The next day,
The hover-cruiser glided into the Citadel's cavernous hangar, settling with a faint hiss that echoed briefly before the vast bay swallowed the sound.
Landing lights flickered off, bathing the pad in the cool, silvery glow of the fortress's ambient lighting
"We are here," Zaeryn muttered, as the cruiser's side door slid open with a soft pneumatic whine.
He hopped onto the polished obsidian floor, his boots echoing in the stillness, followed by his two Warlady escorts, Mireille and Arya, their movements silent and precise.
Three figures awaited near the hangar's main thoroughfare, their silhouettes stark against the gleaming backdrop. High Commander Lysara stood at the center, her silver braids coiled with military precision, her posture as unyielding as the Citadel itself.
To her left, Chief Scientist Daphne Virellith gave off an intensity, her violet eyes sparkled like embers.
