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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2915003" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 346It had taken an extra day for Marix to get away from the Empire. Calming the panic produced by the attack on the Gate and redirecting many of the Knights to defend it took more time than it should have...not to mention the fact that very few of the ships were armed in any way. Some had weapons, but it was still something that the Kanyaks (and Alraxians, really) felt to be unnatural and harmful. The Gate itself, though, did have some weapons, thanks to the fact that it was actually made of metal and there wasn’t anything alive actually built into the structure. But at least people seemed to accept the fact that a stronger defense was going to be necessary, and so there was little to no actual opposition for why the Empress and Emperor were leaving.    Not that they liked it, of course, but the reasoning was sound enough.    But then, just as she was preparing to leave, another issue had come up. It was one that Marix had attempted to avoid the entire time, but knew that, eventually, it was going to come up. Some things were far more trying on both sanity and patience than running the Empire, and it was definitely one at the top of the list.    “Tobias,” Marix called down the corridor behind Loki’s cockpit where she sat, “We’re setting down now.”    They were on Ord Mantell...not too terribly far from either the Alraxian Empire or what looked to be the steady path of the Yuuzhan Vong. But it was one of the places Marix knew she could find people to get her ships. And not flying pieces of junk, either.    A response echoed down the corridor, but she didn’t actually hear any words in it. Typical. She had gotten so close to being able to escape without the brat tagging along, but he’d tracked her down and made a disturbingly valid point. He was, roughly, the same age that she had been when she’d left...on her own. He’d be with her, and while he didn’t have the same training she had, could handle himself if things got bad. Truthfully, there was a lot of overconfidence in that, but they had spent a lot of time making sure the kid knew how to protect himself. Not as much fighting as simple self defense...so, he would be fine. And it was about time he actually got out and helped...and he had a habit of toying with things that exploded...inside the Palace...getting rid of that chaotic element, even if only for a few days, was something everyone would appreciate.    Loki set down in a small public hangar near the center of one of the major cities on the planet and Marix got to her feet and headed for the hatch. In the process, she took the time to morph human and get her bearings like that again...as it’d been a long time since she’d gone without a tail to help her keep her balance.    She found Tobias standing at the hatch waiting, unsurprisingly already human. Probably due to his attachment to Jyren (for whatever reason), Toby had a strong attachment to his human form. It was, like most Alraxian’s in that body, roughly the same...only that he was smaller, his hair was a simple, flat black mess (that made him look a little too much like Marix for her taste), and all the feline-like features were much more generically human.    At least he was shorter than she was, still.    “Stay close, don’t wander off, and don’t touch anything or anyone,” she said sternly, giving him that dangerous look and ignoring the fact that it had as little affect on Toby as it did on Jyren...the effect didn’t matter, just the thought behind it.    When Tobias nodded (and attempted to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes at her), Marix turned and hit the switch to open the hatch. [You stay safe, too, Loki. We shouldn’t be gone too long...if its more than a few hours, start looking.]    [Last time I did that, you screamed at me when I found you for distracting you.] Loki grumbled in her mind while both she and Toby stepped down into the circular and somewhat enclosed hangar.    Marix glanced back over at the ship as the hatch irised closed. [You should have known not to land on five of the bounty hunters when I was running right for them.]    [But it was so fun!] Loki actually managed a slight laugh at that, but soon went quiet as they headed out of the hangar.    The simple matter of paying the docking fee was handled very easily...the panel that handled it had already been broken by someone earlier, and no docking officials were dumb enough to run out asking for money where a person’s first instinct was to shoot and forget about any questions that might have almost come to mind. Or at least, if the ship only stayed a short time. There was a security force on the planet, of course, but they only mobilized in large groups if there were serious problems. The plan was to not be involved in one of those.    The door from the hangar opened to reveal the city, which was almost like a miniature Coruscant without the atmosphere-scraping heights. There were, of course, metal spires of large buildings that were all over the place, and upper levels of walkways connecting them that almost made the place look like Nar Shaddaa. The ground level was actually very populated, with every kind of creature moving around, going about their business and trying their best not to look anyone in the eye wrong or bump into others.    Remembering how Toby could be, especially the fact that this was his first time away from the Empire since he was a small child, Marix leaned down and said very quietly, “Stay very close.”    Again, Tobias nodded, but it didn’t seem to be from understanding this time. His currently-ice blue eyes were wide open and scanning the entire view, taking in every detail they could. Marix sighed and elbowed him a bit too roughly, which made him blink and look at her with a slightly worried look, “Huh?”    “Stay. Close,” she repeated, slowly and very carefully. If he’d missed it that time, Marix was done with him. He caused enough trouble at home, but here was a place that was no where near the place he was used to, and it wasn’t long before she was rethinking the intelligence in actually letting him come.    But, luckily for him, Tobias actually nodded while looking at her...with that worried look on his face no longer due to the fact that he wasn’t paying her any attention. They stood there for a moment, with Marix holding the stern gaze for long enough to damned well make sure the point got through. And then, without a word, she turned and led the way into the crowded streets, making sure that Tobias was right behind her the whole way.    Ord Mantell was not a planet that she had spent too terribly much time on, but certain areas she knew. This was one of them...not that she remembered the name of the city, but she knew its location and that was, in the end, all that mattered. Names had a habit of changing much faster than locations, especially when it came to cities. But this was one of the...less dangerous places, if there was such a thing on a planet crawling with bounty hunters, smugglers, pirates, spies, thieves, and completely lost idiots that had no idea what they’d gotten themselves into.    So, moving quickly so that they could get this over with as soon as possible, Marix led the way to an old shop that had been owned by a small group of Twi’lek merchants. Well, it had been about fifteen standard years ago. Now, she had no idea, but they were the kind of people that would bend easily and it was worth a try.    It took about five minutes to navigate both the main streets and a few back alleys (which, thankfully, they were left alone while passing through), before she found the small building cramped between a larger tower and what had once been a building but now looked to be a hollowed out chunk of durasteel. There was no sign over the entranceway, but there never had been, so Marix decided to accept that as a good sign.    Checking that Toby hadn’t disappeared from her side one last time, she then turned and headed for the closed door. Hitting the switch opened the door to show the same exact room she remembered from all those years ago...small, dark, relatively empty at first sight before one entered, and most importantly, not cleaned. She stepped in and looked straight to the left where the desk still was, but found it unoccupied. There was, however, junk spread out everywhere that looked just like it always had, which was another good sign that the same people owned the place.    And then there was a click behind her, followed by a simple charging sound. Marix froze, knowing immediately what a disrupter pistol sounded like when it was preparing to fire, and at the same time wondering why in the name of all hell that the Force hadn’t even screamed at her once.    A quiet, almost hissing voice from that direction said, “Move and die.”    She didn’t...but immediately, Marix’s mind raced, trying to reach out with the Force to find Tobias and stop him before he tried to do anything stupid. Unlike Jyren, the kid didn’t have any experience with surviving stupid actions.</blockquote>

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