhaps what was bothering Jyren the most was how much it reminded him of an Imperial cruiser. Stark, empty walls that looked more like the walls of a prison cell than anything else. And there was no sense of life at all...empty and dead. After getting used to feeling the ships, buildings, or whatever it was being so literally alive, it was hard to step into something that wasn’t. The only reason the X-Wing didn’t bother him is because he knew what to expect...but this ship was familiar and yet altogether alien.

At least Shadow seemed to know where she was going.

“Are you alright?” Jyren asked after they’d followed the corridors for a long while. She’d gone silent, falling inward in the way she usually did when something was bothering her.

Thankfully, she didn’t try to lie, and just shook her head before saying quietly, “No, I’m not.”

“Going to say anything else?” he asked, picking up the pace a little so that he was walking more beside her than a step behind.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Shadow answered bluntly. There was a short pause, then she picked up on his mental pushing and she sighed, “That could be me, you know.”

“We’ve been over this one before,” Jyren answer slowly, having figured that this problem had already been solved. It was proof that he didn’t really know Shadow as well as he sometimes thought he did.

Shadow sighed and stopped before turning to look at him with a blank expression on her face, “That doesn’t make it go away. Ket is...is just doing what he thinks is the right thing to do. They...we took him from his family, his life, and turned him into a killing device in a time where we claim to be peaceful. He has every right to want revenge.”

Jyren stared at her, obviously shocked at the implications in her words. It took him a few seconds to gather his thoughts into coherent words before finally saying, “He doesn’t have the right to kill innocent people. He doesn’t have any right to charge in here with an army and try to exterminate an entire species.”

At this, she said nothing in response. Thoughts ran through her head at a such a speed that Jyren couldn’t pick up on them at all. It was all a blur to him...and, in fact, to her. Then one thing came to the surface and Jyren caught it right away. He reached over and put a hand on her shoulder, “You are not like him. You may have been before...but you aren’t anymore. Don’t even start with that. If Ket is so right in what he does, why is he fighting this alone? What about the rest of the...what about the rest of you? He wasn’t alone.”

Shadow nodded slowly, but couldn’t help but catch Jyren’s rewording. But he was right, and she knew it. She’d known it the whole time, of course. But the thought still lingered in the back of her mind...that ingrained need for revenge that seemed to sit in the mind of every sentient species. After a deep breath, she nodded again and turned to continue leading the way.

They fell into silence again, mentally preparing for whatever it was that they were going to encounter, while still staying as alert as possible for any possible ambush. But none came. The ship was like a derelict...empty but for the two of them and a third beacon, glowing in the Force. Ket was strong...more so than he had demonstrated before. Jyren half hoped that it was just an illusion, but he knew better than that. With Shadow here, Ket would have to be at his best. This wasn’t a game anymore.

Two rides up on something that resembled a turbolift and they were up on what Shadow noted was probably some kind of observation level. There was only a single corridor leading to a door about ten meters down. So they followed it, and it was Jyren’s turn to hit the switch. The door opened with a hiss and a clank, revealing a very large, open room with a gigantic viewport that stretched across the entire circular shaped point at the opposite end. Along parts of the viewport were panels that glowed, most of them looked similar to star charts. More than an observation level, though...there looked to be other kinds of controls and systems being monitored. And, of course, standing at the opposite end and staring right across the room at them, was Ket Halpak.

His black hair faded into the view of space outside, but his tanned skin and bright green eyes could be seen very easily even from the distance Shadow and Jyren were at. Shadow stepped in first, walking across the floor until they were only about twenty meters from Ket. Jyren followed, glancing around and noting just how empty the place was.

“I hope you had a good landing,” Ket said, idly flicking his stub of a tail.

Neither of them responded to that. When a few seconds of silence went by, Shadow spoke in a stern, strong voice that sounded hauntingly similar to that of her mother’s, “You are alone in this now, Ket. Nine is dead, and you know as well as I do that the Mrrakesh will take the first chance they have to turn on you.”

It was the required offer of mercy that everyone gave in such a situation...but Shadow was not the kind of directly state it. Ket wasn’t a fool, though, and knew exactly what she meant. He shook his head and took a few casual steps forward, “You say that as if you believe I am not already prepared for that.”

Ket stopped only five meters in front of them, his arms casually behind his back. Shadow took the chance she had and started a slow walk around him, motioning out to the stars and the ships that could be seen through the viewport as a diversion, “The ships are of Mrrakesh design. They knew them better than you do.”

Ket did not say anything this time, but simply watched her as she stepped around so that she was now directly opposite Jyren...with Ket in the middle. But Ket simply smiled, obviously taking some kind of amusement from the situation, as he turned his back on Jyren to look to Shadow, “Marix, you know I am no fool. And I believe it is your turn to answer some things...in fact, I have but one question. Do you really think that you accomplish anything by killing me?” his hand waved out to the ships in a motion identical to Shadow’s, “You think those droids are linked to me?! Even if you kill me, they will not just stop! And the Mrrakesh will still come!”

“We will stop them,” Jyren cut in finally.

A short laugh escaped Ket as he glanced over his shoulder to Jyren. But then he turned back to Shadow, “Arrogance does befit an Alraxian. He has learned well,” Ket then trailed off and let out a sigh, “But this is wasting all of our time. I believe it is time to end this little game between us once and for all.”

His hand shot out to the left, and a metallic blade detached itself from the wall and launched itself into Ket’s grip. Jyren reached instinctively, detaching his lightsaber from his belt and activating it with the usual snap-hiss in one swift motion. Shadow bent down in a readied stance, but then something caught Jyren’s attention.

[Catch!] he sent through the link before taking one hand off of his lightsaber and getting the other one off of his belt. With some help from the Force, he tossed the hilt of the lightsaber over Ket, and it was caught by Shadow and activated as if she was an expert.

Ket smiled, looked back to Jyren and then to Shadow...and then the two Alraxians charged in, lightsabers ablaze.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 259: Together as One

There was an energy in the observation chamber (Or maybe it was the main bridge...) of the ship that neither Shadow nor Jyren had ever felt before. It was not the first time the two of them had fought together, and, hopefully, it wouldn’t be the last. But something about the situation was just so much different than anything else they had experienced. The only thing close to it that Jyren could find was back on Nar Shadaa...killing Voort. But Shadow hadn’t been involved in that at all. And Ket was not Titus Voort...Ket had never been someone that Jyren had ever trusted his life to, and truthfully, neither had Shadow.

Through the link and through the Force, Shadow and Jyren coordinated every step and every motion. Jyren went in first, lightsaber raised high and slashing down at Ket’s head. Ket pivoted back and out of the way, turning his back to Jyren again and bringing his blade around to deflect a strike from Shadow meant to skewer him. Quickly, Ket released a hand from his sword and lashed out with a swipe at Shadow, which she ducked under just before twisting out of the way of a vicious stab from Ket’s sword.

But with a blinding and amazing speed, the sword pulled back and wrapped around to parry a swing from Jyren that was aimed at Ket’s side. And again, Ket’s free hand was moving, this time to parry Shadow’s wrist, forcing back her swing of her violet coloured blade just long enough for Ket to spin around and slice at her neck. With a warning screaming at her through both the Force and the link, Shadow twisted her arm around to invert her lightsaber and bring the blade in position to catch Ket’s strike at the last second.

Jyren attempted to take advantage of Ket’s focus on Shadow(again), but before he was able to get anywhere near an attack, the other Alraxian’s leg lashed out and a foot caught Jyren dead center in the chest. It hit him hard enough that it sent Jyren onto his tail. There was a crack, a yelp, and a surge of surprise through the link that caused Shadow to lose concentration for a half second. Her strength holding back Ket’s blade wavered, and when his blade once again began pushing to her neck(now forcing her lightsaber down first), she decided a change in tactics was necessary.

Thumbing the deactivation switch on her lightsaber, Ket’s blade no longer had any resistance, and so arced in like a lightning bolt to Shadow’s neck. But she wasn’t standing still. Using the Force to speed up her reflexes even more, Shadow dropped to the deck plates, sending Ket’s sword over her head and only taking some of her hair instead of her entire head. But it didn’t only cut hairs...the force with which Ket was using was released so quickly that the swing went too far and the blade dug into the nearby wall, showering everything nearby in sparks.

An alarm went off in both the room and in Ket’s mind as he attempted to yank the blade out of the wall. Not hesitating, he instead let go of the sword’s hilt and spun back from it, leaving nothing but the wall to take Jyren’s lightsaber swing. More sparks flew, and at least two loud pops caught all of their attention(at a subconscious level, at least). But Jyren was still going. He swung his lightsaber at Ket’s head, but instead of ducking under it as Jyren was prepared for, Ket took full advantage of the high ceiling and leapt over. He landed behind Jyren, facing the other direction and right in front of his sword again.

Withdrawing the metal blade from the wall, Ket twisted around and swung the weapon down at Jyren’s undefended back. But a violet lightsaber blade got between them. Shadow held his sword there for a moment before forcing Ket’s sword back and then giving him a good kick to the stomach. Ket stumbled back just long enough for Jyren to pull around and stand next to Shadow.

There was a pause in the fighting, then. Ket took a couple steps back and eyed the two of them, his now-chipped metal sword held up in front of him. Jyren and Shadow held similar stances, different coloured lightsabers bathing the both of them in multicoloured light. And then there was another loud pop from the wall that now had a metal gash and a lightsaber burn in it. The pop turned into a crack, then there was a bright flash. All three reacted by stepping back from the blinding light and shielding their faces.

When the flash had faded...so had the lights in the room, though a couple of the viewport-consoles were still active and provided a soft glow next to them. The violet and blue-green lightsabers were the only real source of light anymore, and it provided an odd mix when the two colours clashed. Thankfully, Ket was just as easy to spot thanks to how his metal sword caught the light from the two lightsabers.

The break in the fight ended just as abruptly and randomly as it had came into life. A sizzling sound from the destroyed wall panel echoed at the same time Ket’s two strong footsteps did. Jyren parried the quick strike at his torso, batting Ket’s blade out of the way and off to the side to leave the Alraxian’s torso wide open. For Ket, though, that seemed to mean very little. Shadow swung her own blade in to the open target, attempting to cut Ket from right shoulder to left hip. But despite the odd position of his arm, Ket sidestepped the strike and then spun around to Shadow’s opposite side, a free hand lashing out at her face.

Shadow didn’t have time to react, and there was a loud crack when Ket’s fist impacted with her face. A foot fell back to stop herself from losing any ground, now working with Jyren and attempting to pin Ket against the wall. Limit his movement and he wouldn’t be able to keep up his defense for much longer. Jyren felt this through the link and quickly repositioned himself to try to box Ket in, at the same time swinging in at Ket’s knee to distract him.

Ket’s attention was on Shadow’s violet blade, though, and brought his sword up to parry her swing at his upper body. He simply pulled up his leg to dodge Jyren’s swing, then twisted to the side(and back close enough to the wall that he wouldn’t be able to do that again) so that Jyren’s upswing also caught only the empty air. And so they tried it again, this time switching so that Shadow provided the distraction on Ket’s opposite side...a predictable tactic, but something that could very well work. This time, though, Ket proved just how aware of his surroundings he really was. Instead of using the same defense he had before, he pulled the Force around him and then let it loose at the two others before their weapons got close.

The wave hit them hard, sending them back to the opposite side of the room and sliding into the wall. They were both up on their feet in a second, neither of them landing on their tails to cause the extra downtime. Ket had moved away from his position against the wall, but hadn’t charged into them either. A warning in the Force shot through both of their minds, but it was Shadow who’s reflexes were fast enough.

“Move!” she yelled without even realizing it, and jumped into Jyren to push him to the side. The door had been wrenched out of its place by the Force and Ket had sent it flying at them. Both of them felt the rush of air as it narrowly missed their feet, and before they were even on the ground Shadow was looking over to where Ket...wasn’t.

She pulled herself off of Jyren and then yanked him to his feet a little too roughly, “Come on!”

Jyren nodded without making one of his usual comments and followed her into the corridor where Ket was waiting...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 260: Close Quarter Brawl

He hadn’t run. It was at least a mild surprise to both Jyren and Shadow to find Ket still in the corridor, turned to face them and ready. Both of them had gotten far too used to having to chase their target down, or be forced to deal with some other distraction. But Ket was there, standing strong, tall, and ready. Shadow and Jyren had to stop themselves from running headlong into him, and planted their feet a to leave a few meters in front of them.

There was a silence in the corridor, with only the dual thrumming of the two lightsabers to provide any sound at all. Jyren wanted to say something. He felt like he should. But what could he say to Ket? This Alraxian had built an army for the sole purpose of wiping out his own species because of the actions of only a handful. There was nothing to say that could possibly stop Ket from his current course now. Jyren could feel that through his link with Shadow, who was also feeling the need to speak, but knew just how useless it would be.

Shadow and Jyren exchanged a short glance before they both came to the silent agreement that talking really wasn’t going to do any good. Even if it wasn’t the Jedi way...and even if it made Shadow feel like she was doing the same thing as Ket. They had no choice now. He had left them none...and here on this ship, there wasn’t going to be an easy escape as there had been back down on the planet. Ket was up here for a reason, and it was all too clear to the two of them just how finite this would really be...one way or another.

And then the short silence between the three of them came to an end. A rush of air could be felt suddenly, and Jyren reacted to hold his ground from what he had expected to be a push to throw him off of his feet. It wasn’t. But holding his ground still managed to resist for a short few seconds before he was pulled from his feet and straight at Ket.

Shadow reacted as quickly as she could, stepping in and swinging her lightsaber to bat Ket’s sword out of the way, which was poised to run Jyren through. Instead, he slammed into Ket full on, sending them both to the deck plates with a loud thud and a crack from Ket. A knee pushed Jyren up roughly, and then it snapped upwards to kick him off and over Ket. Jyren was flipped over before landing on his own back with a similar crack. But Ket was still on the ground and on his back.

Not foolish enough to let such an advantage slip away, Shadow brought her lightsaber around and thrust it down at her opponent’s torso. Ket rolled out of the way, but the blade went down fast enough that it burned a scorch mark across his right side. As he moved, a leg swept around to take Shadow’s feet out from under her. Having expected this, Shadow had no trouble in jumped over Ket’s leg, and as she came down she swung the lightsaber down to cleave Ket into two.

This time, his sword was pulled around to catch her violet coloured blade. There was an odd crack of lightsaber impacting with the metal(a sound that seemed altogether wrong), and then Ket lashed out with the Force, throwing Shadow back against the wall. She hit hard, and her head snapped back to slam into the wall and cause her vision to go blurry for the time it took her body to bounce off the wall and then hit the deck face first. And Ket was back up on his feet in the tightly cramped corridor, spinning around to kick Shadow while she was down.

But Jyren was up, now, too. He interjected his own foot in Ket’s way, parrying the kick as if his leg was a lightsaber. Jyren hadn’t thought that it would hurt his shin as much as it did, but he figured things could have been worse. Then, unsurprisingly, Ket swung his metal sword in a long, sweeping arc meant to remove Jyren’s head from the rest of his body. Jyren brought his lightsaber up to parry the strike, but his footing was off from getting in the way of Ket and when Ket’s sword hit his lightsaber, Jyren lost his balance and was thrown against the opposite wall.

It was his left shoulder the emitted the crack this time, and Jyren had only a short half second to remorph the ruined bone before being forced to duck under another similar attack. This time, the sword went over his head and dug into the wall almost up to its hilt. Ket quickly removed his hand from the sword and took a sudden step back when a violet blur slashed through where he had been, and then had to duck under another long arc from Shadow’s weapon.

Now with Jyren and Shadow in between Ket and his weapon, the two of them pressed their attack even stronger. But when Jyren took his first step in to swing his blade as Shadow attacked to where Ket would likely dodge, a heavy wave of the Force slammed into the both of them again. Jyren was thrown back a good ten meters, landing on his tail(yet again) and sliding another meter before he stopped and was able to get back up to his feet. Shadow, however, managed to hold her ground. A hint of a sharp-toothed grin could be seen on her otherwise neutral face as she thrust her lightsaber right for one of Ket’s hearts.

He twisted out of the way, and when Shadow then yanked her blade around to simply cut Ket’s chest, he ducked and then rolled to the other side while lashing out with a vicious fist to her gut. The hit caused Shadow to curl up just slightly, but it was enough for Ket to flip over her and rip his sword out of its place in the wall. Again, sparks exploded as it was wrenched out, but Ket ignored it as he spun around to use his momentum for another attack.

Shadow didn’t turn around, she didn’t have time. Instead, her arms were back and she used the Force to get her lightsaber into the right spot. She caught his metal sword above the small of her back and forced it up a few centimeters before a leg shot back and caught him in the knee. It wasn’t where she was aiming, but she was having enough difficulty holding the sword back in her position. But it had been enough. The kick forced Ket back a half step, and that was just enough Shadow needed to spin around and face him again. Over his shoulder, she could see Jyren running at Ket.

Knowing exactly what to do, Shadow swung her lightsaber low at Ket’s knees, forcing him to stay up when Jyren reached them. Ket blocked her swing with his sword, then lurched forward to avoid the horizontal slash from behind that came from Jyren. There was another splash of sparks and bright lights as Jyren’s lightsaber instead dug across the wall, cutting deeply across the metal. Two of the nearby lights flickered, but managed to remain on.

But now they had Ket flanked, and there was so little horizontal room in the corridor that it would be nearly impossible for him to defend himself from both sides. That was Jyren’s thinking, at least...Shadow knew better. The first series of strikes from the two of them were dodged and parried with an amazing flexibility and speed that could only come from an Alraxian...or some other creature capable of reshaping their physical form. Then, reaching behind him, Ket caught a strike from Jyren that was dangerously close to relieving him of his ears. At the same time, Ket spun to the side and kicked Shadow’s arms, which were pulling her blade around to attack his undefended midsection. Her blade went into the wall, deep into it, and instead of just sparks, there was an explosion.

Shadow managed to pull the blade out of the wall soon enough to retrieve the weapon before the burst of flames exploded outwards. She was thrown back, as were Ket and Jyren, and then the lights within about ten meters all cut out. A second alarm then kicked in to accent the red glow coming from the distant door to the bridge they had originally been in. It was amazing how much ground they’d covered.

But that wasn’t important. Shadow didn’t wait for the smoke to clear before charging through to see both Ket and Jyren on their feet, with Ket facing him and viciously striking again and again. Stopping a few meters away, Shadow reached out with the Force and, to the surprise of both of the males, yanked Ket in her direction. But she didn’t wait for him to reach her. Shadow took two quick steps forward and jumped up, bringing a knee into Ket’s torso when he spun around to face her. Now too close for their weapons to be of any use, Ket simply swung a clawed hand at Shadow’s face.

She caught it, twisting his hand around before throwing him back a half meter. When he landed, her lightsaber was swinging up at him, and Ket only had a short second to bring his own sword down to parry the strike. This time, when Ket caught Shadow’s eyes glance over his shoulder, he didn’t simply wait for Jyren to move in. A door next to Shadow lurched open suddenly, and Ket took the tiny second of surprise the sound had caused to roughly kick Shadow in before diving in after her.

The door closed in front of Jyren, and he couldn’t find any switch to open it. Cursing, he pointed his lightsaber and started to cut through it.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 261: Defense...Offense...Defense

With Jyren held back(not gone, Shadow had to continually kick her brain into not using that word), the entire situation changed. While Jyren relied on his lightsaber far more than any of his other talents, both Shadow and Ket had far different training ingrained in them. For the two of them, the weapons were simply methods of distracting their opponent, and rarely used for any actual attacks. And so their grips naturally shifted from the necessary two hands when dealing with Jyren’s way of fighting to a one handed, more open grip.

And things only got more dangerous. Shadow knew Jyren was alright, and doing his best to catch up, and so she forced herself to focus on the task at hand. The door had opened up to a much wider corridor, with no openings except the one they’d entered from and another a great distance on the opposite side of the room. But they were moving that direction.

Shadow quickly ducked under a swipe from Ket’s claws, spinning to the side to avoid the sweep of his sword that followed it barely a second later. Her own hand then lashed out for Ket’s face, but was blocked by a quickly moving forearm. Shadow reacted by taking a couple more steps back before parrying a sword strike at her side, batting the metal blade away before kicking at Ket’s torso.

This time, he wasn’t there to defend himself, and took her foot full on in the breastplate. There was a short snap of bone and he planted his feet to hold his ground before the wound was quite definitely remorphed. But it had provided at least a second, and it was a second that Shadow took advantage of, thrusting the point of her glowing lightsaber at his midsection.

Ket sidestepped being skewered(not that it would have killed him), and instead was cut across the side. A long burn mark appeared for a half second before being immediately healed, and there was no recognition of pain crossing Ket’s face. Using his momentum, Ket swung around and kicked at Shadow’s face. Instinctively, Shadow ducked, but then let other instincts kick in when she got a quick idea.

Before his leg had gone completely over her head, Shadow’s free hand shot up and grabbed Ket’s ankle, reversing his momentum and throwing his leg back the direction it had come from. The shock of this sent Ket off of his feet, spinning so that when he hit the deck, he hit face first.

And then Shadow hesitated.

Despite the fact that he was face first on the deck with no way to defend himself for that tiny fraction of a second, Shadow did not act. It was an almost worrying proof to her of just how much she had changed. She should have lopped his head off and been done with all of this. But she didn’t. She waited. She waited, and Ket took the chance he was given to roll over and swipe at her feet to send her to the deck, too.

Thankfully, Shadow jumped back to avoid this, but the damage was already done, and her advantage was gone as quickly as it had come. As Ket quickly got back to his feet, Shadow growled over the link to Jyren. [You’re a bad influence.]

There was a response, but Shadow didn’t hear it. She was too busy jumping back onto the defensive, losing ground with every strike she ducked under or parried. Each time, she stepped back. Catching Ket’s fist with her free hand, Shadow attempted to retake the initiative and push him back, knowing Jyren was close to breaking through the door. Her other hand spun the lightsaber around and she tried to thrust it straight though the arm she was holding.

Before her blade reached Ket’s arm, though, a heavy wall of the Force slammed into her. Shadow resisted the full brunt of the blow, but her arm was thrown back and she lost her grip on the lightsaber. The safety kicked in, and she heard the sharp hiss of the blade deactivating before the hilt bounced across the deck plates and hit the wall that was no longer very far behind her.

Ket smiled that cold smile he seemed to have developed in the last few years before forcing Shadow to release her grip on his fist by kicking her back roughly. She took another step back, and then the metal sword came slashing at her neck. Instinct taking over, Shadow ducked again, but Ket had been prepared for this and her face met with his knee.

Her nose made a noise that should not have been possible, but she ignored that and remorphed the broken bone as her head snapped back. But her awareness didn’t simply fade away with that. The Force screamed at her and Shadow pulled to the side to avoid a vertical slice from the sword. Now Ket was focusing on the blade again...

Shadow held a neutral expression as she blocked a kick meant to push her back another series of steps. Again, she sidestepped a swing of the sword, but this time purposefully stayed on the defensive despite the many openings Ket was leaving...though he likely knew they were there. She avoided another slash meant to cleave her into two before taking her last step back before reaching a wall. Or rather...a door. Part of her wanted to reached around for a switch and open it, but the rest of her realized this was exactly the right place to jump back on the offensive.

Ket thrust the metal blade at her chest with lightning speed, but Shadow did not move out of the way this time. Instead, her hand shot out and, with at least some help from the Force, she grabbed the metal sword. Everything froze. Ket looked from the hilt of his sword to the edge being held by Shadow...thick, blue coloured blood was leaking from the unseen palms of her hands onto the blade an the deck at their feet. His eyes then looked up to see there was a grin on her face.

“I believe you forgot that I do not fear metal,” Shadow said in the sarcastic tone she’d heard far too often from Jyren.

Ignoring her words, Ket lurched the blade free of her grip and then slashed across to remove her head from the rest of her body. Even if she could remorph metal, it would kill her. Again, Shadow did not move, but instead of catching the blade again her arm shot out and hit his wrist hard. So hard, in fact, that the swing was shot off in another direction, digging into the bulkhead neck to Shadow’s face. There was a flash, a shower of sparks, and then the door lurched open.

Shadow lost her balance and fell back through the door just as Jyren finished cutting through the one on the other end of the corridor.