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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3607022" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 478: Third PassengerHer name was Maia. She was a great deal younger than Loki and about half his size, and her pilot was one of the Knights stationed at the Palace on Alraxia, and she was quite surprised to find the Empress running inside and screaming at her to get off the ground immediately. Maia was smart, though, and positioned all of her surprised questions while she was reaching orbit rather than waiting.    Now they were in hyperspace, taking the short jump to meet with the Jendari ship and, hopefully, Loki a few star systems away. The small cockpit had only one seat, and Marix was comfortably resting and gently scratching Andrea’s ear. She wasn’t asleep, but wasn’t crying anymore, either. Marix wasn’t going to complain about that.    [You are sure you are alright?] Maia asked, no longer distracted with the task of getting off of Alraxia as quickly as possible.    [Yes, thank you.] Marix answered for the fifth time.    “Momma...” it was the first time Andrea had said anything since Marix had reached her room in the Palace. Immediately, she ignored anything else the Kanyak was saying and looked down to her daughter, who was looking up with red around her silvery eyes from crying so much. In Alraxian, the little girl said softly, “Is Saaran okay?”    Marix’s hand went to gently stroking Andrea’s black stripe, “He is safe with your grandfather. We will see them in a little while.”    Andrea just watched Marix for a moment, and she couldn’t help but feel a little unnerved. The little girl had an intelligence that showed through in those eyes that made Marix think that Andrea knew a great deal more than anyone gave her credit for. She looked so much like Marix, and even seemed to have the quiet, reserved personality that Marix had before she was taken by Faban Sunrunner to be trained as a Tam’Day’U. But there was more to it than that and Marix couldn’t put it in words, or even in coherent thoughts.    And then Andrea spoke up again, her voice still quiet but a hopeful tone sneaking in, “...will Daddy be there...?”    Inside, Marix froze. Her outer appearance would have done the same thing if Andrea wasn’t looking at her like that. In as steady as a voice as she could manage, Marix whispered, “I don’t think so, Andrea.”    The little jai looked like she was going to cry again, but instead just turned and rested her head on Marix’s chest again, “...wish he would be...”    “Me too,” Marix went back to scratching Andrea’s ear to hopefully make her feel better.    A few quiet minutes past as they continued the trip through hyperspace, and then Marix felt something. It was quick, and gone as soon as she realized it was even there. A feeling in the Force. Focused. Strong...angry.    And, immediately, she knew what it was.    [Maia, where is the third person aboard?] she asked, slowly sitting up and beginning to detach Andrea from her.    There was a feeling of confusion from the ship. [There is no one else, my lady...]    Oh, he was good.    By now, Marix was on her feet and gently placed Andrea down in the seat, “I’ll be right back. You stay here, okay?”    Andrea looked worried. She was definitely smart enough to know that something was wrong, “Don’t wanna be alone...”    “Maia is here,” Marix motioned up to the ship around them, “I won’t be long, I promise.”    She then leaned down and gave Andrea an affectionate kiss on the forehead before turned and leaving the cockpit. [Seal that off behind me.]    Marix heard the door close, but didn’t turn. Her entire focus was now in front of her. The central corridor leaving the cockpit was just like Loki’s, but so much smaller that she could actually see where it ended and the back sections of the ship, where the Kanyak’s organs were, was sealed off. Through the Force, she searched but still couldn’t find anything.    He was very good.    “I know you are there, Mrrakesh,” Marix knew he wasn’t going to be able to ambush her if she stayed right where she was, meaning that the best thing to do was to draw him out. When no response came, which was expected, she attempted again, still speaking Trade, which he would undoubtedly understand, “If you were intelligent you would know that I could have this ship simply crush all of the rooms within that you might be hiding in. So you may step out now and stop being a coward or be crushed by the walls around you.”    She waited a few moments, but still nothing. Ah. Wait.    “If you are thinking you can cut your way through with that sword of yours, I would not count on that,” she was still trying to find him through the Force, but couldn’t. That little flash in the Force, though, for whatever reason, told her that he was there...somewhere, “Kanyaks react faster than the Palace, Mrrakesh. You will be crushed before you can make any progress.”    And then, finally, the door farthest away, on the left side of the corridor, opened. Through it, one of the large Mrrakesh stepped out, sword in hand as he bent down slightly due to the low, for him at least, ceiling. She recognized him, too. It was the first of the group, the one she’d thrown out the window with. How he’d survived, she didn’t know...but she knew it was dangerous to assume any of her enemies were dead if she didn’t have a body to cut into little pieces to make sure.    He did not say anything, though. That didn’t surprise Marix. He was a tool for the Mrrakesh...for whoever had sent him. Just a lackey without any real information beyond what his mission was, and all he would care about was completing that mission.    Marix took a few deeep breaths, then shifted her body in the tight corridor to assume a readied, defensive stance. The vibroblade was back on Alraxia, still lodged within one of the dead Mrrakesh. But she didn’t need it. In this tight quarters, that sword would be useless anyway and she would have the advantage.    Her tail flicked in annoyance and she growled at him, “Do I have to tell you how to do everything, scum? If you stand there much longer I’ll kill you without giving you the chance of a good fight.”    She was angry. Very, very angry. Because of that, Marix wasn’t exactly thinking straight. She should have killed him by having Maia crush the rooms. But Marix didn’t. She wanted the pleasure of killing this coward herself. This stupid, foolish creature had made the dumbest mistake...it had tried to kill her children. It had brought an entire task force with it to kill two small, defenseless children.    But they hadn’t expected that the children’s mother would be around, obviously. If they had, they wouldn’t have tried it. Angering a Tam’Day’U was one thing. Angering Marix was another. But angering Marix after all of the things the Force had thrown at her in the last month by trying to go after her children was it. None of them were going to live.    And as the Mrrakesh finally charged at her, Marix smiled. He didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into.    Neither did Faban Sunrunner.</blockquote>

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