Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 515: Out of Orbit

[Loki tells me you’re inside that thing.]

Marix twitched at the voice in her head, still stuck in the tight ventilation shaft and, thankfully, still not found by the Mrrakesh. Well, they might know where she was, but they weren’t doing anything about it for the moment. She had gone up at least one deck now, and the climb was tiring on her arms as they were doing all the work...but Marix knew she’d be fine. The hard part would be once she got out of the tight shaft...which was still small for an Alraxian. Not to mention certain difficulties brought upon due to being female. There were truly times when she hated it.

Still climbing up, one clawed hand at a time, Marix shifted her mental focus to the voice. It wasn’t Loki. It had a similar...sound in her mind, if sound was the word for it, and it probably wasn’t. But while Loki’s ‘voice’ had a more playful, joking quality to it even when he was serious, this voice was much more sarcastic and almost exactly how Marix imagined Jyren would sound had he been a Kanyak.

The irony of this was not lost on her.

[Hermes...] she could feel the little ship out there not far from her, which meant he was coming in for some very dangerously close passes. That was Hermes, alright. [Aren’t you supposed to be with Alyx?!]

The feeling of the Kanyak in the Force faded slightly as he flew farther away, then grew again. [No offense, but your brother’s boring.]

He had a point. Hermes was a thrill seeker. He was about the same age as Loki, and had been serving with the Knights from the moment he was old enough. His first pilot had been Marix’s only friend, Kyren Ka’BlueIce...but Kyren had been dead for over a decade and Hermes was left in a rather bad state in losing his pilot. But then, soon after Marix and Jyren had returned from dealing with Jen, Marix had an idea.

It took a bit of manipulating on both sides, but she managed to pair up Jyren and Hermes and get them working together. They had, as she’d expected, immediately formed a close bond. They had such similar personalities that it was either that or they’d have killed each other. Marix had planned for both, and was still a bit disappointed in not getting to see the latter. But then the Vong came and Jyren ran off, with Hermes taking Alyx back and forth to where he needed to be to protect him. And then Jyren died...

[You could have picked a better time.] Marix sent in the Kanyak’s direction.

Marix reached the next deck, finding a horizontal shaft that she gladly took, allowing her to retract her claws and simply crawl normally without all the strain on her arms. If she remembered the blueprints of these ships correctly, this should be the right level. So, as she crawled along, she began to look for a way to get out of the damned shaft and at least stretch some.

The entire ship shook roughly, though the tight quarters she was in meant only her head moved, hitting the wall of the ventilation shaft hard enough to make Marix’s vision blur. To make matters worse, Hermes chimed in. [Oooh, found a weak spot in their shields!]

[Dammit, Hermes!] she yelled at him out of instinct while her vision returned to normal and, not far ahead, she spotted a grate on the left side. That meant she was at the floor level than on the ceiling. [Where is Loki anyway?!]

In her mind, Marix heard an amused laugh of sorts that faded into a humming sound. [He’s flying around as slooooow as usual. Some Jendari ships showed up and he said something about leading them here while I uh...well, lets not go into what he said to me.]

He probably told you to go get yourself shot.

Marix grinned slightly at the thought. Probably? No, that was exactly what Loki would have said, especially to Hermes when he was in one of his showing off moods. The good news was the Jendari ships had arrived. That meant the battle shouldn’t last much longer...but it brought up an important question.

[Hermes, where exactly are the Mrrakesh ships now?] she sent the ‘words’ at the ship while reaching the great, making sure the corridor was clear through the Force, her ears, her eyes, her nose, and even her sense of touch, feeling for a slight shaking that Mrrakesh feet would cause on the deck plates. Nothing. So, as quickly and quietly as she could, Marix attempted to remove the grate. It wouldn’t take long for them to find her, if they hadn’t already set a trap.

The lack of immediate response from Hermes was worrying, but Marix didn’t have time to worry. Soon, the grate was on the deck and she was crawling out into the corridor, which looked exactly like the one she had left. Metal, slightly slanted at the ceiling, and almost painfully missing in anything beyond the colours grey and black. On her feet immediately, Marix looked both directions. Doors spread out at rather random intervals both directions on both sides of the corridor, but no sign of any Mrrakesh. That bothered her.

[The ships are descending into Alraxia’s orbit.] Hermes’ ‘voice’ actually sounded worried, and a bit distracted. It was for good reason. There would be four, maybe five Jendari cruisers now, along with the various lightly-armed but very maneuverable Kanyaks against only three Mrrakesh ships and maybe a dozen of their small fighters. They wouldn’t be able to fight that many Jendari ships head on, so it was either run or pick a new battlefield if they were determined to win.

Dropping into Alraxia’s atmosphere was possible for both Mrrakesh ships and the Jendari, but the larger Jendari cruisers would have more difficulty in the atmosphere and the Mrrakesh knew how much the Alraxians valued their world. Heading to the planet would risk it and was essentially a shield for them. Hopefully the Jendari could get in the way, but it was unlikely. So, if these predictions were right, and Marix knew they were, she was the only one in a position to turn the battle around. She needed to get to the bridge now.

[Send word to the Jendari that I’m working on this ship. Get them to hold the Mrrakesh back long enough for me to deal with this and hopefully things will become more manageable after.] Marix picked a direction when she got her bearings, and headed left. The bridge should be nearby...

[What, exactly, are you planning?] Hermes cut in, his voice distant again, as she quickly ran to the corridor towards a pair of large, double doors she knew held the bridge behind. Last time she’d been there it hadn’t exactly been a wonderful situation. In fact, it was an almost exactly similar situation. So what was one more time? She’d stormed a bridge before, she could do it again.

Realizing Hermes had said something, Marix answered truthfully. [I am working on that part.]

Only a few meters from the door, of course the thing opened. When she heard it opening, Marix was already dropping into a crouch as she ran forward, preparing for the...two Mrrakesh they came out, one training a rifle on her and immediately opening fire while the other fumbled for a small blaster pistol-like weapon.

Marix strafed to the nearby wall, took a few short steps vertically before launched herself straight into the Mrrakesh with the rifle. Her arms grabbed the weapon and wrenched it from his grip as they both hit the deck plates hard. The shock of the impact gave Marix the advantage, and she spun the weapon around then pulled the trigger, putting a good hole in the Mrrakesh’s skull.

Immediately, she rolled off of the corpse as a powerful foot stomped down. Marix’s head came up to see the second Mrrakesh aiming his pistol down and pulling the trigger. Time froze as she took in the situation behind the Mrrakesh.

There was the bridge. All on one level, with a few computer consoles on the walls but most of them set up in two rows facing the forward viewport. There was a command console right there at the front, and Marix could see the full compliment of roughly a dozen Mrrakesh there, most working at stations but some turning to see what the commotion was. She couldn’t see the ship’s commander, but what really caught Marix’s vision in that singular moment was the view beyond...she could see Alraxia. The entirety of the viewport was dominated by green and blue of the planet below, and it was getting larger. Still in orbit but they were descending quickly.

Then time unfroze, and the Mrrakesh fired.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 516: Battle Prowess

There was a violent, nearly blinding pain as the Mrrakesh’s energy bolt cut through Marix’s right shoulder. The force of the bolt twisted her body around, causing her to go from a crouched position to spinning and then hitting the deck plates on her back. Being trained against pain was one thing, but that didn’t remove the physical effects of it, only the mental reactions. Marix’s mind was still focused clearly on what she had to do, get up, remorph the wound, and drop that Mrrakesh before he could fire again.

Her body, however, was doing what bodies normally did when they were shot. It was panicking. While Marix’s mind could control the pain and force herself through it, she didn’t have the ability to stop the energy bolt from sending her onto her back like it did. She also couldn’t force away the sharp pain that numbed her right arm and caused her to hit the deck awkwardly from attempting to brace herself on the numb arm. The good thing about her body compared to most other beings’ in the galaxy was that Marix’s was trained to naturally remorph its wounds.

And so, in less than a second, the gaping wound left by the surprisingly powerful energy pistol was gone, leaving only the injured patch of morphsuit that was slowly growing back to cover the area of exposed skin. But the Mrrakesh was firing again, his weapon now trained squarely for Marix’s forehead in what would very likely be a fatal shot. Luckily for Marix, her mind was forcing her body to move and she rolled to the side again, her left leg lashing out and sweeping the Mrrakesh off of his feet just as he fired the weapon with another loud, echoing noise that sounded like a roaring pulse of pure, screaming energy.

Marix heard the Mrrakesh hit the deck plates harder than she had, and immediately flipped herself up onto her feet in one quick motion. The Force was screaming, and her eyes moved left to see three more green energy blasts coming her way from other Mrrakesh inside the bridge. Thanks to the warning of the Force, she had time to dive forward, landing claws-first on the downed Mrrakesh and driving her claws deep into his upper torso, though his thick armour, then flipping completely over him after using him like a spring board.

She reached her feet again just in time for the entire corridor to shake violently. Marix didn’t even time to regain her balance before being thrown into the bulkhead to her left. Managing to catch herself with her arm, she spun around to see that the Mrrakesh which had been on the deck had actually been thrown into the cockpit from the violent turbulence that was, hopefully, due to Jendari weapons fire...or even Hermes. She’d just make a note not to ever mention to Hermes that he could cause that much damage to such a large ship.

The moment of instability provided a much needed opening. One thing Marix prided herself on was using openings like that, as so few others ever seemed to. Her footing still a bit unsteady, Marix turned and charged for the still-open door of the bridge. By the time she reached it, her entire body was metal again. It definitely had its advantages.

The Mrrakesh from before was up and coming around the corner when Marix reached the doorway. Had she been completely Alraxian, barreling into a Mrrakesh would have meant Marix was on her back again a second later. But she was metal now, with the solid qualities that went along with it, and she charged straight through the shocked Mrrakesh like a landspeeder. Her eyes were reexamining the situation within the bridge again, and finding her next target...

Said target was firing his energy pistol already, the green bolt going just over her head as she dropped low and charged straight for his gut. Marix dove into the Mrrakesh and forced him straight into a console behind him, getting a satisfying snap out of the Mrrakesh’s spine and a loud cracking of metal that was not from Marix, but from the console.

“Stand down!”

The very fact that the words were in Trade were enough to cause Marix to pause. Her sleek, silver metal body stopped and stood up straight, head snapping around to identify the source of the sound. It was a very large Mrrakesh, wearing the same body armour as all of the others but it was green instead of red. He was the commander of the ship. And he spoke perfect Trade.

And all eleven other Mrrakesh, including the commander, were leveling weapons on her. As far as she knew, her metal form was just as susceptible to those weapons as the bulkheads were. She could remorph it and survive, but the strength of those energy bolts would send her back and stumbling long enough for more to hit...and then more...Jyren would have suggested she was in over her ears.

He would have been right.

“Ko su elantor nah!” the Mrrakesh commander bellowed the words in a powerful military voice that hinted at one reason he was probably in charge. Marix understood the words, too: ‘Leave the bridge now’.

And they did.

Without question or comment, every single Mrrakesh left the bridge. The only reason Marix stood there was her knowledge that something here was wrong. Something was going on that she hadn’t grasped yet, and it was important she did before acting further. This commander was more than he seemed.

The doors to the bridge closed with a loud thud rather than the hiss of most automatic doors. When the closed, the tall Mrrakesh commander stepped around a pair of consoles to stand exactly opposite her, only a few meters away, lupine eyes watching her like the predator he was, “You are the Alraxian Empress. I would assume all of the damage done has been you and you alone.”

Marix didn’t respond to that. In fact, she didn’t move at all. Her droid-like body stood like a metal statue, entire face even more unreadable than it was in the flesh. Even Jyren, who could read her neutral face like an expert, could never see anything from Marix’s metal face. It was why he hated it so much. It was why he always asked her not to use the body. But that didn’t exactly matter anymore...

“I see you are not one for conversation,” a sneer formed on the Mrrakesh’s muzzle, “No matter, you are not here to talk. Neither am I. I have waited a great many years to see if the stories of your prowess in combat were just stories. Halpak spoke as if you were mightier than the greatest Mrrakesh warriors...but he fell so easily, I wonder if he was a good judge.”

One thing Marix hated was talkative idiots. This commander was one of them. There was a surefire way to end this kind of stupid, boasting monologue.

Marix shifted her weight just slightly, then charged straight for him.

 

[Angcuru]

Time for a good old fashioned stand-up one-on-one fight.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 517: Tracks

“Tracks, sir,” Rea called out over her shoulder, kneeling down just off to the left of the shuttle’s boarding ramp with her small glowrod held over the ground with her left hand, and blaster pistol still comfortably held in her right.

The Duros commander turned around, as he’d been wandering towards the treeline because he had said he had seen something odd about the trees. But he’d only gotten about halfway there and was now turning around, with his glowrod still facing the trees. Commodore Nok spared one more glance towards the treeline, then looked over to where Adria was kneeling, “Check the trees, Harken.”

With a nod, Adria slipped up to her feet and headed over to where Rulae had been going, while he walked over to Rea and knelt down next to her, inspecting the ground her glowright was held over. He reached out a gloved hand carefully and traced a line that was easy to see from the shadows of the light being held, “Not very big.”

“But heavy,” Rea added as she shifted her weight slightly, trying to ignore the slight chill in the air as it grew into night on Thyferra. When the Commodore sent a curious look in her direction, which was subtle on a Duros’ limited features, but one she’d learned to identify in the short months. Her hand was ungloved, and so the light blue of her skin was a rather sharp contrast to the darkness and the bright light on the green grass. Ignoring this, she motioned to the boot print, “We haven’t left any tracks, ourselves. Even kneeling here, nothing,” she shifted her weight to show move her boot and show the grass straightening there slowly.

Commodore Nok’s thin lips seemed to form a flat line as he thought about something, then he looked outwards to the south, “They keep going.”

Looking up to follow his gaze, Rea could see a faint series of boot prints leading down the tree line. However, immediately, she noticed something odd about them, “There’s at least a meter and a half between each print.”

His eyes narrowing, Rulae got to his feet and began to follow them for a bit. He got a good six meters from Rea before turning and saying over his shoulder, “Two meters between each.”

Slowly, Rea stood up and let her eyes follow the tracks for as far as she could. She couldn’t even see them as far away as Commodore Nok was standing just meters away. The tracks were there, and easy to see in the light, but night on Thyferra was surprisingly dark out away from the cities.

“Commodore,” Adria’s Coruscanti accented voice called out to them and was a sharp contrast to the gentle hum of the shuttle’s floodlights behind them.

His attention divided, Rulae looked to Rea again and motioned to the ground near him, “See if these keep going due south, but don’t get too far. Keep you comlink on.”

“Yes, sir,” Rea nodded, then made sure to check her comm before she started to carefully follow the tracks. All this grass was rather odd to her. Having grown up in the stark caves of Ryloth meant that rocks were her foray, and while she found grass to be rather fascinating, like many Twi’leks that grew up on their homeworld, it was still very, very alien.

In a few short moments, Rulae reached Adria, who was standing almost exactly where he’d been originally moving towards. Her glowrod was facing the trees, and he could clearly see an opening that couldn’t have been natural. It was slightly oval shaped and...

“Looks like the marks that were inside the shuttle,” the human woman waved her glowrod slightly at the opening, allowing Rulae to see a few severed limbs of trees and entire branches that had been cloven in two very cleanly. The ends of the branches and limbs were scattered on the ground at the edge of the forest in a rather random pattern, but they were so cleanly cut that he could see no shards or small splinters...simply the large, cut pieces.

After taking some time to take all of it in, he motioned with a long-fingered hand towards the opening and what little the glowrods revealed of the forest within, “Doesn’t look like it goes very deep.”

“Do you want to...”

“No,” Rulae cut her off, knowing where that was going, “Even with a glowrod and a blaster the forest could be dangerous,” he paused, then glanced over his shoulder to the somewhat distant light of Rea’s glowrod, “And we are separated enough as it is. Come on.”

Though slightly annoyed that she didn’t get to check the forest herself, Adria relented and fell into step behind the taller Duros. They may have been pilots, but this ground work was a somewhat refreshing change from the general starkness of a starfighter cockpit. Of course, it was more exciting in the cockpit...and just following tracks was not Adria’s definition of exciting.

Though both Adria and Rulae were walking at a brisk pace to keep up with Rea’s glowrod, and, hopefully, the Twi’lek that was holding it. But she must have been moving quickly, or gotten far enough ahead that she was well out of actual sight beyond a point of light. How she could follow tracks at such a speed was beyond Rulae and was at least a bit worrying.

And then, in his ear, which Duros did indeed have, though they were small and not like humans, Rulae heard Rea’s voice come in through a bit of static. All their technology and they still couldn’t get rid of the damned static, “Sir...sir you need to get here right now!”

Those words would have two affects on most people. Either they would stop and talk, or run and talk. Military training had instilled in Rulae the latter, and so he gave Adria a quick look to make sure she, too, had heard that. When the red-haired human nodded just slightly, he started to run, hand coming up to the comlink’s ear piece to make sure he could hear her. Hitting a small switch to activate it, he spoke as fast as he could while keeping up a swift run, “Are you alright, Lor?!”

Static filled his ear for a long half a minute, which felt even longer when one was running at a very brisk pace and worried about what might be happening at the small light that was, finally, growing in the distance. Then, almost suddenly, Rea’s voice cut through the static of the open comm channel, “I’m fine, sir...but I found a body and I think she’s dead.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 518: Lessons of Experience

Drawing on the Force was something that could be described as a strain, but it wasn’t physical. It was a mental strain from the constant concentration that was required, but it could develop into a physical strain and eventually cause the user to black out...or worse. One of the most important things that Jedi were taught was learning to manage this strain and deal with the effects to the point that it was negligible.

Of course, Tobias had in trained for barely over a standard month. Despite previous experience with the Force thanks to his parents, he still had many, many years of learning ahead of him. While he was able to draw the Force to him and let it push his legs faster to keep up with the amazing speed Venda was moving at, Tobias couldn’t maintain it for long.

Feeling the strain in his legs and his head, Tobias called out what was supposed to have been Venda’s name, but instead it just came out as an odd, somewhat scratchy groan that she may or may not have heard. And, just a few seconds later, he stopped running, though having not taken into account the speed he was running at, momentum continued to move him forward...and Tobias went to the ground face first before rolling painfully for a good twenty meters.

When he came to a stop in the dirt and grass, Thyferra’s sun had set. Tobias lifted his face out of the ground and, ignoring the scratches, bruises, and scrapes that now covered his arms, legs, torso, and face, looked forward into the darkness to see a distant figure that was likely Venda.

Tobias sighed...and dirt escaped his mouth along with the air of the sigh, itself. Thank the Force no one had seen that...

Feeling the adrenaline fading and exhaustion taking over, Tobias’ mind wandered from the task at hand. He didn’t have the experience to focus on his job yet, either. And so, he just let his head drop down onto the surprisingly hard ground, closing his eyes and allowing himself a series of long, deep breaths.

“Toby!” Venda’s voice jolted Tobias back into the moment and caused him to jump up from his odd, face-down position in the dirt to see the human woman was only a meter from him, briskly jogging to him and kneeling to help him to his feet, “Are you alright?”

As Venda took his arm and helped him up, Tobias managed a shrug that caused his shoulder to ache for some reason. Trying to dust himself off, he mumbled, “Been worse...”

At that, the first response Venda used was to roll her eyes. She didn’t let go of his arm, either, as Tobias was swaying slightly and she was sure he’d fall over without the support. This, however, she didn’t mention. Instead, Venda decided to address the problem, “It is important to slow down before stopping.”

It took a very long circle for Tobias’ head to look up and meet her somewhat critical gaze being leveled on him, but he did his best to keep a neutral look on his face, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

There was no sarcasm in his voice. If Tobias had more experience in another area of life, say...anything involving the social aspects of life, he would have inserted sarcasm there. But he was too much like Marix in that aspect, and while he damn well knew what sarcasm was, actually applying it to a situation was easier said than done. At least he tried, though...and there was no one to tell him that trying wasn’t good enough.

There was, however, no time for Venda to respond to that. The first thing Tobias noticed was her eyes go noticeably wider. Then, barely a second later, his did, too...because, he assumed at least, Tobias felt the same thing in the Force. A sharp, almost painful screaming of a non-voice in his head to tell him to move right now!

Venda didn’t just let go of his arm, but she pushed Tobias hard to the ground, diving the opposite direction at the same time. Twisting as he fell, Tobias watched a red blaster bolt fly right through the air they had occupied...and then he hit the ground hard enough for the wind to be knocked out of him.

While Venda was jumping up to her feet and identifying the direction of the attack, Tobias was on his back gasping for air and calming himself as best he could. Deeper instincts were helping him remorph the scrapes and bruises, and by the time they were gone, he could breathe again...though Tobias felt a bit light headed still.

Snap-hiss!

Tobias’ vision came back into focus to see Venda’s green lightsaber jolt back to life, turning their once-black surroundings into a dimly, green-lit area. Scrambling up to his feet, Tobias saw a blue light moving towards them.

Tokarr.

Of course it was Tokarr.

“The hell is he coming back for?!” Tobias grumbled as he pulled himself up to his feet and fumbled on his belt to remove the lightsaber yet again, “Wasn’t he running from us?”

Venda spared a glance to the younger Tobias and tried to not stare at the splotches of dirt stuck to his cheek and clumped all through his already-messy mass of black hair, “He has changed his mind, it would seem. Feel the Force...he is...unstable. We have to end this before he gets any further.”

Though he didn’t particularly like the sound of that, Tobias nodded. Then the Force was screaming again, and Tokarr’s form could be seen just meters away, blue lightsaber ablaze and up as he charged in.

Quickly, Venda took a step in front of Tobias, sweeping her green blade upwards and literally batting Tokarr’s downward strike back upwards. But that didn’t stop Tokarr’s forward momentum, and much like Tobias had done earlier, Tokarr kept moving...straight into Venda.

The Miraluka plowed into her shoulder first, and suddenly her back slammed into Tobias’ torso. He had a very short moment to be glad that he had yet to activate his own lightsaber, as it would cut Venda in two, before being dropped to the ground on his back...again.

While Venda fell to the side, she was up in a flash, as was Tokarr, who had dropped to the ground right at Tobias’ feet. Tokarr, too, was up quickly, and when Tobias looked up he could see a bright white flash as the two lightsabers collided again.

Thinking, for once, Tobias didn’t just jump to his feet and get in the middle of the two very deadly weapons. Instead, he crawled away just a couple of meters before pulling himself up. This gave Venda room to actually use her skills without worrying about cutting Tobias to pieces...and Tokarr...well...Tokarr didn’t seem to care who he cut.

Now on his feet, though, Tobias activated his own lightsaber. A blue-green blade shot to life as a perfect mix for the blue and the green that were already spinning, swinging, arcing, and colliding in front of him. It was an amazing light show in the dark, but a show it was not.

This had to end.

To protect others...it had to end.

The igniting of Tobias’ blade was enough to get Tokarr’s attention. The Miraluka had no eyes, but Tobias felt a slight focusing of the Force as he was ‘looked’ at. It faded slightly as Venda pressed an attack, and then Tobias made a decision.

With Tokarr being pushed to Tobias’ right, losing ground from his defensive position thanks to Venda’s superior lightsaber technique, the Miraluka had his hands full. So, Tobias took two steps to his right, then one large step forward as he brought his lightsaber across in a long, horizontal arc that would slash Tokarr straight across the back.

There was a flash of intense pressure in the Force that seemed to originate from Tokarr, and then, somehow, he ducked under a similar strike from Venda while at the same time shifting his blade to his flank and inverting it. The blue blade amazingly caught Tobias’ strike, despite the fact that Tokarr was, literally, holding the weapon over his shoulder. This surprise for Tobias was enough that Tokarr flipped his own blade upwards, throwing Tobias’ up and away and causing the young man to lose his footing.

But Tokarr’s swing wasn’t just a defensive strike.

He continued it, turning it into a long, vertical slash that was fast enough and close enough, thanks to Tobias’ sudden stopping of Tokarr’s retreat, to Venda that she had no way to pull her lightsaber back in to defend herself.

In a horrifying moment, Tobias’ eyes watched the blue lightsaber cut deep into Venda’s right shoulder, slice straight down her chest diagonally, then leave her body at the left hip. He could see a long, black scorch mark where the lightsaber had gone, but it was the cry of anguish and violent wracking of the Force from Venda that nearly caused Tobias to get sick.

Venda dropped to the ground without any more than that cry, her lightsaber falling off to the side and deactivating automatically thanks to its safety mechanism. Tokarr’s head spun around to look, eyelessly, straight at Tobias. A haunting sneer formed on the almost-human’s face, and then he started to run again. He ran south...farther south...like a coward...

And Tobias just stood there in shock. He could see, to his left, Venda on the ground, a slight smoke rising from the lightsaber wound and a disturbing feeling of emptiness in the Force from her. To his right, towards the south, he could see the blue lightsaber disappearing into the black of the Thyferran night.

She was dead.

He’d killed her.

And it was Tobias’ fault.

It was Tobias’ fault.

Part of him wanted to collapse to the ground there and just cry. He was still a child, so much younger than the years would say he was. Tobias did not understand why he people seemed to be so happy at death...and was left in shock at what had just happened in front of him because of it.

But there was another part of him that was taking control.

It told him that Tokarr was running away.

It told him that there was a city to the south.

And it forced him to make a decision.

A long, quivering breath escaped Tobias as the thrumming of his lightsaber continued at his side, and he managed to allow himself one more look at Venda. That was his fault. He’d tried to stop something with so little experience that he’d not thought about actually letting her handle it. And now she was dead. Now she was dead...

Tobias looked south, no longer able to see the blue lightsaber but able to feel the almost-tangible darkness that was most definitely Tokarr. And then, with a deep breath, Tobias drew the Force to himself...

And he ran south.

 

[AKM]

Awww crap... why Venda?

 

[Angcuru]

*WHAM* Critical hit. That's the Vitality/Wounds system for you.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 519: Weakness

The thing about most Mrrakesh, especially the commanders in their military, was that they were arrogant. They knew they were strong, fast, and powerful. They knew that there were few in the galaxy that were even close to a match for them. And they knew, with great assurance, that their neighbors the Alraxians were the weakest of the races around them, only containing strength in numbers that was easy to simply beat through.

Of course, most of this knowledge came from thousands of years of isolation. There hadn’t been a real war since the second Darkwing War, nearly four thousand years prior. So much could change in such a long period of time, even with a species as long lived as the Alraxians, that previous knowledge that was so old was not nearly as reliable the Mrrakesh simply assumed it was. It was a sort of racial pride. Obviously, the only reason the Mrrakesh lost the war was due to the Alraxians cowardly bringing in allies to save their tails...

That wasn’t true, either. In fact, even the Alraxian history of the wars was distorted by bias. The only true archive that recorded the events from a more neutral standpoint was on the Jendari homeworld, and it wasn’t exactly something they shared with anyone who walked up and asked for.

Put all this together, and now there was a new war. And everything was different...thanks to the new Alraxian Empress. While she had her own preconceived notions of the Mrrakesh, unlike most of them, Marix had, in fact, fought Mrrakesh in the recent days. She knew, truly knew, what she was up against. This Mrrakesh commander...he thought he knew. He likely convinced himself he knew...but he didn’t...

And Marix’s metal fist connecting with his jaw was the first hint that he was in over his head. The hard punch from the very solid fist spun the much larger Mrrakesh to his left and then him almost collapsing onto a nearby command console. While he was attempting to recover from the shock of such a strong blow, he got another. This time, though, it was a kick to the gut, causing him to completely double over and then hit the deck plates face first.

Deciding this needed to be ended immediately, Marix dropped down to simply snap the Mrrakesh’s neck. But, finally, the much larger creature acted. When her metal arm came around his neck to end the fight, the Mrrakesh grabbed it, then yanked her down onto the deck before she could brace herself.

The loud clang of her metal body slamming into the metal deck was deafening, and though Marix’s vision completely went away for a few seconds she could feel that the Mrrakesh hadn’t let go of her arm. In fact, while she had gone straight down, her arm had been twisted around behind her back as the Mrrakesh got to his feet. And then, not so surprisingly, the Mrrakesh used this to lift her off the ground and throw her across the bridge of the ship.

Marix’s vision returned mid-flight, just in time to see the rapidly approaching bulkhead.

There was another violently loud clang, and when it was over, only the sound of deep laughter could be heard. It took Marix’s rattled brain a few short moments to identify the voice and realize that it was the Mrrakesh. Of course it would be. He probably hadn’t even moved...just standing there like an idiot.

She shook her head in a futile attempt to get rid of the ringing that seemed to be coursing through all of her metal body, then dragged herself up onto her feet. And yes, right where she’d left him, was the Mrrakesh, laughing.

When the laughter stopped, a broad, toothy grin formed on the Mrrakesh’s lupine features, “Its been so long! This is exactly what I needed!”

Still gloating.

Alright, fine. This was not the time to be fancy or show off. It was what this Mrrakesh wanted. He wanted a so-called ‘good fight’. But Marix decided not to give him that. In fact, she was going to give him exactly what he didn’t want. A short, decisive end.

Again, Marix charged.

But this time, the Mrrakesh was ready, already in a rather elaborate looking defensive stance. When she got close, his foot shot out in a sudden kick, but Marix was alerted to it both from his stance and the somewhat annoying screaming of the Force. Just as his leg fired out at her, Marix dropped to the deck on one knee, head coming down low to avoid the strike that went well over thanks to her shortness and the fact that the Mrrakesh was nothing near short.

Her momentum sent her a meter forward along with a loud, screeching of metal sliding on metal, and then Marix pushed herself upwards, arms raised. Her arms grabbed the outstretched leg of the Mrrakesh, and as they locked the leg into a vice-like grip, twisted the limb around in a way it was never designed to twist. The crack of the bone was gut-wrenching, but unfortunately for the Mrrakesh, Marix was still moving upwards and taking his leg with her.

In a flash, the huge Mrrakesh was on his back, right leg twisted almost completely around so that his foot was nearly facing behind him. Despite the very serious injury, the Mrrakesh was a fighter, and started to jump up. But Marix was faster than he was, and anticipating such a move. Finally letting go of his leg to let it fall to the side in an awkward position, she twisted her body to the side then stamped her leg down onto his rising chest with the force of a speeder.

Not only was the wind knocked out of the Mrrakesh, but at least a few of his ribs were broken, too. The kick also got a very satisfying half-cry, half-howl out of the Mrrakesh. And, of course, Marix wasn’t finished yet. Not playing at all anymore, deadly serious, she was not one to allow a window of opportunity to slide past. With her foe on his back, leg broken and breathing difficultly, Marix dropped down and once again took his large skull between her hands.

But then she did something almost out of character for her. There was a shimmering of form and instead of metal, flesh and blood held the skull of the Mrrakesh. Black strands of hair now fell in front of her face with white down her shoulders, as Marix’s silvery-violet eyes narrowed into a glare that could not be formed on metal.

Then she did something else unusual for her.

“You were right, Mrrakesh,” she spoke the words with a venom that could have poisoned a planet, “This is exactly what you needed.”

And then, half a minute later than she should have, Marix snapped his neck with all of her strength. The Mrrakesh’s eyes remained open even in death, wide open in shock. He’d died so quickly that he likely never had the chance to understand how wrong he’d been about the Alraxians. It was a lesson Marix didn’t care if he didn’t learn. The Mrrakesh had finally crossed the line. They had threatened her homeworld, her family, and her people...and there was not going to be any mercy anymore.

If Jyren were still alive, she would have considered it. He could have talked her down from such a dangerous position. But he wasn’t. Even the voice in her head that was distinctly his could do nothing. Jyren had died and left her alone. To make matters worse, now the Mrrakesh were trying to kill the rest of her family. Helpless children. Defenseless little children. And she wasn’t going to tolerate it anymore. Not only that, but Marix was going to make sure no one did.

[Hermes.] she could feel the ship near and so thought ‘at’ him as the feeling grew closer. [Send word to the Jendari I have the bridge of this ship.]

[On it.] the ship sounded distracted, as he likely was, but he did add quickly. [The other Mrrakesh ships are still descending towards Alraxia.]

Through the viewport ahead of her, Marix could see them. The two long, bulky ships not far ahead of the one she was aboard. Her eyes quickly scanned the empty bridge as she looked at the various consoles. [Tell the Jendari to focus this fire on the ship closest to the surface. Bring it down before it can cause any damage. I’ll deal with the other one.]

And she would. The Mrrakesh wouldn’t expect their own ship to fire on them, and it was unlikely that a sudden barrage from behind could be defended against quickly enough. And if Marix had to, she’d board every damned Mrrakesh ship and kill them all. They’d gone too far, and it was time to show them that the Alraxians were not the weak little felines that the Mrrakesh thought they were.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 520: Snapped

Descending into Alraxia’s atmosphere was a tactic that could very well have been a sound one. The Mrrakesh were banking on the fact that it was the Alraxian homeworld and they wouldn’t dare shoot down ships so close to the surface, for fear of damaging their beloved homeworld. There was a reason Alraxia had been kept so very secret for thousands of years. So, logically, it was the perfect shield.

And, to a point, it was a very sound plan. Even despite the anger clouding at least some of her judgement, Marix wasn’t about to risk Alraxia. Of course, they weren’t over the surface yet...and there was at least a few more minutes to take the two other Mrrakesh cruisers out without damaging the planet’s surface. Marix didn’t want to consider what she would do if they did get far enough down that the debris would damage the surface, as she would likely still have to destroy them and then deal with the consequences of that later. Compared to two fully loaded Mrrakesh cruisers on the ground in tact, it was a preferable to have them in pieces...but still...

Immediately after speaking with Hermes, she had gone about the task of figuring out the command consoles. The first thing she searched for was a way to seal off the bridge. The Mrrakesh wouldn’t expect their commander to have fallen, but if there wasn’t an appearance by him soon, they’d have a look. Thankfully, though, the door seals were right where most sensible people installed them...next to the door.

It had taken only a short time for her to decipher the various symbols on the panel that was twice the size of her hand. Shortly after, there was a loud clunk to her side and the door was sealed from the inside. She truly did love using those kind of security measures against the exact people they were supposed to protect.

The next task was accompanied by muffled growls and banging on the door as the Mrrakesh tried to break in, realizing something was wrong. But that was easily ignored, as the bulkhead would have been designed against Mrrakesh strength. It wasn’t as if there weren’t internal struggles amongst the Mrrakesh Combine. Marix wouldn’t have to think about that door for a while, at least, and by the time that came around...she’d be done.

It was also relatively easy to find the sensor display, which was Marix’s next task. It showed her exactly what she wanted to see: the Jendari ships were in firing range, coming around in a move to literally cut off the two advancing Mrrakesh cruisers. Looking out the viewport, Marix could see the thrusters of both of the other ships in ahead.

In another moment, blue bolts of energy could be seen streaking past the ships. The Jendari were firing already. Even better. Marix quickly went about finding the cruiser’s weapon systems, and after a short search, found the correct console. It took some time to actually aim the forward batteries, but when she’d gotten the feel of them, Marix simply targeted the nearest of the two other Mrrakesh ships and let loose a volley of green fire.

The rear shields of that ship must have already been weakened, as there was a sudden, blinding, white flash before the entire cruiser broke apart. Punching through the shields then detonating the engines which took the rest of the ship with it. Perfect.

But as she was aiming for the second Mrrakesh cruiser, Marix ran into a slightly problem. The commander of that vessel seemed to be aware enough to have figured out what had just happened, and was beginning to pull his ship around to port and bring most of its batteries to bear on Marix’s commandeered ship. The movement of the ship, despite making it a very large target, threw Marix off and made it that much more difficult to aim the single battery that Marix had under her control.

She fired anyway, almost blindly, hoping something would hit. At least one blast did get through the cruiser’s shields, but did very little damage to its thick hull. And it was returning fire now, a huge barrage of green shooting at Marix’s cruiser. Most missed, thanks to the smaller target, but enough hit to cause the entire ship to jolt violently and for alarms to start screaming. Unsure of how to turn them off, she just ignored them and continued firing while her ship continued its forward course, moving it to just ram th thing if she had to.

And then a volley of blue energy blasts impacted the topside of the Mrrakesh cruiser, pelting the shields and causing minor damage...but also presenting a second target. Turrets began to shift to aim towards the Jendari ship and return fire, but unlike the Mrrakesh cruisers, the Jendari ships were fast. It was diving down from above, cutting like a knife in between the cruiser and Alraxia below, firing all the while.

Then, suddenly, flames erupted from the far side of the Mrrakesh ship, and in a matter of seconds the entire ship broke apart in flames. The debris and dying flames made it difficult to see, but Marix watched two of the Jendari ships cross paths in opposite directions. They were good...

Her focus shifting again, Marix turned to her right to the pilot’s console, immediately cutting the thrusters and trying to bring the ship into a stable orbit rather than the somewhat steep descent into Alraxia’ atmosphere. That, alone, took more time than she’d have liked, as the door was starting to make some odd sounds behind her...they were getting through.

But, reminding herself why she wasn’t a pilot, Marix still managed to right the ship and slow it down. With that done, she turned to the sealed door, which was glowing a very slight red near its center. Cutting tools. There definitely wasn’t much more time. Loki should be coming in to dock again, and knowing him, he’d complain the entire time.

So she’d have to get through the Mrrakesh and get all the way back down again. Of course, there was a way beyond simply fighting through it. She could sabotage the environmental controls and simply send all the Mrrakesh out into space...or at least leave them to die. But then getting to the docking tube would be...interesting. Marix could do it, though. Certain species could live in a vacuum for short periods of time.

“Marix.”

It was a voice behind her. It was a voice she knew immediately...and it wasn’t the Mrrakesh.

Her blood ran cold at that sound, not from fear, but from shock. She’d never forget that voice. But she hadn’t heard it in...over a decade. And it was one that Marix had never, ever expected to hear again.

Suddenly, the Mrrakesh breaking through the bulkhead didn’t matter anymore. She was going crazy. Finally, she’d lost it. Marix was sure of that now. Completely sure of it. There was no other explanation. She’d cracked...that was it...

“Marix,” the voice was calm, friendly, and had a slight hint of a Coruscanti accent to it, “Marix, look at me.”

She didn’t turn around. Instead, Marix’s eyes continued to stare intently forward. Despite this, she spoke loudly enough that anyone, or anything, behind her could hear clearly, “There is nothing for me to look at. You are not there.”

“Marix...” always saying her name, “You are close to crossing a line, Marix. I don’t want to see you do that. None of us do.”

It was more than the voice. There was a feeling in the Force itself that was getting under her skin worse than the all-too-familiar voice that should not have been behind her or anywhere near her! Gritting her teeth, Marix stared intently forward at the pieces of the door that were beginning to crumble. That was where she had to focus.

The Mrrakesh.

They would come in already prepared to fight...and not one at a time. She would be overwhelmed. She would have to fight all of them at once...the entire bridge crew. And Marix would do it and she would win. She would kill every single one of them. Every one of those damned Mrrakesh were going to die for what they’d done and were trying to do again.

No one...no one threatened her children.

“You cannot do this, Marix,” the voice was still there, echoing off the walls as if it were real despite the fact that Marix knew it couldn’t be. Knew it wasn’t... “Look at me, Marix. Look at me and tell me you have no choice. Turn around and say that to me and I will go away.”

Something in that voice, in the tones it was using, in the way the Force flowed with the words...something in that finally caused Marix to do something very rare for her: she snapped.

“You are dead!” Marix screamed at the top of her lungs, spinning around and extending a finger to point accusingly at the source of the voice, “You have been dead and you will remain dead! You are not there! Whoever you are...whatever you are, get out of my head!!”

The stoic human showed no change in posture as Marix assumed a combative posture. But no, it wasn’t a human. Humans weren’t see-through and slightly blue in colour. Marix didn’t need to see him to know who it was. The voice was enough...but something in the way stood, that damned military stance of pure calm despite the fact that she could tear him limb from limb! Something about that made it even worse!

And then, still perfectly calm, the ‘human’ said, “We don’t want to see you do this. We know you are better than this, Marix...stronger than this. We’ve seen it with our own eyes.”

“You are dead!” she yelled at the figure again, as if repeating the words might have some affect. It didn’t, and that made Marix even more furious. Her voice began to shake as words escaped her that barely even made sense to her, “Where were you years ago?! Where were you when Jen died?! When Jyren died! Where were you?!”

For a very long moment, all that could be heard was Marix’s heavy breathing and the grinding against the door behind her. Then, very slowly but in his perfectly calm, reasoned voice, Titus Voort said, “Tell me you don’t have a choice but to slaughter them all.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 521: Jedi

Both Rulae and Adria were running as fast as they could to catch up to Rea, especially at hearing the last communication from her. There was a dim light ahead that pointed to her location, the single glowrod she had in her possession. Neither of them said anything, and the comm was silent. Finding a body was the first clue to what they were looking for...and not exactly one they wanted to find, either.

It wasn’t long before they reached the Twi’lek. She was kneeling in the short, slightly damp grass almost directly in front of them. As soon as they got close, a distinct smell could be detected in the air. It hinted at burnt flesh, and when both Adria and Rulae saw the body in front of Rea, they knew why.

Lying there, face up and slightly twisted from what looked to be a painful fall, was a human woman. She had likely been about thirty or so standard years old, and had dirtied blond hair that was pulled back out of her face. Across her body, from shoulder to hip, was a long, black scorch mark. It didn’t look to go deep, but it was definitely a burn.

“Its just like what we saw in the shuttle, sir,” Rea said quietly, dutifully not touching the body. From the way she was kneeling, it was likely she’d done her best not to disturb the area at all.

Rulae nodded as he looked down at the wound, “Lightsaber again.”

“Sir,” Adria started to move towards her left, then knelt down not far from the body and picked up a small, metal object, “I think there’s more than one Jedi here.”

She was holding a lightsaber hilt.

Immediately, Rea was turning to look to him for an answer. Sadly, Rulae didn’t really have one. This was all starting to become far more complicated than he liked. Getting the Jedi involved was one thing, but now there was a dead Jedi. That wasn’t going to help the situation at all. Tensions were high enough already with the Jedi thanks to them taking much of the blame for the failures in the war.

Quickly, Rulae made a decision, “On your feet, Officer Lor. We’re going to keep following this path,” he motioned to the fact that the grass still very easily revealed boot prints, “Harken. Take her back to the shuttle and see if you can find a medkit.”

“Commodore, I’m fairly sure she’s dead...” Adria trailed off.

The sentence was enough to cause him to stop and think. As a pilot, when someone was dead, they were dead. The ship exploded and they were gone. There was no body. They were just...gone. Here, though. Here, there was a body, and Rulae wasn’t exactly sure what could be done.

“Just find out whatever you can,” he repeated, then motioned for Rea to get moving, “I expect the Jedi will want to identify her as it is.”

* * * *​

Run.

Catch him.

Get to him now.

Faster!

Run!

All of Tobias ached. His entire body from the short combat, his legs from the constant running, his face from the sudden stop he’d made earlier, and all of his mind as it watched Tokarr’s blue lightsaber blade cut through Venda over and over and over again. But Tobias fought through the ache. He fought through it thanks to the blue glow up ahead, never growing larger but not getting away, either.

But there were other lights, too.

It was dark, now, very dark. And off to the south, beyond the tiny blue glow that was Tokarr’s active lightsaber, was a faint collection of yellow and orange. It was a city. A city in the distance...a city with people. Thousands of thousands of people.

By now, nothing mattered but stopping Tokarr. He had completely lost his mind, that much was obvious. Driven mad by the Dark Side, by his own ambition, or simply the kind of person that was always right on the edge, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that Tokarr was prepared to kill anyone that got in his way...and, from what Tobias could tell, anyone Tokarr could see with his Force-based vision seemed to be considered an enemy. There was no rational thought anymore, only a hate-fueled determination.

And Tobias had to stop him.

Gods, this was insane!

He was just a kid! Most Alraxians his age were in school, still growing up and not even thinking about matters of life and death! They wouldn’t even be able to comprehend most of the things he was dealing with! Most Alraxians...

Tobias’ mind trailed off a moment, then violently latched onto a sudden, but extremely important thought.

Alraxian.

Working that together with a few other stray ideas, Tobias nearly screamed in laughter. But, thankfully for his own sanity, he didn’t. Instead, he began to morph, mid-run. It was an awkward process as one gained extra muscles that humans didn’t have, but he had gotten good enough now that something as simple as running could be combined with something as complicated as morphing his entire physical body without falling on his face.

And then he was running faster. Of course he was running faster! Alraxians were naturally faster than humans. They were built for speed and versatility! With the help of the Force, Tobias was sprinting even faster, and the light in front of him began to grow. Miraluka were definitely near human. It seemed that the only real difference was in the lack of eyes. Good. That meant Tobias would be able to catch up to him in just a few moments...

Now, Tobias’ sharper vision could see that the blue light was moving up and down as Tokarr ran. But then, almost suddenly, the movement stopped and the blade spun around. Tokarr knew he was coming..

Fine.

His own lightsaber in hand, Tobias raised the thrumming blue-green blade in front of him as he ran at full speed to the rapidly glowing light ahead. Soon, he could see Tokarr standing there, feet planted firmly and blade up and ready. There was even a smirk on his face.

But the smirk soon faded into a surprised expression. It took only seconds for Tobias to reach the suddenly, confused Miraluka, lightsaber already swinging in towards Tokarr’s left side. Instead of parrying the blade, however, Tokarr ducked completely under the strike and spun to his left, allowing Tobias to charge right past.

Stopping himself, this time without hitting the ground face first, Tobias spun around and kept his lightsaber up and ready. But Tokarr didn’t charge in and attack. In fact, the Miraluka was just standing there, eyeless face staring in shock in Tobias’ direction, with an intense focus of the Force around him radiating confusion.

And Tobias knew why.

“Not what you expected?” one thing Tobias had been told all his life was not to gloat, especially not in a fight. Marix had pounded that into him. Of course, Jyren had always quietly told him it was okay to have a little fun...and of the two, Tobias had a habit of listening to Jyren more than Marix. It wasn’t the smartest of things, but Tobias didn’t really learn.

“What are you?!” Tokarr sounded as shocked as the Force around him was radiating.

Tobias shrugged and his tail behind him flicked just slightly as it helped him to find his balance thanks to a slightly different center of gravity, “Not what. Who. And the answer to that is very simple. I’m the one who’s going to stop you from hurting anyone else.”

Despite the confusion surrounding Tokarr, those last words found a way of focusing him. Soon, Tokarr was unreadable, both on his face and through the Force. He adopted a much more experience combat stance that protect his entire body rather than just his front, and looked up at Tobias with only the Force, “We’ll see about that.”

Then Tokarr charged.