The Tower of Serene Clouds collapsed with a rumbling crash of crystal and stone, and for a frightened instant silence descended across the ornate and expansive palace complex. Smoke still drifted up towards the sky from a dozen places, with an ominous blue glow from the direction of the power centre. That had been their first clue that something was wrong, when the lights flickered and went out. Cedri had been rushing her wayward charge down a courtside colonnade towards the Audience she was supposed to be attending. It was a celebration of her older sister’s triumph at the hunt trials and although she’d gone through the usual ordeal of paints and tinctures, by the time she’d been wrapped into her ceremonial robes Renaya Brivine had simply had enough; eschewing another drawn-out ceremony filled with slights and implications that she would never know such recognition. The fifth of the Imperatrix’s daughters, the last and least, she was used to being the disappointment.<br/><br/>It had hurt at first, and she’d acted out in a bid to be<i>seen</i>by someone, even if she couldn’t be recognized for any of the virtues she wished she could be. Acting out of habit had become her habit, and so she had settled into the more dissolute circles of the younger court. Many of them took pleasure in defying the traditions of the older generations and while she had not dared take part, her presence at their indiscriminate parties and orgies lent them added credibility at the same time as it tarnished her reputation. A ripple of smaller explosions sounded and the distant screams brought up the lady's head with a frightened expression more akin to a savannah-deer at bay.<br/><br/>Not so Cedri and the veteran security officer urged her back to her feet with some sympathy but no patience. "Come on Renaya, we have to keep moving."<br/><br/>Renaya walked half-hunched over behind the armed Serilline. With her crimson sloe eyes and the coppery length of hair snaking down from her high ponytail to fall down the back of her thighs. the young princess was an inadvertent image of lissom femininity. A golden braided belt sat low on her hips across open panels that expose toned skin from waist to upper thigh; ceremonial and lovely, but not actually useful. Just like her?<br/><br/>They passed through a white doorway and into the ceremonial annexe that led to the nearest security station. Two male Royal guards stood at the doorway and beckoned the women to join them there, "Quickly your Serenity!" At last, safety!<br/><br/>Cedri led the way up the corridor as a rumble sounded elsewhere in the complex. "Finally. Our signals are being jammed, I need you to set up a hardwired connection with Captain Fleurry. Do you know what's going on? Who is attacking us, and where is the Navy?" she demanded, striding quickly up the embossed stone tiles towards the powered door. "Why isn't the auxiliary power coming on?"<br/><br/>"Lieutenant!" A charcoal-skinned guard sounded panicky. "We lost contact with the Captain eleven minutes after the attack started, but there were reports of unmarked soldiers fighting at the audience chamber as well as the main spaceport." He exchanged glances with the other guard. "We were going to support the throne room, but..."<br/><br/>"You did exactly right," Lieutenant Cedri assured him as the two ducked into the safety of the hardened room. "Without any orders from the Captain, you had to keep this op-" Abruptly her words were cut off by energy blasts streaking down the corridor and one of the guards fell to the ground before they could return fire.  One glance was enough to tell Cedri that the situation was hopeless; half a dozen Dohrvin were advancing purposefully, their cold reptilian eyes fixed on the tails of her charge's robe as the highborn dived behind a computer console. Without power they couldn't close the heavy blast door, and without communications they couldn't call for help which meant...<br/><br/>"You go Lieutenant," the second guard said, his level gaze speaking clearly that he had performed the same mental arithmetic. He nodded towards the escape hatch set in the wall before firing blindly up the hallway. "I'll hold them as long as I can, get the Princess to safety."<br/><br/>Renaya watched uncomprehending as her bodyguard rested one hand on the guard's upper arm and briefly touched foreheads, then scrambled across the doorway to join her. "Come on Renaya," Cedri said.<br/><br/>"But... isn't the guardsman coming too?" she protested. "He can't possibly hope to-"<br/><br/>"Come<i>on</i>I said," Cedri pulled at her arm, made rough by the urgency. Startled by the unprecedented intimacy Renaya followed meekly, unable to look at the man holding the doorway as her longtime protector detonated the explosive bolts on the hatch. Stumbling coughing through the smoke, she followed Cedri out into the Imperial gardens as dropships descended across the complex like autumn leaves.<br/><br/>What was going<i>on</i>?<br/><br/>And where in the Lady's name was safe?<br/><br/><a class="username" data-user-id="1092" data-username="@Oniy252" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/1092/">@Oniy252</a>