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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1825826" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 22: Plans Within PlansProblems started quickly, once they’d arrived aboard the Republic Nebulon-B Frigate that was to get them out of Naboo and back to the Claw. The troubles centered around the Imperial Akan had stuffed into the cargo compartment(amazing how much use that was getting). The Republic wanted to keep him for interrogation, and no matter what Akan said, they wouldn’t let him in to talk. Akan had thought to try pulling ‘rank’ on them, but the problem that he’d left long ago(and under a different name) was quickly dwarfed by the fact that he was a species none of them had seen before. If that didn’t kill a lie, nothing would, because Alraxians were easy to notice. Especially since(as far as Akan knew) there were only two of them.    Two...Shadow. He had to find her. Not just out of the selfish reason of continuing to live, but...she was his partner. They did work well together. And she was...a good friend despite the fact that they’d only known each other for a short time. They had ‘talked’ through the Link a good amount, learning about each other and truly becoming friends. And now...she was gone. Part of him felt like it was his fault. He’d lost Mare years before, and now...another. But Shadow wasn’t dead.    Jen put a hand on his shoulder, noticing the expression on his face, “You said it yourself...we’ll get her back.”    “Yeah...” Akan said, looking around the small tapcafe within the frigate, “But I can’t...I can’t feel her there anymore. Or rather, she’s distant. Too distant. I don’t think she’s conscious either.”    “Its only been a few hours,” Jen said, trying to be helpful and feeling a little more than useless, “Whoever took her can’t have gotten too far away.”    Akan nodded, but didn’t believe it for a second, “We’ll never find her without the Imperial. I thought about that place down there...and started to wonder. What if that Imperial we brought back was the one held in that room?”    Jen raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? I would think it was the person who got away with Shadow.”    Shaking his head, Akan closed his eyes to remember it, “He told me he was hiding from the other. And I got a look at his wrists before getting him out of the Y-Wing. Burned. Ankles are probably the same.”    Slowly, Jen’s face started to show her realization of what Akan was saying, “You mean...that you think that entire garrison was just to hold one man?”    ‘I’ve seen the Empire do crazier things,” Akan said shrugging, “And it all fits.”    “No,” Jen ran a hand through her hair, “No it doesn’t. Why did he attack you if he was the one being held?”    Alright, so Akan hadn’t thought that far. He shrugged again, looking down to the table, “I don’t know...but he looked like he wasn’t going to attack me until he saw who...wait, no...what I am.”    “The lightsaber does attract attention,” Jen said with a grin on her face.    “No, I mean me,” he pointed to himself, “He mentioned Jedi, but it was how I looked that seemed to set him off.”    “Strange,” Jen admitted.    Akan sighed and thought of his next words carefully. When he spoke, he kept his voice low, “The only way to find Shadow is to talk with that Imperial. The Republic isn’t going to let us talk with him...so...”    Jen’s eyes widened slightly, and she suddenly lowered her voice too, “You can’t break him out! I mean...well, even if you could, you’d have the New Republic on your tail everywhere!”    “It’s the only way,” Akan said with a slow nod, “They’ll just take him off somewhere and he’ll rot in a Republic cell. There’s something about that Imperial...he knows something.”    “You’re insane,” Jen said, again grinning a little.    “And you’re going to help me,” Akan said with a short laugh.    So, they were going to break an Imperial Officer held in a high security cell within a Republic Frigate out. Then, they were going to fly away, and hope to the Force that Akan was right. This would mean not going back to the Claw, though...it would endanger them if he tried to get back there. On his own. No. On their own. He and Jen would do this...and hopefully this Imperial would shed some light onto what was going on without attempting to kill Akan again.    A foolish hope, probably, but without hope, life got depressing fast.</blockquote>

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