I. Shadows Unleashed — The Infiltrators Compromised the atmosphere inside the command node turned acidic with tension.
Tahlir Vos's fingers danced over the holo-console, copying the last fragments of encrypted invasion data. But before he could ghost the trail, the entire terminal pulsed red. Tripwire psionics—too sensitive to bypass entirely. Too late.
"They know," Zhenira whispered, her pupils dilating. "They're coming."
Commander Serath Vahn snapped his rifle forward. "Evac protocol. Now."
Across the dark hall, alarms wailed like dying beasts. The distant footfalls of the Shadowscourge thundered toward them, synchronized and brutal. From hidden panels, shadow-forged sentries spilled forth, their eyes flickering with sentient hatred.
Kael Rix armed a sonic charge. "They sealed the hatch. Only way out is through the blast vent shaft." "Do it," Serath ordered.
The wall burst apart in a controlled eruption, and the team plunged into the shaft a vertical chute carved through layers of stone and steel. Gravity reversed for a moment as Zhenira bent the psionic field to cushion their descent.They hit the maintenance deck. No time to regroup.
A new alarm. "Fleet command has issued a planet-wide alert," Tahlir gasped. "General Kizito's mobilizing the Nightmaw Phalanx."
Outside, the Veilborn their stealth ship remained cloaked in the canyons beneath Akaris V. But reaching it meant cutting across the manufactorium sector, now alive with pursuing Shadowscourge and shadowhounds.
"They'll have walkers up in minutes," Zhenira said. "I can confuse their scans, but not forever."
They sprinted. Fire lit the steel sky. Psionic tracer drones flared behind them. Serath dropped two with a precise pulse round. Kael laid traps as they ran—detonating blast mines that turned corridors into fire-choked tombs.
By the time they reached the outer ridge, Kael was bleeding, and Tahlir limping.
There—tucked into the shadows of a dead ravine—the Veilborn waited.
Zhenira focused. "Shielding down… now!"
The cloak dropped, and the rear hatch opened. They dove inside. Shadowscourge artillery pounded the cliffs around them as Serath yelled, "Launch! Hard burn!"
The ship rocketed into the upper stratosphere, trailing fire, skimming beneath the orbital surveillance net.
As the stars opened before them, Serath looked down at the storm-covered planet.
"We got what we came for. But now… we bring war."
II. Gharar — Beneath the Eyes of Xal'taroth
Far from the chaos on Akaris V, the prison world of Gharar hummed with ancient malice.
Inside a chamber of pulsating walls, Princess Safi hung suspended in a web of psionic null-tethers. Her skin had begun to pale, starved of royal treatments. The agony wasn't physical—but spiritual. A deconstruction of her authority, her legacy. Across the abyss of the chamber stood Overseer Xal'taroth, obsidian helm aglow with dark runes.
"You believed yourself mighty," he rasped. "But even the Mahasimu have no dominion over the abyss." Safi snarled. "You serve a corpse throne built by my mother. I will never bow to it."
"You already have," he said. Elsewhere in the prison, Lady Thalia endured a different torment. The Mind's Veil had her under the gaze of the Mindweaver, a formless psionic entity that rewrote memories and extracted truth like peeling skin from bone.
She whispered secrets. Lies. Dreams. All became one under the Mindweaver's probing thought. "Do you regret your betrayal?" the Mindweaver asked.Thalia smirked despite her pain. "I regret not finishing it."
III. The Queen's Return A Ship of Shadow and Judgment
The obsidian dreadnought Giza Mtuji moved like a leviathan through the stars. In her private chamber, Queen Suama stood before a towering view of the void, hands folded, face carved in composure. A holo-channel sparked. The transmission came from Overseer Xal'taroth himself.
"My Queen," he greeted with a rasp of artificial politeness, "the prisoners are secured. Princess Safi remains… spirited."
"I am en route," Suama replied coldly. "Begin final preparations. She is not to be harmed—yet." "And the other one?"
"Let her suffer. Thalia's purpose is done."
Suama ended the call. The chamber went silent but for the hum of Gharar growing closer in the viewport.
Behind her, the Royal Guard four stood at attention. Roko. Jalia. Omari. Amani. Silent shadows in gleaming armor.
Suama turned. "Prepare my descent. I will enter the prison myself. My mother has summoned Safi." The royal guards bowed.
And so, with the weight of judgment hanging like a blade, the Queen of Shadows made ready to descend into the one place in the empire where even loyalty feared to tread.