The summons arrives with the imperial seal pulsing against darkness. The military transport that follows is swift and silent. Through the spires of Astoria Prime, past molecular-level security scans, into the heart of power.
No ceremony materializes. No cameras. No propagandists. No audience of sycophants.
Instead: a chamber of midnight stone. A table of obsidian, set for only two.
"Approach."
Empress Lyra Vex sits alone, the neural crown sending data across her temples in illuminated veins. Her violet eyes track with mechanical precision, yet something human flickers behind the cybernetic glow.
"The Dravari incursion at Helios Boundary." Her voice carries the weight of seven systems. "Tactical brilliance. Unconventional methods. Acceptable casualties." She lifts a glass of liquid starlight. "Most would request medals while cameras immortalize their recognition."
The chair across slides back - an invitation impossible to decline.
"Yet here we are. Two entities in an empire of trillions." Her fingertips tap that distinct pattern. "I find myself curious about the mind behind the victory. What drives someone to risk everything with no guarantee of reward?"
A droid deposits exotic fare that steams with aromas from across the Dominion.
"Dine with me," she commands, though her tone suggests this might be a request. "Tell me of the battle in your words. Not the official report. What you saw when death seemed certain. What calculations passed through your mind when victory hung by a thread."
Her gaze holds steady. The empress who has destroyed moons now studies a single individual with unsettling intensity.
"Perhaps," she adds, voice approaching intimacy, "we might discover what binds our fates in this vast cosmos."
