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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1946778" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 117: Darkness and LightJust half an hour later, Akan and Voort stood in the docking bay next to Loki. They were silent. After leaving the small temple, things had gotten somewhat quieter as their next move was decided. Jen had gone off to find a ship. Akan didn’t take that as her wanting to get rid of the two Alraxians, but more that a little privacy might be nice between her and Titus. Not only that, but Akan had a feeling it might just have something to do with losing her ship on Arranis. He understood. It had been expensive...cost him his dear old Y-Wing, in fact. As for Shadow...well, she’d not been too specific and where she was going. But there was something that he could feel through the link. A familiar feeling...not so much for him, but definitely for her. She wouldn’t respond to any of his questions through the link, so he decided just to listen in and wait to figure it out. But she was hunting...or at least tracking something.    Again, Akan looked to Voort...Titus...the first Voort. That man was ignoring him. Or at least not paying him enough attention to acknowledge Akan was even there. This wouldn’t normally have been a problem if not for those nagging feelings in the back of Akan’s mind. That dream. Connecting with thoughts that were all together rational. Finding excuses. Most would have called it the Dark Side working its way. But it was more than that. Maybe if he was completely human, not just in body(currently), it would be that...but there was something different about Alraxians’ connection to the Force. Not just a philosophy difference as Akan had originally though, but a true difference. Dark and Light really were two parts of a whole, working together to form the main piece. Not like the Jedi taught. Not two opposing forces working against each other. It seemed like such a small difference, yet there were obviously larger effects from it. Perhaps it was his Dark. That part of him had been alive as an individual for long enough to at least be slightly more than just a voice...but no...not there was more to it than simply Dark and Light. Good and Evil. Morality.    No, something in Voort truly repulsed Akan. Disgusted every fiber of his being. It wasn’t just that old hatred for the Empire anymore. That had grown. Changed. The Alraxian in him saw something within Voort that just added to that. It was something that Akan would never have thought about. But he could smell it. Or at least, when in the Alraxian body he could. For a while, he’d wondered what that smell was. Even asked Shadow about it once. Each time, though, she’d just shrugged and ignored him. But as his thoughts ran over that old promise to Voort before encountering Sadrak for the first time, the Alraxian part of him made connections. The smell. An Imperial. Human. No. Not completely human. Something in that man’s blood. Every human, Akan had learned, had roughly the same smell to them. But Voort was different. Even Sadrak wasn’t like this. But that meant nothing to Akan...not the human Akan. To the Alraxian Akan, it was everything. The identity of the smell was ingrained in every Alraxian since the Darkwing Wars. Hardwired in so it could be dealt with.    A question came to Akan’s mind. Something from that older Alraxian part of him...and something he couldn’t seem to not ask, “Where were you born, Titus?”    The almost friendly tone in Akan’s voice caught Titus off guard. The man turned around and gave Akan a curious look, but took a few steps forward and said, “Small world in the Mid Rim. You’ve probably never heard of it.”    Akan nodded. That wouldn’t be a surprise...but that didn’t get his real question answered at all. In fact, it only got his brain working in overdrive as the next obvious question came up. It was amazing that Akan’s voice didn’t sound as prying as the actual questions, “Do you know where you parents were from?”    This didn’t seem to be a strange question to Titus. In fact, it almost looked like he’d been expecting it. A smile...a friendly smile, grew on the man’s face and he just said, “Most of my family lived on that planet.”    “Most.”    That was odd. That wasn’t a question. You could hear that period just sitting in the air during the resulting silence and Titus tried to understand what was really going on. He knew now that this was not just simple questioning. There was a point to this. A dangerous one, too. And this wasn’t the first time these kinds of questions had been asked of him by an Alraxian. Marix had asked the same things...in much the same way, years ago. So, instead of hedging around it, Titus knew exactly the end point. He knew what that lingering annoyance in Akan’s face was.    “Yes,” he said, answering the unasked question that somehow still hung in the air of the docking bay, “I have a trace of Sith blood in me. Real Sith. Not the Dark Jedi. But the true people called the Sith that were killed by the ones who stole their name.”    At hearing those words, Akan suddenly found himself using every single piece of his mind to force himself NOT to morph Alraxian and maul this thing. The Sith were the true evil. Created the Darkwings. Tainted the Alraxians. The Mrrakesh were the current and also long time enemies of the Alraxian people...but the Sith. They were evil itself. Not even the Mrrakesh were crazy or evil enough to create the Drakwings. And then, Akan’s mind just hit a wall. That wall was most literally his humanity. The part of him that wasn’t Alraxian heard all these things that were going through him and stopped them.    As Akan calmed himself, he noticed that Voort was watching him closely. Obviously waiting for a reaction that he already expected. But none came. Well, no. Eventually, Akan blinked a few times before speaking quietly. His voice was back to a sense of normality, and pretty much every single trace of the boy’s previous accusing glance were gone. Now, Voort saw the same Akan he’d known for a while now. But something in the eyes still worried him. No, it wasn’t the eyes. It was a sound. A soft click. Voort’s eyes traveled down to the sound and found its source.    Akan had gotten the lightsaber off of his belt and was now gently holding the weapon as he watched Voort. Quietly, he said, “He’s dead.”    So it came to this. Honestly, Voort had expected it to happen sooner. Much sooner. Letting out a long, heavy sigh, the former Imperial looked Akan straight in the eyes. Human to human. In a disturbingly calm voice, Voort spoke, “Yes. He is.”    “I’m ready to get this over with.”    Voort didn’t wait on that, instead, responded quickly and sharply, “What good will that do?”    “It will keep you from dragging Jen down with you,” Akan growled, a seething anger in his voice, “I’ve seen it, Voort. I’ve seen what you’ve done...what you’ll do.”    “I will never, ever, hurt her,” Voort snapped back, not caring about being nice anymore, “I’m through with this, Akan. Through with this damned war. Its over. Move on with the rest of the galaxy and stop trying to murder everyone who didn’t fight on your side!”    At that, Akan activated his lightsaber. The snap-hiss of the blade cut through the air as sharply as any noise ever could, but even Voort was surprised when the blade was still held at Akan’s side. Through gritted teeth, his body shaking very slightly with something far more deep than simple anger, Akan said, “It isn’t murder to kill a murderer.”    “So that’s it now?!” Voort took a small step forward, ignoring how close he was to that weapon and staring straight into Akan’s eyes, “Murder me. Kill me. What kind of Jedi would that make you, hm? What kind of friend would that make you for Jen? What do you think she would do?!”    Akan took a short step back. Somehow he’d not heard those last two sentences, but the venom with which he yelled back at Voort surprised the both of them, “I’m not a Jedi! I’m not anything, dammit! I’m some cowardly kid trying to find a way to die! You’re a murdering servant of the Emperor! Kill me! I know you want to! You want me dead more than I want to die! Kill me, you bastard!!”    Suddenly, Voort moved. Akan pulled back just slightly, lightsaber up in front of him and ready to defend himself despite those words he’d just spoken. Yes, Voort had gone for his lightsaber. Yes, he’d drawn the weapon from his belt. But to Akan’s astonishment, the man simply through the weapon across the docking bay. Far out of reach. And in the silence, he stared at Akan...finally, in an all too calm voice, Titus said, “I’m through with this. I won’t fight you. I won’t kill you. But if you wish to continue like some petulant child, then finish what you start. Kill me. You’re the one who’s pushed for this...so do it. You hate me so much...and yet you always ignore how similar we are. Maybe if you kill me, you’ll end up just like me. Or maybe...maybe you’ll get what you want. I’ll be dead. That part of you that scares you so much won’t be dead though. It’ll be there stronger than ever. I know what its like, Akan,” slowly, Voort took a single step forward, putting him face to face with the young man, “And I know that its your choice, not mine.”    For a long time, they stood there with the only sound the constant hum of Akan’s lightsaber...help off to his right side, easily able to swing in and cut Voort down in a second. Yet neither moved. Titus watched as Akan’s eyes searched him. He knew what this boy was looking for. He’d looked for it himself, many years ago after the death of his first wife and child. Akan was looking for some way to win this. To win and convince Titus to kill him. But he wasn’t going to find anything. It was far too late for that. All Akan found was himself. And when this realization washed over Akan it was obvious. The lightsaber fell from his hand, dropping to the durasteel plating at their feet and shutting off after another few moments. An impossibly pained expression gripped Akan’s face, and he soon dropped to his knees, burying his face in his hands and shaking with violent sobs.    Voort stood in silence, only letting out a small sigh of relief. For a long while, he’d actually expected that Akan would kill him. Was it over now? Finally over?</blockquote>

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