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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3993875" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 553: StaticMarix stared at the large box that was the comm package. It was definitely old, but that had one major advantage: there was no holo screen; it was only audio. Not that she expected the Jedi to be that happy to hear from her either way, but not having to see her meant she didn’t have to actually say who she was right away. Of course, there was the fact that she’d been sitting on the floor in her quarters with this damned thing for ten standard minutes and all she’d managed to get was static.    The Holonet was obviously in bad shape. Upon thinking about it, it made perfect sense. The Yuuzhan Vong weren’t fools. They would surely do their best to disrupt galactic communication and take out every single Holonet Relay they ran across. That, alone, would make hundreds of worlds easier to take simply due to the fact that they wouldn’t be able to call for help.    She wanted to put her fist through the damned thing. Hearing static was starting to really give Marix a headache and she still hadn’t taken the time to clean up after dealing with Loki’s internal wounds. The entire room was going to stink for days thanks to that, and Marix had a feeling she was going to have a hell of a time cleaning herself now that all of the...goo had stopped being goo. At this point, Marix simply had an extra layer of bad-smelling, slightly sticky, clear blue...stuff covering all of her. And on top of all of that, Loki was, as far as she could tell, unconscious again.    So how many longer was she going to sit here on the damned floor staring at a damned machine that was only producing more damned static?    Well, what else could Marix do?    If it came down to it, Marix could morph human, get the old EV suit that Jyren kept around, and go outside to have a look at the external damage Loki had taken. The problem was she had neither the tools nor the time to repair any of it. It really was only a matter of time until the Vong stumbled upon her...or even Torno the Hutt’s lackeys if she’d really angered him.     She could risk forcing Loki through another hyperspace jump to some nearby habitable planet, hope to the Force the Vong weren’t there, set down and then make the repairs. But even if Loki survived the jump to hyperspace, which she doubted he would at this point, Marix knew his underside was severely damaged and if it was as bad as she expected, there was no way he’d survive an atmosphere. That left the possibility of an uninhabitable moon or asteroid or planet, but that also was essentially the same problem with just drifting in space. Life signs would be easy to spot on a dead rock.    What had happened?    Something had changed somewhere, but no one had the decency to tell her about it.    Marix could clearly remember the days when things like this just wouldn’t happen. Loki always got them out of a tight spot without a scratch, just a bit of a scorch mark on his tail end and laugh. Gods, the things they’d been through together! It had all been perfectly fine through the countless missions she’d been sent on into Mrrakesh territory as a Tam’Day’U, they escaped Rebel and Imperial alike for so many years after leaving Alraxia, and then she and Jyren had pulled Loki off of Corellia and they’d done the dumbest things she’d ever done in her entire life. Loki had loved every second of it, Jyren was so much like the ship...impulsive, ready for a thrill, and to hell with consequences! And they’d made it through every single thing.    But it was all different now. Alraxia was her’s to protect now, with her mother dead. She wasn’t able to just completely forget about that like she had so many years ago. It was a constant weight. And Jyren was gone. He wasn’t coming back, Marix knew that much now. He would have appeared by now otherwise, a smile on his face and the first thing he would asked her is why she looked so surprised to see him. But that wasn’t going to happen anymore. That should have been Marix’s first indication that something had changed.    Now, though, Toby was gone, too. She had let him go, but it was still so...quiet. For so long he had been the child that she could protect and even teach when he wasn’t being an annoying little brat. Sure, Toby had always latched onto Jyren strongly, but Marix could at least admit now that she liked the kid. But now it was just her and Loki again...and now this. Now something that had never happened before.    By Alraxian and Kanyak standards, they were both still young and in their prime. Marix, though, was starting to feel old. At her age, most Alraxians were just getting their lives started, but Marix had been running along as an adult since...well, since she could run. And Loki had been right there every step of the way. And now...now...    ...now Marix was forced to confront the possibility that Loki wasn’t going to survive.    With a heavy sigh, Marix closed her eyes. Her mind was working overtime, running through everything she could think of to find a way out. To find...something, anything.    But she found beyond the static. That damned static.    And then there was a click in the static.    At first, Marix didn’t catch it. But then it happened again, and she opened her eyes to look down at the thing. Two more clicks in the static, then a long, solid...nothing. Not even static, just silence. Then...    “...the hell is using this frequency out here?!”    Marix stared at the comm package. The voice was male and had a bit of a Corellian accent to it. Those weren’t all that unusual, but she definitely hadn’t expected that kind of tone.    Putting that surprise out of her mind, she quickly hit the comm switch, “I could ask you the same bloody thing. Who is this?”    Even in a desperate situation, Marix wasn’t about to just give out vital information that could damn her without knowing who she was speaking to. Of course, Marix doubted a name would mean much to her. There were so many Jedi these days and she didn’t bother to even try.    The voice that came through sounded almost insulted, “Not exactly the tone I would use if I was the one broadcasting a distress call on a Jedi frequency out in Hutt Space...” a pause, and a bit of static came through, then, “This is Corran Horn, who is currently done answering your questions and until you tell him who you are and why he shouldn’t expect a trap.”    That was a name Marix did know.    He was not just any Jedi, he was a Jedi Master. He’d been a pilot, too, if the stories she’d heard were true. Marix remembered stories about a Horn in CorSec years ago, all told from her smuggler friends who always swore when they spoke the name. And now he was the so-called “Man Who Killed Ithor”, the Jedi that had been challenged to a duel by a Vong for the fate of the planet. Horn had won, but the Vong attacked anyway...and Marix hadn’t heard a word about him sense. If he was smart, Horn had gone into hiding. Course, if he’d gone into hiding, what was he doing out in Hutt Space?    “My name is Alrax Tavos,” she wasn’t going to tell the complete truth, even if she did recognize the name, “And if I was after you, Horn, I wouldn’t be broadcasting that distress signal on the Jedi’s encrypted frequency.”    A slight pause, then, “You’d be amazed the things I’ve seen, Tavos. And since you definitely aren’t a Jedi and you’re using, as you said, the Jedi’s encrypted frequency, I have ever reason to be suspicious.”    Marix sighed. She didn’t have time for this kind of idiotic back and forth game.    Time to just get to the damned point, “This wasn’t exactly Plan A, Horn, so you’ll have to forgive me for getting sick of this game. My ship is badly damaged and we’re drifting out here in the middle of no where just waiting for the Vong, or worse, to find us. This is dangerous enough as the only evidence I have that you are you is that you said you’re you. But I don’t have a choice right now. We need help, Horn, and if you’re not going to provide it then tell me now so I can figure out what to do next.”    This pause was much longer. Finally, after a long, static-filled minute, Horn’s voice returned, “You say your name is Alrax?”    That was an odd question...why the hell would he...? How could he attach any significance to that name? She’d never in her life had a run-in with him, and Max had done his best to keep them both good and out of CorSec’s way...    “I did, but that’s not telling me what I need to know.”    Another pause. When Horn spoke again, he sounded different somehow, but Marix wasn’t able to place it, “We’ve got a fix on your location already, Tavos. You better thank my Father-in-Law when we get there, though. He says the only reason we’re coming to get you at all is because Max was a good man. Whatever the hell that means.”    And then the comm channel cut out, returning to static.    This time, though, Marix didn’t notice the static. She was too busy blankly staring at the comm package.    What had just happened?</blockquote>

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