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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1934528" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 111: In Times of Rest...A week passed. In that week, it seemed like a thousand things happened. Sadrak’s base was finally mapped and its contents were removed. The computer systems were being sliced into currently, with the small number of Hansen’s group that were left trying to find what they could that was useful. Artifacts from the base were also gathered for study. Most were alien to everyone. Well, except for Shadow. It scared her that nearly every ‘unique’ item that was brought out actually ended up being of Alraxian origin, simply further proving the connection of Halpak. Also, the Topsiders had left. Or at least, about half of them did. The other half had decided that Haladin was a nice place, and were busy molding a large section of the city to better suit them and their families. The process was aided only by two of Hansen’s troops, mostly providing maps of the underground areas and a little consulting so that the Topsiders didn’t blow the city to pieces. Shadow had also dragged Akan across the desert to find Loki. It wasn’t too much trouble, and they found him in a mostly conscious state, feeling weak and confused. Once the ship was calmed down, he was righted and checked for serious wounds. After it was finally decided that Loki was going to be alright, Shadow piloted him the short distance to Haladin, setting him down just outside. This actually put him within ‘range’ of the thought-speech, for lack of a better term.    But there was one thing that occurred in the last day of this week that topped all of that. The water supply was fixed. Running water now existed in Haladin again. This meant that, of course, every available room with a bath was taken immediately. Jen, Voort, Shadow, Hansen, and Akan had been the first ones to get a hold of the baths. Not because they were ranked higher or anything like that. Simply, the five of them were intelligent enough to run like hell the second the baths were available.    Akan spent an hour just comfortably lounging in the wonderful water. He was in his old human body again, the exact reason for which he wasn’t even sure of. It had just felt right...and he was getting tired of all those stares from everyone. Besides, he still was human at heart. Finally climbing out of the bath, Akan wandered into the connecting room that had been assigned to him. He rummaged through the small pack he’d brought from Loki that contained his things and got out the only clothes he owned beyond that morphsuit. The beat up old pair of grey trousers with more than one hole in them, the once-grey shirt he’d had since his days in the New Republic that had somehow turned to a strange off white color, and his old jacket. It was brown, with a high collar and five faded sections. Two were on each shoulder, where the old Zephyr insignia had once been. Another was on the right side of the collar, a faded circle with a few rips along it. That had been the New Republic patch. On the left breast was a torn rectangular patch that had been where his rank markings had gone. Just below that was his the small, triangular fade mark that had held the medal he’d been given for saving the Duros Rulae Nok in their first mission. And then...just above those two, was the only remaining patch. It was a black color, and the writing on it was impossible to read without close inspection: ‘Cpt. Raan Maxwell’    Sighing, Akan just tossed the jacket back to the pack. He missed. Badly. Bah. Voort was the marksman. Turning, Akan wandered out to have a walk through Haladin again. He wasn’t completely sure why, but then again, somehow it felt better that just sitting around...even if the water amazingly good.    * * * *Not long after Jen had climbed out of the wonderful bath, there was a knock at the door. Not moving from her comfortable place laying on the bed in the towel, she just said, “Yes?”    “Its me,” Voort’s voice sounded muffled through the door.    Smiling, Jen rolled over and tried to throw one of her shoes at the door panel. It missed, nearly locking the door in the process. With a grin at her horrible aim, Jen id it the easy way, “Its not locked.”    The door slid open and Voort stepped in. He was wearing that old slate grey Imperial uniform, though it looked like he’d done his best to get rid of all the things that gave any hint at its origin. The door closed behind him after a couple of steps, and somehow that normal sound seemed to surprise him as he turned to look at it. That’s when he noticed the shoe. Turning back to Jen, he just raised an eyebrow, “Problems?”    She laughed and sat up, “If you count laziness after a battle as a problem...then, no.”    Chuckling a little, Voort nodded and had a seat next to her on the bed. She quickly leaned into him, resting a head on his shoulder and closing his eyes. Voort moved a little so that her wet hair wasn’t in his eyes, and then said quietly, “We made it...”    Nodding, Jen closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax. So that was what was on his mind. Sure, it had been on her’s too, but that wasn’t the point. Jen was silent for a while, not sure what to say but at the same time not wanting to put Voort off. So, finally gathering her thoughts, she whispered, “Jen Voort does have a certain ring to it.”    “You’re sure?” Voort asked, turning to look at her as best he could. There was obvious worry in his voice, and Jen sat up and smiled warmly.    She rested a hand on his cheek and nodded, “It was a promise.”    They sat in silence for a long moment, smiles tugging at both of their faces. Eventually, Voort said something that even Jen didn’t hear. Before she could ask him what he’d said, the former Imperial leaned down and kissed her. It was the second time that one of them quietly called out the word “Lights” to the room.* * * *Akan wasn’t out wandering long, finding that there was too much going on outside for it to be peaceful. Sure there was Loki to talk with, but the ship was resting again, and they’d had a few long talks in the last couple of days anyway. Not much else was left to be said for the time being. He passed by a few doors that he knew of as the quarters for his friends before stopping at one. He looked at the door a moment, then knocked. Nothing.    [You alive...?] Akan tried ‘cheating’.    Again. Nothing. He took a deep breath before hitting the switch to open the door. There wasn’t anything to show any form of habitation within the first room except for a couple of ruffles across the bed sheets. Carefully stepping in, Akan looked to the second door in the room. It was only half open, looking like it had broken in the process of closing. Akan slowly crept over to it, using those old skills he’d picked up in Spec Force as a commando to keep quiet. He then tilted his head to look inside. He saw the side of Shadow’s head, half submerged in the water of a large bathtub. Akan grinned, suddenly realizing that she was sleeping. Alright...so this was a bad time.    Retreating just as quietly as he’d entered, Akan didn’t actually notice the tiny twitching of one of Shadow’s ears. It was more a reflex than anything, but it still would have worried him for some reason. After closing the door again, he found his way back to his own room. Akan yawned on entering and wandered over to the pack on his bed, not paying any attention to the jacket draped across the other side.    Out of the pack, he pulled two familiar items. Two datapads. Sitting down on the floor, back rested against the bed, Akan activated the first one. For a long time, he just looked down at the small holo of Raan and Mare. He could almost hear her laugh again, and reached down to touch the picture gently. But no...he couldn’t feel anything except the screen of the datapad, whatever that was made of. Not her soft skin or hair. Not even that rough flight orange flight suit.    “One more battle down,” Akan found himself saying, “And still I’m stuck here. I was so close to you again, Liz. So close to seeing you again. But every single time I get close, I get pulled away from you again. Its not fair. I’ve done enough. Fought enough. I should be allowed to rest...” for a moment, Akan went silent, almost as if he was waiting for the picture to say something back. Then, “I miss you more than ever. I’m so sorry for what I did...trying to just forget you and ignoring everything. It was childish and stupid. But...but now I want to forget you again. It hurts too much, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I can fight every bastard in the galaxy without any trouble and survive, but I can’t even think about you without wishing for some way to be with you. I don’t care how anymore. I just can’t stand this all...fighting on again and again, coming so close...almost able to see you there again, and then to be yanked back into reality.”    As Akan’s fell into another fit of tears, he didn’t hear the knocking at his door.</blockquote>

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