Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3768212" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 516: Battle ProwessThere was a violent, nearly blinding pain as the Mrrakesh’s energy bolt cut through Marix’s right shoulder. The force of the bolt twisted her body around, causing her to go from a crouched position to spinning and then hitting the deck plates on her back. Being trained against pain was one thing, but that didn’t remove the physical effects of it, only the mental reactions. Marix’s mind was still focused clearly on what she had to do, get up, remorph the wound, and drop that Mrrakesh before he could fire again.    Her body, however, was doing what bodies normally did when they were shot. It was panicking. While Marix’s mind could control the pain and force herself through it, she didn’t have the ability to stop the energy bolt from sending her onto her back like it did. She also couldn’t force away the sharp pain that numbed her right arm and caused her to hit the deck awkwardly from attempting to brace herself on the numb arm. The good thing about her body compared to most other beings’ in the galaxy was that Marix’s was trained to naturally remorph its wounds.    And so, in less than a second, the gaping wound left by the surprisingly powerful energy pistol was gone, leaving only the injured patch of morphsuit that was slowly growing back to cover the area of exposed skin. But the Mrrakesh was firing again, his weapon now trained squarely for Marix’s forehead in what would very likely be a fatal shot. Luckily for Marix, her mind was forcing her body to move and she rolled to the side again, her left leg lashing out and sweeping the Mrrakesh off of his feet just as he fired the weapon with another loud, echoing noise that sounded like a roaring pulse of pure, screaming energy.    Marix heard the Mrrakesh hit the deck plates harder than she had, and immediately flipped herself up onto her feet in one quick motion. The Force was screaming, and her eyes moved left to see three more green energy blasts coming her way from other Mrrakesh inside the bridge. Thanks to the warning of the Force, she had time to dive forward, landing claws-first on the downed Mrrakesh and driving her claws deep into his upper torso, though his thick armour, then flipping completely over him after using him like a spring board.    She reached her feet again just in time for the entire corridor to shake violently. Marix didn’t even time to regain her balance before being thrown into the bulkhead to her left. Managing to catch herself with her arm, she spun around to see that the Mrrakesh which had been on the deck had actually been thrown into the cockpit from the violent turbulence that was, hopefully, due to Jendari weapons fire...or even Hermes. She’d just make a note not to ever mention to Hermes that he could cause that much damage to such a large ship.    The moment of instability provided a much needed opening. One thing Marix prided herself on was using openings like that, as so few others ever seemed to. Her footing still a bit unsteady, Marix turned and charged for the still-open door of the bridge. By the time she reached it, her entire body was metal again. It definitely had its advantages.    The Mrrakesh from before was up and coming around the corner when Marix reached the doorway. Had she been completely Alraxian, barreling into a Mrrakesh would have meant Marix was on her back again a second later. But she was metal now, with the solid qualities that went along with it, and she charged straight through the shocked Mrrakesh like a landspeeder. Her eyes were reexamining the situation within the bridge again, and finding her next target...    Said target was firing his energy pistol already, the green bolt going just over her head as she dropped low and charged straight for his gut. Marix dove into the Mrrakesh and forced him straight into a console behind him, getting a satisfying snap out of the Mrrakesh’s spine and a loud cracking of metal that was not from Marix, but from the console.    “Stand down!”    The very fact that the words were in Trade were enough to cause Marix to pause. Her sleek, silver metal body stopped and stood up straight, head snapping around to identify the source of the sound. It was a very large Mrrakesh, wearing the same body armour as all of the others but it was green instead of red. He was the commander of the ship. And he spoke perfect Trade.    And all eleven other Mrrakesh, including the commander, were leveling weapons on her. As far as she knew, her metal form was just as susceptible to those weapons as the bulkheads were. She could remorph it and survive, but the strength of those energy bolts would send her back and stumbling long enough for more to hit...and then more...Jyren would have suggested she was in over her ears.    He would have been right.    “Ko su elantor nah!” the Mrrakesh commander bellowed the words in a powerful military voice that hinted at one reason he was probably in charge. Marix understood the words, too: ‘Leave the bridge now’.    And they did.    Without question or comment, every single Mrrakesh left the bridge. The only reason Marix stood there was her knowledge that something here was wrong. Something was going on that she hadn’t grasped yet, and it was important she did before acting further. This commander was more than he seemed.    The doors to the bridge closed with a loud thud rather than the hiss of most automatic doors. When the closed, the tall Mrrakesh commander stepped around a pair of consoles to stand exactly opposite her, only a few meters away, lupine eyes watching her like the predator he was, “You are the Alraxian Empress. I would assume all of the damage done has been you and you alone.”    Marix didn’t respond to that. In fact, she didn’t move at all. Her droid-like body stood like a metal statue, entire face even more unreadable than it was in the flesh. Even Jyren, who could read her neutral face like an expert, could never see anything from Marix’s metal face. It was why he hated it so much. It was why he always asked her not to use the body. But that didn’t exactly matter anymore...    “I see you are not one for conversation,” a sneer formed on the Mrrakesh’s muzzle, “No matter, you are not here to talk. Neither am I. I have waited a great many years to see if the stories of your prowess in combat were just stories. Halpak spoke as if you were mightier than the greatest Mrrakesh warriors...but he fell so easily, I wonder if he was a good judge.”    One thing Marix hated was talkative idiots. This commander was one of them. There was a surefire way to end this kind of stupid, boasting monologue.    Marix shifted her weight just slightly, then charged straight for him.</blockquote>

Verification