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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3646217" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 492: ReflectionMarix stood with her arms folded across her chest in one of the small observation rooms aboard the Jendari ship, looking down at the green of Alraxia below. They were above the Palace, staying in a stationary orbit to watch the area from space...just in case. The attack on the Mrrakesh world was underway by now, and probably even over, but they’d heard nothing. It was an hour after she’d ordered it, and nothing.    Maybe that was a good sign, but she didn’t like it.    She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to retreat from the world around her, sliding back to a section that had once been where her link with Jyren was. In a sense, it was still there. Or rather, he was. An odd idea, really, but because of the closeness of their link, there really were only a few actual barriers that separated them as individuals. Because of that, if she dug deep enough, there he was...sort of.    He wasn’t really there in the sense that he could be seen or felt or anything like that. He was just...there. But it was hollow existence. Marix would reach to that area, searching for the link out of habit and find that echo of a feeling and then shut it off immediately. But now she didn’t. Now she looked to it and tried to...to do something.    “It is amazing to me how everything seems to go wrong at the same time,” Navik Keros’ voice caused Marix to open her eyes again. Yet again he’d entered a room without her noticing. Either she was losing her concentration, which was likely, or he was getting good at being sneaky...which, because he was Jyren’s father, was unlikely.    Letting out a quiet sigh, Marix glanced over her shoulder to where he stood and asked quietly, “Has something else happened?”    “Thankfully, no,” the answer was definitely a good one, for once, “But still no word from the Jendai ships. Or from the Mrrakesh for that matter.”    With a nod, Marix turned back to look out the viewport to Alraxia. Her gaze idly followed the coastline of the larger continent where the Palace was located as she picked out the islands that were just off the coast before finally finding the one with the old Jedi outpost, “If we hear nothing for much longer we may have to assume that the Mrrakesh launched a counterattack already,” she shook her head and reached out to rest her hand on the viewport, “Why the philosophical thoughts all of a sudden, Navik?”    “Its what we old men do,” there was a hint of a smile in that voice, though from his reflection in the viewport, Marix could see his face was weathered and looked extremely tired, “The Mrrakesh activity, the Yuuzhan Vong pushing them into our space and attacking us directly, the New Republic actually knowing where we are...losing Jyren...Toby running off into the middle of that war...now Mrrakesh actually on Alraxia and we’re on the brink of actual war. It seems there is no peace for us.”    These were all things that had not left Marix’s mind at all in the past months. She had gone over it all again and again and again and it was driving her insane. Marix missed the days when she was in charge of an Empire and decisions were easy. She also missed the days when she had more control over herself. It was still there, to a point, but she couldn’t help but blame Jyren for most of the changes...even though it wasn’t really all his fault.    But...    Wait.    Had he just said?    One of those odd feelings crept up and Marix couldn’t fight back a smile tugging at her face, “I didn’t realize you were so concerned about Tobias.”    In the reflection, Marix saw Navik shrug, “He’s my grandson, of course I’m concerned. Besides, the kid pretty much decided what he wanted to do based on bad tellings of exaggerated stories from Jyren. He’s still so young.”    Navik’s grandson.    Technically, Tobias wasn’t. Technically, Tobias wasn’t even her son. Well, no, technically, on the genetic level, he would have been, but that was the wrong kind of technically. He wasn’t her’s. The only people in the entire Empire that knew that, and were still alive, of course, were Marix, Tobias, Loki, and Navik. The last of which had only learned by accident and hadn’t been affected by it one bit.    Adoption was something extremely common in Alraxian families. So much so that the Empress took in all the wayward children of the Empire and they quite literally became a part of her clan. But they all received a ‘ka’ before their clan name to denote that. Tobias didn’t. And, technically, he didn’t need it since he was, again, technically, an actual BlueIce. Of sorts.    But Navik’s acceptance of Tobias so readily surprised Marix for the same reason they kept his true parentage silent. Being the child of Ket Halpak and a clone of Marix was not exactly something worth advertising amongst the Empire. And yet, Navik had never even seemed to notice it.    “It was his choice to go,” she finally spoke the words to Navik that she’d said to herself so many times, “The only way he’ll learn the truth of all those stories is confronting the reality of it all. It is a harsh lesson for him, but he is stronger than he thinks.”    “He’s a lot like his father,” Navik sounded more like he was thinking out loud with that.    And yes, Tobias was like Jyren. So much so that it worried her. That, in itself, was an odd feeling. It was his life to live as he chose, yes, but Marix didn’t want to see Tobias drag himself through things like Jyren had done. They were both stronger than they realized and had a bad habit of internalizing so much that it always came to haunt them later. For Jyren, it was a past he never seemed to let go of...and for Toby, it was his utter adoration of Jyren to the point that he wanted to be just like him.    Then, at a perfect moment, the door opened. Marix immediately turned to see one of Jendari giving her a serious look with a pair of orange eyes. He didn’t need to say anything, as she already knew what was coming. She felt it before he’d even started speaking in a calm voice that seemed wrong for the news being delivered, “My lady. The Mrrakesh have attacked two of the human worlds on the border. If there are any survivors they are few.”    “What about our attack?” she didn’t want to ask that, but it was necessary.    “The ships exited hyperspace moments ago and have reported a successful mission,” the Jendari paused, looked to the white floor a moment then back to her, “Two of them are currently en route here, with the third and another pair of ships headed to the human worlds.”    That was why she hadn’t wanted to ask the question. It brought up another question from the answer, and one she knew wasn’t going to be good. Keeping her face blank and her presence in the Force as dulled as possible, Marix asked, “Why are they coming here?”    “Multiple Mrrakesh ships have broken through our border defenses. At least one group of ships is headed here. They will arrive within the hour.”    So they were at war again.</blockquote>

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