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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2924239" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 375: An Interrogation of SortsWhat passed for interrogation aboard the Araddon was almost a joke to Marix. As someone that had been trained in very detailed forms of torture, both from the Alraxian Empire and the Galactic Empire, she knew very well how to get answers out of even the strongest of subjects. Usually, it simply took time.     But this man...he was barely Jyren’s age, and looked like he barely had any idea what he was doing. Nothing but questions. Not even pressing questions. It was so pathetic that Marix had no trouble answering them at all...none of the answers gave away anything important anyway and simply went to proving she had, in fact, shown up to help Jyren.    Certain details, of course, were left out. Namely the Force and the connection she shared with Jyren. Those would cause problems and simple mishaps could explain the coincidences away without any trouble. It was amazing how people would gladly accept such completely outlandish answers when there were obvious distractions. And being able to read people, especially without the Force, went a long way to detecting those distractions...which was why Marix had gotten bored very early on.    At that point, while she went on autopilot to answer the questions, her other senses scanned the small room around her. Imperial style interrogation room...at least three holocams, one exit on the opposite end that had a way of blending into the boringly bland wall, and nothing else. She’d broken out of more rooms like this than she cared to count. And, perhaps, that was the problem.    Every single other time she had been in such a room, escape was on her mind. Be it hers or the one sitting in her current position. But it was always there...keeping the occupants of the room alert and ready. It caused a sense in the air that was not comparable to anything else. But not this time. Something here was different, and while, at first, she blamed the pathetic interrogation she was undergoing, it wasn’t long before Marix came to the conclusion that it was on her end where the difference was.    She felt no need to escape. Yes, in a second, the holocams could be disabled and this human dead...with Marix gone from the room a few moments later and off the ship soon after. But...but not now. Jyren was somewhere on this ship and she wasn’t going to make another damned idiotic choice. She was here for a reason, and right now, that meant she had to deal with...with this.    And all through the interrogation, Marix was trying to find the right time to play the card she was holding back. It came sooner than she had expected, and in the pause while the interrogator was obviously sifting through to the next question, she spoke up, “There is a man aboard my ship that I believe you would do well to speak with.”    The directness of the statement caught the man off guard, and he looked confused for a little too long before regaining his neutral face, “What do you mean?”    “Before I came here, I encountered a group calling themselves the Peace Brigade,” she explained simply, “As far as I can tell, they are anti-Jedi humanoids working with the Vong.”    The silence that followed was just long enough. Marix didn’t need the Force to know how important that it was...but it sure helped. She could feel the shock jolt through the interrogator...and whoever was watching the holos provided by the cameras.    But the man in front of her seemed to compose himself quickly, though, and shook his head, “The search teams found no one else on your ship.”    They’d searched Loki?!    ...of course they’d searched Loki.    Marix calmed herself as quickly as she could, letting a short slow breath but doing her best to keep it quiet enough that it wasn’t noticeable. Of course, if these interrogators were any good, they’d still notice it. Alright. They’d searched Loki...obviously, they’d not found anything horribly incriminating. And, of course, they wouldn’t have unless they knew where to go.    “He’s locked up in a safe section of the ship,” Marix said, immediately working out that she had the upper hand again. Still holding a straight, neutral face, she looked the human directly in the eyes, adopting a calm, but at least slightly disturbing gaze that would hopefully unnerve him, “And he stays there until I see the pilot I brought in.”    Right away, the man shook his head, “No. Give us the Peace Brigade man and then we’ll talk.”    “You won’t be able to find him without me,” she said flatly, “No matter how good your scanning crews are, you’ll never find him.”    No response came.    Marix knew that the interrogator was wearing some kind of comlink to listen to whoever else was watching them. And though his eyes still held her gaze perfectly, they were distracted. He was listening. Something was going on out there, and, from the feeling in the Force, it wasn’t making anyone happy.    Then the door opened and two blaster rifle-wielding marines stepped in.    “Escort this woman to the medical ward,” the interrogator said, a hint of anger in his voice, “Don’t let her out of your sight.”    Both of them nodded, and Marix took that as her cue to stand up finally. A triumphant smiled formed on her face and she simply nodded to the man as she passed, falling into step behind one of the guards while the other walked behind her...blaster rifle casually aimed at her back.    It was a wonder the New Republic had made it this long...they were so much easier to manipulate than the Galactic Empire’s men had ever been. Not that Marix was one to complain.</blockquote>

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