Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 289: The Negotiations Were Short

Running a hand through newly brown hair, Jyren did his best to avoid the balance problems that came with no longer having a tail. Despite having no idea how exactly that worked in the first place, it always threw him off(and nearly to his face most of the time) after morphing. Idly, he refitted his belt and holster around a slightly smaller waist, now just wasting time waiting for Shadow. It was decided, for obvious reasons, that speaking with the two nicely dressed and probably administrative people who were waiting in the bay with all of the guards would best be done as humans. Generic, boring, quiet humans that could be easily forgotten when they were gone.

And yet he was still standing here staring at the closed hatch that led out to the hangar beyond...waiting on Shadow. Whatever she was doing, he had a feeling it was best not to ask. Loki was also keeping suspiciously silent, though Jyren couldn’t help but wonder if that had to do with the fact that Tobias was still drilling the poor ship with questions and trying to find ways to play with the giant ship. And for some odd reason, just standing around like this was making Jyren jumpy. For the third time, he reached down to check the blaster pistol at his hip.

Not that he planned to use the thing, but there was something to be said about walking straight into a hangar like this one with all of the armed security forces and proudly showing off the fact that you had a blaster on you and were, quite definitely, not afraid to use it despite the odds. Yes, they’d probably take it off of him, but that didn’t matter. Stretching again, Jyren couldn’t help but feel so much smaller. The ceiling of the corridors was a good meter and a half...no, more like two meters higher above his head than he’d gotten so used to. Not to mention that he was so used to looking through metallic blue hair that the more normal brown caused him to stare at it and try not to be confused.

A throat was cleared behind Jyren, and for a moment he was completely lost as to the source. But then the brain started working again and Jyren realized that the higher pitched sound was, in fact, simply a human Shadow. That took getting used to, too...maybe more than anything else. Turning around, he grinned to himself. At least he was still ta...tall...taller?...

When Jyren’s face went blank and his mouth left gaping, Shadow grinned. She looked much different than he did when morphing to a human body...perhaps that was because he’d actually been human, and there was some unconscious connection to looking like he’d always looked. But with Shadow, not only did she shrink down in size, but her hair changed completely to a much shorter mass of jet black hair that looked nothing like the Shadow anyone was used to seeing.

No...no it wasn’t the hair that caused that at this point.

This time, it was definitely...definitely...the...the..the...clothes. Yes. Yes, the clothes. Definitely the clothes. Yes, of course...not the...her...no! The clothes!

“Buh...um...” Jyren mumbled, then realized those weren’t words and that she was grinning even more. He forced his eyes up...no, up! Then, holding her gaze as best was possible when she was using The Look, searched out for real words, “Uh...buh...where the hell did that uh...uh...thing come from?”

Of course that only got the grin on Shadow’s face to grow bigger. She laughed and glanced down at what she’d changed into. Yes, one could have described it as revealing, but it wasn’t as much what was revealed as what was suggested. Figure hugging in just the right way and places. Looking back up at him, she tilted her head, “You have a problem with it?”

Again, Jyren’s mouth opened and non-words escaped. Eventually getting his eyes back up again(yes, up, dammit!), Jyren forced out other things that seemed to be more word-like, “I uh...no...! Just...um...you don’t...and...its not...where the hell did that come from?!”

At first, Shadow just stared. She had attempted to decipher the at least five different questions that had been buried in that, but only could make out the last one. She shifted slightly, now actually attempting to stop distracting him on purpose like that, and shrugged, “You probably don’t want to know.”

He was, of course, still staring, “Looks like...like something from a Twi’lek.”

That brought the grin back to Shadow’s face, “You do know that there are other tactics beyond charging in and showing off your blaster pistol.”

She had nodded to the weapon at his hip before sidling past to the hatch. While the clothes she wore were, in fact, designed for a Twi’lek, they were still dignified enough to garner her respect with whoever these administrators were. Just one little edge. And no, she wasn’t planning on telling the story on how she’d gotten a hold of it, but Shadow figured that if Jyren thought she didn’t have a morph as useful as a Twi’lek then he was really more of an idiot than she ever joked about.

“I’ll lead,” Shadow commented over her shoulder to him, “Jump in where you feel its necessary and keep an eye on everything. They’re either going to try to keep us for a long time in fear that we’re going to take our business elsewhere or make this extremely quick because we’re getting in the way.”

Jyren nodded, but she didn’t see it. Instead, she’d already hit the hatch and it irised open to reveal the soft grey colours of the hangar. The security forces all shifted to face them, but they didn’t actually raise any blasters. Jyren also noticed that the insignia’s on their shoulders weren’t New Republic, but Kuat Drive Yards Security...that was a very good relief. At the end of a makeshift path lined by the security force were two other humans, both definitely Kuati in their looks. Tall, strong lined features, slicked back, blonde colour hair, and a perfect stature. Though one was a woman and the other a man, it was disturbingly difficult to tell the difference.

Calmly, Shadow and Jyren walked across the deck to the two Kuati. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the relatively empty hangar, and when they reached two meters from them, Shadow and Jyren both stopped and(at a mental signal from Shadow), bowed. The Kuati followed suit, and then the woman said in a very diplomatic tone, “We are honoured by your presence. We were...beginning to wonder if this order would be checked on. It is rare that we work from start to finish without at least one meeting with at least a representative of our clients.”

Shadow nodded in the exact way that every diplomat Jyren had ever seen did, using a similar tone of voice, “I trust things are going well?”

“Very well,” the man said in a voice that was deeper than seemed possible for a man that was just about Jyren’s height and build, “However, you must understand that for such a large order, much time must be given. We are working as quickly as possible.”

It was very hidden in his tone, but Shadow immediately knew which kind of talk this was. These two didn’t like having their work interrupted. They were amazingly talented diplomats and were able to hide this displeasure as if with the Force, but Shadow was very, very skilled at reading people. It also meant, though, that it was unlikely they would see anything beyond this hangar.

So Shadow decided to make the best of it and nodded again, “Of course I understand. It would be helpful, though, if you could provide us with a short report on the progress. That way, you may return to your work and we can be on our way and stop wasting anymore of your time.”

The fact that this point was not argued proved the two were ready for this conversation to be over with already. When the woman pulled out a datapad and handed it to Shadow, that sealed the entire thing. Suddenly, Shadow was even more glad to have memorized that confirmation number. Just as she was thinking it, the Kuati woman said, “It is encrypted to protect the data, of course. We have used the encryption specified by your employer, so it should be no trouble for you to check the data.”

Another nod from Shadow. That had been a test. Any hesitation would likely have meant the two of them being gunned down. But Shadow was smarter than that, and now, as quickly as this all had begun, it was over. She bowed again(with Jyren quickly following suit), and allowed a simple smile, “Thank you for your time.”

And then, Shadow pivoted around and returned to Loki. Jyren was right at her side the entire time, and when they re-entered Loki and the hatch was closed, he let out a sigh, “Why do I have a feeling that was much more dangerous than it looked like at first?”

Shadow grinned and patted his shoulder, “Because you’re learning about more than rushing in and shooting things, dear.”

“Now we have to figure out how to break this encryption,” Jyren said, trying not to let his eyes drift too much again.

But Shadow just shook her head, “No. First, we get out of here. Then we’ll work on the datapad.”

There was then a silence as they headed to the cockpit to take Loki out. But the entire time it was being poked at by a strong feeling, both through the link an through the Force. When they’d sat down in their respective seats in the cockpit, Shadow gave Jyren the same Look as before and waited.

He grinned and shrugged, “Because we get through to the decryption, you’re telling me how you got those clothes. I know that’s going to be a good story.”

“Ooooh, so you do like them?” Shadow laughed and tossed the datapad over to him, “I’ll tell you the story only if you’re good. Hopefully you’ll actually listen and stop staring at me, though...” she trailed off a moment as Jyren went red, then decided to add one last attack, “Oh, and dear, please close your mouth before you choke on something.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 290: A Time to Think

Hyperspace again. One day, it was going to get tiring. Very, very tiring. At least Loki seemed to be enjoying himself and getting some exercise as it were.

Currently, they were on their way to no where in particular. It was safest to get out of the Core as quickly as possible, especially a planet like Kuat with so much traffic. But, for the moment at least, their destination was not at all important. What was important was dealing with decrypting the datapad...and considering that neither Shadow nor Jyren had any experience in such an activity, it was proving to be fairly interesting, to say the least.

The two of them lay on their stomachs on the large bed in their quarters with the datapad sitting on the bed between them. Thankfully, Shadow had changed...both her clothes, back to the morphsuit which, while it was form-fitting, wasn’t nearly as distracting as that other thing, and her physical form, which was now back to the usual Alraxian body. Jyren was also back to that, somehow glad to be back in what he was slowly coming to accept as ‘him’.

But they weren’t alone. Normally, the two of them wouldn’t have been literally shoulder to shoulder while actually trying to work as it was, admittedly, nearly as distracting as what Shadow had been wearing earlier. But there was an actual reason for this breech of normal working conditions...and the reason weighed enough that it was at least mildly annoying.

Tobias, bored to tears, had refused to allow them anymore time alone to work on what they felt was important. Of course, he had no problem with them ‘working’ as long as he was allowed to ‘help’. Currently, ‘help’ meant the little Alraxian was perched on each of their shoulders, leaning down between them to peer curiously at the datapad.

“We’ve been staring at it for over an hour, Shadow,” Jyren commented, having already gotten used to talking through Tobias’ head that was in the way of seeing her, “I still don’t know what to make of it.”

“That one looks like Loki!” Tobias exclaimed just a little too loudly, pointing at one of the odd symbols.

There was a silent moment as both Jyren and Shadow turned to look at each other(well, at either side of Toby’s skull), but it was Shadow who sighed and said in the perfect parent-like tone, “Yes, Toby, yes it does...” her voice then returned to normal, “And, Jyren, we’re not trying to decrypt it ourselves right now. Just see if you’ve seen anything like this before. Think, remember?”

Shadow heard a sigh from Jyren’s direction then a mumbled, “Oh. That again.”

“Yes, that,” Shadow said loudly enough to let Jyren know she’d heard him, “Look, we’re almost sure this trail will lead us to Jen, right?”

Tobias nodded.

That forced a break in Shadow’s train of reasoning for some odd reason, but she quickly managed to attempt to ignore that and went on, “If this takes us to Jen, then think about her. What encryptions would she know?”

Though that could have narrowed things down, it didn’t immediately settle things in Jyren’s mind, “Who says she encrypted it? The Kuati could have easily done it themselves.”

“Yes, well, that will just leave us within nothing,” Shadow grumbled, turning back to look at the series of symbols that meant nothing at all to her. Though Toby was right...that one down near the middle did kind of look like Loki...

“How does knowing who encrypted us do any good?” Jyren asked, breaking Shadow out of her attempts to make anything of the rest of the symbols.

Shadow rolled her eyes and decided he wasn’t going to figure it out, “Because if we know the source, Loki can probably figure out most of it. And no, we can’t just throw it at him and hope he can do it himself. He isn’t a computer.”

[I’m better.] Loki helped, and all three Alraxians couldn’t help but feel as if someone was looking over their shoulders...well, in Shadow and Jyren’s cases, their other shoulder.

And it went quiet again as they went back to the seemingly futile attempt of deciphering the mess in front of them. After another ten or so minutes, Jyren shrugged, which nearly threw Tobias off, and said, “She was with the New Republic for a while.”

“Then you know what it is!” Tobias said, bounding back up to his spot after nearly sliding away. Jyren looked passed the happy face of the little Alraxian to see Shadow giving him a flat, ‘I’m waiting’ look.

“No,” Jyren grumbled, “I don’t.”

“How many years were you with them?” Shadow asked over Tobias, who was making a sad face and obviously getting to the point where this was boring and he wanted to play.

Jyren sighed and tried not to move so as to throw Tobias farther off, “I didn’t work with any encryptions! I used them, sure, but I have no idea what they looked like! All I know was that they worked!”

Shadow did not reply. In fact, she didn’t move a single muscle, still holding the exact same expression and that almost disturbing gaze. This time, Jyren sighed louder and more dramatically, “Fine! That one that looks like Loki is a bit familiar!”

“There,” she smiled the devilish smile which reminded Jyren all too much of Toby and then looked up to the ceiling, “Time to get to work on this, Loki!”

As they got up(and Tobias moved to his usual position perched on Jyren’s shoulder) and headed to the cockpit to feed the data to Loki(or however it was done), Jyren couldn’t help but notice that something was off. Finally, he asked, “Loki could have done all that on his own, couldn’t he?”

[Of course I could have!] Loki snapped, suddenly letting out something similar to an annoyed sigh.

When Jyren’s accusing gaze fell on Shadow, she laughed and patted his back, “We’re not in a rush anymore and you still need to learn to use that thing you call a brain.”

“Oh, thank you,” Jyren grumbled. Of course, Tobias just laughed and poked the side of Jyren’s head a few times.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 291: Putting the Pieces Together

Barely ten minutes later, the three of them sat in their usual places in the cockpit. Shadow in the right, pilot’s chair, Jyren in the left, co-pilot’s chair, and Tobias bounding between them before finally settling in Jyren’s lap and watching the holoprojection of the galaxy curiously. Though the datapad hadn’t been able to be completely decrypted due to the mixing of multiple types of encryptions, they had gotten one critical piece of information from the line just above the Loki-shaped symbol that was quickly becoming infamous.

“So where again is the Ison Corridor?” Jyren asked, looking over the projection of the galaxy that sat between them.

Shadow reached over and pointed to a section near the lower left edge of the great swirl of stars, “Right around there. Smuggler route, mostly. It cuts straight into the Corellian Run and avoids the old Imperial outposts near the Sluis Van shipyards.”

“Anything of interest there?” he asked, noting that the holo zoomed in slightly to the section of stars Shadow had indicated. It didn’t make it any easier to pinpoint one from another, though.

“Bespin’s about midway through the route,” Shadow said, pointing to the general area of one of the faint stars, “Anoat’s nearby, too.”

Jyren ran that through his mind, trying to put together any memories. His knowledge was really of the Core, though he did have a faint idea of what else was all out there since his time as a mercenary. But he had heard of the Ison Corridor before. And there was something important about it that he just couldn’t pinpoint...

“How long was Jen with he New Republic?” he asked after a few minutes.

Shadow gave him a curious look and shrugged. There was also a movement in his lap and Jyren glanced down to see Toby doing the same thing. It was hard not to grin. But, thankfully, Shadow spoke up to distract him from Toby, “Not sure...why?”

Jyren’s eyes again went to the holoprojection, “Could she have been with them when they were just the Alliance?”

“A Rebel, you mean?” Shadow asked a little too quickly, and with almost a hint of contempt in her voice. It quickly went away and she was left with a slightly confused face for a half second before wiping that away, “Its possible. Again. Why?”

“Loki,” Jyren said upwards, “Where is the Hoth System?”

A small blue(of course it was blue, everything was blue with these Alraxians) dot appeared right near the lower end of the Corridor and close to where Anoat should be. [Right there.]

Silence.

It took only a moment before Shadow knew exactly what Jyren was thinking, and right away she folded her arms across her chest and shook her head, “No.”

“It makes sense,” he said slowly, and Toby ‘helped’ by nodding a few thousand times at Shadow as if he knew exactly what Jyren was talking about.

“I know it makes sense!” Shadow snapped back, “It makes perfect sense! But no, we’re not going!”

“Awwwwww...” that was Toby.

The sound got a sharp glare from Shadow, but Jyren ignored that and pointed to the little dot, “Shadow, we have to go. It’s the perfect place to hide from us.”

“Of course it is! Its bloody cold on that planet!” Shadow growled, though she sounded more accepting somehow, “It’ll kill us!”

“As Alraxians, maybe.”

“As Human, too!” her glare was now up at eye level with Jyren, “There’s a reason the smugglers that go there leave quickly!”

But before Jyren could attempt to argue back, Shadow threw up her hands and sighed, “Loki, get us to that damned system!” she then turned back to Jyren and grumbled, “Where’s the best place to hide from an Alraxian?”

“Cold place!!” Toby jumped up, hand waving in the air as he screamed the answer.

Shadow and Jyren exchanged a look, with Jyren trying not to grin again as he said, “Exactly, Toby. And how would Jen pick a cold place?”

Toby looked straight up to Jyren, “Uhhhh...I dunno?”

“Somewhere she’s been,” Shadow answered out loud, sounding actually helpful and slow enough to almost be trying to teach the little Alraxian something...but no, that wasn’t possible, “Somewhere out of the way.”

As Loki reoriented himself and got ready for yet another very long jump completely across the galaxy, the holoprojection of the galaxy faded away. Not that they needed it anymore. The annoying part to all of it wasn’t that it made so much sense and all connected perfectly, but that it felt right. Through the Force, both Shadow and Jyren knew that they were right about all of this. They had hoped otherwise.

But it all fit too well. The Sith poison that would drive a human to sheer rage...the last moments they saw Jen. The trail they’d followed across the galaxy...faint, yet most definitely there and left by someone who didn’t have much experience in covering their tracks. The use of an old New Republic encryption mixed in with what were probably Kuati codes. And then Hoth. An old Rebel base, abandoned for so long it was probably forgotten, and the perfect type of planet to hide from Alraxians...a species which would die rather quickly on planets that weren’t as warm and tropical as their own homeworld. Even their technology couldn’t protect them on a planet as icy and freezing as Hoth.

And far away, on the other side of the galaxy, someone waited.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 292: Orbital Tails

“Loki, what the hell is the difference?! Its cold in space, too!” Jyren yelled at the bulkhead at his left as he walked from the bedroom back up to the cockpit where Shadow was supposedly still at. Tobias was in tow again, but instead of being carried was scurrying around Jyren’s feet and just tempting fate to be stepped on. In fact, it seemed to have been some sort of game to avoid losing his tail to one of Jyren’s feet.

[It’s different.] Loki answered stubbornly. [There are different kinds of cold.]

Sighing, Jyren tried his best to hold back any more annoyance, “Isn’t space worse, though?! I mean, if you can stand that what’s a little ice and snow?”

[It’s different.] Loki repeated in the same tone.

For some reason, Jyren just decided to give up. At least there was the X-Wing...which was probably a good part of the reason Loki was refusing. Out loud, he grumbled, “You’re as bad as Shadow.”

“Who’s as bad as me?” Shadow’s voice echoed down the corridor, causing Jyren to realize just how close he’d gotten...and how good Alraxian ears were.

Suddenly, Tobias jumped up and out of his game, charging straight for the open access into the cockpit happily yelling, “Lokilokilokilokiloki!!!”

“By the Force!” Shadow screamed as Tobias disappeared from Jyren’s view and, from the feeling through the link, pounced her. The loud Tobias-like growls and laughs were also evidence of this...along with the curses, “Claws, dammit! No claws!!!”

Jyren arrived in the cockpit just in time to see Shadow pry the little Alraxian off of her and hold him away at arms length. Sliding into his usual seat, Jyren laughed, “Having trouble?”

Tobias growled playfully and Shadow simply shook him as he tried to dig claws into her wrists, “Stop that!!” immediately, though, her head spun around to glare at Jyren and in a second she threw Tobias at him, “You deal with it!”

Typically, Tobias laughed in mid air and then growled while half-extending claws just before landing. Though Jyren managed to catch him, he winced as the small claws found his wrists instead of Shadow’s. And, of course, Tobias laughed and ‘grrred’ a lot. Jyren gave the child the best stern look he could manage and grinded out, “No. Claws.”

Amazingly, it worked. Claws were retracted(which hurt, too, annoyingly enough), and Tobias stopped squirming so much. He did, though, put on the perfect sad, ‘pity me’ face immediately afterwards. Jyren was learning to ignore that one, though, and finally turned to look out the viewport. Though the usual blackness covered half of the view, one entire side was now encompassed by a great blue-white sphere. Carefully putting Toby down, Jyren said to Shadow, “Don’t tell me you’re going to be like Loki and stay up here.”

“Oh, I’d like to,” Shadow said with a half-grin and a shrug, “Loki’s obviously the smart one among us. But someone has to keep you from freezing.”

That got a grin on Jyren’s face...a slightly devious one, “Oh, really? Now this is sounding much more interesting than it was at first...”

Shadow just rolled her eyes, “Don’t get your hopes up. You know I meant that you’re likely to stand out there looking around and forget that your body is shutting down due to the cold.”

Jyren managed a weak shrug, “Can’t blame me from trying.”

“I can,” she answered flatly, “And I did.”

This was one thing that was already won. Sometimes, Jyren was smart enough to let things go and not fight a lost cause. This was, almost to Shadow’s surprise, one of those times. Instead, his mind went straight back to business and he said, “I don’t suppose you have a collection of heavy jackets and other warm clothes.”

“You know the answer to that one already,” Shadow said under her breath as Toby started to play a game of ‘Pounce the tail.’ It was very hard to resist the natural urge to flick one’s tail when it was swatted at, and Tobias was an expert on taking advantage of this and using it to drive Shadow mad. For the moment, at least, she was ignoring that her tail was flipping around and Toby was bounding left and right after it.

Jyren tried not to watch Toby and sighed, “I wasn’t sure. It would seem that with all the...the...other clothes you have, you’d have at least a few warm clothes.”

“I don’t need them,” Shadow nearly snapped at him, now getting annoyed with Toby, “I’m not stupid enough to go to freezing spheres of ice.”

Actually understanding this and having expected it anyway, Jyren nodded, “I’ve got at least one flight suit in the X-Wing’s cargo hold. Probably a spare in there, too.”

Shadow’s silvery-purple eyes narrowed, “Those things are as thin as our morphsuits.”

“But they’re airtight,” Jyren said quickly, “Can keep you alive in a vacuum for a good few hours. Internal heat and everything.”

“They’re...orange,” that was ground out now, as Tobias was becoming more persistent in his attacks and Shadow’s usual ability to ignore anything was quickly disappearing.

That raised an eyebrow on Jyren’s face, “Since when did you gain a fashion sense?”

Again, Shadow rolled her eyes, “You’re forgetting to use that brain again. Bright orange...white snow...its not exactly a great way to go unnoticed.”

“You’d rather freeze?”

“Of course not!” Shadow was now glaring turbolaser blasts at him, “But its still not—AHHH! TOBY!!!”

The child had finally caught her tail...with claws. He wasn’t a complete fool, however, and the second he had latched on was already letting go and scampering out of the cockpit and down the corridor at lightning speed. There was the hint of a giggle following him. For a short half second, Shadow looked ready to charge up and murder the small Alraxian, but that passed quickly.

It was replaced by a whimper as she held her tail and tried to ease the disturbing amount of pain those small claws could cause. This lasted for at least a five minutes before Jyren finally got up and put a hand on her shoulder, “Come on. Let’s get out of here before you recover enough to kill him.”

Shadow got to her feet and managed another glare in his direction, “Oh, I’ll kill him...doesn’t have to be now, of course. You’re so interested in freezing your tail off, we might as well get that over with.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 293: The Cold

“Hey, at least we won’t have to search for hours and hours and freeze, at least...right?” Jyren asked over his shoulder, attempting to comfort Shadow as best was possible. Of course, he was no better at comforting anyone than she was...and she was just as bad at receiving it.

“Oh, yes. Sounds wonderful,” Shadow growled at the back of the seat in front of her. In the cramped cockpit of the X-Wing, she was doing her best to keep her eyes right ahead on the black backing of Jyren’s seat...and not the endless white that was everywhere else. She was also slightly curled up, prepared for the cold and wrapped in at least four layers despite the fact that the X-Wing had its own heaters. Somewhere under the layers was even the spare, bright orange flight suit that had, in fact, been buried in the cargo compartment of the starfighter.

They were both human again. Not only was it something they were going to have to do anyway, as Alraxians would go into a state of shock and die fairly quickly in such intense cold, but the lack of tail also made the seats of the X-Wings much, much more bearable. Of course, it also meant Shadow was shorter and able to curl up and stay warm much easier. Jyren had never seen her so...so...however that was. Worried and panicky. Even overly dramatic...but that had all faded into her usual quiet self, now simply snapping at him and waiting for this all to be over with. Not that Jyren was liking this at all, but he didn’t have the anti-cold sentiments that were obviously instilled in all Alraxians from a young age...especially considering that even Toby was watching them worriedly before they left. The little child hadn’t even asked to go with them for once.

To get their minds off the cold(not that it would work, though), Jyren tried to bring up business again, “You still picking up that structure?”

There was a pause, then Shadow’s quiet voice said from behind him, “Fifteen kilometers north...very faint, though.”

“The ice an snow cover would do that, I expect,” Jyren babbled, not actually knowing if what he’d said was at all true. It was usually Shadow doing the babbling to attempt to keep Jyren’s mind off of things...but now with the roles reversed, he realized just how difficult it was to bring up useless, distracting chatter. Especially with Shadow.

But nothing else was said for a long while as the X-Wing careened over the endless ice plains of the planet. Any signs of a battle here, which would have been well over a decade earlier, were long since lost in the snow. But they were detecting something on the sensors very faintly. From the way it read, it was a likely some kind of large structure, though Loki hadn’t had any more luck and was also refusing to go anywhere closer than orbit around the planet. The fact that they’d picked up anything was a miracle on its own. Jyren had been expecting to have to sweep over the planet in the X-Wing for a very long day.

A half kilometer south of the sensor blip, Jyren dropped as many systems as he could and began to skim the snow to hide from any possible sensors. In another moment the sublight drives were off and the X-Wing was setting down behind a fairly large ‘dune’ of snow. As he powered down the remaining systems, Jyren made sure to keep the heating systems up and running until the last moment. He undid the straps that held him down and checked the flight suit. Bright orange...it’d been so long since he’d worn one of these. This one wasn’t his, though. It was simply a flight suit, and so was easier to put on without bringing back memories that might get in the way.

“Are you ready?” Jyren asked over his shoulder as he used some of the cloth from a now-ruined jacket to wrap around his head and, hopefully, keep his face relatively warm.

“‘s re’y ‘s ‘ll ev’r ‘e,” Shadow’s voice was muffled by a similar wrap around her face...except hers was three layers thick. This didn’t help that, as a human, her voice wasn’t exactly the loudest anyway, nor was it very forceful. In other situations, Jyren couldn’t help but find at least a little humour in the drastic change that happened to Shadow when she was in a human body.

But he was able to determine the words she’d spoken, suddenly glad for the help of the link. And so, he deactivated the last of the X-Wing’s systems and hit the switch to raise the canopy. There was a hiss, and then a loud swirling of winds as the mechanical noise grated and rose up the canopy. He did his best to ignore the sudden rush of ice-cold wind that shot into the cockpit, and climbed out, ignoring setting up the step ladder and instead jumping straight down and landing in an ankle-deep layer of snow.

Jyren managed a slight gasp as all the cold worked together to freeze him despite the flight suit and coverings he wore, but quickly turned to help Shadow out. It was something he just did naturally, but every single time she hated him for it. She could move herself, thankyouverymuch, and she did. Jumping down just as he had right before the canopy started back down and landing knee-deep in the snow.

She looked up and him and, despite only seeing her eyes, Jyren could hear a muffled whimper. But now they were out in it, and there wasn’t any turning back. So, as quickly as could be managed in the snow covered ground, they trudged up the ‘dune’ ahead of them and to the north, all the while shivering and sticking close in some false hope for warmth. To annoy Shadow even more, Jyren was being forced to help her move faster, as the deep layer of snow was slowing her down much more than him.

Pushing hard to move as quickly as they could, they reached the peak of the snow in only a minute and a half...though in the increasing wind that felt like piercing ice, it was more like hours. But when they were up, a very interesting sight greeted them that nearly distracted them from the cold.

There was a huge(really, really huge) rise of ice and snow in an almost rectangular shape ahead of them. It was big enough for even a good sized transport to fit into with room to spare. And as that thought crossed both of their minds, eyes caught sight of sleek grey colours poking through the white that was facing them. Metal. A wall...or...Shadow was the one to notice the line that ran down where the center probably was...an opening. A hangar?

Maybe...

And they could feel something. Something distant yet disturbingly close by. Something they could nearly touch but just out of reach. It added a new chill to run down each of their spines, and suddenly there was a new reason to get out of the freezing cold.

Shadow and Jyren exchanged a quick, worried look, and then started for the gigantic metal ‘door’...not even sure there was going to be any way in but suddenly feeling the need to find out right away.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 294: More Cold...

Things were never as easy to do as they first seemed. This was, of course, something that everyone in the galaxy experienced, but Jyren had reached the point where he was wondering whether or not the things he ran into were even farther off than they should have been. It wasn’t fair, but considering that he knew life wasn’t fair anyway, that shouldn’t have been a problem. But lately, things were becoming just plain mean.

The two human figures had approached the large, metal doorway without running into any trouble, at least. And since they hadn’t run into any trouble walking up to it, there was an odd sense of safety while they carefully examined the very closed door, which it definitely was. Because, really, Jyren was still plainly wearing the bright orange flight suit, and if that didn’t get anyone’s attention, nothing short of turbolaser fire would on a planet like Hoth.

But once reaching the huge door, they had begun the obvious search for either a way to open it or another way in. These both proved to be far more annoying than they should have been, mostly because of Shadow’s aversion to reaching up and brushing off any of the ice and snow for fear of touching it...despite the fact that she had the heavy, black gloves from the other flight suit on. It meant Jyren was having to do twice the work, while trying to understand her orders that were being growled out in a shivering voice from underneath at least three layers of heavy cloth.

So far, they’d found nothing at all.

“Jrrn.”

Jyren paused from cleaning up the section of durasteel in front of him to think about that. Not only was Shadow’s voice as a human small, but those extra layers did no good at helping her voice travel. After finally managing to interpret what she’d said, he looked over his shoulder to the shivering Shadow and asked, “What is it?”

A portion of cloth near where Shadow’s right arm was probably at raised up and ‘pointed’ off to a section Jyren hadn’t yet gotten to. Considering just how big the huge doors were, that wasn’t a surprise. He turned and looked at the direction she’d aimed him in. Through the ice and snow that was stuck on the durasteel, there was a green blinking light. Jyren quickly moved over to it and cleared the ice(carefully) to find a small console. But this was still close to the middle of the door...and on the outside. There was no way that was a control panel. Then what were the buttons for...?

A black-gloved hand appeared in front of Jyren as Shadow pressed the top button. She didn’t have to explain her reasoning. One of them was going to give in to either curiosity or the simple fact that it might be worth trying sooner or later...and with this cold, Shadow preferred sooner. When pressed, the blinking green light went out. Then, nothing happened for a long few seconds, but suddenly a blue light appeared. It didn’t blink, but it sat there disturbingly bright against the boring grey and endless whites.

When nothing else happened, the two of them exchanged careful looks. Eyes met(considering that everything else was covered, they were all they could meet) and the link raced with ideas and thoughts. Only a few second passed before Shadow shrugged and pressed a second button. This time, there was a beep. It was soft, but loud considering the general silence around them if one ignored the wind. The blue light blinked twice, then went dead. Off far to the left, there was a hiss.

Both of them spun to look that direction, seeing a hole in the ice that had not been there before.

Another quick glance was exchanged.

Then, they decided it was worth a try, and carefully walked to the new opening. Reaching it, they looked in to see a small corridor that looked like it came straight out of a Corellian starship. An old one, Jyren though to himself, noting that the entire thing was whiter than the snow outside, and rounded at the edges instead of flat corners where the walls met. At the end of the short corridor was a what was clearly a door. White, slightly ridged in places, and with a small panel in its center.

One of them sighed, and Shadow led the way in. Jyren was right behind her, and was also smart enough to keep an eye out for, and hit, the switch to close the other door behind them. When it hissed shut, Shadow pulled the layers of cloth off her face and then whimpered, “Still cold in here!!”

Jyren did the same, but it was only one layer, and tried to ignore the fact that it wasn’t any warmer, “At least the wind isn’t in here.”

Shadow managed a nod, which caused her short, black hair to fall everywhere it shouldn’t and add one more thing to annoy her with. She glared at it, then through it, and then at Jyren, “Go figure that door out!”

That was not a voice to argue with...however, “No one puts a lock on their door on the outside.”

“We’ll worry about that when we’re inside,” Shadow growled at him, an arm shooting out and pointing angrily at the opposite door.

Jyren sighed, dusted a little snow off of his shoulders, then stepped past her and to the panel. It was much the same as the one on the outside...except without the blinking green. So, Jyren decided to press the top button. A green light appeared and started to blink. After staring at it a moment, Jyren asked over his shoulder, “Which one did you press outside first?”

“Second from bottom,” Shadow mumbled while rubbing her still-gloved hands together frantically.

He found it, and pressed it. The green light went away, and a blue one appeared. The next button to press he remembered. But as he reached for it, Shadow’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist suddenly. Surprised at this, Jyren turned to look back(and down) at her, “What?”

“Something important,” she said quickly, with the shiver of could still in her voice, “No morphing.”

“Huh?”

Despite the cold, Shadow rolled her eyes in her usual way as if nothing was at all different, “No matter what happens...no morphing. Not even to fix a cut. Knowing our luck its just as cold in the whole damned place.”

Those sentences seemed to have been placed in the wrong order, but Jyren was willing to not point this out considering the cold. There was a question, of course, “Why not?”

“Just don’t,” Shadow said flatly, finally letting go of his wrist and waiting for him to press the last button in hopes the door would open, “Trust me.”

On matters like that, and with such a stern tone to her voice, Jyren was willing to trust her.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 295: A Word Best Forgotten

The door opened just like the one before it. There was no lock, no mechanism of protection or defense beyond the series of buttons that needed to be pressed. That was not the sign of someone hiding out. It was the sign of a place left alone for nearly ten years after a long, losing battle. Either that, or it was the sign of someone expecting company and leaving the door open so they could get in.

Either way, Jyren didn’t like it.

But when the door opened to a wisp of cold, ventilated air, what he liked and didn’t disappeared. It was Shadow that stepped into the gigantic hanger first. Carefully, and still shivering a noticeably, the small human woman took a few steps in and looked around. Jyren was right behind her, but his eyes weren’t doing a good job of checking for trouble. He was simply amazed at the...the everything.

Much of the hangar was just blocks of white duracrete that had once lined the ceiling, holding back the ice, but now were scattered in huge chunks across the deck plates that felt suspiciously like durasteel. But the ground was covered in a white layer of frost and ice, left untouched for a decade. A few pillars lined an area far off to the left, and between them were the ancient ruins of airspeeders that had never left their places. Jyren could even see the yellow ladders leading up to the cockpits of the speeders. Most of the equipment that one usually found in a hangar was still scattered around, and a wide open section at the center, leading straight up to the still-closed hangar door, was a series of small grooves and raised sections at even intervals. They lined a path just wide enough for a small freighter. Jyren knew landing lights when he saw them.

There was even the remains of a Y-Wing off to one side, torn to pieces for parts from the look of it, but still a Y-Wing at one point long ago. And though here and there black scorch marks could be seen, it was generally a clean, icy white colour throughout the entire gigantic area. As a strange moment of nostalgia passed by, Jyren said quietly, “This isn’t right.”

“What do you mean?” Shadow asked, voice equally soft but not completely due to her own control of it. She had stepped over to one of the pillars to look around and check for any signs of...well...anything.

Jyren sighed, not even completely sure what he meant, and waved his hand vaguely, “All of this. Where’s the ship that would bring someone here? Where’s the signs that anyone has been here in the last decade?”

“There could be more than one hangar,” Shadow commented over her shoulder before motioning for him to follow, “And I have a feeling this place is bigger than just a place to land.”

Saying nothing, Jyren walked over and fell into step behind her as she led the way towards the far wall. It took him a moment to notice she was heading for a grey, blaster bolt scorched door. Even from the distance they were at, he could see the panel next to the door had only two buttons. Open and lock. The lock likely wasn’t even very complicated to break, either. Sometimes, those two switches were all that were necessary, and in a way, Jyren missed being able to rely on just that.

A single violet colour eye looked up at him through black hair as Shadow caught on to his tangent thoughts, “Need you here and in the moment, Akan-jai...”

That got him to blink back into reality. It was a name he hadn’t heard since...since...since before Alraxia. He didn’t even know how long ago that was anymore. Jyren was just...him. It was why it was so easy to accept, even more so than the previous times in his life that he had changed names. But it wasn’t just hearing ‘Akan’ that surprised him. It was the whole thing, which he now actually knew the meaning of. It seemed to be the only term of affection Shadow had ever, ever used, and besides, Jyren-jai didn’t have the same ring to it.

“Better,” she said with a grin on her face, immediately noting his jolt back into the icy cold hangar. It was still driving her crazy, and Shadow had a feeling she was beginning to turn blue, but at least they were alive and hopefully they’d be gone soon. Very soon. When they stopped at the door, she decided one last thing was necessary to make sure he wouldn’t retreat into whatever his old self-pity again, “Any sign of her?”

Amazingly, while Jyren understood what she was asking, he didn’t even pick up on the ulterior motive behind the asking of the question. It wasn’t like it was completely unfounded, either. Jyren had always connected with Jen much better than Shadow had, and he would likely be able to pick up on her faster and more accurately than she would.

Taking a deep breath, Jyren reached out with the Force very carefully. The usually familiar feeling was altogether alien as he sensed the...the everything around them. He could feel Shadow next to him, her presence in the Force warm and a very strong offset to the physical cold surrounding them. He could feel...the planet itself. Mostly dead, but with some life scattered here and there, living lives that seemed impossible. But there was something else. Something distant and yet right there. Something that made his stomach tighten without any explanation at all to his body, which was not at all happy.

“Jyren!” Shadow quickly stepped over to grab him before he fell face first into the hard mix of ice and durasteel at their feet. Supporting him as best she could(which wasn’t easy...not only was he bigger than her, but human females weren’t exactly built anything like Alraxian females), she decided a stupid question was in order, “What is it?”

She heard(and felt, from the awkward way she was holding him), him breathing heavily before mumble into her shoulder, “I don’t know.”

Shadow soon realized that holding him up like this was doing nothing but causing her back, arms, and legs to hurt. Silently cursing whoever designed the human body(especially the female design), she gave in against all natural urges and very carefully sat down on the freezing cold ground, helping him down with her in the process. Once down, Shadow did her best to keep Jyren from sliding off her relatively small shoulder and gently ran a hand through his hair. Through their link, she could feel a sense of panic and fear that was overwhelming him. Then, quietly, she ventured a careful guess, “Jen?”

As best as one could shake one’s head when it was buried in another’s shoulder, Jyren did, mumbling again, “I don’t think so.”

Her usual curious and untrusting self, Shadow wasn’t satisfied with that. So, while still outwardly trying to calm him down and get his breathing back to normal(as this quick breathing was probably not very helpful with all the cold), she pried through the link. But no matter how hard she searched and pushed, she couldn’t find anything. He’d never had any blocks as strong as those up ever before, not even to keep her from finding out about that Mare girl. That worried Shadow, and forced her to press the old fashioned way, “Then what is it?”

Jyren only had to speak the first syllable of the word before Shadow regretted asking the question. When he finished whispering the word, she felt the same gut wrenching pain that he did. It was the only word either of them had ever heard that actually caused physical pain. One day, the both of them hoped they’d never have to even think the word ‘Darkwing’ ever again.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 296: Family Reunion

It was no longer a good idea to sit there in the open of the huge hangar. Despite the sudden fear and panic that was attempting to grip her, Shadow was able to recognize this fact. She also understood just how important that was. But Jyren was shaking and not wanting to move. He was freezing up just like she felt the need to...but all those years of training weren’t something that was going to go to waste that quickly.

As best as she could, Shadow got them both back onto their feet. It was difficult, of course, and it was beginning to seem that humans were just about incapable of any kind of strenuous movement. Lifting Jyren up shouldn’t have been the difficulty it was...he wasn’t even very big! Grumbling to herself, she pushed him back to make him stand on his own feet and looked him in the eye, “Come on, Jyren. We can’t just sit here.”

“But it...I...” he trailed off, his eyes darting past her a moment but then shooting right back.

Shadow managed a nod, “I understand,” she didn’t, “But we can’t turn back now. And you...you have dealt with one of them before.”

Even the word ‘them’ sent a shiver down her spine and brought up horrible memories that were again quickly buried. But Jyren shook his head, “Its not the same.”

“What do you mean?” she was only asking that to get him moving again, and even glanced back towards the door they’d been heading for in the first place. The needed to keep moving. There was more here...more here than that thing. But it was so hard to reach past the thick, heavy presence that quite obviously knew she and Jyren were there...but beyond it, was something else.

“Its not you,” Jyren’s voice snapped her back to the moment, and she couldn’t help but sigh. The worst part was that she couldn’t argue that point. If it had been anyone else in the galaxy, she could argue it...but somehow it made sense to her. That was, of course, beyond her...just that she knew he was telling the truth.

“Then we’ll just have to work things out the hard way,” Shadow said simply, though she wasn’t even sure of it, herself. But that ended the short conversation, whether Jyren liked it or not, and Shadow took his arm to lead him to the door.

When they reached the stark-white door, Shadow let go of Jyren’s arm to hit the single switch that would open the door. With a hiss, the door slid to the side and revealed a jagged looking, not-so-well carved corridor that was literally lined with ice itself. Very carefully, Shadow led the way in, glancing both directions before noting a cave in was blocking the way to the right. So her eyes and body went left, with Jyren right next to her. Silently, the two of them carefully moved down the corridor, walking past doors here and there but simply continuing forward instead of checking them all.

But then, after two turns and countless doorways, Shadow stopped. It took Jyren a moment to notice the door to their left, as it looked like the ice on the wall had simply engulfed the thing. Very carefully, Shadow reached out and poked the ice. Her face wrenched itself into an odd form as she held back a shriek at the cold...despite the fact that she had a glove on, but a few pieces of the ice slid off and hit the cold ‘floor’ of the corridor. It was then that Jyren was given a very flat look, and he quickly understood, doing his best to clear the thin ice off of the door.

When it was clear, they found another simple switch, but before Shadow pressed it, Jyren asked quietly, “You’re sure about this?”

“No,” and then she pressed the switch. A hiss, a slight creak, and the door slid open to reveal a large, half-ruined room. Immediately, though, both of them caught sight of the contents of the room. What was once likely a large storage room was now lined with rows and rows of...bacta tanks. Or at least, they looked like bacta tanks. But the liquid inside didn’t have that slight reddish colour that bacta did..but that wasn’t the reason both Shadow and Jyren identified them as something else.

Inside each of the tanks was a large, black mass of flesh that nearly filled the entire thing up. And all of them would have been completely unidentifiable if not for the eyes. The bright red-orange eyes...all white open and staring blankly forward. But there was something in those eyes. Something absolutely horrible that made it painful to even look at. The eyes that Shadow had only ever seen in Jyren’s memories...and eyes that he saw every time he closed his own.

And there were hundreds of them.

“Jyren...” Shadow gasped, not stepping into the room and suddenly having a hard time breathing, “Those are...”

“Yeah,” he nodded slowly, the same breathlessness to his voice as her’s had.

“And they’re in...”

“...yeah,” this time his voice was more a whisper, just as her’s had been. One of them was enough...but...but this was almost an army! Clones!! An evil creation now tainted and marred by a horrible process of copying life! What that would do to the already unstable and viciously violent minds of the creatures was horrifying to think about...an Alraxian clone gone mad was bad enough, Nine was proof of that. But these?! And so many! So many...

“We can kill them now, can’t we?” Shadow asked. In the same moment, she had reached over and grabbed Jyren’s hand, trying to steady herself...and had quickly noticed he was shaking again.

Jyren pried his eyes off of the horrible sight in the room ahead of them to look at Shadow, “I wouldn’t know how to...”

Biting her lip, Shadow turned to look back up at him, “There have to be plugs to pull or...or something!”

He had started to answer, but stopped himself. That was too simple. There was no way it could work...not that Shadow didn’t know that, of course. She just had to do something. Standing here staring at it all was getting worse by the moment as she realized just how helpless they were...they couldn’t even walk into the damned room! How could they do anything at all if they couldn’t even get into the room?!

Something. An idea suddenly jumped into Jyren’s mind, and his free hand quickly reached for the blaster pistol at his side. In another second, it was up and his arm was extended, aiming the weapon at one of the nearest tanks. It took another long moment for him to get control of himself and stop his hand from shaking so that he could hold the blaster pistol straight...then, slowly, he started to squeeze the trigger.

“I do not believe that will have the effect you are hoping for,” the voice forced Jyren’s finger off of the trigger so quickly that he couldn’t tell whether he’d even done it or not. It had come from farther into the room, though they couldn’t see its source. But neither Jyren nor Shadow needed to see Jen Zaarin Voort to know what her voice sounded like.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 297: Cold and Alone...Together

Not a minute after hearing the familiar voice of Jen Voort and they saw her...or rather, she stepped into view. Seeing her again was at least mildly shocking, both because despite tracking her for so long, neither really expected to find her, and because she looked...the same. After the trail Shadow and Jyren had followed to get to Hoth a mental image had come to mind that contained much more black than Jen had ever worn. But she wore no black, unless one counted the boots that she’d always worn. Instead, Jen looked exactly as they remembered her...a little taller than Shadow was as a human, a thin figure, her usual blonde hair pulled back and out of her face...which was also the same. Perhaps that was the most shocking. Even her eyes were her...but none of it fit with the situation.

The Force, however, made up for the lack of change in her appearance. Even the strong resonances of the Darkwings were drowned out by the sheer power of what Jyren could only determine as anger that emanated from her. It made it more difficult to even look at her, knowing that this horrible feeling in the Force was really centered around someone as kind-hearted and wonderful as Jen had always been.

But this wasn’t Jen anymore...even though Shadow had to remind him of that, Jyren knew. He didn’t have to like it, but Shadow didn’t either.

“Put the blaster down, Akan,” Jen said slowly, stepping to within seven or so meters of them and standing right in the center of the rows of Darkwing-filled tanks. It was then that Jyren noticed she didn’t appear to be armed.

Jyren nearly did as she’d told him to. It wasn’t because of any use of the Force, but simply because it felt like the right thing to do...then Shadow whispered, “Shoot her, Jyren.”

Instead of lowering the weapon, he turned his arm to aim it straight at Jen. His finger was held against the trigger, but it felt rock-solid as he attempted to pull it but couldn’t manage the strength. Eternity long seconds passed as he tried to fire the weapon, and this time Shadow growled at him, “Shoot her!”

But he couldn’t...and, deep down, Shadow knew she wouldn’t have been able to either. To his credit, though, Jyren didn’t lower the blaster. This frozen moment lasted only for another minute before Jen seemed to grow tired of it. Without any trouble at all, she waved a hand to the side and Jyren’s blaster hand was slammed into the open doorway hard. He yelped in surprise and pain, then naturally let go of the blaster, which dropped to the ground with a loud clunk.

Jyren quickly retrieved his hand, rubbing it gently and trying to ignore the stinging pain. Through his link with Shadow, he said. [I thought she wasn’t any good at that...]

[Things change, apparently.] Shadow commented, though outwardly she was doing her best to hold a strong, neutral expression that had always served her well in situations like this. She needed to understand what was going on before acting. But what could be said?! Even Jyren, usually good at babbling, seemed to be blank.

Jen took two small steps forward, hands crossed over her chest, before saying flatly, “I’m surprised it took you so long to get here.”

“We had...other things to take care of,” Jyren mumbled, his usual sarcasm somehow lacking its bite. He was still rubbing his hand, and Shadow soon realized he was using that to distract himself as much as possible from the moment. Or rather, from the horrible feeling in the Force that even she had trouble pushing away.

For a short moment, Jen’s eyes examined the two humans that stood in front of her, obviously knowing full well what they were actually capable of. Then, her eyes on Shadow this time, she said, “I believe it goes without saying that there is nothing you can say or do that will stop what is going to happen.”

A pause. There was an unasked question pushed at the end of that...one that both Jyren and Shadow wanted to know. But Jen would only be stupid enough to talk about it if either she’d watched far too many holodramas with those villains that could never shut up, or if she was telling the truth and it really didn’t matter what she told them. Considering it was Jen, and that she knew both Shadow and Jyren fairly well, they were inclined to go with the latter.

Still, though, Jyren gave in and asked, “What is going to happen?”

“You,” Jen snapped at him, in the venomous voice that suddenly wasn’t her’s at all, “And all of the abominations like you, will be destroyed by the monstrous creatures you created yourselves.”

Despite the fact that she was wrong about the historical origins of the Darkwings, Jyren decided it was probably not the best time to argue minor details. Go for the major ones...like the fact that she shouldn’t have any idea where the Hidden Worlds were, and that she couldn’t destroy the species without that knowledge.

“I know now,” Jen’s face had twisted itself into a small grin, one that they knew and had seen a thousand times before but suddenly looked altogether different. But that didn’t matter...it was her words. Her words and the realization that the horrible feeling in the Force had suddenly retreated. She was doing that on purpose! And they were so busy worrying about it that they ignored the other necessary blocks...they’d left their minds wide open.

Her grin only grew as she saw the realization pass over both Jyren and Shadow’s faces. Not saying a thing, Jen simply took a few steps back and extended her arm. The blaster pistol that was on the ground shook slightly before flying straight into her hand. She caught it easily, then, without even turning her head, Jen extended her arm towards a nearby tank and calmly squeezed off a blaster shot. The red bolt hit the top, metal section of the tank, sending sparks everywhere and causing a tube to spin away from its normal place, which sent a gaseous substance everywhere.

As the foggy whatever-it-was began to fill the room, Jyren and Shadow both saw the movement within the tank...and heard the sudden thud as the contents began to break its way out. The fog continued to engulf the room, but they managed to see Jen still. Casually, she threw the blaster pistol back, and Jyren caught it out of reflex, before Jen said with a nod, “Goodbye.”

She then pivoted around, and walked farther into the room and out of their sight. And then there was a very loud crash, followed by a deafening roar that Jyren knew all too well. It almost froze him in place, but he knew better than that. Very quietly though, and reaching for Shadow’s hand again, he whispered, “We need to leave.”

Shadow’s eyes darted from the no-longer visible tank where horrible sounds could be heard, and then to Jyren. Quickly, she nodded and grabbed his hand. But she didn’t wait. By the time she’d grabbed his hand, Shadow was already halfway to a run, and right away was dragging Jyren as fast as she could...knowing all the while that there was no running from what was about to come after them.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 298: Closer...

Closer. Closer. Gods, it was getting closer!! Shadow’s eyes darted over her shoulder to look past Jyren and down the long, white corridor. It was out. They’d both heard the violent crash echo towards them when it finally escaped. And then they’d heard the noise...that horrid, bone-chilling noise that was supposed to be a roar but sounded so unlike any animal that it would cause even a Rancor to cower in fear. But no! They couldn’t stop...she wanted to. Jyren wanted to...but they couldn’t, and so she held her tight, almost painful grip on his wrist and continued running as fast as her human legs could take her.

The hangar! The door had taken far too many milliseconds to slide open but they were in! In and running even faster, Shadow’s leg’s screaming at her in protest as her Alraxian mind set forced her along...whether the body liked it or not. Jyren was keeping up so that she wasn’t dragging him, having the luxury of longer, stronger legs and having been more used to the weaker human form than she was. But he was keeping up...and he was smart enough not to be looking back as they felt the ground shake. Literally shake. Every few moments, they’d hear the noise, a crash, and small pieces of ice and frost would drift down from the ceiling.

The door...by the Force, where was the door?! Shadow’s eyes continued their frantic survey of the huge hangar, trying to find the way they’d gotten in to just get out. Out. Away from that thing.

“This way!” it was Jyren’s voice, but she didn’t as much hear it as know he’d thought it a moment earlier. Shadow didn’t give Jyren the chance he’d tried to take in turning towards the door...but he didn’t reverse their positions, as Shadow quickly turned and continued ahead. There was a distant driving feeling in both of their minds, but it was stronger in Shadow’s. Not only was there the natural aversion to just get away from the horrible abomination that was getting closer every second, but she had years and years of stories and legends to back up the innate fear.

And then there was another loud, extremely violent smashing sound behind them. Both Jyren and Shadow were stupid enough to glance back. They were both able to watch the white door explode outwards, flying against the wall far on the other side of the hangar with a loud bang. Their eyes were turning back to the way out, though, and they only saw a hint of the hulking, black thing that was breaking through where the door had been. Another horrid noise erupted from it, but by now the two of them had gotten to the exit corridor, with Shadow slamming her fist into the panel over and over until the thing opened.

They were in and running to the next door in a matter of moments, a violent wave of pure darkness charging right after them. The door behind them closed. They reached the next one.

“Shadow, its—“

”I know!!!” Shadow snapped at the top of her lungs, no longer caring about temperature of any kind. The X-Wing was out in the open...they had to get it to as quickly as possible. It was up and over a nearby snow dune...and her legs were burning now. But, dammit, she was going to make it there!

The door opened with a hiss and a rush of freezing cold air that stung their now-uncovered faces. Shadow didn’t care. Jyren didn’t either. They ran out into the snow, gritting their teeth and just running. Before the door behind them had closed, there was a crash that they’d both heard before...and a half second later the door went flying out into the snow not far from them.

A plume of white snow shot up when the door hit the ground, but they ran through it as fast as their tired legs could take them, now drawing on the Force to push them on farther. And then there was the sound again...but it was different this time. It was in the open, allowed to echo out across the rolling plains of snow that covered Hoth...and it was close. Too close.

The Force screamed at Shadow and she didn’t even have to look back to know how close the creature was. So, instead of wasting that valuable time, she reacted. Using all the strength that her small human body could manage, Shadow threw Jyren around her and tripped him so he fell face first into the snow. She quickly began to dive down to follow him, but she hadn’t expected to have the time...and she had been right.

Halfway down to the freezing cold snow, a sharp, white-hot pain wrenched through Shadow’s body as the creature slashed its claws up the entire length of her back as it flew past. Hot, red blood splattered across the white snow behind her as she hit the ground, leaving a long trail of red as she rolled painfully through the snow. Whether she had cried out in pain or not, Shadow didn’t know. The pain was horribly intense. And feeling those claws rip through her back brought back images...feelings...she could remember what it was like. She could remember it all!!

But no! The Darkwing was gone from her! Jyren had done whatever he had done and it was gone! She was sure of it, and had been for as long as she had thought about it! But now...now it felt like it was right there again. Inside her and waiting...no, fighting to get out. But it couldn’t! It couldn’t because it was gone! Gone but...but still far too close!

Distant words snapped her senses back into reality, and she suddenly realized that she couldn’t feel anything below her shoulders. There was another noise from above as the Darkwing came around for another pass, but Shadow managed to decipher the words that Jyren had yelled at her.

Marix was left to panic and go crazy, dealing with the internal remembrance of a Darkwing...something that had never been her own memory. It was Shadow’s, and suddenly it was Marix’s, too. But Shadow pushed beyond it, her old stubborn self forcing her to grit her teeth and grind out, “I’m alright!”

Jyren knew she was lying. It was obvious from the trail of blood that led up to her body and the fact that only her head had moved. And that wasn’t even using the link...which Jyren was trying to ignore, as there was an intense pain flowing through it that Shadow’s body had numbed out. But he didn’t argue with her. There wasn’t time for it...he could see the great black form sweeping down after them again. And so he made a choice...whether she liked it or not.

As quickly as he could manage, Jyren knelt down and picked her up in both arms. He strained slightly from the extra weight, but was also glad that she was relatively small as a human. Not that he was much larger...but at this point, Jyren was willing to take anything the Force was willing to throw his direction.

After staggering a moment, Jyren got his footing and started running towards the X-Wing as fast as he could manage. They were halfway up the snow dune when Shadow could see the dragon-like form of the Darkwing sweeping right across the snow at them. But Jyren wasn’t looking back, and he quickly said(obviously to attempt to get her mind of the fact that she couldn’t move), “When we’re in the X-Wing, I’ll shoot it down!”

Ignoring the fact that they’d be lucky to get to the X-Wing in the first place, Shadow said through still-gritted teeth, “Just get out of the system!”

“The system?!” Jyren looked down to her a moment, “Don’t tell me they can survive in a vacuum!”

A pause...just long enough for the both of them to hear a heavy flap of the creature’s two gigantic wings, then Shadow answered, “There are stories!”

“Damn!” and then the Darkwing was on them again.