Chapter 23: The Emperor's Silence
On the planet Sol-Prime, at the center of the known galaxy, the atmosphere was not made of air, but of filtered gold and pure oxygen. The Palace of the Eternal Sun sat atop a spire that pierced the clouds, a monument to the Solaris Hegemony's ten-thousand-year reign.
Inside the Throne Room, a thousand high-ranking officials stood in absolute, terrifying silence. Every screen in the room—including the one embedded in the Emperor's own obsidian table—was still frozen on the image of the violet saber. Carson McCain's voice still seemed to echo in the rafters.
"I am coming for the interest on the debt you owe the world."
The Emperor, a man known only as Solaris VII, did not move. He sat on a throne carved from a dead star, his face hidden behind a mask of white porcelain. He was a Level 15 Transcendent, a being who had long ago traded his humanity for absolute power.
"Find him," the Emperor whispered. The voice was thin, like the sound of a dry leaf skittering across a grave. "He has the Core. He has the 31st Strand. If he reaches the 32nd, the Sector-Lock will not just fail—it will invert."
A man in crimson armor, the Grand Marshall of the Hegemony Fleet, stepped forward. "My Lord, he is in the New Seattle sector. We have three Battle-Groups within jump distance. We can glass the planet in ten minutes."
"No," the Emperor raised a gloved hand. "The Core is fragile. If you destroy the planet, you risk losing the data in the Library. We must play the long game. He thinks he can fight a war of wealth? Then we shall freeze his blood. Revoke the McCain-Aetherics licenses. Seize every asset with his name on it. And send the Void-Hounds to collect the girl. If she was his 'mercy,' she will be our 'lure'."
The Emperor looked out at the swirling nebula beyond his window. "Carson McCain... you have lived in the dark for too long. You have forgotten that the sun does not just provide light. It burns."