NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2608657" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 283: Under the...Swamp?“I really hate this planet.”    Amazingly enough, that was Shadow and not Jyren. He did, of course, nod in agreement as they looked at the deep green planet sitting out in front of Loki through the viewport, “Loki, just look for anything not swamp and head for that.”    A mental nod from the ship, and they were moving again. The planet began to grow larger, and Jyren decided there was something worth asking, “Feel anything?”    For the shortest moment, that question got him a sharp glare, but it faded into her usual blank look before Shadow answered, “Something. But...the planet is very alive, it is hard to pinpoint anything at all.”    Loki did find something. In fact, he found three somethings. One of which was too big to be anything beyond the ruined scraps of ancient crashed ship, which was confirmed when they flew over the area just to make sure. The other two were much farther apart, so they had to make a choice. And the one they chose(or rather, Shadow chose) looked just about right. The top of the bunker was there just as it had been before, though now it was wrecked and collapsed slightly.    After managing to find a clearing to set down in and yet again having to convince Toby that they’d let him explore on the next planet, Shadow and Jyren were out in the swamp. And it was still the same swamp. The smell was probably even worse this time. The only nice thing was that, thanks to being full grown Alraxians, they weren’t waist deep in the muck. Shadow was now knee deep in it, with Jyren fairing slightly better thanks to just being taller.    The two of them silently sloshed across the murky, dark ‘water’ to the collapsed entrance to the old bunker to find it in almost exactly the same shape as they’d left it. Almost, as the durasteel girders were bent in ways that were not in any way good, and there was even an old tree still in the way...but almost, specifically because there was a roughly two meter high section that looked to be literally blasted out to provide access into whatever was left of the place below. In all honesty, neither of them remembered it as destroyed as they found it to be.    “You go first,” Shadow said idly. It wasn’t that she was afraid, simply that it would be best to have him up front. If something happened, maybe he’d use the Force without realizing it and stop being an idiot. That was, of course, wishful thinking.    “Its dark,” Jyren responded in a somewhat hushed voice as he peered into absolute blackness.    Rolling her eyes, Shadow said, “Jyren...you can see in the dark.”    He blinked, looked to her, then back to the black, “...I can?”    Shadow ran a hand through her hair before pointing at the blackness, “Remember how steep it goes down? That’s the ceiling.”    “...if you say so,” he mumbled, inching closer but not actually getting anywhere.    “Jyren, the ceiling is black.”    Again, he looked back at her, but this time when he turned back he stepped closer to the hole in the debris and looked down. Shadow then heard a quiet, “Oh.”    He was smart enough not to attempt any more arguments. If she didn’t know that he was trying to be funny, Shadow would wonder if the lack of using the Force was having an adverse affect on his brain. Okay, that was a possibility anyway, but there was at least the chance that he was trying to make a joke and failing miserably. Not that she was any kind of expert on humour, but one day she was going to have to sit him down and explain to him just how much of an idiot he looked like most of the time.    Without a word, though, Shadow followed him in, ducking under the debris to get to the steep staircase that was still mostly intact. For a human, it would likely have been impossible to see down the entranceway, but thankfully Alraxians had amazingly good eyesight in the dark...another of the feline traits that managed to stay strong despite everything else that was there after thousands of years.    It was more of a climb down than a walk. In many places, the ceiling had completely collapsed in. The only signs of this was the lack of durasteel plating above and the completely ruined stairs below. There were no signs of the plates, as they had probably slid all the way down to the bottom level. It was one of those times that one had to wonder where the turbolift was, even if it probably wouldn’t have been working. A straight climb down would have been much more comfortable than the walk, climb, stumble, nearly fall, slip two steps, and all the other things that happened to the both of them on their way down.    “There’s a light,” Jyren eventually said. It had been about five minutes, and probably only thirty meters.    Shadow’s eyes took a moment to focus on where his hand was pointing, then noticed it was not, in fact, pointing down. Instead, he was pointing off to the left. Her eyes followed the direction until she also noticed a very faint glow down a corridor on flat flooring. She nodded, “We know that place.”    “Yes, but why a light?” she could faintly see him raise an eyebrow as he spoke, more because his hair was in the way than because of any trouble with darkness.    An unspoken(and unthought, even) conversation passed between them, and in a second Shadow had taken the lead. She heard Jyren draw his blaster pistol out of its holster and arm the weapon, but quickly turned all her senses focus ahead of her. There shouldn’t be any light in this place. Slowly and carefully, they walked down the corridor, noting that the light didn’t actually get that much brighter as they, presumably, got closer to its source. But there was a corner to turn, and they stopped at it to listen.    Shadow focused on her hearing. She toned out their breathing and listened around the corner...if such a thing was possible. After a minute, she looked to Jyren and nodded slowly. There was a noise. It wasn’t far from the corner...but then again, if they remembered right, there was a room right there anyway.    Only one thing to do then. A silent count. They nodded to each other to confirm they were both, in fact, thinking the same thing. The link was not actually being used, as for some reason it was hard to feel silent and stealthy when you were talking just fine with something else...even if the voice was in your head. So they held their breath...waited...waited...a creaking sound from around the corner caused them both to jump into action earlier than they’d meant to.    In a blur, they both spun around the corner, Shadow ready to tear any limbs that were near her off, and Jyren swinging his blaster pistol around to bear on the room in general. But both of these actions proved to be good ideas, but not very useful.    They only worked so well when jumping into the barrels of at least ten blasters.</blockquote>

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