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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3006981" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 391: EscalationOn the surface, very little had changed on Alraxia. The planet looked exactly as it had for thousands of years, as did the many cities and communities that pocketed the planet here and there. The Palace and the city that had grown around it were still the same, and it would have been just as easy for an Alraxian that had lived when it was created to identify it as the ones that were currently occupying it.    And, perhaps, much was still the same beneath the surface, too. At least, to most people living in the Empire it was. But they were the ones that had always seen the Tam’Day’U as stories told to scare children, nothing that was actually true. The silver-eyed children that could have given evidence to this had always been slipped away too quickly for anyone to notice.    To those that actually knew the truth about that, and many other things, too much had changed. The Tam’Day’U were now a part of the Knights, protecting the borders of the Empire and, still to the horror of many, the Empress herself. Of course, this was ignoring the fact that the Empress was one of the Tam’Day’U...a fact that many simply put aside and decided to pretend was not the truth for as long as possible. And now the Empress had come home again, and many noted that the Knights stationed at the Palace seemed to be much more numerous and much more...paranoid.    It was likely a good thing that many did not know why. Tam’Day’U were one thing, but the very idea that invaders were living anywhere on the planet could very easily cause a panic not unlike when Ket Halpak had returned a decade before. And so only those that needed to know did. That meant, primarily, the Knights.    But as Marix looked out over the Palace from the balcony that extended out of her unnecessarily large room, none of that really seemed to phase her. To her, none of those were even very dramatic changes...except that the Vong had her slightly on edge. But even that felt slightly distant compared to the changes that were closest to home. In fact, there wasn’t much out there to compete with the one right in front of her.    ...well, no.    Marix idly glanced down to the little ball of fur in her arms. She couldn’t help but feel a bit strange, as if she was quite literally holding a younger version of herself. The black stripe that traveled down the center of the young Alraxian’s predominately white coloured fur did nothing but make it even more confusing. Probably not to Marix as much as to the nannies that were still around the Palace doing their best to meddle no matter what anyone said to the contrary.    “I would expect that I’m not supposed to tell my son you’re actually holding her, hm?” Navik Keros spoke up from inside the room.    Rolling her eyes, Marix turned and stepped into the section of the room that was currently occupied by far too many toys and a simple off-white desk that the older Alraxian was standing next to while eyeing a few things that were laid out on it. She had heard him come in a few minutes earlier, but simply hadn’t said a thing, and decided to continue the silence by not responding to his sarcasm.    When it became apparent to Navik, he stood up straight and adopted his usual formal tone, “The Knights have sealed off the Palace area but they haven’t found anything yet.”    Marix only nodded. She may have said something, but there was a small yawn at her shoulder that caught her attention. In another moment, a pair of big, silvery eyes up at Marix from her shoulder. The little girl gave her a sleepy look, and Marix allowed herself a smile while she reached over to gently scratch the child’s ear.As a soft purring sound started, Marix felt the weight return to her shoulder, and so she looked back over to Navik, “They won’t find anything until they’ve had time to look. It has only been a few hours.”    Jyren’s father nodded, and then she caught a hesitation through the Force. Marix’s eyes narrowed and she glared at him, “What is it?”    Somehow, he was never as surprised as most people seemed to be when she picked up on things like that. She’d asked him why more than once, but never gotten a straight answer from him. She probably never would.    “The Mrrakesh have taken two of the border systems.”    Narrowed eyes suddenly went wide, and it took a great deal of effort to keep her shock out of the Network...keep it hidden from the rest of the Alraxians in the Empire. After a few deep breaths, she still couldn’t find any words worth saying, and when Navik seemed to catch onto this, he elaborated, “Unoccupied systems, and none of our Knights were killed...but they are now very close to the Jendari homeworld,” he paused a moment and shook his head, “We cannot fight their ships out of our territory. All of the other border systems are well defended, but if the Mrrakesh push them, you know what will happen.”    Marix was currently doing her best to calm the torrent of thoughts circling her mind. The border had been held, somewhat nervously, for well over a thousand cycles. And while it had always been tense, the Mrrakesh had never truly pushed into Alraxian space, despite their obvious advantage due to the fact that their starships were quite well armed.    But why now?    It made no sense.    It made even less sense that they would take empty systems.    If the Mrrakesh really were making a push into Alraxian space, reigniting the war from so very long ago, then they would surely take a planet that had some value...some...symbol, at least. They weren’t foolish people, and they knew how to fight a war. Countless power grabs and internal wars proved that much.    Biting her lip as she tried to figure out what was going on, a thought came to mind suddenly, “Alyx is on Jendari.”    After a moment of thinking, Navik nodded, “I believe he is.”    For a long moment, Marix looked at the child in her arms. A war with the Mrrakesh, especially now, meant this little girl wouldn’t have a home. The Knights were stronger now, yes, but too few in number to truly fight back an army. And that was ignoring the fact that Kanyaks had no weapons. There was a reason they were attempting to stay out of the war consuming the rest of the galaxy...    “Send a message to Alyx to stay where he is,” she said finally, in a very stern voice that sounded disturbingly like her mother’s, “Keep me informed on the state of things here.”    Navik simply nodded, also sparing a glance to his granddaughter, then said in a quiet voice, “I am sorry that you had to be told of this now...you don’t get to see the twins enough, as it is.”    Marix’s eyes locked with the older Alraxian’s for a long moment, “Don’t apologize to me.”</blockquote>

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