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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2463438" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 258: Three SwordsThe corridors of the ship were unlike anything Jyren had encountered before. He had gotten so used to the creamy white...life of the Alraxian buildings that any kind of metallic surface looked odd, but this...this was different in a way that he couldn’t pinpoint. The walls were all in a greyish colour, with small, dim lights dispersed every couple of meters at mid-height on the wall. The ceilings were a good four meters up, and even as tall as Jyren and Shadow were as full grown Alraxians, it was intimidating to look up so much farther.    Perhaps what was bothering Jyren the most was how much it reminded him of an Imperial cruiser. Stark, empty walls that looked more like the walls of a prison cell than anything else. And there was no sense of life at all...empty and dead. After getting used to feeling the ships, buildings, or whatever it was being so literally alive, it was hard to step into something that wasn’t. The only reason the X-Wing didn’t bother him is because he knew what to expect...but this ship was familiar and yet altogether alien.    At least Shadow seemed to know where she was going.    “Are you alright?” Jyren asked after they’d followed the corridors for a long while. She’d gone silent, falling inward in the way she usually did when something was bothering her.    Thankfully, she didn’t try to lie, and just shook her head before saying quietly, “No, I’m not.”    “Going to say anything else?” he asked, picking up the pace a little so that he was walking more beside her than a step behind.    “I wasn’t planning on it,” Shadow answered bluntly. There was a short pause, then she picked up on his mental pushing and she sighed, “That could be me, you know.”    “We’ve been over this one before,” Jyren answer slowly, having figured that this problem had already been solved. It was proof that he didn’t really know Shadow as well as he sometimes thought he did.    Shadow sighed and stopped before turning to look at him with a blank expression on her face, “That doesn’t make it go away. Ket is...is just doing what he thinks is the right thing to do. They...we took him from his family, his life, and turned him into a killing device in a time where we claim to be peaceful. He has every right to want revenge.”    Jyren stared at her, obviously shocked at the implications in her words. It took him a few seconds to gather his thoughts into coherent words before finally saying, “He doesn’t have the right to kill innocent people. He doesn’t have any right to charge in here with an army and try to exterminate an entire species.”    At this, she said nothing in response. Thoughts ran through her head at a such a speed that Jyren couldn’t pick up on them at all. It was all a blur to him...and, in fact, to her. Then one thing came to the surface and Jyren caught it right away. He reached over and put a hand on her shoulder, “You are not like him. You may have been before...but you aren’t anymore. Don’t even start with that. If Ket is so right in what he does, why is he fighting this alone? What about the rest of the...what about the rest of you? He wasn’t alone.”    Shadow nodded slowly, but couldn’t help but catch Jyren’s rewording. But he was right, and she knew it. She’d known it the whole time, of course. But the thought still lingered in the back of her mind...that ingrained need for revenge that seemed to sit in the mind of every sentient species. After a deep breath, she nodded again and turned to continue leading the way.    They fell into silence again, mentally preparing for whatever it was that they were going to encounter, while still staying as alert as possible for any possible ambush. But none came. The ship was like a derelict...empty but for the two of them and a third beacon, glowing in the Force. Ket was strong...more so than he had demonstrated before. Jyren half hoped that it was just an illusion, but he knew better than that. With Shadow here, Ket would have to be at his best. This wasn’t a game anymore.    Two rides up on something that resembled a turbolift and they were up on what Shadow noted was probably some kind of observation level. There was only a single corridor leading to a door about ten meters down. So they followed it, and it was Jyren’s turn to hit the switch. The door opened with a hiss and a clank, revealing a very large, open room with a gigantic viewport that stretched across the entire circular shaped point at the opposite end. Along parts of the viewport were panels that glowed, most of them looked similar to star charts. More than an observation level, though...there looked to be other kinds of controls and systems being monitored. And, of course, standing at the opposite end and staring right across the room at them, was Ket Halpak.    His black hair faded into the view of space outside, but his tanned skin and bright green eyes could be seen very easily even from the distance Shadow and Jyren were at. Shadow stepped in first, walking across the floor until they were only about twenty meters from Ket. Jyren followed, glancing around and noting just how empty the place was.    “I hope you had a good landing,” Ket said, idly flicking his stub of a tail.    Neither of them responded to that. When a few seconds of silence went by, Shadow spoke in a stern, strong voice that sounded hauntingly similar to that of her mother’s, “You are alone in this now, Ket. Nine is dead, and you know as well as I do that the Mrrakesh will take the first chance they have to turn on you.”    It was the required offer of mercy that everyone gave in such a situation...but Shadow was not the kind of directly state it. Ket wasn’t a fool, though, and knew exactly what she meant. He shook his head and took a few casual steps forward, “You say that as if you believe I am not already prepared for that.”    Ket stopped only five meters in front of them, his arms casually behind his back. Shadow took the chance she had and started a slow walk around him, motioning out to the stars and the ships that could be seen through the viewport as a diversion, “The ships are of Mrrakesh design. They knew them better than you do.”    Ket did not say anything this time, but simply watched her as she stepped around so that she was now directly opposite Jyren...with Ket in the middle. But Ket simply smiled, obviously taking some kind of amusement from the situation, as he turned his back on Jyren to look to Shadow, “Marix, you know I am no fool. And I believe it is your turn to answer some things...in fact, I have but one question. Do you really think that you accomplish anything by killing me?” his hand waved out to the ships in a motion identical to Shadow’s, “You think those droids are linked to me?! Even if you kill me, they will not just stop! And the Mrrakesh will still come!”    “We will stop them,” Jyren cut in finally.    A short laugh escaped Ket as he glanced over his shoulder to Jyren. But then he turned back to Shadow, “Arrogance does befit an Alraxian. He has learned well,” Ket then trailed off and let out a sigh, “But this is wasting all of our time. I believe it is time to end this little game between us once and for all.”    His hand shot out to the left, and a metallic blade detached itself from the wall and launched itself into Ket’s grip. Jyren reached instinctively, detaching his lightsaber from his belt and activating it with the usual snap-hiss in one swift motion. Shadow bent down in a readied stance, but then something caught Jyren’s attention.    [Catch!] he sent through the link before taking one hand off of his lightsaber and getting the other one off of his belt. With some help from the Force, he tossed the hilt of the lightsaber over Ket, and it was caught by Shadow and activated as if she was an expert.    Ket smiled, looked back to Jyren and then to Shadow...and then the two Alraxians charged in, lightsabers ablaze.</blockquote>

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