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Empire Reforged
Chapter 53: The Hexnode Signal
Location: ISV Silver Lance, Outer Sector Relay Band V-6-Delta
Date: BBY 6 – Day 20 of Operation Apex
The room was quiet but alive with data.
The tactical suite aboard the Silver Lance had been retrofitted during Kuat refit cycles, its central table now integrated with upgraded decryption modules. A small gesture from Lady Arinh Kuat, one Lucan had never asked for — but now appreciated.
A pale blue projection hovered above the console, shifting in real time as Veya worked through a pattern of fragmented pings.
"Hexnode's signal wasn't just a name," she said quietly. "It's a distributed key. Each time it's transmitted, it links to a different address point — never the same system twice."
Lucan leaned in. "They're relaying field orders through ghost nodes. That's why we've never found a central base."
"Correct. The network's been built like a spiderweb. But here's the catch—" she tapped the screen — "every message terminates near one specific orbital band: designated grid Zeta-4 of the Diab System. Remote. Uninhabited. No traffic in the last 200 cycles."
Lucan frowned. "It's a dead zone."
Veya smirked faintly. "Which is exactly why they'd use it. Just enough gravity to anchor a relay station without attracting scanners."
Lucan stepped back, thinking.
"This could be it," he said. "Not a base. But the core. The node they're routing coordination through. If we can intercept traffic there…"
"We can isolate the entire insurgency's communication lattice," Veya finished. "Cut the head, and the limbs go blind."
—
Lucan gathered his senior officers an hour later.
"We're breaking from Task Force Apex's patrol route," he said, voice calm. "Our new target is Diab-Zeta. No authorization from command. This is a shadow op."
Darran looked up from the nav board. "That's a direct violation of mission profile."
Lucan nodded. "And it's the only way to win this war without burning every civilian farmstead between here and the Rim."
Milar looked intrigued. "We going in hot?"
"Not yet. We'll deploy in stealth, low-emission. Scout drones first. If we confirm activity, we strike surgically. Not scorched earth."
Veya added, "This isn't about a body count. It's about control. Find the relay. Hijack it. Turn the enemy's own net against them."
Lucan looked at them all. "You've followed me through every deployment. I won't ask you to disobey fleet command lightly. But if you follow me now, you follow me knowing this could get us court-martialed if we fail."
A long pause.
Then Darran smiled. "Better court-martialed for doing the job right than decorated for incompetence."
Milar gave a quiet "Aye."
—
The Silver Lance jumped into the Diab System under full suppression.
No active comms. No beacon. Just cold running.
The system itself was barren. A dying star, two shattered moons, and one asteroid belt rich in metal debris — remnants of some mining operation long forgotten.
But nestled within the belt, tucked into the gravitational shadow of a slowly tumbling planetoid… they found it.
A relay tower. Crude, ugly, but powered.
Lucan stood on the bridge, arms behind his back.
"Any activity?"
Veya's voice was quiet. "It's emitting encrypted traffic every thirty seconds. Pulse-burst encryption. Military-grade, but not Imperial issue."
"Strike package?"
Milar already had the solution ready. "Two interceptor wings and one boarding skiff. Low-EM approach. No heavy fire. We disable, not destroy."
Lucan nodded once.
"Launch."
—
The boarding skiff breached the relay station with minimal resistance.
Three insurgents were killed during the breach. A fourth tried to detonate the control core, but was stunned by a stormtrooper before he could trigger the charge.
Lucan and Veya arrived in person ten minutes later.
The station was smaller than expected — four rooms, one command console, and a sealed cargo locker. But what mattered wasn't size.
It was what was inside the relay hub's blackbox:
> Transmission logs.
Encryption overlays.
Tactical briefings on Imperial patrol routes.
And one name — referenced again and again under layered coding.
"HEXNODE PRIME."
Veya read it aloud. "This isn't just a relay."
Lucan nodded. "It's a forward command post."
And someone had been watching him.
Because among the data packets — tagged, analyzed, and annotated — was a dossier on the Silver Lance.
Lucan scrolled through the contents.
> Captain Lucan Virex
Vessel: Arquitens-class Light Cruiser
Status: High-Risk Threat
Noted for: Tactical deviation. Ethical friction. Loyal crew.
Flagged by: Command Sector Liaison — Unknown Signature
He stared for a long moment, then handed it to Veya.
"We're not just hunting them."
She looked at him.
"They're watching us."
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