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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3837748" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 532: The GalaxyThe Battle of Fondor had gone down in the books as a victory for the New Republic thanks to the retreat of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet after the firing of Centerpoint Station a sector away. Beyond the physical losses to both the New Republic and Hapan fleets, there were the aftereffects of the battle. Namely that, despite the retreat of the Vong, Fondor’s shipyards were still severely damaged and put out of commission for the near future. This loss catapulted a series of problems throughout the galaxy. There was the obvious fact that ship production, which was desperately needed, would go down thanks to the damage, but there was more to Fondor than just ship production. It was a massive economic hub for the entire galaxy...and now it was in shambles, its primary source of income, the shipyards, mostly destroyed.    This loss prompted something that the rest of the galaxy should have expected. The Hutts turned their backs on their neutrality pact with the Vong. Seeing Fondor so damaged was enough to cause this upheaval in Hutt politics, with a new clan taking over and attempting to push the Vong out of their space. Reports were slim, but the New Republic had received word that Nal Hutta had already been invaded by the Yuuzhan Vong, with the Hutts being immediately put on the run.    While it was comforting for most to see the Hutts were no longer attempting to tread a line of neutrality in the war, the chance of them joining the fight against the Vong in a real effort looked slim. The Hutts would be too busy fighting for their survival to really provide any assistance to the war effort.    And, sadly, the battle seemed to have no real effect on the Vong forces. Their fleets continued a Coreward push, cutting off hyperspace routes and making travel anywhere outside the Core haphazard and very dangerous. Rumours of old hyperspace routes being mined were becoming more and more common.    Refugees were still being moved into the Core, though most of the planets were so heavily populated that entire planets worth of refugees weren’t easy to place. Added to the fleet that was stretched thin and it seemed like Fondor was nothing but another loss in a long line of them since the Vong had first appeared months earlier.    Of course, on the other side of the galaxy, far behind the Yuuzhan Vong invasion path, was the Alraxian Empire and the Mrrakesh Combine. While little was known of the actual situation between the Mrrakesh and the Vong, it seemed likely they were still bitterly fighting over the planet’s on the other side of Mrrakesh space near the edge of the galactic rim near where the Vong had first arrived. Apparently, the Mrrakesh were fairing better than the New Republic...considering that the Alraxian border with the Mrrakesh hadn’t been overrun with Vong already. There also had been no further attacks on the only other entrance to Alraxian space, the Gateway. All of the other borders were naturally defended by various space anomalies, black holes, and nebula that made travel impossible.    There were other important areas behind the main invasion path. There was no word from the Corporate Sector, though that was normal and it was likely that, in the Vong’s push to the Core, they were ignored. The Imperial Remnant had been brushed past and seemingly ignored, also. But then there was the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV, far behind the lines of battle and, apparently, hidden still. If the Vong had known its location, it was likely they would have attacked the small moon already. But despite the relative safety the Academy was enjoying, travel there was dangerous thanks to being so far beyond the Mid Rim, where most of the fighting was occuring.    All in all, the war simply continued after the major engagement at Fondor...and it seemed to be unchanged with the so-called victory not providing any offensive effort for the New Republic. Still on the defensive, still stretched too thin, and still mired by political squabbles, the New Republic was almost as much its own enemy as the Yuuzhan Vong were.    Marix sighed and placed the small piece of filament paper on the night stand next to her bed. The report was compiled from the various Knights that had recently returned to Alraxian space. It was as expected, but that didn’t mean it was at all comforting. The good news was that, for the moment, the Alraxian Empire was safe. The bad news, however, was everything else. Including the fact that the sweep of the Gateway she’d ordered had, yet again, turned up nothing at all.    She shifted slightly to lay back on the annoyingly-large bed and looked around the room. It was mostly empty. There was a chair that hadn’t been sat on in months right across from the bed on the opposite wall, the night stand next to her, and a pair of dressers holding clothes next to another doorway that led to the small washroom where the bath was.    And it was so clean. There was nothing anywhere, everything was closed, and it looked completely devoid of life. That was how Marix kept things, and years of being around someone like Jyren, who quite literally left everything on the floor, still had no effect on her. But it was...unnerving. She’d gotten so used to seeing his clothes strewn around. It was normal to see junk he’d picked up all over the place, with the only thing that was really kept safe being his lightsaber, sitting on the night stand...and now that was gone, too. There weren’t even any toys anywhere, usual evidence of Jyren having brought the twins in. All the toys were back in their small room off to the side.    It was just so...wrong. It was wrong, and the worst part about it was that Marix had no idea what to do to fix it. There was nothing she could do. But that didn’t change her desire to do something. And that was the real problem. The Empire needed her. She couldn’t just up and leave while they were still recovering from the Mrrakesh attacks. And yet, something was tugging at Marix. She wanted to blame it on the childish part of her, the tiny little part that was still Shadow and couldn’t stand any of this Empress duty.    But the real truth was worse than that. The real reason for the pulling at her was the fact that, for some reason, Marix couldn’t seem to accept that Jyren was gone. It wasn’t like when her brother had died, or Voort, or Jen. Not only had their been bodies in all three cases, but none of them had been so close to her. None of them had been such a strong influence on her. And Marix hated the fact that, now that he had disappeared, she felt weak and useless due to the fact that her thoughts continually went back to the ‘what ifs’ and other pointless hopes.    And yet...    [Loki.] Marix knew he was out there, probably down below at the courtyard closest to her large quarters.    Just a few moments later, this was proven by his unique non-voice slipping into her mind. [Something up?]    He sounded worried. Truthfully, she couldn’t blame him. There was a lot to be worried about these days. But no, he didn’t need to worry. Marix wasn’t going to tell him some horrible news she’d received, as there wasn’t anything any more horrible than the last few days. She did, however, have a question for him. [I can feel all of the Empire through the Network...but I need to ask you something since you directly interact with more people than I. Can our people, at this moment, survive without me?]    It was the kind of question that made Loki worry more. But he was smart enough to answer quickly so that, hopefully, his worries would be put aside. [The Empire is...safe again. If that’s what you mean.]    It wasn’t, not literally, but Marix didn’t care. And so, she didn’t say anything else for a long time. It was at least ten minutes of uneasy silence that, finally, caused Loki to break and ‘speak’ again. [Why? Marix, what’s wrong?]    All that Marix had left was safe now. The twins, her younger siblings that lived in the Palace, Loki...except...except Tobias. He was out there, in the midst of a war that the New Republic was losing, far behind enemy lines on an undefended world with a bunch of mystical, idealistic wackos who were arguably more idiotic than Jyren when gathered in groups. And she had let him go. Jyren would have killed her.    He loved that kid so damn much and she still didn’t know why. Yes, when one got truly technical with the biology involved, both Marix and Jyren were his parents...but only because Tobias’ mother had been a clone. And yes, Marix did feel very protective of him after a decade of raising him along with her own children. But Jyren...sometimes it was worrying to her how much he cared about Tobias, the son of the most dangerous Alraxian, save Marix herself, to have ever lived. The kid had been a weapon, could still have conditioning to just snap one day...and yet Jyren never seemed to consider it.    And Marix had just let Tobias go.    [We need to keep an eye on Toby.] Marix said, finally, to Loki. [Get yourself ready to head out. Supplies, foods, whatever you think we might need. I’ll let people know what’s going on and they’ll understand. With all that has been happening lately, I have a feeling he will need our help.]</blockquote>

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