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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3989191" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 550: DesperationMarix flopped back into the bulkhead behind her with a loud sigh before slowly sinking down to the deck plates. Technically, they weren’t deck plates. Deck plates implied metal connected in sheets on the floor of a starship. Loki’s interior was in no way metal, nor were there any lines to indicate separate sheets of material. But the terminology held well enough.    Everything around her was no longer the usual muted colours of Loki’s interior, but instead covered in a mess of deep blue splotches. It had the consistency that would normally be classified as ‘goo’, but it wasn’t. It was, in fact, the equivalent of blood for Kanyaks. Currently, it covered everything within the small access way that Marix was now sitting in next to most of Loki’s vital organs. The everything it covered also included her.    Finally able to give herself a moment to breathe again, Marix tried not to dwell on the fact that she was absolutely drenched in Kanyak blood and that Loki would, hopefully, be okay. Lifting her arms up, Marix looked at them, sighed, then flicked them at the floor a few times so that she could at least see a little bit of the grey of her morphsuit. Part of her was glad she couldn’t currently see her face...or her hair for that matter. She was going to need a good long washing.    But Loki wasn’t bleeding anymore.    The first thing Marix had done when she’d reached this small, usually sealed-off section of Loki was to literally rip out the section of tissue that was connected to his hyperdrive system. It had pulled them out of hyperspace violently, but they were safely out of Hutt Space by then and being in hyperspace was much more dangerous for Loki in his current condition. That had also been the largest source of the mess around her, but now it, along with the injuries that were already there when she’d arrived, was patched up cleanly.    While Marix was neither a medic or a technician, she could do what was needed to repair and treat these kind of injuries. In fact, it was something that all Kanyak pilots were taught from the beginning. Rarely did such training become necessary, but then times like this came up and it was invaluable. The only real problem was that, currently, Marix couldn’t get outside to check the extent of Loki’s other injuries. Not that she could really do much about those, but she was worried about him now.    Tilting her head back to rest it against the bulkhead behind her, Marix idly looked at the series of objects lodged into the ceiling above her and the opposite wall of the small corridor that were all Loki’s vital systems and internal organs. Gently patting the floor under her, and then trying to ignore the slight squish sound her hand made in the process, Marix said softly, “Next time you want to show off, just do a flyby of the Palace and scare the Knights.”    [Not...not as much...as much fun...] Loki’s ‘voice’ nearly caused Marix to jump. He still sounded terrible, but it was the very fact that he was conscious again that surprised her. He had been completely unresponsive since just after they’d made the jump to hyperspace. Sure, Marix had been talking most of the time since then, but it was more to herself or screaming curses at things for not doing what they were supposed to.    “We need to find a place to set down so you can get some rest,” Marix eventually said towards the ceiling above her.    [Nothing nearby...in...in...empty space...]    Again, Marix sighed. Right now, the last thing she was going to do was put Loki through the stress of another jump to hyperspace. At least there wasn’t anything around. For the moment, at least, drifting seemed the safest option. It wouldn’t be something they could rely on for long, however. They were out of Hutt Space, yes, but the jump hadn’t lasted long enough to bring them out of Yuuzhan Vong occupied space. It would only be a matter of time before someone found them...space was big, but not that big.    The silence that now occupied the small corridor was surprisingly calming. Marix could feel the adrenaline fading and pains in her limbs and chest beginning to become noticeable. She had taken a bit of a beating, too. It wasn’t anything worth remorphing, just a bruise or two that would heal on its own quickly enough. Still, she hadn’t noticed them at all until now.    Eventually, though, Marix had to remind herself that they weren’t out of this just yet. Loki wasn’t bleeding internally anymore. He would begin to heal now, too. But the external wounds were extensive according to the reading she’d seen before charging back to repair the internal damage. He was likely bleeding externally, too, but there wasn’t nothing she could do about that for the moment. In fact, even if she morphed human and used one of Jyren’s old flightsuits to head outside, she didn’t have the equipment to repair any of the damage.  Not to mention that she was worried about his ability to re-enter an atmosphere to even set down.    Slowly, Marix pulled herself up to her feet and tried to ignore the slight stickiness. With one last look at everything in front of her to make sure it was, in fact, good and patched up, Marix then turned and headed out of the cramped corridor. She made sure to seal off the access hatch once she was out, then made her way to the cockpit. Ignoring the trail of blue left behind her and the not-so-pleasant smell surrounding her, she quickly dropped into the pilot’s chair and reached for the comm system.    She didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much choice left but to send a message back to the Gateway.    But then a new problem arose.    Hitting the comm switch, nothing happened. Immediately fearing what that meant, Marix turned to her other side and looked at the readouts for the Loki’s main systems on one of the small, green-glowing screens to the right of the pilot’s chair. It told her that the communication system was badly damaged, just like she had expected.    With another sigh, Marix rested her head in her hands, suddenly regretted this due to the wonderful stuff still covering her, and sat back up straight again. So she couldn’t call home.    There was another option. It was one she liked even less, but with Loki’s life still hanging in the balance, Marix wasn’t about to turn down what was, at this point, the only option she had left save for drifting in space and hoping someone that wasn’t the Vong or the Peace Brigade just happened upon them.    Once again getting to her feet, Marix headed for her quarters. Buried away in the small closet that held just a few changes of clothes for both her and Jyren was something he’d stashed in there years ago. It was one of those things that Marix had begrudgingly accepted, deciding that it didn’t hurt to just leave it there, just in case. The how relating to his acquiring of the comm package was something that Jyren had never answered, instead always grinning at her and shrugging. Not that it mattered how he’d gotten a hold of it or if the Jedi even knew about it.    The simple truth was that there weren’t many comm packages in the galaxy that had the Jedi emergency encryption frequency locked into it. That was something the Jedi would respond to immediately. Sure, it would be a surprise when there wasn’t a Jedi on the other end, but they were supposed to be naive, helpful idiots. They’d let Marix at least explain why she was contacting them, she’d dance around how she got the frequency, then they’d do the noble, but stupid, thing and fly all the way out into enemy territory to save her.    The last part bothered her the most.    To the day he died, Marix despised Jyren’s need to always save her. She could take care of herself, thankyouverymuch.    But now it wasn’t herself that was Marix’s concern. She wasn’t the one who needed saving.    And she wasn’t going to let something so trivial stop her from saving Loki.    Of course, it all banked on the hope that the damn comm package worked...</blockquote>

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