On Coruscant, beneath towers of gold and shadow, Director Arven stood before a holomap of the Unknown Regions. Aurex blinked like an ember on the edge of a cold hearth.
Behind him, aides whispered, but Arven heard only the numbers.
Population: Unknown.Defenses: Layered, hidden.Government: Decentralized. Unified by one figure—Toren Vale.
He stared at the hollowed silhouette of Aurex's layout—gleaned from weak scans and whispered reports.
"It's not a planet," Arven murmured.
"It's a throne. Built from myth, fear, and forgotten code."
An aide asked, "Shall we accelerate the probe series?"
Arven didn't answer.
He simply touched a point on the map.
Deploy Sigma Order. Shadow Reach protocol. Let them feel our breath before they see our hands.
Aurex burned.
Not the city.
The sky.
It began with a low, rolling pulse—barely visible—then a red streak tore through the atmosphere.
A shadow probe.
Toren, Mira, and Tarn stood beneath the shield tower as the system scrambled to reroute energy.
Shield Array at 62%Orbital Scan Sweep Detected – Spectrum Inverse
Mira shouted over the wind, "It's scanning underground!"
Toren's voice cracked like a whip: "Block the civic vault!"
Tarn was already moving.
Inside the command chamber, Wess triggered the false collapse protocols—whole sections of Aurex's visible tech buried themselves beneath shifting plates.
The probe streaked overhead again, slower this time—like it knew they were hiding something.
Then, it paused.
A moment.
A single shimmer in the air.
Then it was gone.
Just gone.
But it had seen.
Mira stood in the council chamber, dripping from rain, jaw clenched.
"They don't want negotiation," she said. "They want justification. That scan was a test—to see what we'd reveal."
Jakel was pacing. "So we prepare for assault?"
Grum muttered, "Let them come. We've got teeth."
Tarn's voice cut through the storm. "They're not coming with soldiers. They're coming with doubt. They'll fracture us from within before they ever fire."
Toren stepped into the circle.
"I agree."
Silence fell.
He looked to each of them.
"They'll turn us into what they want the galaxy to believe: another threat. Another anomaly. Another excuse to erase."
Mira asked, "So what do we do?"
"We survive," he said. "Without becoming what they fear."
Then softer—
"But we don't bow."
That night, the sky cleared for the first time in a week.
Toren stood alone at the outpost wall, looking up at stars that no longer felt innocent.
Mira joined him.
"They'll be back," she said.
He nodded.
"They always are."
She looked at him—quiet, steady.
"Then maybe it's time we stop waiting for the storm."
He turned.
She didn't flinch.
"I'm with you," she said.
"I know," he answered.
Then he reached for her hand again.
And this time—
She didn't let go.