The Spacepiress of Chaos
K N O W L E D G E
Jar'Kai, Atrisia
Atrisian Imperial Historical Library
Rare Books Department
Confederacy of Independent Systems
Atrisia was a world that she did not have fond memories or thoughts on - given that in more recent times it had been the sight of multiple incursions, skirmishes, invasions, and now the Confederacy was poised to hand the system over to the neighboring Galactic Alliance. For her own part, she thought the notion of exchanging the system to another Galactic Power - considering the cost in blood that the Confederacy had paid on more than one occasion - was illogical and shortsighted. It was, without a doubt in her mind, more than likely that at some point in the future - be it the collapse of the Galactic Alliance or some other catastrophic event - the Confederacy of Independent Systems would once more step foot onto the world and reclaim it, bringing it back in the fold. It would be a day that she would lament and mark as an annoyance - even more so if it meant that Confederates would once again give their lives to secure the system just as they had so many times before.
Still, she was not a member of the Viceroyalty, and ultimately, it had been their decision - no matter how shortsighted - to diplomatically exchange the system to the Galactic Alliance. For her part, she would be the upstanding Grand Marshal that she was and hold her tongue on such a decision - it was, after all, better not to cause any waves at that moment given the status of the Minister of War within the Confederacy and the interviewing process she had undergone with a number of other potential candidates. Amelia thought nothing of it though, as she felt she could still do more good as the Grand Marshal of Naval Command than she could as a member of the Confederate Government - which had been partially the reason why she endorsed two other compatriots that had also been considered for the position. That, however, was not the reason for her visit to the historical world that lay in the Core of the Galaxy. Rather, it was it's well known and regarded Library that had drawn her there that day - and when she had arrived on the planet - it had been vastly different, a remarkable change to what she had seen some years prior after the Confederacy had reclaimed the System and ultimately staved off a failed Rebellion that had seen an ancient virus unleashed upon the unknowing populace.
The last time she could remember that she had been on Atrisia was when the Confederacy was securing the System after a skirmish - and that had been nearly a year ago - give or take a couple of months. Pulling her attention back to the here and now, she stepped forward into the shadows of the library as it loomed over her, a soft smile pulling at the corners of her lips as she slowly began to ascend the stairs to the large structure. Amelia had to take a moment to allow herself to admire the facade of the building - marred in the tell-tale signs of struggle and conflict - its structure still holding up even with the multiple scorch marks, cracks, and chips that it had attained after the failed Rebellion. It was one of the lucky few - having managed to survive the conflict - though she could still see, that on the surface, a great many were still experience and fighting - in their own way - the Rebellion and the virus that had been unleashed upon them. She couldn't fault them though and in all likelihood - they also, potentially, thought that the Confederacy handing their System over to another was ludicrous.
Amelia figured that the best course of action would have been to permit Atrisia to govern itself - to leave it as a neutral system in the Galaxy and let it decide its fate as it had done so numerous times in the past. From her own recollection, it had been seven years since the Atrisian Empire held sway over a sizeable territory in the Galaxy - though it had fallen like many Empires had. Perhaps then, it was time for it to attempt to rise again - though, would it be capable of standing on its own? Questions abound, running rampant in her mind, and each could be answered at some other, more appropriate time. For now, she would return her attention to her own task at hand as she carefully stepped into the Library, her golden-yellow hues slowly traveling over the myriad of books, noticing more than a few shelves seemed to have fallen into disrepair or were still being worked on in the ensuing aftermath of the failed Rebellion.
However, she was there for one specific section of the library, and she hoped that it and many of its contents, had survived the more calamitous recent events that had gripped the planet. She figured that once the Galactic Alliance held sway in the system, she'd likely not get another chance to visit the library - and thus - she was slowly drawn toward the back and into the Rare Books Department. It was here that she had focused her visit to the system upon, finding the knowledge - or in some manner attempting to preserve - that the books, tomes, and other volumes of rare and ancient lore that graced the shelves. Delicate fingers began to carefully trace along the spines of the older books, lightly brushing away soot and dust that had built upon more than a few of the volumes - even going so far as to carefully remove a book or two to lightly brush the dust away from the cover. She had to be careful, gentle - treating the books as though they were newborns - with how likely they were to merely crumble to dust in her hands.
Tenderly, she carefully removed another book, her fingers barely able to open the pages - nor did she want to force them apart for fear of destroying the water-damaged pages. A soft smirk tugged at the edge of her mouth as she returned the book to its place on the shelf, cautiously ensuring that the entire shelf itself didn't collapse from the weight being added back upon its warped boards.
"Perhaps I should bring some Jawa's in to help collect these volumes - though they'd likely find nothing of value in these books."
Amelia would chuckle to herself as she continued to slowly make her way through the various twisted and warped shelves - though from time to time - a hint or sight of attempted repair did bring her a soft smile. It seemed that they were still rebuilding, and doing their best to restore and save what knowledge they could from those tomes that weren't completely destroyed or damaged. It was still too early to tell, however, as to how many exactly they would be able to save. As she loomed over a table, she carefully pulled on a pair of white gloves - not wanting to add the oil from her hands to further degrade the damaged pages. It was a shame really, to see so many old texts languishing in the dark recesses of the once-proud library.
Chaos NaNo: 1,230
