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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2915020" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 352There were only a few things one could do after discovering that the human who had fired a disrupter within a small shop on Ord Mantell was not, in fact, a human. Marix took the most direct approach. Immediately upon identifying the attacker as a Yuuzhan Vong (or at least being sure that it was the most likely option of the few that were currently available), she knew that letting word spread of a Vong on this planet, in a human suit, no less, would be a very bad thing.    And so, the first thing she did was find a way to get the strange suit back onto the body it had peeled off of. This took a good ten minutes of work, but eventually she managed to coax the thing back onto its...host? Host was the best she could work out at this point, mainly due to the fact that it was definitely not a synthetic creation. The suit was, most definitely, alive. The little points that stuck into the pores of her skin when she tried to force it back onto the body proved that. It reacted as an instinct, almost, trying to grab onto its new host and...do whatever it did.    It was amazing, though, that she managed to get the Yuuzhan Vong’s corpse covered by the suit again before one of the two Twi’leks returned to check on them. Marix had quickly made up a few details about what she’d ‘found’, all of which were lies told in a very believable way. And when she was left alone with Tobias for the second time, Marix sighed and looked down at the still unconscious young looking human. He needed to wake up. They could only stay here so much longer. The very fact that a disguised Yuuzhan Vong was on Ord Mantell, at least five major star systems Coreward of the current, makeshift line near Dantooine, was not a good sign. And it brought Marix to the next most important thing to do...which Tobias was currently holding them back from.     Getting off of Ord Mantell.    Yes, it could be seen as running, but this was not an Alraxian war and she was going to keep it from that for as long as she possibly good. Her people were not ready for a war...in fact, only herself, Jyren, and he handful of Tam’day’u that were the main training force for the larger defensive group of Knights were ready for war at all. And to keep them out of this for as long as was possible, Marix knew that they needed a better defensive force at the gateway. So, it was simply more of a motivation to leave as soon as possible. If the Vong were already on Ord Mantell, then it was no telling how long it would be before an attack came...and that was the last thing Marix needed, especially with Tobias at her side.    The part of her that felt the distance of Jyren through the link couldn’t help but remind her of how...insensitive her actions were becoming. Over the many years, the link between them had a way of getting stronger and stronger, which meant that their respective personalities were getting much better at rubbing off on the other...or, more accurately, imprinting on the other. It did make many things easier to deal with when the link was so strong and even more open than before either of them knew how to control it. But now they were half a galaxy apart for the first time since they’d met and it was...surprisingly difficult. She knew that if Jyren was there, he’d someone talk her into staying and getting the word out and other completely stupid and impossibly idealistic things...    But he wasn’t there. Jyren was off doing his thing, trying to protect their people in the only way he knew how to. Sure, he might have yelled about it being just for their family, but Marix knew better than that.    And because he wasn’t there, it wasn’t worth dwelling on what might be happening, because it simply wasn’t. Marix knew well enough how to deal with things on her own, and if that meant being practical and at a least a little cold to others, then so be it. It was part of her duty as the Empress to protect her people, even if it meant putting their lives about those of the rest of the galaxy. Which meant they needed to get off this damned planet...    And then there was a groan.    Marix twisted around to look over to where Toby still lay, seeing his eyes were half open and seemingly unable to go any farther. Reaching over, she carefully rested her hand on his forehead and tried, yet again, to send a little help through the Force. It hadn’t looked to have done much help the other times she’d attempted it, and she’d never claim to be a healer, but by the Force it was worth trying. She also leaned down slightly and, knowing he could hear her and at least hoping his brain could put words together, said very quietly, “Remorph what hurts...do it slowly. Don’t rush it, or you might pass out again.”    There was no outward indication that he heard what she’d said, but through the Force she could tell he did what she had told him to. Not long afterwards, his eyes, which were, disturbingly enough, the same colour as Jyren’s, opened all the way and turned to give her a dazed look. Tobias’ mouth opened, but only another groan escaped.    With a sigh, Marix helped him to sit up straight and spoke in a stern voice, “You’re lucky you didn’t get yourself killed. This is exactly why Jyren wanted you to stay at the Palace.”    “...Jyren’s here...?” Tobias’ voice was quiet, a bit confused, and scratchy enough to not sound at all like him...well, not at all like him in his human form, which was quite different from his normal voice.    Obviously, he’d hit his head very hard. Marix shook her head, “No, he’s not. We’re on Ord Mantell still...but not for long. Draw on the Force like we’ve taught you, Toby. Clear your mind and focus...use it to get your strength back so we can leave.”    Though she could tell he was doing this through the Force, Tobias still sounded and looked like he’d been hit by a turbolaser blast, somehow survived, and wasn’t sure what exactly was going on anymore, “...thought you said...you said...Jyren didn’t know you let me....you said Jyren didn’t know.”    This was not the time to discuss that, of all things. Sure, taking Tobias had been something that Jyren was very adamantly against, but he’d left a good while before Marix had and she had...caved. Well, no, not caved. It was more of a simple understanding that the kid was starting to act like she had at his age. Cooped up in the Palace with too much energy and not enough ways to release it that didn’t get people yelling at him. Marix had hoped that at least a short trip out of that place would do him some good.    But despite his foggy thinking, Tobias was soon able to sit up of his own strength. And, in another few minutes, was up on his feet...somewhat. Marix promised to explain what was going on when they got out of the system, telling him to just focus on walking straight and not drawing too much attention their way. Anything that would make either of them look weak on the streets of Ord Mantell made them a target...and that could further delay them from getting off of the planet when the Force(or maybe it was just her own natural instincts) was yelling at her to leave as soon as possible.    There had been no real last words to the two Twi’leks, not even a ‘thank you’ or a ‘goodbye’. Simply an acknowledgment that she and Tobias were leaving as the two cleaned up the majority of the mess that had been created in their shop. This meant that it was easy to get back on the streets, and though their pace was slow so that Toby could keep up, they were moving. At this point, that was all that mattered to Marix.    [Loki, get ready to leave the second we’re on board.] she called out to her ship, half a city away.    Of course, that didn’t slow down the bored ship’s response. [Going home?]    [Not yet. Heading out to the Cron Drift.] Marix did her best to not shake her head while responding, as she knew how strange that would look when she was obviously not talking with Tobias. [Be ready to prepare the jump to hyperspace as soon as possible.]    Loki was no fool. He could detect the sense of urgency in her ‘voice’. [...are we expecting trouble?]    [Always.] was the quick response, but Marix soon added. [I can’t tell you for sure, Loki, but we need to play this safe and leave now. The fighting is trying move Coreward faster than even Jyren worried it would.]</blockquote>

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