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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3741151" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 512: Still RunningMost people in the galaxy took metal for granted. It was so commonplace that its inherit advantages and disadvantages were lost on even the brightest of individuals. The galaxy was a place where hand to hand combat, true hand to hand combat, was something people learned for sport and entertainment. Most so-called real fights involves metal of one form or another...a blaster or a vibroweapon. It was so normal to them all that thinking about it being metal was completely out of the question.    But for Marix it was different. She was well trained in unarmed combat, the best in the Empire. At the same time, she had a multitude of weapon’s training. She could exchange fist for claw for dagger and fight just as well with each. And yet, Marix understood the advantages each held. From killing power to extra reach to something as simple as feeling the enemy with your own bare hand, she understood it perfectly.    And that understanding transcended simple knowledge and even the experience of most. Because Marix could be metal. A skill that was, truthfully, a genetic anomaly bred into her clone Delta Three, Shadow, by the Galactic Empire and something she had gained in the merging with this young clone. To be the one thing that was the most dangerous item in the galaxy to an Alraxian. To make their greatest weakness her greatest strength. In a way, it made Marix invincible.    But despite the metal, she still could feel pain.    Marix could also feel her metal arm drive straight through armour, then flesh, then bone, then armour again as she impaled the nearest of the Mrrakesh with her fist alone. She was all metal now, a silvery blur that had dropped from the ceiling of the lift directly in front of two of the approaching Mrrakesh. As she removed her hand from one, which dropped to the ground in agony as it slowly died, the other swung its sword to take off Marix’s head.    That’s when she felt the pain.    A loud clang of metal striking metal echoed through the corridor, and her head went dizzy for some reason that didn’t make sense. She was metal. She was, essentially, a droid...droid’s shouldn’t get dizzy! Her head tilted down slightly to see the injury, but couldn’t tell beyond feeling that there was likely at least a dent in her neck. That hadn’t been the Mrrakesh’s full strength. But the next strike would be and it could likely cut through...    Marix brought her right arm up and slammed against the Mrrakesh’s forearm as it swung the sword in again. Stopping the strike before it got to her, Marix followed up the parry with a strike from her other arm, which still held a Mrrakesh blade. Her left arm shot beneath the right, driving the blade straight into the Mrrakesh’s lower torso. It easily cut through the thin layer of armour and Marix cut down before removing the weapon and charging straight into the other five.    She didn’t have time for this. From the fact that the ship wasn’t shaking, Marix knew they weren’t taking many hits...which likely meant the Jendari reinforcements hadn’t arrived yet. And the longer that took, the more Alraxians died. She had to stop this ship right now...get to the bridge immediately. Mrrakesh be damned.    Perhaps it was the outright insanity of her actions that made it so successful. No Alraxian, even an insane one, would charge five well armed Mrrakesh soldiers. No Alraxian would survive that. Hell, a Mrrakesh would be hard pressed to live through that kind of attack, especially when the five others were ready to attack and prepared. Of course, no other Alraxian was metal...or Marix.    She literally pounced onto one of the two Mrrakesh who were kneeling with rifles aimed. The force of her jump brought him onto her back, and Marix made sure to dig the blade she carried into his neck as she landed, but didn’t bother to make sure he was dead. There wasn’t time. The other four were firing now, one just next to her and the three others not a meter away, blocking the corridor completely.    Marix leapt off of the Mrrakesh she’d pounced and went straight for the next, a metallic missile flying straight for a surprised Mrrakesh trying to aim his rifle while holding down the trigger and squeezing a constant stream of green laser fire out. But he didn’t even have a chance to raise the weapon to her, as Marix came at him at eye level. But despite the fact that he could not bring his rifle up, the Mrrakesh soldier did swing his free arm up to strike her.    The Mrrakesh’s fist caught Marix’s metal skull the same moment that she slammed into him. Her entire vision went dark for at least two seconds, but she could still feel through the Force very clearly...well, it was chaos, but she could feel it all. And though Marix knew the Mrrakesh she’d charged hit the deck on his back, a good concussion resulting from the two impacts, she didn’t follow him.    The force of his swing sent her to the side, and Marix’s back slammed into another Mrrakesh, who was then forced into the third who slammed into the wall. It was all a very good mess, with only one Mrrakesh still not bruised, at least. But he was the other kneeling, and was just not spinning around and drawing a sword to strike at her.    And then Marix’s vision returned. First in a blur, and then more clearly. But when the blur came, and she saw the other Mrrakesh around her recovering, Marix started to move. She drove an elbow back into the gut of the Mrrakesh she’d been thrown into, dropping him down again, then jumped up to her feet and ran, morphing her body back to her natural, Alraxian form to take advantage of its speed...and pushing the Force into her legs to drive her even faster down the corridor.    “Korta Che! Korta Sak!”    Follow it. Follow her.    She’d only killed two of the seven, and the other five would likely already be following that...    A violent, fiery sensation suddenly erupted from Marix’s lower back and she knew that one of the Mrrakesh had finally taken the time to aim. The pain was blinding, and she stumbled due to the shock of it, cursing herself for losing focus so much that she was not alerted to the incoming attack from the Force. She was getting distracted!    Marix went into the deck face first, her momentum still carrying her forward and causing her to slide painfully across the metal. But pain was just pain. And pain meant she was still alive...and that wouldn’t last much longer if she stayed face first on the deck plates like this. Kicking the ground, Marix flipped up and was on her feet in a second as more green blasts of lasers shot past her. As she ran, she began to zig zag to throw off their aim, then, when she reached a junction, cut to the left so fast that she nearly slammed into the corner of the bulkhead.    Behind her, Marix heard angry cries of Mrrakesh, and more footsteps. At least three more Mrrakesh behind her, but she wasn’t going to take the time to look. Ahead of her was a door. A shut door. Likely a locked door. Still running at full speed, her eyes darted all direction to get out of this dead end. Doors on all sides. More crew quarters probably...or something similar. Still not to the bridge. That was another few decks up...    A ventilation shaft.    Marix jumped up the full two meters and grabbed onto the grating without the use of the Force. Her weight was pulling on the metal, but it wasn’t enough. She yanked on it hard, and still it didn’t give. Marix cursed, but the sound of it was drowned out by a volley of laser fire, most of which was so close that she knew the next volley would hit...especially with her just hanging like she was.    So Marix let go and dropped to the bulkhead, landing in a crouching position and with the second volley flying over her head. She spun around and took in the situation as quickly as she could. Marix could see seven Mrrakesh again, all aiming rifles. They weren’t taking any chances and were firing another volley...    Without really taking aim, Marix threw the blade she was still carrying with all the strength she could manage. Whether it hit one of the Mrrakesh or not, she would never know. Because just as it left her hand, she jumped up again, the Force propelling her faster than the laser fire coming her direction, and Marix was morphing her body to metal again mid-jump.    She went straight through the grate, simply breaking it with the force of her jump and then immediately digging in with her metal claws to latch herself into the very cramped ventilation shaft. To allow herself more mobility, Marix was already morphing back to her organic body, shifting to allow the pieces of the grate to fall down. And then she climbed up as fast as she could, knowing she had to reach a junction before the Mrrakesh got under her...they’d just have to fire straight up. But no, she could see one. She could reach it fast enough. And then it was just a tight, claustrophobic crawl up another few decks to the bridge.    Sometimes it was good to be small.</blockquote>

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