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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2915033" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 356“Never heard of no Rodian out here,” the gravely sounding voice on the other end of the comm system replied for the third time.    Marix simply glared at the small speaker that was a part of the center panel in Loki’s cockpit, part of her contemplating hitting the thing...but that wouldn’t do anything but annoy the ship as much as she was getting annoyed by whoever the hell it was on the other end of the comm.    Instead, still managing to keep her voice level but making sure to make it plainly obvious that she was not in a good mood, she said, “Fine. I don’t care if there’s no Rodian here,” she waved around at the space in front of the viewport, “This place is obviously what I’m looking for. There’s derelict starships everywhere. Now if you’re the person in charge, I’ll talk with you, but if you don’t start being helpful I’ll trace the damned signal myself and find you the hard way.”    A snicker from her side indicated that Tobias was enjoying this a little too much. He didn’t seem to have a problem with her threats when they weren’t directed at him...which, normally, they were. Even Jyren didn’t get as many threats as Tobias managed. This was, of course, because Jyren didn’t have a habit of detonating, burning, or otherwise completely destroying parts of rooms or other important things within the Palace. Tobias, on the other hand...    “I don’t take kindly to threats,” the voice responded, sounding a stern as before and just as annoyed as Marix was.    “And I don’t make threats that I don’t plan to follow through with,” Marix growled...which was true. Tobias had only escaped death many times due to the simple fact that, when yelled at(or screamed at), he was intelligent enough to stop and not continue anything that might get him killed.    Before there was any response from the voice on the other side of the comm, Loki cut in. [There are three objects on an intercept course with us.]    Marix’s eyes tore away from the view of the dead ships around them and locked on the makeshift sensor panel, “Trace the comm signal. We’re going to have to do this the hard way,” she then reached over to the comm switch and hit it again, “I apologize, but I don’t think I mentioned that I don’t take kindly to threats, either.”    A new voice, one that didn’t sound like anything Marix had ever heard before, cut in on a slightly less clear comm channel, “Unidentified vessel: power down your engines and prepare to receive a boarding party.”    “When Alraxia freezes,” Marix grumbled, off the comm, of course, then looked up at the ceiling again, “Got the source yet, Loki?”    [Yes.] the ship replied, just as a new, larger blip appeared on the screen amongst the few...thousand others. [The approaching ships are powering up weapons.]    “Bring up your shields and put everything else into the engines,” she said quickly as she shifted her seat forward to take the controls herself. Loki worked fast, and by the time her hands were on the controls, he’d done exactly as she’s asked...well, told, but it was more of a request stated like an order than an actual order. Her eyes glanced over to Toby, who was leaning forward to get a good look at what was going on, “Sit back and don’t touch anything.”    Giving him no chance to respond, Marix hit the sublight drives(or, at least, the Alraxian equivalent). Loki immediately shot forward, straight under the nearest of the derelict ships at the edge of the Cron Drift. It looked like a miniature Star Destroyer, and older than most of the other scraps of metal in this graveyard of starships that would probably only be useable with many years of maintenance. But in a matter of seconds, it was past them, and Marix was maneuvering the Kanyak between a series of smaller freighters that looked in better shape, all the while noticing that the actual visibility in the area was dropping rapidly.    It almost looked like a fog in space, but Marix knew better. It was the remains of the Cron Cluster, a series of ten stars that had been completely obliterated four thousand years prior by a powerful Sith fleet. Marix knew the story well...all Alraxians did. It was a story brought to them by many of the Jedi of the time who discovered the Alraxians all that time ago...and stepped in at just the right time to save the species from falling to the Sith attackers during the last Darkwing War.    Somehow, the air within Loki began to feel heavier and, at the same time, more hollow as they shot further into the Cron Drift(which spanned at least six very dead star systems). Marix could feel the weight of the hundreds of millions of deaths that the destruction had caused...both of the Jedi warriors trying to fight the Sith and the innocents on the nearby planets who likely never knew what killed them. It took a strong concentration to fly after not too long, as her actual visibility was almost completely gone, leaving her with only a strangely coloured haze...meaning that Marix was using the Force to fly, and therefore, feeling the weight of the deaths even more openly.    But she was strong. She had been through far too much to let such a simple thing as the echo of deaths effect her performance.    Tobias on the other hand...    A quick glance over to him noted that he had a shocked look on his face. Gritting her teeth and quickly dividing her attention, Marix said quickly, “Draw yourself inwards. The Force is strong here. It can be very overwhelming.”    There was a tentative nod from the younger Alraxian, and she could feel him doing his best to follow her instructions. It wasn’t the best solution, but would work for now. Marix them immediately turned her attention to the matter at hand, and while diving under an old Lancer frigate, caught sight a pair of red laser blasts shoot straight over them in the ‘fog’.    “How in the Force are they seeing in this?!” she growled out of frustration more than an actual question, noting that the sensor board was pretty much useless any farther out than she could already see with her own eyes...with the Force, of course, being much better than anything else anyway.    [We are being scanned constantly...] Loki seemed to mumble somehow, obviously thinking ‘out loud’. [I think they have modified scanners.]    Marix rolled her eyes. Of course they would have modified scanners. Probably had modified weapons, shields, and about anything else that was on whatever the hell they were flying. And then her mind locked onto the target...a fairly large collection of life in the relative emptiness of the Cron Drift around them. It had to be the source of the comm signal...whatever it was. One way or another, she was going to board them and have a good long talk with whoever was in charge, likely with the use of claws and very angry words.    Four streaks of red at different angles crossed over the front viewport again, and thanks to the Force, Marix was easily able to slip the large but maneuverable Kanyak to the side, while also rolling to avoid what looked like half of an old Dreadnaught cruiser. At least one of the shots hit the thing, as she caught sight of a flash of something out of the corner of her vision before the ‘fog’ of the Cron Drift blurred it out completely.    Sometimes, she regretted not convincing Loki to install weapons again. Long ago, back in her days with the smugglers, she had...but that was a long time ago, and not long after they’d reunited, the weapons had been removed. But it was a small thing, really, and the ship was just fine with out them...there were other ways to deal with pursuers rather than Jyren’s method of fancy flying to show off and shooting all the while...fancy flying on its own was actually quite effective.    “What’s that?” Tobias’ hand jutted out into the other side of her vision, pointing at a faint discolouration in the ‘fog’ somewhere in the distance(the actual distance was hard to determine).    “I don’t know,” she immediately snapped back, using the Force to bat his hand down and out of her vision so that it didn’t distract her anymore. Her Force sense forced outward farther, quickly noting that the...thing, was the target she was aiming for. And, from what she could tell, there wasn’t anything in the way. A straight shot...    In a matter of seconds, the dicolouration grew into a muddy looking form that was like most of the starships from a distance, but was definitely much larger. It also had some kind of blinking lights here and there, and a soft glow just slightly down away from their current course towards it. It could have been a hangar. In the ‘fog’ around them, it was impossible to tell, and likely would be until it was too late to turn around at this speed. Which meant a choice had to be made.    And despite all of the years close to him, Marix still did not hesitate in such situations like Jyren did. She made the choice, and Loki adjusted course just slightly to put them dead on with what could also have been a slight change in colour of...well, anything. But there was no turning back. The ships behind them were still firing, forcing Marix to put Loki into an erratic spinning and weaving path, but she continued aiming straight for the thing.    Marix did not, of course, tell Tobias or Loki that there was the slight chance they were going to slam into a heavy hull of something in a matter of seconds. It wouldn’t have been worth it. Instead, she gripped the controls tightly, gritted her sharp teeth again, flattened her ears against her skull, and waited the tiny few seconds it would take to charge straight into it...or inside it.</blockquote>

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