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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1978687" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 134: Fear and DoubtThey spent in day outside the Anoat system, Loki and Alderaan in a comfortable orbit at the outer reaches of the system. Shadow had gone straight to her quarters, passing out on the bed without even asking Loki to close the door. When Akan commented on this, the ship got confused and closed and opened the door about three times before deciding to leave it open. Akan couldn’t help a smile, and had gone to his own quarters for some actual rest. The beds were surprisingly comfortable, and the rooms very spacious. The company of Loki wasn’t all that bad, either.    After a long, undisturbed sleep, the two Alraxians were up and scrounging for food. It was the first time that Akan didn’t actually question the strong need for food, as he’d learned to accept that using energy in this body was much different than for a human. At least that was one helpful hint as to how the Alraxian body might work, no matter how confusing and seemingly impossible the concept of morphing was. He couldn’t help thinking about it, as it was Jen who had brought up those questions when she’d first learned of all that an Alraxian could do. Jen. There was still something there...dangerous, but distant. The two Alraxians didn’t speak while eating, too focused on food to care about voice or even using the link to babble. Akan did come close, though, nearly bringing up that Jen should be taken back to somewhere safe until she was ready. He shrugged it off, though, knowing it would be a bad idea to bring that subject back up. Again.    It was after they’d finished eating, or at least decided that they could eat more later, that Shadow contacted the Alderaan. It surprised Akan to find an old holoprojector in a small room off from the cockpit. Of course, everything was slightly smaller since Loki had created space for the X-Wing. The once six rooms were reduced to the two quarters, cockpit, and this tiny closet-like room. The scratchy, blue image of Titus stood there, looking like he’d just woken up. Somehow, that wouldn’t be surprising.    “It will be a long trip to the Core,” Titus was saying, and Akan decided it was probably a good idea to pay attention. Currently, if all was going well at least, Shadow was the only one Titus could see. Hear...well, Akan didn’t know. He knew he couldn’t hear Jen, and Titus swore that she was right next to him. It was interesting how the technology only now caught his attention after so many years of simply accepting it. Maybe it was its being placed within such an unfamiliar environment?    Shadow was, as usual, ignoring Akan’s thoughts through the link and focusing on the task at hand, “I told you I’m going,” she motioned to Akan, “And Jedi boy here says he’s going to.”    There was a short pause and Akan couldn’t help but noticed a somewhat surprised look on Titus’ face, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”    Talk about a loaded question. Shadow and Akan had already had this discussion though. It was short. The first problem mentioned was his last trip there, barely a day earlier. That was ignoring the fact that his face was probably all over the place on Coruscant. The other problem was their blasting away from that New Republic fleet group. That put the ships themselves as a danger. While it was possible that the fleet hadn’t sent back profiles on the ships just yet, that was unlikely. Of course, Akan had a feeling that Titus was actually referring to the trouble that he had encountered on that last trip to Coruscant. Seemed like that man worried about Akan’s state nearly as much as Akan did about Jen’s. Fitting, at least.    “He’ll be good,” Shadow commented, giving Akan a look telling him that if he didn’t behave she’d lock him in a closet. No, the look didn’t actually say that, but she had earlier and the look helped in emphasizing that. She the looked back to Titus’ image and said, “You two don’t have to come. It would probably be safer, anyway.”    Another loaded comment, this time actually surprising Akan. Shadow was expressing worry for Jen. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. There were a thousand reasons that just the two of them going alone would be best, especially considering their ability to morph. That usually made tracking very tough. But Titus just shook his head after looking off to his left, “We’re coming with you. I...are you sure Marix is there?”    “She’s alive,” Shadow said flatly, “I can feel her. Its only rarely, but she’s there...”    “I have to see her again,” he said almost too quickly, then looked to his left again before adding, “Jen also says that you kids need someone watching you.”    That got a slight grin from Shadow, but she just nodded without a word. There was an awkward silence before Shadow said, “We’ll leave in a few minutes. See you there.”    Before Titus could respond, the image faded and Shadow stepped back. Akan raised an eyebrow, “You alright?”    That got the usual glare from her, but it had been expected. Shadow nodded, stepped past him and quickly making her way to the cockpit and her seat. Akan was right behind her, plopping into his own seat and still giving her a curious look, “What’s wrong? There’s at least one more thing that I would have asked him.”    “Oh really?” Shadow asked in a dangerously calm voice, her hands working on plotting a course while she was obviously talking with Loki. That glazed look in her eyes gave that away. And yet she still managed to do a third thing by berating him, “And what would the all knowing Jedi have asked?”    She had a short temper today, it seemed. The only time she called him ‘Jedi’ was when either she was angry, or teasing him. But this time it was obviously not teasing. The ice in her voice was what gave that away. But, holding his ground, Akan said as calmly as he could, “We’re going to Coruscant. Coruscant is a huge planet. We are looking for one specific spot, which might not even exist. Would asking him if he had at least a vague idea of its location have been a good idea?”    The ice faded from her glare and the glazed look disappeared. Loki had gone quiet. Either the ship was terrified of her response to what Akan had just said, or was just done with whatever it was he was saying. But Shadow’s voice was back to normal, not cold or even dangerous at all. Just...Shadow, “He doesn’t know where it is. He mentioned that a few months back.”    “Then...how will we know where to go?” Akan asked, not even seeing the lines of hyperspace extend into the swirling blue tunnel. Loki was much more silent in the transition to hyperspace also, so it didn’t get his attention in that way either.    Shadow sighed and sat back in the chair, closing her eyes, “I’ll know. You will have to trust me,” she trailed off, then, after noticing that Akan was waiting for her to continue, spoke a little more quietly, “Akan, I don’t know what I’m going to find there. I know its important, and I know I have to do it...but I don’t know what it is. Whatever it is, though, you must understand that it will very well affect the both of us.”    Akan was shocked. Even though she hadn’t spoken either things directly, that had been both her admitting fear and at the same time actually apologizing to him. That was a first. Two firsts together, in fact. Realizing that she was getting slightly angry from his mental reaction, Akan cut off his thoughts and just said the first things that came to mind, “Its not your fault. We’re in this together, and I’m not running away...no matter what may have happened on that planet already. I’ve been too selfish lately.”    Surprisingly, that got a hint of a smile on Shadow’s face, “See? Your last trip wasn’t as much a failure as you thought. You might have learned much more than you realize.”* * * *Jen sat cross-legged in the small room aboard that Alderaan that had been designated the lounge. The only reason for the name was that it was the only room, asides from the quarters of course, that had comfortable places to sit. Despite that, though, she was on the floor. Concentrating. Focusing. But the small objects that she had set down in front of her simply wouldn’t budge. No matter how hard she focused or tried not to try, it didn’t work. What was so different about this place?! It was calm and quiet and it should have been working!    “You’re thinking too much,” Titus said quietly from behind her. She knew he’d been standing at the entrance to the small room for at least a few minutes, but had continued to focus her attention on the objects in front of her. His voice broke the concentration and she sat back with a heavy sigh.    “I thought before and it still worked,” she complained, tipping her head back to look at him and ignoring the slight dizziness that it caused.    Titus’ expression was stern, and he pointed to the things in front of her, “You can’t just will things to happen all the time. It takes practice. And then more practice. Eventually, there will be a small part of your brain that only does that one thing and then it will seem easy. But before that can ever happen, you have to continue practicing.”    “Its not practice if nothing moves,” Jen commented idly, though she did sit straight up again and stared intently at the objects.    “There are things other than just levitation that anyone using the Force has to practice,” Titus’ voice responded calmly.    Jen couldn’t help a slight grin as her eyes closed and she attempted to multitask, focusing with one half of her mind and speaking to Titus with the other, “You sound just like Shadow.”    “For a reason,” he responded without missing a beat, and distantly she heard him sitting down in one of the chairs behind her, “Some truths are universal.”    There were a few minutes of silence as Jen went back to completely concentrating. For a moment, her blaster pistol lifted up off the ground just slightly. It wavered for a second, then held in the air in a gentle way. Next to it, the datapad rose up just a little higher, wavering more for a longer time and then falling back to the deck. Not before hitting the blaster pistol and sending it to the ground too. The soft dual thuds were drowned out by a frustrated growl from Jen.    She simply threw her hands up and sat back again, “Fine, I’m done for now,” then, she tilted her head back to look to Titus again, “Are you alright?”    He smiled. She never missed a thing. He offered a hand, which she took before awkwardly twisting around and then crawling up onto the cushions next to him. After Jen slipped an arm around him, he said, “I’m afraid of what we’re going to find on Coruscant. Shadow doesn’t really understand what’s happened in that place. When she sees it...I don’t know what’s going to happen.”    “What is so bad about it?” Jen asked, doing her best not to sound as interested in the science aspect of a cloning facility full of Alraxians as she really was.    It was the first time that she saw a truly harsh look cross Titus’ face when he looked at her. It only lasted a second, and his voice betrayed at least the hint of annoyance, “Words can’t describe it. But its not a part of my past that I’m proud of.”    “Everyone’s confronting their demons on Coruscant, it seems.”    Titus hugged her tightly, “So what are you confronting there?”    Pulling back just enough so that he could see a grin on her face, Jen said, “The fact that my life, no matter how insane it has been in the last few months, is impossibly boring and uneventful when compared with that of my husband’s and my friends’.”    “Oooh,” Titus smiled again, a reassuring thing to see, “Sounds very dangerous.”    “Oh, yes,” she nodded, “But for you, not me. Depending on how things turn out, you may end up with a life as a cook and scientist with me as the gun totting soldier.”    Despite the grin, he couldn’t help but look at least a little confused, “Cook?”    Jen laughed, “One of us has to learn someday. Or would you rather starve?”    “This is going to be a long hyperspace flight, isn’t it?” Titus asked, feigning a terrified look.    “Most definitely, Mr. Voort,” her grin became dangerous, “And by the end of it, you’d better learn to cook. The alternatives are not pretty.”((Notes: And now we're starting to slowly fade into what I consider the best stuff of the entire campaign. Trust me on this, nothing that has been said or done, even minor things, is to be ignored. Everything is important here, and its all going to come to play very soon. On another note...the promised cast picture is attached. Note that, in one form or another, EVERYONE is on their twice. Well, almost everyone. Three are not. This image is circa-Corellia marriage trip. Our four heroes in the center, with a few images of the past and the future surrounding. It is possible that some of the 'futures' shown aren't exactly true though. Hope my quiet readers like it. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />))</blockquote>

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