Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 468: Of Heat

It was hot. Hotter than he liked. The heavy gear didn’t help, but it was all necessary. Part of him wanted to ditch it but he knew every bit of it was going to be needed. The air smelled, too. He’d been warned about both the stench and the heat but that didn’t mean he was ready for either of them.

At least the mask filtered most of the smells. A small green light began to blink in his eye. His vision readjusted to pay attention to the information being fed into the eyepiece that rose up from the mask. The others were in place. All but one. So they would have to wait to move.

He shifted slightly to find a comfortable sitting position against the huge tree and looked ahead of him. Through a faint blue glow, he could see the flowering shape of the Palace. Such an odd structure. He knew it by heart, thanks to a great deal of studying, but it was still so strange. A living being coaxed into that shape, full of landing pads for ships and rooms of all sizes. And, apparently, it was alive and mostly sentient.

That seemed more dangerous than practical. What if the thing decided it was tired of all the occupants? It could easily kill them if the information was right. Reshape a room and crush everything within or simply trap the occupants inside. Unless they had something to gain, living beings never worked with other competing life forms. It was counterproductive to...well...living. Why compete for resources when you could just have it for yourself? And even if there was a mutual gain, things like that always came to an end and then it was back to competition. So much trust in something like that seemed...naive and foolish to him.

To be truthful, that logic followed through with all of this so-called technology. Ships that were arguably more intelligent than their pilots, if they could even be called pilots. He just couldn’t comprehend it no matter how much he tried to. At least it wasn’t his job to figure all of those things out. His job was much simpler. Go in, strike fast, get out.

He sighed, which was more a rough, heavy breathing noise thanks to the mask. His vision shifted again to the information on his small eyepiece. A day, at most. He had enough food for much longer than that and could find food in the wild without any difficulty, but it felt like he was wasting time. To say he was overconfident wasn’t true. He knew his skills and he knew what he was up against and a logical deduction was that he would be fine.

Four more with equal skills as his own, if not better in some cases, guaranteed complete success. Why wait for two more to arrive? He had no animosity towards the two of them, but it was foolish to wait. Five were in position and they were more than enough. The fact that the others were taking longer to arrive hinted at a possible increase in security, heightening the need to act quickly.

But while others in his position might go on ahead anyway, he did not. A more ambitious man might have, but he liked his place and was not willing to compromise it with a rash action. Some seemed to only crave more power, but he just wanted to continue doing what he was good at. He did enjoy it, also. That thought probably would repulse many, but that didn’t bother him, either. They could do what they enjoyed and he would not criticize them, either.

Reaching up, he lowered the eyepiece to give him a clear view of his surroundings. He looked over that building for a few moments with his naked eye before grabbing a small pair of binoculars from his belt and getting a closer look at a few of the taller sections. That would be a long climb. Not a hard one, but a long one. Coming down would be much faster, though likely much more difficult.

He lowered the binoculars and reattached them to their place on his belt. To pass the time, he once again hefted the rifle that was normally on the pack he carried on his back. The pack was still there, but he’d found that idly inspecting the rifle was a good way to waste daylight. It was a wonderful weapon. Brand new design, accurate up to two hundred meters and lightweight considering the amount of power it packed. It was a bit depressing to think that he might not get to use it.

If they were spotted early, there would be no turning back so that would be a chance to test it out. So would during the escape, though he’d likely end up being more focused on not being caught than to have time to line up shots behind him. It was the long, composite-metal knife that was still attached to his backpack that would likely do most of the work. To be honest, though, it was less a knife and more a small sword. It had a simple design and would have easily fit into a museum if not for the fact that it was constructed of materials that were unlike anything used before. The blade, itself, was designed in layers. Each layer was thin enough to shed itself when it came into contact with any amount of strong force. An interesting design and perfect for what was necessary. The layers were so microscopic that any worries of the blade losing its strength were pointless. And he was going to be one of the first to use it.

That, alone, was a great honour.

The prestige that would come when he returned home after completing this task would be great, yes, but that was not why he had agreed to join the team(though that word was a loose truth...it was more a collection of individuals with the same task). The chance to be the first to use all of this equipment is what had sold him on it. And he knew he’d use them well. The only thing that concerned him was whether they would hold up to the extreme stresses they would all receive in another day.

He leaned back and shrugged to himself. There would be only one way to find out. In the mean time, he slid the eyepiece back up to alert him to any changes and then crossed his arms over the rifle that rested on his chest. A little rest was in order...even if it was still hot.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 469: Tokarr

“His name is Tokarr Anansin,” Master Ral said in a disturbingly mechanical voice, “He is Miraluka.”

Tobias’ features matched his mindset...confused. They had been permitted aboard the New Republic Mon Calamari Cruiser, Gemstone, which was currently in orbit above Bothawui with a the rest of the gathering fleet. Tobias found it hard to be comfortable aboard the ship as a human, seeing as the Mon Calamari liked to keep it so humid that it almost felt like walking through water.

Deciding it was probably a test of his focus, Tobias tried to ignore it and moved on to the next thing bothering him, “Miraluka?”

Master Ral had probably been expecting that question, as he easily switched into an explanation, “They are less common in the galaxy than even my people. They are a humanoid species but they have no eyes and see directly through the Force itself,” the Omwati Master sighed, “Hundreds of years ago, their species produced some of the greatest Jedi...but they are naturally Force Sensitive and so the Empire...” he trailed off and shook his head, “The Empire murdered thousands of them, blockaded their homeworld and then killed even more. But after the Emperor was killed, the Imperial troops on their planet retreated, pulled back to the Core to defend other worlds.”

At first, Tobias was distracted at the mention of ‘Empire’ and had to remember that Master Ral was speaking of the Galactic Empire and not the Alraxian one. Once he pushed that out of his mind, the rest fell into place easily. It also brought to the forefront a rare mention of Master Ral’s species...of which Tobias knew very little. Apparently they were descended from avians, but that was hard to tell beyond the way Master Ral carried himself. Tobias’ exposure to avian species was the Jendari, who still looked very much like birds and even had wings...but Master Ral looked like a blue-skinned human, though a bit thin and fairly tall for a human. But he had a grace to the way he moved that hinted at a history, somewhere far back in the genetic history. His hair even looked a bit like feathers...sort of...

It struck Tobias that the story of the Miraluka was similar to what he knew of the Omwati. They had, apparently, been a species that had been subjected to near-slavery under the Empire and brought to the brink of extinction. Few survived, and the ones that had mostly remained on their homeworld, too busy with the problems of a near-dead species to worry or care about the rest of the galaxy. Master Ral seemed to be one of the few exceptions.

Tobias glanced ahead of them at the Navy Officer who was leading them to Anansin’s quarters and, deciding the man was far enough ahead of them, looked to Master Ral again and asked quietly, “Why are we meeting with him?”

“Master Skywalker feels its important to keep in contact with all of our Jedi comrades,” Master Ral did not lower his voice, “Some left the order to join the fight more directly, as you know it is our job to protect the people, not fight the war itself. Tokarr was one of them and joined the Navy as soon as the New Republic government declared war.”

“Do you know him?” the question sounded odd after he’d asked it, but Tobias couldn’t help it. Master Ral was speaking in a strange tone about this Jedi.

The Jedi Master nodded as they turned a corner and passed two pilots who nearly ran into Tobias in the process, “He was my first apprentice. He had only been at the Academy for a month before the war broke out and...well, he left at the first early reports, before the New Republic even would admit that the Yuuzhan Vong existed.”

Now Tobias was starting to feel uneasy. There was a tone to Master Ral’s voice that he’d not ever heard before. He actually sounded...worried. For such a calm person, that alone was enough to make Tobias even more worried. This was ignoring the fact that it was Master Ral’s first apprentice they were going to meet. That was information he could have done without. Tobias hadn’t even known, or thought, about that subject before.

The officer leading the way stopped and motion to a door, “Here you are, Master Jedi.”

Master Ral bowed graciously. He was obviously glad to be receiving very good treatment from the New Republic so far...there was no hint of anti-Jedi sentiment in the air at all, only anticipation for what was to come, “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

With a smile and a polite nod, the officer turned and headed back the direction they had come from. It was no surprise that he had other business to attend to...the entire ship was fairly busy from what Tobias could tell.

Reaching to the side of the door, Master Ral hit the small switch to alert the occupant that someone was outside, waiting, and probably annoyed. Tobias had heard those things from the inside before and really hated the buzzing noise they made. At least it would encourage the person to answer so they wouldn’t have to hear it again.

And sure enough, after only a few seconds, the door slid open. Standing there, looking out, if one could look with no eyes, was a human by all respects except for one. He had short, rust-coloured hair and wore a dress uniform that Tobias recognized. It was Starfighter Command...similar to Jyren’s but with a different squadron patch on the shoulder. But the thing that Tobias noticed more than the rest was that he was staring face to face with a piece of cloth wrapped like a headband, except thicker, striped with green and blue, and came all the way down to the bridge of his nose, covering up where eyes normally would have been.

Maybe it was good that they wore a cloth to cover the lack of eyes...Tobias was unnerved enough when Tokarr’s head tilted back slightly in a gesture that would have been more easily identified with surprise if there had been eyes to go along with it, “Master Ral...”

The Jedi Master bowed his head, “It is good to see you again, Tokarr. If you have some time, I would like to—“

Then the door slid shut.

It was Master Ral’s turn to take a step back in surprise, and Tobias did the same. Composing himself quickly, the Jedi Master looked to Tobias and said softly, “We did not part ways on good terms...this is going to be more difficult than I had hoped.”

Tobias managed a nod, “Should I...not be here?”

“No,” Master Ral shook his head and preceded to place his finger on the alert switch next to the door, leaving it there so the buzzing would continue rather than simply pressing it lightly once, “Despite what you might think, I may need your help with this.”

“Really?” Tobias tilted his head in surprise.

The Omwati nodded and a wry smile formed on his face, “Yes. You may have to talk with him...or at least hold him down while I talk.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 470: Alraxian Reunion

There had been a ship for Venda at the Gateway. However, Marix wasn’t going to let that particular ship go. It was a Kanyak and, more specifically, it was Hermes. Years ago, he was Kyren’s ship. Arrogant, hotheaded, and an expert at blackmail from what she was told. After Kyren had died, Hermes had been at a loss and simply sat at the Palace keeping to himself.

A solution had been found to that...though it was by accident.

About a year after the twins were born, Jyren had found himself without a ship(the X-Wing was being repaired by Jendari rather than terrified Alraxians) and a need to get to the rebuilt Capital world. Marix didn’t remember why, exactly, but he’d told her that he’d found Hermes and the ship seemed to perk up after that. The two had gotten on fairly well the first time they’d met, though it was a rather infuriating experience for Jyren, she was told, and this second trip together seemed to solidify a friendship between the two.

And now Hermes had lost another friend and pilot. He was not sitting around at the Gateway moping, though, but as one of the fastest Kanyak’s in the Empire, which was not a boast, he served as a quick warning ship in case of another attack. Messages could be sent, yes, but it was more reliable for Hermes to do it himself, just in case communications were cut.

That wasn’t why Marix didn’t let Venda borrow Hermes.

The reason she didn’t was because she just didn’t trust this Jedi enough. The ironic part was that she was now taking Venda to Alraxia, the Palace, and her children. There was a reason, though. She trusted the woman while keeping an eye on her. Marix knew that Venda couldn’t do too much looking around when she was being watched, and sending that Jedi off with Hermes, alone, just didn’t seem like a good idea.

“Keep your mouth shut and follow me,” Marix said as Alraxia grew in the viewport, “If you make any sudden moves, the Knights will kill you, so be careful. If you have any question, I don’t care. There is something very urgent I have to deal with and you just need to shut up and pretend that you aren’t seeing new things.”

Venda looked to Marix and there was a definite confusion on her face, “Isn’t that a bit...”

“No, its not,” Marix didn’t let her finish, “You are alive right now because of me. This is not arrogance, this is the truth. When there is time, I will find a way to get you back to Yavin, but there isn’t right now. There also isn’t time for you to argue this. If you don’t like it, Loki will have no trouble locking you in a room so no one can hear you until there is time.”

If Venda said anything, Marix neither heard it nor did she care. The point had been made. The flight down to the Palace was quiet, and it seemed like Venda at least had understood, as she said nothing at all as they passed through the shield around the city. Marix could clearly remember coming to Alraxia with Jyren for the first time and all the questions he’d asked.

Technically, Venda shouldn’t have been even allowed on the planet. But Marix didn’t really care. She had no knowledge of the planet’s actual location and couldn’t compromise that, nor did Venda even really know who to give that information to. So the reasons for the “Swear Allegiance to the Empress” ritual before setting foot on the planet didn’t really apply. Okay, they did, but Marix just didn’t care. She was the Empress, anyway, and no one would argue.

Loki set down in his usual spot next to one of the larger courtyards and Marix inwardly groaned at seeing the Knights that were assembled. Of course they would be. Didn’t mean she had to like it or couldn’t hope that just once she’d sneak in before they could. Marix did catch sight of another figure approaching the pad and knew exactly who it was...and there was a familiar feeling in the Force there, too...one that she very badly wanted to see.

At that sight, she decided to let Loki do the rest of the work, got up, motioned for Venda to follow, and headed for the hatch at a pace that would have been a run if she was human. The hatch irised open just as she got to it and Marix was greeted with the sight she’d seen from above. She heard Venda a few steps behind, but ignore the woman and headed out of the ship and into the familiar warm, comfortable air of Alraxia.

The Knights did their usual thing and just stood there, but Navik Keros approached her with a smile on his face. Considering the message he’d sent her not long ago, that should have been surprising. But, considering the child in his arms, it wasn’t.

Saaran’s eyes lit up at seeing Marix and she couldn’t help a smile. When she was within a meter, the little child who looked so much like Tobias had escaped his grandfather’s arms and leapt at her with a giggle. Marix caught him and immediately went to scratching his ear while he clung to her shoulder and purred loudly. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Nothing. It was amazing how that happened.

“Andrea’s still asleep,” Navik’s voice floated in through the haze that Saaran carried with him, “Its been so hard to get her to sleep lately that I couldn’t bring myself to wake her.”

Marix nodded as she busied herself paying attention to Saaran who was busy being...clingy...which she didn’t mind one bit. Behind her, Marix heard footsteps behind her and knew it was Venda. The Knights knew ahead of time about her, vaguely at least, and so didn’t react beyond a slight feeling of surprise that came through the Force. Marix hadn’t mention she was a human or a Jedi...just that she had someone with her.

After a few moments, Marix glanced over her shoulder to see the woman looking around curiously, obviously taking in the unique sights around them, then looked back to Navik, “Where’s Kato?”

“In her room under guard as always,” Navik waited for Marix to start in that direction then fell into step next to her. Venda stayed a few paces behind, keeping up but taking in...well...everything. The Knights would be right behind her and making sure she didn’t stray...but she wouldn’t.

They were soon navigating the near endless corridors of the Palace, heading for the well guarded room that Kato still occupied. Marix had some direct questions for her cousin. After that she was heading to Faban, who had been, at her orders, removed from his home on the other side of the planet and brought to the Palace. He was locked away in a small, boring room on a different level. Alone.

And then Marix stopped.

She realized that Saaran had clung to her tightly, claws digging in, for no good reason. Then she felt it. A strong feeling in the Force. He had felt it first...amazing.

“I feel strong, focused, malevolence all around us,” it was Venda. She was speaking softly and more to herself, it seemed. But she was right, Marix could feel the same thing.

But she felt something familiar about it. Something terrifying familiar about it.

Marix detached Saaran from her, ignoring the pain of the claws and then thrust the child into Navik’s arms and spoke firmly, “Go to Loki. Now. Tell him to leave the Palace and find someplace safe.”

Out of reflex, Navik took the surprised child, and started to ask a question before Marix gave him a dead serious look that showed there wasn’t any time. He understood, and started back the way they’d come at a swift pace. Marix then shifted to speaking Alraxian and said to the guards, “You two. Follow him and keep him safe. Protect the Jedi, also. The rest of you get in contact with the rest of the Knights and set up a defense immediately. There are Mrrakesh coming.”

And then, as the Knights immediately went to their jobs without a question, she looked to Venda and switched back to speaking Trade, “Head back to the ship with those two Knights, that man, and my son.”

“What’s going on?!” Venda asked as the two Knights started to drag her away, not caring if she didn’t want to go.

Marix decided at least some explanation was in order, “What you feel is an attack. Protect my son and Jyren’s father. Make sure they get to Loki and you all get off this planet alive.”

At that, Venda stopped her struggling against the two Knights. She was now facing the same direction as them and running with them to catch up with the two others who hadn’t gotten very far ahead.

Marix then turned, adjusted herself to where she was in the Palace, and started at a run for her large room near the top of the Palace. The Mrrakesh were already on Alraxia. They were on the ground. They were coming. They were ready. And Marix finally put the pieces together. Faban didn’t want her to be Empress...and that meant he had to do more than just get rid of her. He had to make sure her children were out of the picture also, and then he could maneuver someone he could have influence over into power.

And Andrea was alone, asleep, and unprotected.

Marix ran faster.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 471: Anger

“Tobias.”

Toby heard Master Ral speaking softly, but Tobias was too busy trying to force the door open to pay the voice much attention. He really wanted to just morph Alraxian and try, but had to admit that he wasn’t very much stronger in that body, anyway. Thinking about it, the lightsaber would probably work...

“Tobias,” Master Ral’s voice was firmer and it grabbed him this time. When he turned to face the Jedi Master, Tobias found that he was getting a stern look, “Step aside.”

Going a bit red, Tobias did as he was told and stepped back and away from the closed door. Master Ral simply raised his right arm and held it there for a few moments. In those moments, Tobias could feel the Force being focused and then there was a loud crack from the door as the locking mechanism broke and then it slid open again. Inside, Tokarr could be seen dashing to the door, though he didn’t go to block the way. Tobias expected that he was going for the comm panel.

As he moved, Tokarr growled, “I’m calling security.”

“They will not remove me from this ship as you want them to,” Master Ral spoke calmly, and it was obvious to Tobias that he was using the Force to pick at Tokarr’s surface thoughts.

It was even more obvious when a curse escaped the Miraluka. The young man then turned his head to face the Jedi Master and somehow, without any eyes at all, glared, “I am a member of the crew of this ship, Corentan. You are a civilian and you have broken into my quarters.”

“You are a Jedi, Tokarr,” the Omwati didn’t seem fazed by the anger that was strongly emanating from this young man, “No matter what else you are, you have a responsibility to that.”

Tokarr shook his head, “I am not a Jedi. I was a Jedi. But you and the rest of those cowards decided it was better to sit around talking philosophy rather than actually protecting the galaxy.”

Master Ral made a very quick glance to Tobias, which made him even more uneasy than he already was, before matching the eyeless gaze of his former apprentice, “Jedi have been fighting the Yuuzhan Vong since before the New Republic even acknowledged their existence.”

“And you call them rogues,” Tokarr pointed an accusing finger at the Omwati, “Darksiders, too. I’ve heard that. Why do you think I left? At least here I can help without being ridiculed.”

“So you hide here,” Master Ral shook his head and his disappointment was obvious, “And it is quite obvious that worries about your condition are not unfounded.”

Tobias immediately thought the Jedi Master was crazy. There didn’t seem to be any reason to make an outright statement like that. It was only going to antagonize Tokarr and make him even more angry. Which it did, of course. The feeling of anger was almost overpowering now, and it was taking a lot of effort for Tobias to not back away. The narrow corridor did help that, though...

“Condition?!” the fact that Tobias couldn’t see all of Tokarr because of the way he was standing didn’t help, “Are you damned Jedi so disconnected from any semblance of emotion that you take any kind of anger as an immediate threat?”

“In your case...yes,” Master Ral then took a very large step forward straight into the open doorway so that he was standing directly in front of the young Miraluka. The height difference was immediately noticeable as Master Ral looked directly down at his former apprentice, “Anger is one thing. Everyone gets angry. Everyone. But you have no control over your anger. You would have an excuse for that if you had never been trained but you very well know the dangers of uncontrolled anger. You’ve grown up your entire life with that, even before coming to Yavin.”

Tokarr didn’t look up to meet the gaze of his former Master. His cloth-covered face stared straight forward, but he managed to keep the same angry, determined tone to his voice despite the scene that Tobias was seeing, “You’re provoking me.”

“And you’re allowing yourself to be provoked,” Master Ral then took a small step back, “I taught you better than this.”

There was no movement from Tokarr at all, “What did you come here to do?”

“We came here to check on you,” it was hard to miss that Master Ral had said ‘we’, “We aren’t here to drag you away. You made your choice, but that did not mean you could just ignore the fact that you never came close to finishing your training.”

Tokarr’s head tilted to the side slightly, as if he was, for the first time, ‘looking’ at Tobias, “I am a pilot now, and that is all.”

“But being a pilot does not mean you can no longer touch the Force,” Master Ral motioned casually to the cloth wrapped around Tokarr’s head, “You see with the Force everyday. You, better than anyone, understand its connection to everything. That means you should know that you cannot ignore the things you were taught. The Yuuzhan Vong are a danger to this galaxy but they are not the only danger. Since you left, others have...and some have fallen, Tokarr. If you want to fight this war then you have to know we can’t fight it while fighting ourselves.”

There was an uneasy silence. A couple of crewman passed them and gave curious looks, but were intelligent enough to say nothing.

Eventually, though, Tokarr said quietly, “You never did trust me.”

“I did,” Master Ral didn’t let that sit in the air for long, “I wouldn’t have let you leave if I didn’t. But stop arguing with me and feel the air around us like I taught you. There is a cloud of anger around you and it didn’t just appear when I arrived.”

When Tokarr let out a sigh, Tobias felt the air of tension fade just slightly, “You didn’t answer my question, Corentan. What did you come here to do?”

“It seems that what needs to be done is to help you learn to control your anger,” Master Ral was speaking more lightly, in that way he did when instructing Tobias. It was a surprising change of direction.

“No,” Tokarr shook his head, “I have important things that I need to do that don’t involve sitting around and ignoring this war.”

His face turned to look to Tobias, and he could feel a strange strength in the Force around him, then Tokarr looked back to Master Ral, “Goodbye, Corentan.”

And then the door shut again.

Master Ral hung his head and sighed heavily.

Feeling he needed to do something, but unsure of what, all Tobias could do was say, “Master...”

“Its alright, Tobias,” he raised his head and seemed back to normal in that moment, “I apologize for that.”

“So...what now?”

“We head back to the transport and get some rest,” Master Ral started that direction, “But we aren’t leaving.”

Tobias nodded as he fell into step with his Master. After a few minutes of navigating the tight corridors, he finally spoke up again, “He’s dangerous, isn’t he?”

Master Ral glanced to Tobias a moment before nodding, “To himself more than anyone else.”

“He doesn’t seem like he’s going to let you help him, though,” Tobias had to raise his voice a bit as he stepped behind Master Ral to provide room in the corridor for others to pass.

Over his shoulder, the Jedi Master said simply, “You are correct. But perhaps, once he has calmed, he will listen to you.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 472: Mother and Daughter

[Is there anything in my quarters?]

[Only the little one, my lady.] the Palace responded swiftly. But then he added something that Marix would rather not have been there. [However there are four Mrrakesh scaling my exterior. It is likely they are moving towards your room.]

Marix cursed as she rounded a corner. [How soon will they get there?]

[Five minutes at their current speed.] there was a hesitant feeling of unease from the Palace before it went on. [There are three others moving towards Loki.]

[Seal off my quarters.] Marix was climbing the last flight of stairs to reach it now, running as fast as she could and trying to keep the Network calm at the same time. [Doors. Windows. Any opening. Only open what I need opened to get to Andrea.]

[You will need to move fast, my lady. They are carrying a great deal of weapons and equipment and the seals will not hold them.]

After skipping the last handful of stairs, Marix was sprinting down the corridor, passing rooms that were being sealed to protect whoever it happened to be inside from the Mrrakesh. She was focused now, like she had been years ago. It was a kind of focus she hadn’t experience since...since she was Shadow. One-mindedness and the rest of everything be damned.

But now, her focus was unlike ever before. It had always been on a target, of course, but never like this. Always to kill. Kill it, get out. Locate. Kill. Leave. Simple. But not now. Back then the idea of being an adult never crossed her mind so much so that the very thought of having children was a galaxy away. But that felt like so long ago, now. Now...now the one-minded focus had something else with it: maternal instinct.

The Palace cut in just as she turned the final corner to head for her quarters. [You have approximately two minutes before they will be inside.]

[Including breaking through the walls?] Marix couldn’t help but wonder how the Palace knew how fast it would be.

[Yes. Their equipment is very...strong.]

Thankfully, Marix was to the wall that was usually a door. As the wall shifted into a door which immediately irisised open, a part of her took notice of the lack of Knights outside the room. It wasn’t a surprise. After the years of being under their constant watch because she was assumed to be a threat to the Empress, Marix couldn’t bring herself to allow any of them to guard her room again...despite the fact that many of the ones among the Palace guard were Tam’Day’U.

By now Marix was inside the main living quarters and was glad to see that it was like a box. She had to stop next to one of the chairs to reorient herself and find where the door to the twins’ room should have been. The familiar feeling in the Force drew her towards a wall that was already turning into a door that was opening at the same time.

And as it opened, Marix could hear the little Alraxian crying. She was more sensitive to the Force than her brother and with the way he had reacted, Marix wasn’t surprise at all to see Andrea curled up on her bed looking at her with two big eyes. As she ran to the little girl, who sat up and stared at her mother with silvery eyes, Andrea mumbled softly, “Momma...?”

“Its okay, Andrea,” Marix said quickly as she scooped the little girl up into her arms and drew her close. She had switched to speaking Alraxian, as Andrea had always been more comfortable with that language than Trade. Well, with everyone but Jyren.

There was a heavy tearing noise a ways behind Marix and before she could turn to look, the Palace cut in. [Should I seal the room you are in?]

[No.] Marix said, turning and seeing a long metal blade through a wall in the other room that was slowly cutting through. [Just leave a path open for me and close it up behind. Anything to slow them.]

She then looked down to Andrea, who was shaking and starting to cry again. Still speaking Alraxian, Marix said firmly while shifting the girl into her left arm, “Andrea, I need you to put your head in my shoulder, hold on as tight as you can, and close your eyes.”

The little girl looked as confused and shocked as anyone would after being told that with no explanation. Not having time to explain or wait, Marix added quickly, “There isn’t time to explain. Hold on tight, use your claws if you have to...close your eyes and promise me you won’t open them.”

“Promise...” the word was mumbled into Marix’s shoulder as Andrea did as she was told. Marix then shifted her hold on the little girl so that she would be safe and headed as fast as she could to the exit.

But just as Marix made it into the main room again, the wall that had been an opening to a window gave way to a monstrous form. Mrrakesh were a good head higher than the tallest of Alraxians on average, and where an Alraxian had a great deal of natural strength, they generally had very lithe builds. Mrrakesh, though, were massive and somehow, despite their size, faster than most Alraxians. But the Mrrakesh that came through the wall looked like nothing Marix had ever seen.

He wore some kind of blue-black armour that covered every inch of his body save for the top of his head and one of his eyes. She could see a large pack on his back with a rifle of some sort in addition to another of the distinct, utilitarian designed blaster-like weapons that the Mrrakesh employed. But it was the large sword he was holding that caught her attention. Metal.

Not that it bothered her, but it meant she had to be extra careful with Andrea. Of course it wasn’t going to be easy.

Well, no, that was a lie.

The Mrrakesh had been on his feet for probably two seconds before Marix caught him by surprise. She extended her free hand, drew the Force to her, then unleashed it at the Mrrakesh. The huge creature was hit by an invisible wall and sent flying out of the hole it had just cut.

One down.

At that thought, two more Mrrakesh had cut through and were in the room, with a third cutting through. Time seemed to freeze as Marix looked at them...they all looked the same. A part of her screamed that she shouldn’t even be considering running. She should stand and fight. Who was the Empress, of all people, to run?

But the terrified child in her arms made the decision far too easy to make. The Mrrakesh were moving towards her with amazing speed, but once again, Marix called on the Force. She drew it into her legs and ran as fast as she could back the way she’d come, hoping that the Palace could at least give her a few more seconds to figure out how, exactly, she was going to get herself and Andrea out with Loki, hopefully, already gone.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 473: New Planet, Old Lightsaber

Considering how fast things were moving around her, half of which she had no idea about, Venda was doing quite well. It helped that she had a great deal of exposure to cultures and peoples that were completely alien to her own, though admittedly, the Alraxians were the most...unique she’d ever seen. Their seclusion from the rest of the galaxy likely had everything to do with that.

The people themselves were interesting and she was doing her best to take in everything she could, especially the living ship...but it was Marix that, for obvious reasons, had her main interest. The woman was...like nothing Venda had ever seen. It was obvious to her that the threats against Venda were not bluffs...Marix would have no problem killing her. But then they step off the ship and Venda watches the woman embracing her child with a warmth that she’d never seen before. It didn’t seem to make any sense that one person could have such polar opposites within them.

It was worrying, to be honest. There was a very strong darkness within Marix and Venda felt like she should do...something about it. Of course, there was the problem of knowing next to nothing of either Marix or the Alraxians as a whole, so it was hard to make a safe judgement. But still...

That didn’t really matter at the moment, though. An impossible darkness had suddenly appeared on a planet like she’d never been to before...so full of life. And now she was running, running to catch up with Marix’s son and the man that was carrying him. Running with two very large Alraxians at her side, both of whom were armed with swords nearly half her size. Running and feeling something approaching...something extremely dangerous and very focused.

And then there was a vaguely familiar sound.

It was almost a blaster rifle, but the pitch was too high and it was more like a speeder that needed a new engine. A half second later, there was a cry from the Alraxian at her left and she stopped her run to turn and see the large humanoid hitting the ground of the courtyard with a burning wound on his face unlike anything she’d ever seen.

“Mrrakesh!!” the other Alraxian let out a loud growl and dove past her to where Venda could see two humanoid figures that were even larger than Alraxians.

They were both holding metal swords that were straight and tipped at an odd angle and were running faster than any creature Venda had ever seen. Instinct was kicking in for her, and the Force was beginning to take control of Venda’s actions. Her lightsaber was in hand, green blade alight and ready as she fell into step right behind the Alraxian that was charging.

In a flash, the two huge creatures were on top of the Alraxian, their swords swinging in. A high blow was parried but Venda could see that the second sword, coming in for the feline’s gut, was not going to be blocked in time.

But then, suddenly, the incoming blade was wrenched into another direction and its wielder sent to the ground. The Alraxian was a Force user! A strong one!

Was that why this planet felt so alive?! Were they all Force users?!

There wasn’t time for those questions, though. As the Alraxian was forced onto the defensive, being driven down by strong blows from this monstrous attacker, the other was on its feet. But the first two had moved, and Venda had placed herself in between them, swinging her lightsaber in a short arc to catch the downed creature off guard.

It didn’t work...and she got another surprise.

Her lightsaber struck the sword and there was no sound at all as they held there, the lightsaber somehow unable to cut through it. She immediately knew why. The Force was flowing around that sword! These attackers were Force users, too!

Venda could not hold her blade straight, and was suddenly overpowered by an impossible strength. The push from the creature sent her into the grass of the courtyard at lightning speed and her head was spinning before she even hit the ground. The Force took control of Venda’s body and she rolled to the side to avoid a strike into the ground that would have cut her in two. Using the momentum and trying to ignore the blurred vision, she jumped up to her feet and took a couple of steps back to try and give herself a moment.

“Jeadai!” the creature spoke through a mask over its face that muffled its gruff voice, and though the word sounded odd at first, Venda could pick out ‘Jedi’ fairly easily. It reminded her of the Vong at first, but they didn’t have the same odd accent...there was a hint of understanding of Basic in the voice at some level, just not being able to pronounce the word, itself.

But it said that word as it was coming at her again, and as she sidestepped a strike, another voice called out, “Anda Mrrakesh! Ahleska ir Enrai’el!”

Venda’s movements took her into a position where she could see the speaker was the Alraxian. She had no idea what was said, though, and was also a bit busy ducking under a swing from the thing’s sword. A knee caught her in the chin and sent her head snapping back before she went to the ground again. Venda tasted blood and while the Force was trying to move her again, her body wasn’t responding.

A sword was coming down at her, and then it disappeared, pushed off to the side. An arm fell onto her and a blue substance that was nearly liquid followed it. Venda’s vision cleared enough for her to see the Alraxian standing over her, with on arm gone and the same blue liquid leaking from the wound. There was also a sword coming through his chest and his skin was becoming a metallic silver colour.

“Ahleska...ir...” he didn’t finish whatever he was trying to say. But his eyes shifted.

They looked over and past Venda. Hers followed and she saw the man nearly to the ship...running alone. Unprotected. Suddenly she knew what the Alraxian had been saying.

Drawing upon the Force to strengthen her injured body, Venda was on her feet and sprinting at full speed away from the two creatures and back to what she was supposed to have been doing. She could feel them behind her, hear their heavy steps in pursuit...so close that a single misstep from her would mean they were on her.

But she was almost to the older Alraxian...and he was almost to that ship.

Then she heard the sound again. The blaster-like noise that she realized was coming from the same general direction the first had. Time seemed to slow as the Force propelled her faster, yelling so many things at her that Venda had no time to even attempt to understand all of them. Instead she just did what she was taught and didn’t question...let the Force guide her.

Suddenly, Venda found herself a step behind the older Alraxian, her lightsaber swinging up and then holding for a fraction of a second. It was then that a green bolt of energy collided with her blade, the force of the impact sending her stumbling back as the bolt reflected into the ground, sending up a shower of dirt and grass.

But even as she lost her balance, her arms were still guiding the lightsaber. She caught a heavy blow from a metal blade and instead of fighting it, simply redirected it upwards, twisted to the opposite side and then lowered her lightsaber to catch the attack from the second creature. This one she managed to stop, but the strength behind the attack was so great that it broke her wrists.

Venda cried out in pain and lost her grip on the lightsaber as she fell to the ground of the courtyard again. It was obvious she was out of her league here. But the older Alraxian should have made it to the ship now...

Vaguely, she heard another sound. It was like the others, but much more blaster-like in origin. She saw movement above her and one of the two large figures that had been bearing down on her hit the ground and stopped moving. The first sound echoed again, followed by a symphony of the new one.

A few moments passed and Venda felt new presences around her...one overpowered all of the rest. It was...gentle. It was also helped her to her feet. As Venda’s eyes regained focus, she saw a group of Alraxians...at least a dozen, probably more. All of them were wearing the same uniforms as the first two, guards of some kind, and they were holding weapons that didn’t look like anything she had ever seen...some kind of circular device around the arm...

But no, the one helping her up was wearing something different. It was a female, barely taller than Venda, and she had a pair of bright orange eyes and a voice to match her soft presence, “Can you walk?”

“I...I think so...” something in that voice had Venda answering without realizing it.

“Come quickly,” the Alraxian woman was now helping Venda walk towards the ship, “There are a great deal more Mrrakesh in the Palace and we must leave immediately.”

Venda nodded, her mind a haze and the adrenaline rush gone. Pain was creeping in, mostly from her wrists but also from her jaw and shoulders. She realized she was covered in something that was probably blood, though it was blue, and that did little to make her feel better. But as she was being walked into the ship, still in a daze, Venda realized there was something important she hadn’t figured out yet, “Marix’s son...”

“Is safely aboard Loki as we all will be in a few moments,” the Alraxian woman had a smile on her face, “We are all in your debt, mistress Jedi. If you had not delayed the Mrrakesh the Knights and I would have been too late.”

As Venda was guided aboard the ship that was apparently called Loki, she managed a glance behind her. The other Alraxians, apparently the Knights that the woman had mentioned, armed with those odd weapons that didn’t resemble anything she’d ever seen, following quickly. And off to the side were two bodies...those creatures. There were pockets of black burn marks across their backs. And in the distance, she could see a pair of Alraxians running to catch up, carrying a large...thing between them.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 474: Bothawui

“Its good to see you again, sir,” Obrack Loro said with a bow and what was, for a Mon Calamari, a smile.

Rulae Nok nodded politely and managed his own species’ version of a smile, “And you, Loro. I assume you all know what’s going on?”

Technically, ‘you all’ meant the three others in the room: Adria Harken, Obrack Loro, and Rea’tin Lor, the only remaining members of Zephyr Squadron beyond Rulae, himself. They would still be flying as Zephyrs in a single flight, as the rest of the pilots in the fleet were already assigned to squadrons and the operation was too important to send in half-trained rookies.

The three others nodded. Apparently they had all been briefed on the situation and the overall plan and that did make things much easier.

Rulae reached up to adjust his uniform slightly and then said, “They’ll be assigning us to some new XJ X-Wings so we’ll be flying good ships. I’d like to get us some simulator time in as soon as we can so we can brush up after a few weeks off.”

“Sir,” it Adria Harken, the red haired human woman, who cut in, “Do you really think this is going to work?”

Allowing himself a shrug, Rulae turned to lean against the wall in his new office, “I’m not a Jedi...I can’t see the future. But it’s a solid plan. Centerpoint can create a gravity well in the entire Corellian system and trap the Vong there. The only fleet they have that can attack us is the one that hit Gyndine and this one is twice that size. We’ll overwhelm them.”

“I don’t like the idea of trusting in Centerpoint,” Loro said quietly and obviously to himself.

To be truthful, neither did Rulae. It was an ancient space station with extremely powerful gravity generators. Some speculated it was the device that brought the planets of the Corellian system together thousands of years earlier, created by some ancient, long dead species. Scientists had studied it for years but they still barely understood it, and that was the worrying part for Rulae...using some ancient technology that was obviously extremely powerful without understanding all that it could actually do.

But it wasn’t Rulae’s job to question the plan, so he kept the concerns to himself. Which meant he decided that he needed to say something to the others that wasn’t exactly a lie, “Centerpoint isn’t our concern. Ours is to take out the Coralskippers and stay alive. So let’s worry about that.”

The other three all nodded at that. At least they had their priorities in line. So now they had who knew how long to get into the simulators and learn to work together again. Hopefully the Vong wouldn’t attack for at least another couple of days.

* * * *​

Tobias sat in the small shuttle across from Master Ral, who had been meditating for a good three hours. Tobias had spent the time resting, relaxing, and idly doing nothing at all. He should probably have been meditating as well, but that was one thing he’d still yet to get any good at.

But he wasn’t.

Instead, he was sitting there enjoying the few moments of rest. Tobias had the feeling there was going to be precious little rest to be had. Of course, he was still unsure of why they were on this New Republic ship. There had to be more than just checking up on Master Ral’s former apprentice...who seemed at least a little bit unhinged. Though he hadn’t been in training for very long at all, Tobias could sense the thing in Tokarr that was likely worrying Master Ral. He could only describe it as a small point of unease. It was like an uncomfortable feeling manifested into the Force and buried deep within a person.

And Master Ral wanted Tobias to talk with the Miraluka. That had the markings of a test all over it, which worried Tobias even more. It was one thing to deal with rocks, but another person? Another person that’s Force Sensitive and likely knows any tricks he would try? Tobias worried he would end up doing more harm than good.

Okay. One thought at a time.

As best he could, Tobias tried to calm his mind. He drew on the Force and did his best to push away everything else. It was a task so much easier said than done, and it was even more frustrating how easy everyone always made it look. But for Tobias, it always seemed like he spent more time trying to calm himself than actually remaining calm...though he was getting better.

His sense of time faded and Tobias soon found himself not really seeing as much as feeling. How long it took to reach this, he didn’t know, but the calm it provided was an immense relief. The Force itself was the only sense left feeding any information to Tobias’ brain, and it was an amazing sensation. A bright light next to him had the familiar feeling of Master Ral, while there were hundreds upon hundreds of smaller lights all around...all of varying brightness. Though he wasn’t really seeing them. It was odd. They were there, but Tobias just seemed to...to know they were there, with his brain converting the information into a form of sight even though he was fairly sure it wasn’t at all.

And then, suddenly, Tobias realized he was seeing.

It was Marix. She was...was...fighting? She was moving too fast and...she was holding something. Something terrified. She was worried, too. That was odd enough. Marix being worried...had Tobias ever actually seen that before? But what was that huge thing? By the Force, was it a Mrrakesh?! He’d never actually seen one but it was the only thing he could link with the monstrous, fast-moving thing. No...no, things.

Suddenly it was gone.

But as Tobias’ sight readjusted, he realize he was not in the shuttle.

What he saw was odd coloured walls that couldn’t have been made of anything he recognized. It wasn’t Alraxian, he was sure of that...and it didn’t look metal. But then what he was seeing didn’t matter. A violent, searing pain wracked through Tobias’ body from his stomach. It burned deep and then whipped around to his spine, digging upwards until he felt he was going to pass out from the overwhelming pain and then...

Tobias’ eyes opened. He was gasping for breath and could feel a vague burning along his spine that was slowly fading. It was then that he realized Master Ral was still there, eyes closed. He hadn’t moved...that seemed odd. Master Ral was always there to say something if Tobias experienced something like that...

But what was it?

After a deep breath, he closed his eyes and tried to at least slow his breathing.

What was that?

Mind racing, trying to understand what had just happened and make sense of the pain, Tobias had completely forgotten the first thing he’d seen. At least that had made sense...but no. His entire focus was on the pain. Why? What was the Force telling him? What was that place? What did it have to do with...anything?

Answers didn’t come, and Tobias was left in a state of fear for the entire hour until Master Ral finally ‘awoke’ from his meditation.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 475: Experience

[I cannot seal the hallways fast enough, my lady.]

“Really?!” Marix growled out loud without thinking the better of it. The last thing she needed right now was Andrea to start crying again and she was still on the verge of it...Marix showing her own tension didn’t help. In itself, this whole idea of getting Andrea to keep her eyes shut seemed altogether strange, but for some reason she had said it...and she was serious about it. Marix had never really understood why parents foolishly protected children from the harsh realities of life. It had never made sense.

Of course, then she’d had the twins and Marix found herself doing things she never understood. Truthfully, she still wasn’t completely sure of the real purpose for toys or play, but she had ended up just giving in to Jyren’s constant statements that it was what it was. The fact that he couldn’t explain it was frustrating, but at least he didn’t get angry with her for not understanding anymore. But with the situation she now found herself in, Marix had made a quick decision that had followed a line of thought that had begun many years before.

Children deserved a choice in life.

No one had any right to take a child and make them into something. The child deserved to grow up to an age to make the decision themselves. It was the driving reason behind why she had freed the Tam’Day’U. All of them chose to join the Knights, which wasn’t a surprise, but they had the choice not to. They weren’t forced. And Andrea was not going to be forced into a life of fighting if she didn’t want it. For all Marix knew, little Andrea would end up being a healer like her grandmother.

Marix suddenly heard the sound of a weapon firing. Or at least, she assumed that was what it was, as it was unlike any weapon she’d ever heard before. But analyzing the origin of the sound wasn’t nearly as important as moving, and Marix quickly stepped to the side as she was running, nearly pressing against the wall.

A green blaster-bolt-like-beam shot past, hitting the ceiling not far away that got lower at the staircase. As Andrea made a loud noise of surprise(it had been close and very loud), Marix glanced over her should to see one of the three Mrrakesh that were after her approaching fast. He was slinging a large rifle over his shoulder and withdrawing a sword as he got closer to her.

Reaching down to her belt, Marix retrieved the vibroblade that had been there since leaving Ryloth. However, she didn’t turn around. Stopping and fighting meant the others would catch up to her, and while Marix felt confident enough to handle three Mrrakesh herself...she knew the distraction of Andrea would make that impossible. Even one of them would be difficult, as she had to make sure her daughter stayed safe. What she needed to do was to slow them down when they caught up.

Speaking of which...

As Marix reached the stairway down, the heavy footsteps behind her got too close to simply ignore. Stopping at the edge of the stairwell, Marix spun around, making sure to keep Andrea as much behind her as was possible. In front of her, the Mrrakesh was charging in leaps. He took one more powerful step and then lunged at her, metal sword slicing down.

Marix reached up and swung her own blade to parry the sword, but knowing she wasn’t nearly as strong as the Mrrakesh, simply used the momentum of the swing against him. Her blade caught his and she was dropping low and sliding to the side, not pushing against his blade but instead redirecting his strike away. Using the Force, she helped to propel him, and in a flash, the fast dive took the Mrrakesh hard into the wall of the stairwell where it wrapped around. He was already getting up by the time Marix was sprinting down, but she had a few more seconds again.

[One of the Mrrakesh is cutting through the floor above.]

She had reached the next level down by the time the Palace warned her, and it was in time so that she wasn’t actually surprised to see a Mrrakesh drop down from the ceiling just a few meters in front of her. Marix stopped in her tracks, knowing that the other Mrrakesh was behind her and the third one...was somewhere.

In front of her, the Mrrakesh took two large steps forward and swung his sword to take off her head. Marix ducked and swept at his legs to take him to the ground, but the huge creature actually jumped up and over the sweep.

The Force screamed at Marix and she tucked Andrea in tighter and rolled to the side, knowing it would hurt the girl some but much less than the sword that struck the ground from behind her. The Mrrakesh in front of her had landed, but before she could even looked up to see where his next strike would be aimed, Marix’s knife-arm slashed outwards and cut across both of the Mrrakesh’s shins.

There was a growl of pain as he lost his footing, and as the Force continued its constant barrage of warnings, Marix this time rolled forward, avoiding another strike from behind, and jumped to her feet, hitting the ground at a run.

[How many levels to the nearest courtyard?] Marix demanded of the Palace as the Mrrakesh again pursued her. She would have a few seconds before they caught up again...even the injured one would likely be attacking swiftly again.

[You are three levels above the main courtyard, my lady.] the Palace didn’t seem to feel any urgency in the situation, despite the pain it was definitely feeling from all of the cutting at it.

Marix looked ahead of her, seeing a break in the hallways that went two directions. She had to make a choice very quickly. A part of her mind was still trying to figure out where the third Mrrakesh was, but the majority of her focus was on the moment...and doing her best to not let Andrea’s crying distract her.

“Kslath!” the growl from behind her sounded almost mechanical coming through that odd mask the Mrrakesh was wearing.

Spinning around and planting her feet, Marix saw the uninjured Mrrakesh already over her, sword coming in at a low angle to cleave her into two. Marix’s right arm suddenly changed form, and there was a loud clang of metal striking metal. Her eyes caught a flash of surprise from the Mrrakesh, and she used this to her advantage by twisting around the blade and striking out at the Mrrakesh with a strong kick.

Her foot caught him in the jaw, sending the large Mrrakesh stumbling back, trying to figure out why his blade hadn’t simply cut her arm off. But his companion, who was leaving a small trail of blood from the wound at his shins, simply pushed him out of the way and dove over to pounce at Marix, sword thrusting forward to simply run her through.

Marix had time to sidestep the thrust, and there was a loud thud as the Mrrakesh landed hard. And he landed attacking again, a free hand swinging out to catch her in the face. Marix ducked and twisted to keep Andrea away. The odd maneuver left Marix open, and the Mrrakesh took advantage of the situation by driving his knee directly into her face.

For a second, her vision went black and all her ears could pick up was a strange, heavy thrumming sound. When her vision returned, Marix realized her head had snapped back and she’d hit the wall behind her. Andrea was near screaming, but Marix was doing everything she could to keep her alive without hearing the sounds coming from her shoulder. And then she saw movement in front of her. It was a fast, bright flash, and she knew it was the sword coming at her left shoulder...Andrea!

Her reactions slowed from the blow to the face and with little room within the hallway to move, Marix found only one thing she could do. She shifted her body to the left as quickly as she could, and suddenly a very sharp pain dug straight into the right side of her chest. She only made a grunt, gritting her teeth against the extreme pain as she was pinned by the sword to the wall behind, but the Mrrakesh made a sound that was almost a laugh.

Typical, arrogant creatures...

Through the pain, Marix’s body quickly began remorphing around the blade. Seeing this, the Mrrakesh made a satisfied noise, twisted the sword to the side to cause Marix to violently thrash against the pain, then removed the blade from the large wound. He saw what he had expected as her body continued to remorph...the metal took over. Instead of flesh forming, the wound turned a silver colour and it expanded outwards.

But then it stopped. A moment later, the metal changed back to the flesh colour from before and the Mrrakesh immediately knew something was wrong.

That was also the moment Marix’s still-metal right arm hit him hard in the face, getting a satisfying thud from the Mrrakesh’s skull as he stumbled back. But Marix didn’t let this one recover. She ignored the shadow-pain in her chest, stepped forward and revered the blade that was in her metal hand, which was remorphing to its normal form already, and thrust her vibroblade up under the exposed neck of the Mrrakesh.

Withdrawing the blade, Marix saw that the other Mrrakesh was already coming at her again. She ducked under his strike, which was so hard that the blade actually got caught in the wall behind her, and used the moment that was open to turn and sprint away again, doing her best to alleviate the panic that was running through Andrea. The little girl had felt the sword through the Force, and Marix was doing her best to soothe her daughter while trying to also figure out exactly what to do next.

Marix made her decision quickly.

[Open the nearest outer wall.] she ordered the Palace just as she was approaching it, knowing exactly where the wall should open.

Where normally it would have hesitated, the Palace simply did as she commanded, and the wall that had been at the split in the hallway opened up to the air outside. Marix ran straight through it and jumped out the opening. Three levels up as one thing to say, but seeing it was something else entirely. But Marix had to ignore the ground, as she could feel the Mrrakesh was almost literally on her tail.

She spun herself around mid-fall, gripping Andrae tightly as the little girl’s claws dug just a bit deeper, to see the Mrrakesh drawing a small blaster-like weapon from his belt as he fell just a few meters behind her. Marix didn’t give him a chance to even take aim. She immediately threw her blade at him, and it caught him square in the face.

Three down.

Still unsure of the last Mrrakesh that was likely about to appear at any second, Marix turned again to see the ground nearly already upon her. She called upon the Force again, beginning to feel tired from the constant exertion but letting the adrenaline fuel her and push her on more, Marix slowed her descent and landed softly...and a few seconds after the Mrrakesh’s body.

But then she heard another loud sound behind her and knew exactly where the last Mrrakesh was. It had just been a few steps behind.

She spun around to see a sword coming at her face. Marix ducked, then immediately twisted to the side as a knee came up to meet her. Her right arm swung in, catching the extended leg of the Mrrakesh and throwing him to the ground onto his back. But the second he hit, the Mrrakesh lashed out with his leg again, forcing Marix to jump up and back and giving him time to reach his feet again.

Marix was given no time to regain her balance, as the Mrrakesh was immediately in front of her again, sword swinging. In a flash of movement that Marix was proud to admit involved no use of the Force at all, she ducked, jumped, spun, and twisted out of the way of an amazingly fast series of swings of both sword and fist from the Mrrakesh.

And then Marix planted her feet, dug in as much as she could in the micro-seconds she had, and raised her right arm up in a guard position. Again, metal caught metal, but this Mrrakesh didn’t seem surprised at all. However, it was a sudden stop and that alone was all Marix needed. She forced the blade away, then stepped inside the Mrrakesh’s reach and punched him hard in the jaw. The blow was enough to send the Mrrakesh back a few steps before recovering.

However, the blow was also enough to cause him to lose his grip on the sword, which Marix immediately grabbed before it even hit the ground, spun around in the tight grip of her metal hand, then swung with all of the strength she could manage, removing the Mrrakesh’s head from his body before he even had time to completely see what had happened.

And then the only sound was the crying of Andrea.

Marix quickly let the sword drop to the grass at her feet and loosened her grip on her daughter, gently stroking the little girl’s hair to attempt to calm her. [Are there anymore Mrrakesh?]

[It is...hard to say, my lady.] the Palace sounded pained. [I can detect nothing near you, however the injuries I have sustained makes it difficult to...to concentrate.]

Having gotten her bearings and knowing exactly where she was, Marix began to head around the palace to another section of the courtyard where a Kanyak would likely be. Not Loki, as he was on the opposite side of the Palace, but everything couldn’t be perfect.

[Tell the remaining Knights to search everywhere and make sure the Mrrakesh are gone. Focus your efforts on healing your wounds...when it is safe, I will make sure the Redstars help as much as they can.] she told the Palace as she swiftly rounded the corner to see a small Kanyak exactly where she expected it to be.

Heading that way, and keeping her entire senses alert just in case, Marix realized what she’d just done. Four Mrrakesh. Four. And she was fighting while protecting a terrified jai. She could remember a time where fighting even one Mrrakesh would have meant death. A part of her quietly commented that motherly instincts were behind a great deal of it, but Marix still didn’t like that voice and simply chalked it up to experience.

 

[Krafus]

Well, I've caught up to the latest chapter... The Marix vs. 4 Mrrakesh fight was fun to read, but I didn't like how Venda got pwned in her own battle. I had been wondering how a full Jedi would fare against a Mrrakesh, and I was disappointed, especially when Marix kicked the asses of four Mrrakesh while protecting a child in comparaison. Or, to put in game terms, what are Venda and Marix's levels? (And any progress on finding the stats for Nine and Ket?)

I'm also wondering - how would the most powerful Force-users around, say Yoda, Mace Windu or Palpatine, fare against a Mrrakesh? Because if they got their asses kicked too, I'd have to call "Mary Sue" at Marix. Or maybe "OMG uber-races they are sooooo powerful in comparaison to puny filthy humans" at Alraxians and Mrrakesh.

It was fun to see more of Master Ral and Tobias. Here's hoping they can settle the problems between Ral and Tokarr before they meet the Yuuzhan Vong.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Well, I've caught up to the latest chapter... The Marix vs. 4 Mrrakesh fight was fun to read, but I didn't like how Venda got pwned in her own battle. I had been wondering how a full Jedi would fare against a Mrrakesh, and I was disappointed, especially when Marix kicked the asses of four Mrrakesh while protecting a child in comparaison. Or, to put in game terms, what are Venda and Marix's levels? (And any progress on finding the stats for Nine and Ket?)

Truthfully, at this point, there's very little really known about Venda beyond the fact that she's a Jedi. She about Jyren's age(30 or so), but isn't a terribly experienced Jedi as she started her training later in her life like most Jedi of the era. She's really less of a combat type than some Jedi, though since so little has been fleshed out with her at this point, its obviously easy to not know that.

Not to mention that Venda was a bit lost at that point, while Marix had a very good idea of what she was up against, having fought Mrrakesh before. Marix also had the advantage of fighting in close quarters, meaning that all her attackers couldn't get to her at once, and she was also on the move most of the time rather than standing and fighting.

I've actually started going back to the Cast thread I made a while back and adding in stats again. Been trying to go, roughly, in order of appearance, but its pretty rough in that aspect. Sadly, the original stats for most everything is gone, so I've been rebuilding them as best I can. And actually did put up stats for both Nine and Ket a little while back and kept forgetting to mention it here.

Cast Thread

I'm also wondering - how would the most powerful Force-users around, say Yoda, Mace Windu or Palpatine, fare against a Mrrakesh? Because if they got their asses kicked too, I'd have to call "Mary Sue" at Marix. Or maybe "OMG uber-races they are sooooo powerful in comparaison to puny filthy humans" at Alraxians and Mrrakesh.

Guys like Yoda, Mace, and Palpy would wipe the floor with Mrrakesh. They're just in a completely different league, and while I know they're statted out around levels 18-20, I don't think that really fits any of them. If anyone should be of epic levels in Star Wars, its those three. I'd even argue that statting them out is the equivalent of statting out Dieties for D&D...you can do it, but it kind of defeats the point.

Truthfully, though, the Alraxians and Mrrakesh are definitely in a different league than baseline humans. They aren't my creation, as I've said before, but the idea behind them is that are simply better. Of course, most Alraxians live quiet, boring lives and don't even dream of even small fights...and Mrrakesh fight amongst themselves more than anyone else. But both species are the result of genetic manipulation on the side of the Sith, who originally weren't human, anyway. So the species were both built to BE strong, with the Alraxians slanting more towards adaptability and the Mrrakesh more brute strength and power.

It was fun to see more of Master Ral and Tobias. Here's hoping they can settle the problems between Ral and Tokarr before they meet the Yuuzhan Vong.

This makes me happy. I've been worried that the stuff with Tobias and Master Ral would be...well, boring.