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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1889825" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 80: Nothing's Ever EasyNot far away, sitting at the foot of the plateau, were the Darks. Or rather, Dark was sitting. Her Akan was being grilled and yelled at. This had continued for nearly all of the night, and nearly ended in her tearing him apart. He had been intelligent enough to mention the fact that she still needed him, and Dark had then taken a seat and gone silent. That had lasted for hours. It had at first seemed like she was asleep, but subtle movements and reactions to his movements proved otherwise.    And then, just as the sunlight began creeping across the sands, Dark suddenly spoke up, “He is looking for us.”    Seeing that her eyes were closed, nodding was a useless response. Instead, her Akan simply looked towards her. Thinking about this, she was right. He would not speak, though, as she was not in the mood for his comments at this point, and he wasn’t in the mood to tempt fate anymore than he’d already done.    “If you had just taken her straight to Him we would not be in this,” she said with a growl on her voice, “It is time for you to stop your childish mood swings. You are mine. You already know that we only do what He wishes for a short time, but planning to stab me in the back once He is gone is not wise.”    She did not have to open her eyes to know he had a surprised look on her face. He’d not thought himself to be so easy to read. Fine. Things would just have to be rethought and worked out again. But more carefully. And...    “You will not attempt anything foolish,” Dark snapped, easily picking up on his thoughts, “There are more important things than fighting amongst each other. He will find us soon enough. Running from His sight has only temporarily protected us, and when He sees the failure, I won’t be able to protect either of us.”    At least he knew she wasn’t going to kill him. Of course, he would still have to stay alert and make sure he proved his use. If he didn’t, Dark would likely get rid of him anyway. But something was different. Distant and reaching around...likely Him. The two of them withdrew their minds and did their best to hide. It was cowardly, but all they could do at the moment. Dark still did not completely understand His strength, and would not dare challenge him until then. Degrading, yes, but required for now. Perhaps at least her Akan would learn from this, and understand his place.    The moment passed. No. No He was still searching. But something interrupted it. A strange pain ran up through both of the Darks’ left legs. It was not anymore than a simple stinging. This had Dark’s eyes opening. She looked to her Akan and the two exchanged curious looks without saying anything. Nothing needed to be said. The distant link that they shared with the Lights was obviously the source of the pain. But for them to feel it, even just as a sting, meant that it would have been excruciatingly painful on the other end. A moment later, they heard the distant voices speaking over the link, and Dark found herself smiling.    She stood up and flexed her muscles. Looking to her Akan, Dark said, “They are nearby. You have a chance to redeem yourself. Get her. Bring her to Him. I will find the human.”    At that, he nodded. For a moment, it had looked like he would speak, but instead his wings moved and quickly pulled him into the air and over the plateau. Dark smiled. Perhaps he was not so useless. It was too early to tell, but if he succeeded this time, she would know. Without another thought, she allowed herself to reach out for the human woman. Carefully, though, as not to attract His attention in the process.* * * *    The last turbolaser battery exploded off across the plateau, and Jen smiled. Two minutes too late. She wasn’t going to point out to Voort that she’d picked the section where the turbolasers were closer together. That was his own fault for not running to that side first. Carefully, she knelt behind a rock and waited on him. He was on his way to where she was, and then they were going to move in towards the city and help where they could. Hopefully. She hadn’t really paid any attention to the fighting, but from the short glances Jen had managed, it looked to be...well, a fight.    Not being a military strategist, Jen wasn’t sure how to interpret the flashes and dots that were likely people. So she instead sat facing the other direction, blaster in hand and mind still racing. The adrenaline rush was subsiding, and her mind was starting to wander. Such an interesting turn of events. She’d felt strongly about Voort for longer than she had liked to admit. The three months they’d spent running from the New Republic in the Outer Rim had been an interesting time. This had been the Imperial agent who had not infiltrated but simply walked into the science facility on Mon Calamari with blaster blazing. He’d killed everyone there except for her, and he had even known she was there. They’d met eyes despite the fact she had been hiding, and yet Voort had just left. Perhaps he hadn’t actually seen her. Jen had asked him about it, but he never gave a response. All of her friends, though...killed. Just like at Alderaan. And yet today, that didn’t seem to matter anymore.    Jen couldn’t help a smile. Enemy one day...friend the next. Then...then a little more. An interesting galaxy. Her mind was wrenched back to the present at the sound of movement not far behind her. Carefully, Jen readied her blaster and waited. It should be Voort, but one couldn’t be too careful. One thing she wouldn’t do was just give herself away...just in case it wasn’t him. Slowly, she leaned around the side of the rock and caught sight of Voort. He nearly ran into her, surprised at the sudden appearance of her head. Thankfully, he didn’t plow over her and instead knelt down beside her.    He was breathing hard, though a smile was still on his face. Before he got a chance to say anything, though, Jen grinned, “Got the medal yet?”    Voort laughed, “Demanding. Think you can wait until all this is over with?”    “Changing the deal isn’t going to get you anywhere,” she said with a slightly dangerous look. But jokes and light hearted comments seemed to fade away, and Jen asked, “Where to from here?”    Taking a look back towards the city, Voort said, “Things are going alright. Hansen’s troops have drawn out a large amount of Narani. I haven’t heard anything from the others.”    Jen wasn’t sure if he meant Trker-Hon and the other Imperials or the Alraxians and Landau. Either way, it didn’t really matter that much. She nodded at his words and turned to look towards the city, saying, “Is there anything we can do?”    “If you’re up to it, we can head into the city and try to clean up there,” Voort suggested idly. Jen nodded, and the two of them got to their feet. She followed him in the fast sprint across the open plains towards the wall. Finding a break in the wall was tough, as this was the one side not open. Noticing that they were going to have to get too close to either of the large firefights, Voort suggested they climb it. Easier said than done. The wall was six meters high. That was the first problem. The second was that it was relatively smooth, and the only hand and footholds would be cracks and breaks that were barely worth mentioning.    Noticing the look on her face, Voort tried another suggestion, “Alright. I lift you up and you get over...then I’ll climb.”    That wasn’t much better, but it would have to do. It was an interesting exercise climbing up onto his shoulders. Balancing as best she could against the wall, Jen looked up. Still at least another three or so meters. There was no way she could jump that high. Looking back down to Voort, Jen commented, “Maybe we should have saved one of the charges.”    Resisting the urge to laugh, Voort just did his best to maintain his balance. It was too high up for her, and climbing that would be too tough for Jen. So what should she do? Voort knew. He knew but wasn’t sure how to express it to her. Something he’d meant to mention for the last few weeks, but had avoided even more than how he felt about her. Carefully, he said, “Jen. Listen. Calm your mind. Don’t think. Let everything flow away...then...just jump. Don’t think about jumping. Don’t think about making it. Just make it.”    Strange. Jen raised an eyebrow and wasn’t sure what to say to him. She had no idea what he was telling her to do. That didn’t make sense. Or maybe it made too much sense. Jen quieted her mind as best she could and decided that they didn’t really have another option. A few deep breaths later, Jen found her eyes closing slightly as she focused on....on what? Nothing. Everything. The wall. Focused on the wall. Without even really knowing she’d moved, Jen jumped. When her eyes opened again, she was half up the top, pulling herself completely over and looking down to a rooftop not far away.    She managed a quick glance down to see Voort smiling up to her. He motioned for her to get out of the way as he began a slow climb up. Jen found her mind was trying to comprehend what had just happened. But the wall itself was not that much to stand on, so she soon decided hat there was something more important than rational thought. Currently, moving. She dropped down to the rooftop below and surveyed the streets. Empty. A few moments later, Voort was next to her. He looked tired. For good reason, of course. That was a long climb and he’d managed it quickly. Distantly, the sound of slugthrowers firing was everywhere. But Voort’s ears pinpointed the ones near the center of the city.    “Come on,” he took her arm and moved to jump to the street below. But something stopped him. A ripple in the Force. Strong. Familiar. Voort looked to Jen, and she had strange look of fear on her face. So she had noticed it. Probably couldn’t understand it, though. Not that he did. Not that...wait. There. A violent streak was heading right for them, and without even thinking about it, Voort jumped down and dragged Jen with him. He hit the ground rolling, and Jen had done the same though not by instinct. Quickly getting to his feet, Voort looked up to see that the top section of the building where they stood had claw marks across it.    Jen gave him a panicked look, and he grabbed her arm again. Without a word, he ran down a small alleyway and hoped that Dark couldn’t follow. He knew she was. He knew she was close...and she could wait. But he also knew that standing around was worse than at least trying to run. Well, at least the first half had gone right.</blockquote>

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