Orbit of Akaris V – The Lost World Reclaimed
The stealth cruiser Silent Reign emerged from the veil of grav-static, drifting like a phantom beyond the perimeter of Akaris V. The Uli System—once a proud border region of the Thalor—was now fully under Mahasimu control, its stars patrolled by fleets of the Shadowscourge, the empire's supreme military force. Orbital sentinels marked every moon, and supply convoys flowed between heavily fortified planets. Among these was Akaris V, a world once part of the Thalor domain, lost over three hundred cycles ago during the Fracture Wars, a brutal internal conflict that saw the Thalor withdraw and abandon the outer sectors. It had since become a haunted world—left to ruin and memory.
But the Mahasimu Empire had seized that silence. Under the hand of General Kizito, Akaris V had been reborn as a staging ground for one purpose: the invasion and eradication of the Zelith system, the heartland of the Thalor people.
Insertion and Discovery
The infiltration team—Elan Virel, Kirra, Tavrin, Oren Vek, and Jexi—dropped from orbit aboard the stealth dropship Veil Fang, maneuvering through orbit-wide scans and Shadowscourge patrols belonging to The Sable Phalanx, Kizito's elite fleet stationed in the Uli System. "This isn't a recon sweep," Kirra muttered as she studied the massive dreadnought formations in low orbit. "This is a cage. They've locked down the entire system."
"Because they're about to burn ours to ash," Elan replied coldly. Slipping through atmospheric breaks and shielding canyons, the team descended to the surface—finding not only military outposts, arsenal towers, and relay cradles, but something far more ominous. Using abandoned Thalor mining infrastructure, they accessed a sealed subterra shaft. A thirty-kilometer descent later, the truth unfolded before their eyes.
The Secret Below: Mahasimu's Engine of War
Beneath the scorched rock of Akaris V lay a hidden metropolis of annihilation. The cavern's dome stretched endlessly, encasing a fully operational subterranean city, designed to serve as both war foundry and command nexus. Thousands of Shadowscourge battalions moved in unison between fortress blocks. Siege engines—leviathan war beasts of alloy and bone—were being assembled under blacklight furnaces. Psionic relay pylons pulsed in rhythm with dark incantations fed directly from the Empire's capital.
At the center stood the Black Citadel, where General Kizito, along with his vice commanders Tano and Kia, orchestrated the final movements of their invasion blueprint.
"They're building armies underground… while we stare at supply towers on the surface," Tavrin whispered. Oren Vek tapped into a tertiary link-node buried in a collapsed relay port. His neural uplink flickered.
"They're calling it Operation Ember Wake. Six launch paths into the Zelith system. Orbital destabilization, psionic disintegration fields, coordinated planetary sweeps. Phase One… targets the core worlds of Zephara and N'Saril." "They're going to exterminate us," Kirra whispered. "Then we can't fail," Elan said. "We don't get to run. We bring this back—or die under it."
Meanwhile — Onboard Giza Mtuji
Far across the void, Queen Suama stood alone within the sanctum aboard her obsidian command vessel. The ritual glyphs flared to life once more as she opened a secured hololink.
The projection of Overseer Xal'taroth, commander of Gharar, shimmered into form—his face a cold lattice of void-scripted scars and psionic brands.
"You are summoned," Suama said. "The Ancient Queen will descend upon Gharar. The traitor Safi is to be prepared. No harm comes to her. Not yet."
"Gharar awaits," Xal'taroth rasped. "The throne cell has been activated. She will be ready to face the voice of the First Mother."
Suama ended the transmission. Her eyes did not waver, though the light in them had sharpened into something more absolute.
"Even shadows must answer to blood," she whispered.
In the War Citadel – Akaris V
In the subterranean heart of the Black Citadel, General Kizito watched as holo-displays shimmered with the outlines of Thalor colonies.
"Let the Zelith think us distracted by Gharar and internal betrayals," he said, teeth bared. "They've always feared what lives in the void. Now they will understand it."
Admiral Kia nodded.
"The fleet is armed. The Mawborn are nearly complete. We begin the mobilization in three cycles."
Tano stepped forward, datapad in hand.
"We've had whispers of signal breaches near shaft delta."
"Send the Scourgehounds," Kizito growled. "Sniff out whatever dares crawl through my halls." Unseen by them, in a lower tunnel, the infiltration team froze as red warning lights flickered.
"We've been spotted," Jexi said, drawing her weapon. "Time to vanish, or time to fight."