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..:: The Chronology of Athroxis Part II ::..
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..:: A Galaxy at War ::..
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Life can turn sharply, and often one is not ready for the new direction it has taken. While she had wanted to serve aboard a vessel, the times she clashed with pirates was nothing compared to what was coming. Barely back from her vacation, the whispering of conflict was growing and soon enough it was a deafening roar. Her little vessel, the simple corvette, was quickly thrust into the conflict that threatened to consume the whole of the galaxy.
Rather it had consumed the galaxy, and now factions fought one another over what remained. There had been peace for a time, the ancient virus that had swept so many lives to the side seemingly gone. Now all that remained were those worlds that had repopulated, those that managed to limp through the years. They were hungry, ravenous to a point and need space. Their people needed room and as all things come to a head, so to would this.
War broke out and the galaxy once more was home to vessels streaming through the stars, exchanging volleys of turbolaser fire and bursts of torpedo salvos. All the while she stood at her post, commanding her corvette to the best of her ability. She would fight for her home, to protect Axum and if that meant putting her life on the line she would. What more could she do?
..:: Our Dependency upon Technology ::..
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The push for expansion had been nonstop, and many factions gained footholds, carving out vast swaths of territory. Then, nothing. Everything stopped, communications from the Core Worlds, anything that could bring news had gone dark. The entirety of the Holonet blinked out with only the visage of the being that claimed they would change the whole of the galaxy. She had her doubts, though what came next seemed to settle a few of them.
Technology, the cornerstone of many of the Core Worlds, that which ensured all life continued, was turned against them. Those in the Outer Rim were lucky, she thought; with such little technology, the loss of the Holonet meant little. To the Coreward Worlds, those that relied upon it heavily, it was a disaster. What little she could come by did not help in the long run, and soon she was forced to make her own decision.
Her vessel had been on a scouting mission, sent out to find the enemy, and now they were flying deaf and blind. With no communications from her commanding officers or the fleet as a whole, she had to take action. Either she push forward with the mission or she think of those under her command and return. Her decision was one of caution, and the well being of her subordinates was what mattered. In a time when everything went dark, she managed to pull light from that darkness.
..:: Do Robots dream of Electric Sheep ::..
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Those events would soon come to light as the orchestrations of an ancient computer, an A.I. by the name of Omni, a being that was destructive. How does once defeat an entity that could easily destroy you without a word, merely by infecting your vessel. Technology was turned against the Galaxy, the very technology that trillions of lives depended upon each and every day. What would organic life be though if nothing more than tenacious?
These factories that spit out machines of war, churned out the devices for Omni would be set upon, and even she would find herself leading her corvette into the fray. Joining a fleet that amassed to strike at the heart of entity, pushing to the center of the Galaxy; Coruscant. She watched from the bridge of her vessel as the world below was turned into a warzone for the most recent time, though it apparently would not be the last.
She waited with baited breath as her little corvette and its crew fought to survive, waiting for the news that the strike was successful. A heavy sigh of relief would escape her as the victory cheer rang out. Omni was defeated, and its factories were shutting down. Though, with the whole of technology being turned upon the Galaxy, what would the years to come hold?
..:: Rusted Gears and Broken Things ::..
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There was nothing more that she wanted to do than to return home, and the first change she got, she took it; though it was not a happy occasion. During the fighting with Omni she had lost siblings, the youngest of them. Her first visit home since war broke out two years ago and she had to attend the funeral of her youngest sister and brother. She saw the sadness that dwelt within her mother, the anger that grew within her father.
Those siblings that survived looked to her, wanting answers as to why this happened. All that she could give them was silence, her own mind wracked with grief as she fought to understand why she could survive such conflict and they could not. In time she would come to accept that she just got lucky, though even that wasn't enough to quell her anguish. Even now she still thinks back about her youngest siblings, remembering them fondly.
The choice came though, return to the fleet, or remain at home. Even as she wanted to stay, she was told to go; this time from an unlikely source. Her mother, always having been against her eldest leaving, was now the one telling her to go. That she could not hold her eldest there anymore than a rock could hold back a roaring ocean.
..:: As Darkness Falls ::..
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An ancient tradition, a day in which many would dress in costumes of twisted beings from ancient stories or the monstrous beasts that inhabited the galaxy. Though something was spreading, something that had not been seen in the galaxy for ages. It started on a little world in the Outer Rim, ancient, the home of a Jedi Master of legend and now a video was streaming across the reestablished Holonet. The screams of a research team and the ravings that the dead were rising.
What followed was the horrific images of those same people being torn apart, only to reanimate and raise in turn. What horror could do such a thing? She dreaded the thought of such a thing coming to the Core Worlds, and she feared that she would have to face this horror. What little she could learn was even more fantastical in its own way. Reports of the dead rising from their rest, a black sludge dripping from their figures.
This black ooze like substance infected the bodies, though there was still much to understand. Once more the galaxy found itself in turmoil, the host to some catastrophic event. All she could do was wait for orders and see what was to happen. All the while she did her best to pour over what reports she could get her hands upon in a bid to understand this new threat.
..:: The Night of Horrors ::..
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In truth it had begun on Mugg Fallow, a fact little known at the time until the end. This being had been so destructive that it was held upon that world by the ancient beings of the Galaxy. So feared for what it could do that it was cut off from all life, from the galaxy to ensure that it would not spread. Somehow it found its way to Dagobah, and from there it was spreading. Those that came in contact with it or the carriers of the disease were just as quickly inhabited by the foul black sludge.
This was such a threat that it could have easily, if it had not already, eclipsed the effects of the Gulag Plague. Her orders were simple, even if she didn't agree with them. Any vessel thought infected, any being was to be put down to prevent the spread of whatever this pathogen, this entity was. This was the most terrifying point of her life, the thought of being infected by such a thing, losing control of oneself as it took over.
While she disagreed with the orders, she still understood the dangers that this thing possessed. She watched as her corvette tore apart transports and freighters filled with people infected. Watched whole worlds fall under quarantine with the thought of orbital bombardment being the most effective way of containing the entity. She vowed that she would never consider such actions in the future, and as destructive as this creature was, the acts of containing would further change her.
..:: When the Dawn Breaks ::..
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All things must come to an end, and even for the night such is true. Though it is always darkest before that dawn, and in the darkest night of the galaxy the radiant light of the dawn was slowly appearing. The being that had been pushing across the galaxy was being contained, the lives of many put on the line to push it back to its ancient prison. Vessels of darkness were claimed, whole fleets mustered to fight those infected by the being. Individuals rose to greatness as they gave their bodies willingly to fight the black creature.
In time the combined efforts of a united galaxy pushed the creature back to the Unknown Regions, to the planet it had been trapped upon. A collective sigh of relief as it was over, though it was not the end. That creature remains out there, somewhere in the galaxy, more than likely biding its time in another attempt to consume the galaxy. Even now she feels that it is not over, and that all must be prepared.
Though in that moment peace had returned to galaxy, even if it took an ancient entity to bring the warring factions together. For a time there was cooperation, though all things can not last and once again the conflict of the galaxy boiled over. Worlds fired salvos upon one another, and her corvette was thrust back into the fire.
..:: The World beyond Ours ::..
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What happens when an individual dies? There are many thoughts and beliefs on the matter, and she had thought not of a single one until now. The morning was beginning as any other normal day, until she found herself upon a hill with her father. The screams below marking that they were no longer home, no they were somewhere else. What place had they found themselves in? For days, at least they appeared as such, the wandered across the landscape, searching for any clues as to what had happened, only to come across a small shack floating upon the water.
It seemed out of place, though nothing in this moment made sense. All that she had at her side was her father and for now that was enough, his calm demeanor in the situation helping to keep her calm. The home, or at least the structure was calming, keeping peace within as they sought a means of leaving this world, this realm.
With a steeled resolve and a careful plan they pushed their way to one of the rifts that tore open the galaxy, permitting them to return. Though plans seldom go according to how one thought they would, and she found herself alone. As they were escaping she was pushed forward, an effort by her father just as the rift they stepped through was closing. Whatever had caused the event had been defeated, dealt with, whatever you wanted to call the conclusion. All she knew was that she stood alone upon an alien world.
..:: Those left behind ::..
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It would not be until she finally returned home did she find out what happened. Across the galaxy, all at once, Billions disappeared, vanished from where they had once been. She and her father were among those numbers, thought lost. Now though he was truly lost, trapped in a realm beyond, and that meant one thing. It was the time that she dreaded the most, yet knew would always happen.
Even as she mourned and grieved for her father, she still had the responsibility of a heavy weight. With a deep breath she would take on this new challenge; the start of which was resigning from her command. As much as she loved the corvette and its crew, she could no longer serve. Then the challenge would truly come.
The Axum system would find itself switching hands between the Republic and the Sith Empire, the conflict finally striking home. The only constant was her, the woman that stood defiantly and decided that it was time. For Axum, for Anaxes, it was time to say no more.
..:: The Azure Phoenix ::..
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Thus we find ourselves at our present time.
The young girl now a woman, a history of events culminating in this moment.
Sitting upon the throne of her world, a heavy burden to carry upon her brow.
For Axum and Anaxes it was time to shout no more.
No more would others chose their course, their future.
Now was the time for a rebirth.
There was a time when the Azure Imperium flourished, a time when it was a founding member of the Republic.
Now was the time for the Azure Phoenix to rise.
