It started with whispers.
Not within Aurex.
Beyond.
On a supply moon near the Mid Rim, a shipment of rare metals disappeared. The only evidence? A single black insignia burned into the dock's wall—not Imperial. Unknown. Clean.
In the Inner Rim, a surveillance tower went dark for seventeen seconds. When it came back, its memory logs were scrambled—but not erased.
Each time, the same anomaly:
Signal Fluctuation Identified – Signature Fragment Match: Aurex System Residue
Director Arven reviewed it all.
He said only one word:
"Begin."
On Aurex, Toren felt it before the system confirmed.
Kora pinged his console.
Civic Worker ID: Tier 3 Specialist – MARIN TALOUnauthorized Access Attempt – Data Core Subsystem Alpha
Flag: Infiltration Likely*
The name hit like cold steel.
Marin had been part of the early settlement.
Quiet. Skilled. Nothing special.
Until now.
Toren gathered Tarn and Mira in the uplink hub.
"He's not alone," Mira said. "Someone got him in early."
Tarn's mouth was a tight line. "Then it means they've been planning this since the first contact."
Kora added, "One node breach attempt. No successful transfer. Intent unclear."
Toren paced.
"They're not here to steal."
He looked up.
"They're here to signal."
They found Marin at the generator nexus, crouched behind a cooling duct with a signal booster wrapped in his cloak.
He didn't resist.
Didn't even speak.
Just stared at Toren.
Like he was sorry.
Or impressed.
In the civic chamber, the council debated.
Jakel: "Execute him. Now."
Wess: "Imprison him. Publicly."
Linae: "Try him. We're not them."
Toren stood, silent, then turned to Marin.
"You spoke to them. How?"
Marin replied softly, "Not with words."
Mira leaned forward. "Then what?"
His answer was a whisper:
"With intent."
And Toren knew they'd lost a layer of invisibility they could never get back.
That night, the system pinged again.
Echo Shard Reactivation Detected
Signal Origin: Civic Core – Proximity TriggeredPhrase Detected: "Intent"
Response Generated.*
Toren stood at the interface.
The shard pulsed slowly—soft, almost mournful.
And on the screen, it wrote:
Do you want to burn?
He didn't answer.
Not yet.
But behind him, Mira stepped closer.
And Tarn said, "If we don't… they will."