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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1882923" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 73: We Fight TogetherEventually, no matter where one lives in the galaxy, they will encounter something that someone will label as a coincidence. Chance. Just a stroke of luck. Some people simply accept this as such. Chance. But others won’t. Akan fell into the latter group. Only twenty two or so standard years of living, and he didn’t believe in coincidence. He’d seen far too much otherwise. And no, it was not his strength in the Force that encouraged that belief. If it was, he’d make a perfect Jedi Knight. But instead, he simply knew that some things were meant to happen. Certain things were easier to accept than others. For instance, Akan knew that Shadow killing him was not simple bad luck. It had happened for a reason. That reason, he didn’t yet know. And he likely wouldn’t until he also accepted that Mare had not died from his own bad luck and bad thinking.    But currently, Akan was applying this thought pattern to the situation presenting itself to him. The situation was in the form of a person. Voort. Voort had found him. Coincidence? In a desert of this size? No way. Even if you believed in that kind of thing, it was a stretch. So, the first thing Akan said when he saw the tired looking human was, “What in the name of the Sith are you doing out here?”    Strangely, that got a smile out of Voort, even if it looked slightly forced, “Probably the same reason you are.”    Strangely, Akan found himself nodding at that. A moment later he knew why. Pulses through the Force helped him to figure out the course of events. Most notably, he could see Dark, “Where is she?”    “Which one?” Voort asked simply.    Honestly, Akan didn’t know who he was asking about. Probably both Jen and Dark. Definitely both. Strange that he hadn’t even thought about that when he’d asked it. Silencing the strange stream of tangent thoughts, Akan looked back to Voort, “You saw Dark, then.”    “Cliched name, but I assume you’re talking about the winged Shadow,” commented Voort. He looked distracted. In fact, he was. He hadn’t stopped following that trail left in the Force, and was starting to walk along with it anyway.    Akan caught up with him and tried to think of something productive to add. He couldn’t. It was another thing that was so odd. They’d exchanged only a few words, yet both knew the situation perfectly after that. While Akan was slightly suspicious of this, Voort was simply focused on the task at hand.     They walked in silence for near an hour before Voort finally spoke, “We’re a lot more similar than you think.”    That caught Akan off guard. Not because the comment was out of no where, but because it was exactly what he’d been thinking about. He’d studied this Imperial and was finding himself worrying that he was so much like him. Akan knew that Voort was a killer. Akan also knew that he wasn’t any better when things got right down to it. In fact, Akan was arguably worse. His three months with New Republic Spec Force, though short, were very active. He’d taken every mission that could possibly have come his way just to always be doing something. To forget the pain. But it had only helped him to develop a stronger hatred for Imperials, and the day he’d quit and left completely was when he’d realized how much he enjoyed killing them.    “I never enjoyed my kills,” Voort said, chiming in on Akan’s thoughts again. However, he’d said it before Akan had finished thinking. Not reading his thoughts, simply having parallel thoughts. Warriors think alike. The former Imperial looked Akan in the face as they walked across the endless sand, “But they weren’t faceless either. I still have the datapad with all of their names and profiles. Family. Age. Everything. I keep it with me to remind myself that they aren’t cruel and horrible people. Simply the enemy.”    It was almost as if Voort was just talking to himself. Akan was continually not saying anything, just amazed at the man’s words. At how...how compassionate he sounded. Yet this man had worked as the Emperor’s personal assassin. A perfect sniper. A user of the Dark Side of the Force. Evil in every definition. Yet...yet Akan found that he, himself, was more of an evil person. Voort had done what he thought was right. He had fought for the side he believed was the correct one. Akan...Akan had been like that. But something happened to him when Mare was killed. Perhaps its why relationships are discouraged within the military. Perhaps its why the militaries rarely recruit such young pilots. But they had. And that day that Mare was killed Akan had made two decisions. He’d decided that her death was the fault of him for being careless, and the fault of the Empire for all the suffering it had caused. He’d decided that day that everyone who’d caused her death was going to die. And he was going to do it. That was why he’d joined Spec Force. It was the best way to kill Imperials. And once they were dead...he could deal with the other one at fault.    He’d never reached that point. He realized his mistakes and messed himself up even more by completely cutting himself off from his past and burying all of those dangerous emotions deep. Here, though, was an Imperial who was everything Akan should have been. This man had lost his wife and daughter and had somehow come out of it strong. Akan could not imagine that kind of strength.    Voort suddenly broke off Akan’s train of thought by reaching through his robes and pulling out two small objects. Datapads. Switching one of them on, he held it out so Akan could see it. On the datapad was an image Akan knew far too well. It was that holo of him and Mare the day she’d died. Flight suits on, chaos of the hangar behind them. A strange mix of emotions ran through Akan when Voort said, “Jen told me that you were very close with this girl.”    For a moment, Akan found himself growing extremely angry. It felt like Voort had been digging in places he shouldn’t have been. But the moment passed as quickly as it had appeared and Akan just nodded. He couldn’t find any words. If Jen had told him about it, there was a reason. And Akan trust her judgement.    “She’s very beautiful,” Voort said quietly.    Akan’s tail twitched at that. He fought back a tear unsuccessfully, and managed a small nod. Finding his voice, Akan spoke towards the sand, “Was.”    Seeing the effect this had on Akan, Voort switched off the datapad and replaced it with the second one he’d gotten. Switching that one on, Akan looked over to see another holo. It was of a woman. Probably in her mid twenties. She had shoulder length red hair, bright green eyes, and one of the most genuine smiles Akan had ever seen. Standing with an arm around the woman was what had to have been a young Voort. He wore the olive green Imperial officer’s uniform, yet it only held the rankings of a newly enlisted Cadet.    “Your wife?” Akan asked carefully, not wanting to provoke and kind of anger from Voort. This was foolish, as he knew by now that Titus Voort was not one to act like a child. Akan was the child.Smiling, Voort nodded, “Yes. I keep this with me. It’s a reminder of times long gone.”    Akan couldn’t help a slight smile, himself, and spoke very quietly, “She’s beautiful.”    “Yes. She is,” responded Voort, and Akan didn’t miss that Voort had said ‘is’ and not ‘was’. He’d not corrected Akan. He’d not been insulted. He’d not done anything that Akan would have done...or had done.    Voort then withdrew the datapad back into the folds of his robe. He switched the first datapad to his other hand, then reached over and held it in front of Akan, saying, “We both fight for lost love. Don’t let it kill you. Let it strengthen you,” Akan listened to the man’s words and found himself taking the datapad. He put it in a jacket pocket and was surprised to see Voort pull out a third datapad. The former Imperial then placed this in front of Akan, “They’re still with us. They always will be. She’ll always watch over you.”    Akan then took the second datapad, finding that Voort’s words were strongly affecting him. Akan stopped walking to look at the datapad. He had never actually looked at the contents before, and was surprised to find that it was already switched on. It was Mare’s diary. The other thing he’d kept. And the page that the document was on read:    “Sometimes I wish that I could wait to love him. Wait until we get out of this war. Wait until we both know we’ll be alive. But I can’t. Its so hard to live with, going out and flying with him as my wing. Hopefully one day we can look back at how insecure I am and laugh. But I’m worried we won’t be able to. I’m worried this will be it. I just wish I could have said more. Done more. He’s so much more fragile than he likes to admit. So much more afraid. I can’t stop worrying about what he might do if I die. There’s something in him that’s dangerous. He can hold it back...but something like that might trigger it. I don’t want him to become some kind of killer. He’s capable of it...I wish I knew why. Then I could help him. But I can’t. It’s the one thing I can’t do for him. The one thing I’ll never be able to do for him. Someone out there should be able to. I just wish it was me...     Maybe after this battle I can ask him to resign his commission with me. He’d do it, though I don’t he’d ever think of it himself. Yes. I’ll ask him when we get back.”    The entry was dated three hours before the assault on Coruscant. It was the last entry. Slowly, Akan closed the datapad and put it away. He stood there in the middle of the desert for a long moment with his face buried in the palm of his hand, not even trying to fight back the tears anymore. He’d made all those mistakes after she’d died. And all those mistakes were an insult to her. When Akan finally opened his eyes again and looked forward, Voort was three dunes beyond him. Slowly, Akan began to understand what the man had shown him and why. So he followed Voort. He was far enough behind, though, to have never seen the tears on Voort’s face. And by the time Akan caught up, any evidence was gone.    They’d had their time to grieve. Now it was time to move on. Time to deal with what had to be dealt with. In the distance, the small black structure that was coming into view showed Akan the future. It was time to make Mare proud of him. He’d done exactly what she’d feared he would. How right she’d been...but no more. He couldn’t die anymore. He wasn’t allowed to. Akan wasn’t allowed to, because Shadow wasn’t allowed to. The importance of that was still not completely apparent to him.</blockquote>

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