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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3351994" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 436: Icy InfiltrationIt was a long, slow climb down the crystal of ice. Marix kept a steady pace, but made sure to stay slow enough to make sure the footholds she was kicking in would remain strong and not break. Because she started a good hundred meters, at least, above the ground(well, no, above the next layer of crystals), it was well over an hour before she finally found a solid surface to stand on, again. This, however, did not give her trouble. Marix had climbed down far more dangerous slopes in much worse conditions.    When she was down, Marix took a moment to look up again, taking in the features of the wall of ice above her to remember where she had to come to climb back up. Once the location was committed to memory, she turned and headed around the huge crystal spire towards where the encampment should have been. It was a short trudge through the lightly-snow-covered ground beneath her feet before Marix saw the ships from before.    The six bulky, metal starships sat in a line of sorts on the ground right where they had been...but now Marix could see something else. A good few meters in front of them was a line of very large, armoured figures. It didn’t take a genius to identify them as Yuuzhan Vong warriors. Of course, the fact that Marix had seen them more than once helped.    Keeping herself behind the large crystal she had climbed down, Marix leaned her head around to get a better view of things. She was still a good distance out, but was keeping her eyes and ears open just in case she was spotted. Not being able to detect the Vong through the Force was not terribly annoying for her, but it did mean she had to be extra careful and alert with her other senses. Not far from the line of warriors that were guarding the ships was a various collection of other humanoids. From this distance she was at, Marix wasn’t able to identify them, but they looked to be dressed in more...well...normal clothes. Not only that, but she could sense the being in the Force, meaning they definitely weren’t Vong.    So Marix put two and two together and, unlike Jyren, managed to come up with four without too much effort. Most likely, they were the occupants of the ships that they were now cut off from. Marix cursed human ears, noticing that there was a pair of smaller figures walked in front of the group of non-Yuuzhan Vong. Those two, though, were definitely Vong. Not only could she not sense them, but they were wearing elaborate robes that looked to be clinging to the figures’ shoulders with huge talons and spikes. Even at the twenty odd meter distance she was at, Marix could see that much clearly...and that the figures were saying something.    If she was Alraxian, she would have been able to hear it. Of course, if she was Alraxian, she would also be frozen to death. Part of her considered the not-so-often used Wookie morph that she had hidden away in her mind, but reminded herself why she wasn’t here like that. Yes, Wookies would be fine in the cold, and climbing was a natural skill...but they weren’t exactly the best creatures for sneaking around. The point was to stay out of sight, and so she was human...and still cursing it despite the fact that she’d managed to get so close.    Another moment later, Marix shook the distracting thoughts off. If she stood around like this she was going to get caught. This needed to be quick, and she needed to figure out whatever it was she came here for. For now, Marix turned back from the view and stood completely behind the cover of the giant crystal spire. Her eyes and ears were not going to do anything to help on that end...they would only be able to keep her alert of anything approaching.    Which left the Force...and which left out of the Vong. Thankfully, that eliminated nearly all of the options, leaving one clear course of action. Keeping her eyes closed and her ears open, Marix reached out with the Force to the group of humanoids that were between the Vong warriors and the two others. Immediately upon finding them in the force, Marix knew something was wrong. There were...holes in them. She could feel the humanoids and most all that she normally could for a first glance at other beings, but a close inspection showed literal empty spots in the Force littered throughout.    It reminded her of the Vong.    And it was inside these humanoids.    What that meant, Marix wasn’t sure...but she didn’t like it.    Marix withdrew back into herself, glad for the fact that none of the Vong were patrolling anywhere near where she was. If they had any patrols...the fact that she hadn’t noticed any had been unnerving enough. But she’d watched the area for a good amount of time before heading down, so Marix was fairly certain there simply wasn’t one. Why would there be, anyway? They had no enemies here, and were obviously in control of the planet.    Certain of the lack of any patrol, and now feeling a need to dig deeper to see what was really going on here, Marix looked around from her cover again. Carefully, she eyed the ships. They weren’t far from the Vong line, but the warriors were facing inward, away from the ships...watching the backs of the humanoids. Which meant that the only ones she could see looking to the ships were the two Vong that were apparently speaking to the humanoid group. Her eyes scanning the area one more time, she then looked ahead of her. There was another group of two or three of the giant crystal spires a good sixty meters ahead of her, and if her eyes weren’t lying to her, then it would be about another ten meters past the second spire to the closest of the grounded starships.    However, there was a definite flaw in the plan that was forming...there was no cover at all. The edge of this giant crystal that was serving as the ground didn’t end for a great distance off to the side, making it look like a giant plateau rather than the crystal that it really was. That meant she couldn’t duck down and climb across, out of sight. Dropping to the ground would be difficult, as the layer of snow was barely enough to reach the top of her boot and that meant she would look like a brown thing sliding across the ground of white. Part of her was starting to regret adding Jyren’s old jacket as her last layer...despite the fact that it was nice and warm...    Morphing was out of the question, too, as she would have to morph back and it wasn’t going to work very well with all of the layers she was wearing. So that left out the sneaky way and the slow way. Marix had two options left...the direct way and the fast way. Technically, they were both about the same thing, though the direct route meant going through the Vong warriors, while the fast way meant heading for the cover.    Deciding that this was not the time to get into a fight with an army by herself, Marix decided her best option was going to be the fast route. She looked to the crystal spires in front of her...sixty meters was necessarily that far, but it was such an open area that she was going to have to be absolutely she they didn’t spot her.    Marix took a moment to take in a sharp, freezing cold breath, then looked straight to her goal. Drawing the Force to herself, she took off as fast as she could, releasing the Force into her body and using it to push herself as fast as she could go. The hope was that they wouldn’t see anything at all, but if they did...it would be a passing something that couldn’t be identified and would hopefully be brushed off. And in a matter of seconds, she stopped, grabbing onto the crystal with her gloved hands to steady her rapid deceleration.    Immediately turning around, Marix could see a soft line of white that was already dissipating. Good. She started a careful walk towards the other end of the two giant crystals while keeping a great deal of her attention behind her...just in case she had been noticed. When she reached the other end of the two spires, nothing had come to follow her. She carefully looked around to see a generic looking Bulk Cruiser that was about the size of Loki a good ten meters off...she could see that the boarding ramp was down, but it was, annoyingly enough, facing the other direction. At least there was enough room under the ship that she wouldn’t have to run around it.    Before starting a much shorter sprint, Marix reached up to tighten the hood of the first jacket she was wearing. She also made sure the piece of cloth over her nose and mouth was secured tighter...the run had sent a sharp cold into her face like daggers and she was going to make absolutely sure that didn’t happen again. This was bad enough without the cold getting in the way.    Sure that she was as warm as she was going to get again, with only her eyes and half of her eyebrows visible. Marix took another glance towards the Vong line, making sure none of the warriors were facing her. She attempted to look past, but couldn’t see the two other Vong through the group of humanoids...which she decided was a good sign. So, she turned back to the ship in front of her and sprinted towards it without the aid of the Force.    Marix ducked to not hit her head on the underside of the freighter before wrapping around the other side and not-so-quietly heading up the boarding ramp. Three loud footsteps clanged under her before she heard, “Kee chu---?!”    A moment later she barreled into a Rodian that was about her size. The green-skinned Rodian hit the deck first, with Marix falling on top of him. She didn’t take a moment to even think about what to do next, knowing that any more time could mean she was caught. Her hands were moving even as she fell, and though hitting the Rodian threw her aim off, it was only another second before she grabbed his neck and his head and twisted hard.    The basic human female, which currently was what Marix was, did not have nearly the kind of strength that a female Alraxian did. However, Marix knew this, and had adapted her attack accordingly. The fact that Rodian’s weren’t very strong creatures meant it was that much easier to snap his neck before he could say another word. It had been all of a few seconds and now this Rodian was dead, likely before he knew what had happened.    Marix did not waste time thinking about that. Instead, she got to her feet and looked around. The corridor went two directions, and she saw a door close by. After reaching down and grabbing the Rodian’s arm to drag him behind, she headed for it. Marix let go of the Rodian’s arm before reaching out with the Force into the room...it was empty...or should be empty. There could have been Vong. Because of this, when she hit the switch to open it, Marix spun in ready to take down anything there.    Thankfully, she found nothing at all beyond a small storage room filled with various crates. It was exactly what she needed. It took another moment, but Marix dragged the body in and closed the door after finding how to activate the light. That was another thing about humans...horrible eyes. But when the door was shut again, she looked down to the Rodian to see something that didn’t take sharp, Alraxian vision to notice. Protruding from the side of the Rodian’s face was a piece of...coral. Or something like coral. Marix would have touched it, but knew that she wouldn’t get a good feel of it through the gloves and wasn’t about to remove them. Instead, she reached out with the Force and found...nothing...    She found a hole in the Rodian’s face.    A hole in the Force.    Marix bit her lower lip. This was not what she’d come to this planet for...she’d been tracking a ship that had come close to the Gate. Now, however, she found something that might have been more disturbing. Despite that, though, Marix was still unsure of exactly what this meant. As she stuffed the body behind a pile of crates that looked to carry rations of some kind, Marix decided to dig a little deeper.</blockquote>

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