Chapter 33: The Prince's Arrival
The destruction of the "Sovereign-Slayer" satellite was a wound the Solaris Hegemony could not hide. Across the galaxy, the "Broken Gears" and other resistance cells saw the explosion as a signal. The myth of the Emperor's invincibility had been shattered by a single man in a backwater sector.
In response, the Emperor did not send a General. He sent his blood.
The Imperial Dreadnought Sol-Invictus dropped out of warp above New Seattle, its shadow covering the entire city. It was ten miles long, a golden spear of a ship that housed an entire army. And leading that army was Imperial Prince Kaelen, the Emperor's third son and a Level 14 Peak warrior known as the "Architect of Ruin."
Kaelen stood on the bridge of the Invictus, his long silver hair tied back with a cord of human hair—the hair of the last King he had conquered. He was younger than the Governor, but his eyes held the weight of a thousand scorched worlds.
"Governor Valerius is a coward," Kaelen said, his voice a smooth, dangerous silk. "He allowed a commoner to reach the Spire. He allowed our primary orbital asset to be turned against us. For that, he has been executed. His head is currently being mounted on the Spire's antenna."
A hologram of New Seattle appeared before him. "Carson McCain is not a terrorist. He is an 'Anomaly.' He possesses the Primordial Saber-Qi. If we kill him, the energy returns to the universe. We do not want him dead. We want him... 'Domesticated'."
"My Prince," a commander bowed. "The Void-Hounds failed to find his hidden base. The Emerald Isles are shielded by an ancient distortion field we cannot pierce."
"Then don't pierce it," Kaelen smiled, showing teeth that had been sharpened into points. "The boy has a weakness. He cares for the 'Flow' of the people. If he won't come to us, we will bring the world to him. Start the 'Oxygen-Tax' protocol. Shut down the atmospheric scrubbers in the Lower Sector. Let them breathe their own filth until they drag McCain to my feet in chains."
Kaelen turned away from the hologram. "And find the girl. Maya. The Lure-Protocol was too crude. I want her 'Awakened.' I want her to be the one who stabs him in the heart while he's trying to save her."