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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1836020" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 32: Shared HistoryIt was an hour later. They had returned to the shuttle and were in hyperspace on their way to, of all places, Corellia. Shadow had insisted on it, and after much argument over the why, Akan simply gave in and plotted the coordinates. Once they were safely on their way, Akan, Voort, and Jen sat Shadow down to get some explanations.    Shadow had the look of one who was on trial, and in a sense, she was. Voort was angry that he’d been treated like an inferior. To that, Shadow simply shrugged and told him that he was. Jen was more angry that she’d just not been allowed to ask any questions. Apparently, when she’d tried asking one of the guards something, they’d put the gun far too close to her face. Akan was just wondering what all was going on.    “They...apparently have been searching for me since I left,” Shadow said with a sigh, “Mother knew why I left...exile is the closest there is, but only a few know the truth.”    For a moment, her eyes flashed that silver colour again, then faded back to a softer blue, “Among our people...some children are born with silver eyes. They are the Tam-Day-U. For as long as I know, young children with silver eyes are taken away and trained as assassins...or worse. To the people of the Empire, we are the black sheep of the race. To have the Empress’ daughter and heir born as a Tam-Day-U would have been a horrible blow. So my eyes were...altered to hide that. However, as must happen to all Tam-Day-U, I left to train with the rest of my kind at the right age. After my...last mission, I left. I did not expect to be followed, ever.”    She sighed and looked to the floor, almost ashamed, “Sadrak discovered Imperial records on Alraxians. They were not detailed, as the scout ship was quickly chased away, however they learned some of our history. Mother is afraid he may be trying to...to bring the Darkwings back.”When Shadow looked up, she noticed that none of them had any idea what she meant. Giving a slightly desperate look, she tried to explain, “Thousands of cycles ago, our people were exposed to a...a...poison. It morphed them...no, not a morph. Changed. Evil creatures. Impossibly dangerous and evil. The war against them lasted for ages. If Sadrak is attempting to attempt another Darkwing War...”    She trailed off and Akan picked up on the stray thoughts. He sighed and spoke quietly, “Not taking over the galaxy, but simply exterminating it.”    Taking all of it in, Jen looked to Shadow, studying the Alraxian for a long moment, “Why Corellia?”    Shadow thought about how to explain it, then said, “My ship is there. I left him there cycles ago.”    “Him?” Jen asked, finally able to find a good point to bring up the subject of ships.    For the first time since they’d left the Garek system, a smile crept onto Shadow’s face, “Our ships are living creatures. Kanyaks. You saw Ferina and Eledanic on that planet...I had to leave Loki behind on Corellia a few cycles ago.”    “We need to find Sadrak,” Voort said flatly. He had been listening intently to all of this, but it all simply put his focus more firmly where it had already been. A detour to Corellia was foolish and would simply waste time. Sadrak needed to be eliminated. If he was allowed more time to enjoy his own peace, he would end up killing more families.    “Why don’t your people just attack Sadrak?” asked Jen, stating a question that was in all of their minds except for Shadow’s.    Shadow just shook her head, “If he has the ability to recreate the poison, then it is suicide to send an army of Alraxians against him.”    One more big, obvious question left. Akan fielded it, “Where is Sadrak anyway?”    At this, Shadow shrugged and made an almost pathetic whimper. Though she said nothing to the others, she looked to Akan apologetically. [I...don’t know.]    There was a long silence where they all thought about the things that had happened and what had to be done. Then, Voort spoke up in a strangely calm voice, “I know where he is.”    The three others suddenly turned to Voort with an expectant look. None of them knew what to say, though Akan was preparing to call the man an idiot, he held back. Mainly because Shadow had caught that thought and told him to shut up for now. She knew, as well as Voort, that bickering between them was not going to do anything but help Sadrak. Voort didn’t want to explain what he was going to have to. He had known Shadow looked familiar, but now he could pinpoint it. It caused a stinging pain in him similar to what he felt when his wife was killed.    He took a deep breath, and ended the silence, “I’ll admit it...I am not a good person. I’ve killed so many simply for killing. I learned to use the Force from the Emperor himself. But I am still human, and I still feel all of the emotions there are,” with his prelude done, he looked up to Shadow to speak the rest of it, “A few years after Endor, I found myself in the service of Ysanne Isard. At the time, I didn’t know who Sadrak was, but now I know he was directing her project from a distance. Obviously waiting for the right time to step in. I was the head of security for this project. From what I was told in he initial briefing, they had captured a young creature of which we’d never seen before. She claimed to be called an Alraxian. She swore that she would kill us for this, and after long hours of us ignoring this, she told us that others would come after her. As time passed, I...I grew to be her friend. I do not know exactly how, I just know that I pitied her. I hated the tests that I watched performed on her...I hated seeing her treated like an object.”    Shadow stared at him, searching for something she couldn’t find. Akan could feel her mind trying to break through something...something she wasn’t even sure existed. Her mouth opened, and she managed to speak, “But...I’ve never met you before.”    Jen also looked confused, and asked pointedly, “What was this project?”“Cloning,” Voort said, answering both of the females with that one word, “Isard was making an army of assassins. Almost like living droids. Loyal to a fault. The perfect weapon. First, they had to learn this new species’ genetic makeup. They found an...interesting trait in the growth cycle.”    At this, Shadow nodded, “Children for twenty cycles...then, an adult. No long transition, just one sudden change.”    Voort also nodded, “About a seventy standard year long childhood. At first, they attempted to create clones of the same age. It...didn’t work. The knowledge to do that for such an unknown species wasn’t there. So, they tried a younger age. With less variables to deal with, they succeeded. Eventually, it was discovered how to create older clones. By this time, many of the younger ones were sent out on missions, testing their efficiency. Not long before Sadrak had me arrested...one of the clones failed to return.”    Slowly, Shadow took this in. She knew what it meant. It explained the large gap in her memory...why she could remember leaving Loki on Corellia, and then working for the Hutts what felt like only a day later. But...a clone? A clone could never be accepted in the Empire. They were horrible mockeries of life. And she was one?! How could she do anything?! Her family obviously didn’t know, they wouldn’t have come to assist her! But...Marix. The real Marix. Wasn’t she an adult before?    “Marix should have been an adult by now!” she blurted out, finding it strange to hear her own name like that.    Voort hung his head, “She was kept in stasis to stop that. If they haven’t move the facility, and I doubt they have...we should go to Coruscant.”    “Coruscant?” Akan was even surprised by this one.    Again, Voort nodded, “Deep within the lower levels. The perfect place for such a facility.”    Shadow stood up and walked off to one of the small quarters without a word. Akan stood up, giving the other two a long look, then followed her. He found her sitting on the bed(in what was actually supposed to be his quarters), staring blankly at the wall. When he entered, she took no notice. He stood there watching her, feeling out her thoughts and picking out a particular one that was dragging her down.    “You aren’t just a copy,” Akan said quietly, stepping over towards the bed.    She glanced up at him, the silver completely gone from her eyes, “You’ve seen through the link what our people believe about clones.”    Sitting next to her on the bed, Akan nodded, “But you’re an individual...you broke away,” he smiled slightly, “If you want proof. Look at me.”    There was no reaction for a long time, then she nodded, a smile almost tugging at the edge of her face, “Mother said you were cute.”    “What was with them, anyway?” Akan asked, doing his absolute best to ignore what had just been said.    The smile on Shadow’s face turned into a grin, “One of those things I didn’t mention...you’re a BlueIce now. By all rights, you’re a member of the Empire, and their son.”</blockquote>

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