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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1973763" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 132: Hanger Troubles“He’s in the hangar causing trouble,” Shadow said for the eight time. They were in the turbolift now. It had taken too much time to hot-wire that, as it was also locked down by the alarm that had finally stopped sounding. But the grenade that Titus had thrown did the job of clearing their path, and they didn’t encounter anyone else.    Jen smiled slightly, “Akan’s good at that. How long has he been down there?”    “Ten minutes, maybe,” Shadow shrugged. Tracking time wasn’t one of her strong point. In fact, she rarely cared about it at all. Things got done when they got done. Simple as that. Why all the humans(and other species for that matter, but humans seemed more extreme) couldn’t accept that was beyond her.    “He’s alright?” surprisingly, that was Titus asking the question.     Shadow gave him a look, then managed a nod, “More or less. A little tired...scratched up. But nothing too horrible. He’s not dead.”    She had not intended that as a joke, but for some reason the two Voorts laughed. Humor was another one of those things that was beyond Shadow. Well, normal humor, at least. Shadow had her own, much more twisted sense of humor that usually had her laughing at things most people wouldn’t. They gave her the same strange looks that she was currently giving the Voorts.    But there was not time to actually say anything else. The turbolift came to a halt, and a half second later the door slid open. This was the first time that the Voorts got a look at the landing that the Alraxians had made, and it got a short surprised sound out of the two of them. It was more likely the A-Wing being on its side that got that reaction than the general unharmed look of the X-Wing. Then again, it was harder to see the X-Wing as it was behind another...which had a severed body under one wing. Twice severed. Cleanly. Lightsaber wounds, no doubt.    There was also blaster fire. It wasn’t aimed at them, but right above them, a constant barrage that took them a moment to identify. Off behind some scaffolding right across from the wrecked A-Wing, there were three fleet security troopers firing constantly up over the turbolift. What was up there? It didn’t matter. At least, Titus decided that and grabbed the two females, pushing them and growled under his breath, “Come on. Just get to the ships.”    “But where’s Akan?” Jen asked as they started to the right, heading to the Alderaan. Following the obvious and not without a little help from the Force, they all stopped and turned to look up to where the blaster fire was aimed. They saw a glasteel panel, which had a somewhat small opening cut into it. About that time, a blue green blade cut through the panel, opening up a larger hole. No surprise that he was attracting the blaster fire. A moment later, blaster fire started shooting back, and it took a moment before the three of them realized Akan wasn’t shooting, but instead deflecting it.    Jen was the first to break out of the frozen stance and act. Hefting the heavy blaster rifle in both hands, she charged under the nearby X-Wing(trying to ignore the decapitated corpse), and then stepped out into the open. She needed to be in the open to see around the cover that the three troopers were using. They seemed so focused on Akan that she didn’t have any trouble standing there for a half second before holding the trigger down on the heavy rifle. Blaster bolts hit two of them, only killing the first who took a shot to the face. He dropped hard onto the hangar’s deck, but the other took a glancing shot off of the lightly armored chestplate he wore. It sent the man stumbling back onto his backside, but he quickly fired off a wild shot that went high. At least it was aimed in her direction....as were four other shots.    Apparently, there was another turbolift off on the end of the hangar opposite the entrance. Jen had a quick glance to a large number of troops emptying out of the turbolift before a strong arm yanked her back behind the cover of the nearby X-Wing. She looked to Titus, who gave her a ‘You’re crazy but we’ll discuss this when we’re alive’ look in response, then managed an innocent shrug, “Can’t just leave the kid up there to get shot at, can we?”    Titus grinned, and reached around the aft section of the X-Wing to fire off a few more shots. Not aiming, but just putting down some warning shots to discourage any kind of approach. He pulled back and then looked to the Alderaan, a clear path right in front of them, even behind the cover, “We need to go. Now.”    “But Akan...”    “Has Shadow to look after him,” Titus grabbed Jen’s arm and started to drag her to their ship. He was surprised when she yanked her arm out of the grip and took a sidestep to fire more with the blaster fire. Cursing, he gave up and stepped next to her, also firing at the very large amount of troops that were now trying to move closer. They were better shots, too, and some of them were getting too close for comfort. Titus was relieved when Jen had the sense to duck back behind the X-Wing’s aft section for cover again. At least if they were holding their ground they weren’t standing in the open taking fire. Instead, the aft of the X-Wing was taking a very large amount of shots, though some went past and nearly hit the Alderaan.    Jen heard a noise from back towards the turbolift and turned to see its source. She caught a short glimpse of Akan cutting a much larger hole in the glasteel, sending pieces shattering down onto the hangar deck below. She then also noticed where Shadow was. The Alraxian had grabbed herself a blaster pistol...no...where would she have gotten that from?! Since Jen hadn’t seen Akan toss the weapon down to Shadow, it left her confused until she decided not to think about it anymore. With all of them except Akan behind definite cover, he was again taking the majority of the fire. This time, though, with so many more troops it was a dangerously large amount. Jen had a feeling of how Akan planned to get back down, and if he was going to do that, he’d need a break in the blaster fire. There was only one way to do that, even if it was near suicide.    Turning back to the world in front of her, Jen stepped around Titus and took a deep breath. With everyone having holed themselves into a good position of cover by this point, it really was suicide. But then again, how would she ever be accepted as a Voort without a little suicidal fun? Then, she took a firm step out from behind the cover, which was followed by a second to get her out of Titus’ reach. As she did so, her finger held down the rifle’s trigger and she fired a mass of blaster bolts at the area in front of her. The troopers had been smart, repositioning themselves behind the scaffolds and work equipment so that they now had cover from her direction. But it at least surprised them. She saw at least four heads duck down suddenly, and at the same time, a few others simply turned and brought their firing arc in her direction. Titus quickly stepped out next to her, also firing but reaching out to drag her back.    With the amount of blaster fire, it really was a miracle that the two Voorts weren’t burnt to blaster pelted crisps. In fact, Titus was actually amazed that in dragging her back behind the X-Wing that he didn’t take a single shot(though three came far too close and he could swear that some of his hair was now burnt off). But Jen wasn’t so lucky. There was a cry of pain from her just before he got back to the cover, and he looked down to see she’d taken two shots. One on the leg, which explained why he had to literally drag her, and the other in the right shoulder...explaining why her blaster rifle was now in the open on the deck. He dropped his own weapon to kneel down beside her. Jen groaned but in her usual stubborn manner tried to get up. Apparently, the wounds weren’t too bad. Or at least, she was good at pretending they weren’t. Probably a little of both knowing her.    Titus noticed her head was titled back and she was looking up, past the X-Wing and back towards the turbolift. He turned just in time to see Akan jump. The barrage of blaster fire followed the falling Alraxian, and his lightsaber was only able to deflect a few of them. Titus saw at least two shots hit the Alraxian before there was a loud clank of him hitting the deck. Two cries of pain then echoed out, Akan’s much louder than Shadow’s. But a moment later, Titus saw both Alraxians running right towards them, doing a bad job at using the X-Wing for cover. Shots were shooting right past them, and Akan obviously figured out the pointlessness of actually stopping when he deactivated the lightsaber.    The two of them then ducked under the wing of the starfighter, using the larger S-Foils as a good cover. Titus was starting to pick up Jen, deciding that it was time to go at least two minutes ago, “You two alright?”    Akan shrugged, “Body is. Mind is still trying to figure out why the legs aren’t still broken.”    “You’ll have to teach me the mutilate self and come out unscathed trick once we’re out of this,” Titus commented, getting to his feet and looking straight ahead to the Alderaan’s access ramp. He glanced to the Alraxians a moment, and then said, “She’s alright. Lets just get out of here.”    “Agreed,” Shadow grumbled, looking like she was going to maul Akan at the first chance she had. The three of them then ran. Titus ran first, going a bit slower the semi-conscious Jen in his arms. She was in that state of shock that being injured could bring. She was alive, but only semi aware of the situation around her. This was apparent in the mumbled nothings she was speaking between the groans. Once they were in hyperspace, he was going to have to find a way to treat those wounds quickly. But at least he had cover for the entire run.    Akan and Shadow had to run straight across the open section of the hangar to reach their X-Wing. Both of them ran without looking to their left at the oncoming blaster fire. Akan took another blaster shot just before they reached the cover of the vertical A-Wing. The blaster shot hit him straight in the left shoulder, throwing him to the deck. Thankfully, his momentum sent him tumbling to the ground behind the cover of the A-Wing. Trying to ignore the pain, he remorphed the wound and found Shadow was dragging him up to his feet. That was rare for her, and he couldn’t help a sarcastic comment as he climbed up into the main pilot’s chair, “How is it you never get hit?!”    Shadow was already in her seat, strapping in and grinning proudly, “Because I’m smart enough to realize that it hurts. Why is it you always end up getting shot?”Akan couldn’t help a short laugh as he strapped himself in and hit the switch to bring the canopy down. Through the link, he fed a myriad of information to Shadow so that they could get the ship’s systems running just as quickly. It was prefaced with a ‘don’t think, just press the switches I tell you to’, and Shadow was usually good with things like that. As quickly as he could, Akan got the repulsorlifts online and had them rising up off the deck. Shadow was following his instructions quickly enough that the ship’s shields came online just as fast, stopping the damage that the continued fire from the trooper’s blaster rifles could have caused. Suddenly realizing that the exit might be blocked, Akan looked over his shoulder to see the Alderaan was also just getting off the deck. The shuttle was slower than their starfighter, so it was going to be at least another ten or fifteen seconds before there was room for the X-Wing to get out. Fine. Plan C.    “Start pulling the trigger the second that the weapons are active!” Akan snapped over his shoulder, bringing the X-Wing up a little higher so that the S-Foils had room to open. Yes, the lasers could still fire with the S-Foils closed, but Akan had never been too comfortable with attempting it. He’d seen it done before only once, and it was in such a panicked situation that the X-Wing was shot down a few seconds later. Ambushes tended to cause things like that. Akan didn’t have to force himself back into reality, as the S-Foil’s locked in their open position and Shadow started firing. The shots from the top two cannons hit the back wall of the hangar, getting small explosions and taking out a good amount of the scaffolding. The bottom two cannons had a nearer target, simply destroying the broadsided A-Wing that was directly in front of them.    Akan let her continue firing before pulling the X-Wing back some. It was enough so that he could spin the X-Wing around to pull out of the hangar nose first. Thankfully, Shadow let go of the trigger as the starfighter spun around. If she hadn’t, it was likely that the exiting Alderaan would have gotten some unexpected surprises. The shuttle reversed out of the hangar, spun around, and shot off...in a loop. Titus was a better pilot than Akan had ever assumed. Though the sudden barrage of turbolaser fire from the other Nebulon-B was worrying. There wasn’t a choice, though.    “Hang on,” Akan said over his shoulder, diverting the weapon’s power to the sublight engines, “This is going to get rough. I’d also suggest closing your eyes again.”    Shadow nodded even though he couldn’t see, and followed both his suggestions. The closing of eyes was expected, but he probably hadn’t actually meant for her to dig her claws into the seat. There was no way she wasn’t going to hang on. But then, just as the drives kicked in and they rocketed out of the hangar, Shadow opened her eyes. Why not? It could be...    Her thoughts trailed off to nothing as they shot out, immediately rolling and reversing direction to follow the Alderaan’s course. Halfway through the roll, the S-Foils were closed and even more speed kicked in. The inertial dampeners worked very well on the starfighter so neither of the Alraxians actually felt the force of the acceleration, but Shadow couldn’t help leaning back in the chair slightly. Just as they passed over the top section of the frigate, the black darkness of space lit up. Yes, they could see the two soft blue drives of the Alderaan not too far ahead, but now a sudden stream of green and red was everywhere. Turbolaser fire mixed with smaller, anti-starfighter lasers. The canopy started spinning as Akan darted through a series of rolls, spins, and even a few loops. Through it, there were many shudders as the shields took hits, but Shadow was too focused on the insanity outside the canopy to look at the shield reading and see the strength fading away quickly.    Shadow also didn’t realize her grin. It was growing with each new jolt that Akan’s maneuvering sent through the ship. Akan was doing the old multitasking. Both eyes stared forward, using a mix of his sight and the Force to maneuver around the turbolaser fire directed at the X-Wing and the Alderaan. Through his peripheral vision, he watched the shield status and the status of the navcomputer’s plotting the hyperspace jump. Earlier, he had noticed the lack of an R-unit droid, and now understood that the capability was instead programmed straight into the main computer. A very nice ship.    The ship didn’t then, it rocked violently. A nice ship that had just lost its shields. Cursing, Akan tried to push a little more power into the engines. It sent them past the Alderaan in a flash of movement, giving Titus a good sight of the blaster scoring all across the X-Wing. Knowing his shuttle wasn’t nearly as good at maneuvering as that fighter, Titus had started by plotting the hyperspace course and just getting to a safe range. The Alderaan rocked roughly from two hits. The shields held, but they wouldn’t for much longer. Clicking on the comm, Titus found himself yelling, “Go!”    Apparently, Akan was one step ahead of him. Or at least one step even. Titus had time to see the X-Wing stretch slightly, then shoot off and out of sight just as he pulled the hyperspace levers. A moment later, he got sight of a red flash in front of the cockpit, then all turned to blue. He couldn’t help letting out a long sigh of relief, then got up and left the cockpit without even checking on the ETA or damage they’d taken. Instead, Titus nearly ran back to the small medical section of the ship(it was more a closet than a section), and knelt down next to Jen. She was lying on the small bed, breathing and slightly more aware than before. Letting out another sigh of relief, Titus started treating the burnt skin as best he could. At least patching it up would be enough to stop any kind of infection...or worse.    Aboard the X-Wing, there was a short silence after they’d entered hyperspace. It had lasted only until Shadow started giggling. That soon turned to out right laughter. Akan couldn’t help but wonder if she’d completely lost her mind, even though the link didn’t provide any hints. In fact, the link was so overblown with whatever Shadow was feeling that he couldn’t get anything to make sense. Then, through the laughter, Shadow yelled, “That was great!! Let’s go again!”    Akan grinned and couldn’t help laughing. His was more a nervous laughter considering how close they’d come to death, but it eventually turned to real laughter like Shadow’s. Being an Alraxian really was infectious at times...and it wasn’t all that bad either.((Notes: New Server! YAY! Still going with at least one update per day, but I've got a couple new things coming. Next few updates should be longer than usual, and I've got a new cast sketch done(with EVERYONE circa Corellia marriage trip). That should be uploaded a little later in the week. New character sketches for everyone are coming too.))</blockquote>

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