"Warning: we've dropped out of hyperspace."

Korsha's eyes shot open. How long had she been out? She groaned as she pulled herself out of her bunk. She stumbled across the room towards the latter. Grabbing the rung, she hesitated as her head flopped forward, coming to rest against the metal. It's coldness seeped into her skin. It was soothing, pushing back against her headache. She took a deep breath, planted her foot on the bottom rung and then hoisted herself up.

Reaching the top she exited out the door and onto the bridge. At the back of the bridge, situated in the center, she met the dispassionate gaze of Koklan. She didn't know what kind of person he'd been before his soul had been stuffed into a robotic shell but she suspected he'd been a cold calculating man. Just the type her master liked to employ.

The acrena followed her, only his head moving. In truth that was all he could do as he was hardwired into the ship's command cradle. He was basically the captain of the ship, though gaining such a prestigious position had literally cost him his legs and forearms, from which wires as thick as her thighs were holding him up like a dangling puppet.

Korsha wondered what that felt like. She heard other trained soldiers speaking about how their weapons had become an extension of them. It was something she was vaguely aware of with her Lasher. Yet for Koklan the ship wasn't an extension of himself, he was the ship.

Crossing the bridge, she glanced out through the viewport. Much of the eternal blackness of space was swallowed up by the massive disc before them. Hyperion III was one of those strange anomalies from an ancient bygone era. It was first discovered by the oppressive Rhinavrin Councellete but her people had torn it away from their bloody fingers during the Titan's Fall conflict, the Dominion's independence war.

Hyperion III was like a stained glass window. Vast shards of glowing purple nestled up to dark green. Thick shadows separated the colors, allowing splotches of blue to exist here and there. All these colors spun around a collection of the shimmering lights.

That was her destination.

Megara.

Hyperion III's landscape swelled, the hues of the colors becoming more distinct, more fragmented and beautiful until it filled the entire viewscreen. Seconds later flames swallowed everything up as they breached atmosphere. The ship trembled beneath her feet as the inertial dampeners struggled to compensate. Korsha closed her eyes and listened to the familiar siren call of land.

Opening her eyes, she watched as the flames warped and twisted before them. Heartbeats later they vanished and a pristine world was revealed. She could just make out the dark features of a forest below her. Being an artificial planet, Megara had no natural light. How its ecosystem worked was beyond her understanding but that didn't stop her from marveling at its exotic beauty. She only had seconds to admire the thick canopy before the ship reoriented itself, now flying parallel to the disk.

Korsha stiffened, the sudden realization that she wasn't wearing her armor smacked her like an instructor's switch. Cursing herself, she sprinted across the bridge. Reaching the latter she grabbed the sides and slid all the way down. She landed with a thud that shot up her ankles. Spinning on her heel, she raced towards her armor and set to work getting dressed. With an efficiency that came from years of practice she had each piece in place and locked together within minutes. Checking her omnivice she saw that she had just enough time to race back upstairs and be waiting at the loading ramp as it descended.

By the time she reached the loading ramp she was panting. She sucked in deep breaths and held it, trying to force her heart to slow down. If her master was waiting for her then she needed to be composed. She had to be presentable.

The ship jolted. They'd landed. Seconds later there was a hiss as the loading ramp broke free from the rest of the ship and descended. Now her heart was racing in anticipation. She eyed the growing gap that revealed the world beyond. The larger it grew the more her disappointment followed. Her master wasn't here. Walking down the ramp she looked around and saw nobody. Had he forgotten about her? She struck the thought down. He'd never do that.

There was a blaring screech above her. She looked up to see a taxi breaking away from its designated lanes. The vehicle descended until it came to a sudden halt before her. It was an old model with manual doors. The paint was faded around the exhaust ports, yet the rest of it was polished and shined beneath the glow of the overhead advertisements. The driver rushed out and bowed his balding head.

"Deepest apologies for my tardiness."

Without another word the driver rushed around and pulled open her door. She narrowed her eyes at him. A concerned look took over his features.

"You are Korsha, correct? Servant to lord Anadrov."

A flood of relief poured into her. How stupid had she been? This was Hyperion III where the Dominion held its military summits. Her master was a busy man. He couldn't be bothered to meet her but he was diligent enough to ensure that she had a ride so that she could meet him. She nodded to the man and entered the cab. Her body sank into the soft seats. She couldn't help but let a groan escape her lips. Seconds later the driver was back in the front of the car and they were shooting into the air.

Korsha watched as her ship grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared beneath the heavy glow of bright flashing lights. The cab swerved, causing her to slide across the seats. She hoped the seat's bracer shields were active and up to date on their maintenance. She didn't need to gaze out the window to know they were hundreds of feet in the air.

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The driver hooted as he dove down. Korsha pressed herself into the back of the couch, her heart pounding in her chest. All around them other vehicles were bobbing and weaving, each fighting to get to their own destinations quicker than those around them. For Korsha it was as if they were all trying to crash and die sooner rather than later.

Yet a moment later their cab had turned a corner, entered a new lane and then ascended up. Here the traffic was more orderly, several cars moving over to allow them to merge into the upper skylane. Taking a deep shaky breath her eyes caught the drivers looking at her through the rearview mirror.

"I make up for being late so you won't miss your appointment."

Korsha nodded and then slid back over to the side where she'd started this little misadventure. She leaned against the window and stared out at the Megara. A deep sense of awe shot through her as she tried to take in the city's size, but in all directions it seemed to spread out.

The cab drifted through buildings that had been constructed over the last several centuries. Kicking on her neural link, she tried to connect to one of the local networks. There was a jarring sensation within her mind as though she had been slapped by some ethereal hand. The networks here were heavily encrypted, not even someone within the Inquisitionary forces could just establish a connection. Or maybe someone like you can't, she said to herself.

For a while they soared from skylane to skylane. As they made their way deeper into the city, the buildings were adorned with banners, some hundreds of feet long. Each one was emblazoned with the various emblems of the imperial houses. Some were wreathed in glorious holographics lines that shifted as their emblem spun before the richly dyed fabrics. The cab stopped, and rose before one of the buildings. Korsha leaned forward, her eyes fixed upon the burgundy fabric before her. She licked her lips as the sharp bottom edge of the black emblem appeared. It didn’t move nor do any of the fancy transitions she’d seen the others do.

The emblem was fierce, all hard lines and angles. The bottom ‘V’ jutted up beneath two stylized wings whose tips were squared off and angular. Yet it was the horned emblem in the middle that caused Korsha’s breath to catch in her throat. This was the mark of House Damaran. For a long moment she remained quiet as the cab climbed higher into the air.

“He did it…” she whispered to herself in awe, “He finally did it.”

Her master had struggled for decades, toiled in trenches at the edge of the empire, had been maimed by insurgents, had served in various military and political positions, all so he could achieve his end goal. And here he was, sitting upon the throne of his achievement. Pride swelled within her. She was the loyal servant returning to her lord. As he was honored and lifted up, so was she.

Her back straightened, chest puffing out as the ship lowered onto the landing pad. The door’s lock clicked and she grabbed the handle and flung it open. She turned to see the driver rushing around. He froze as he saw her, sweat glistening down his forehead. There was a panicked expression on his face. Not understanding what was going on, she simply gave him a nod and walked towards the exterior doors at the far side of the landing pad.

She was stopped by two guards as she reached the doors. They checked her credentials, patted her down, and then scanned her several times. She scowled as one of them said something under his breath as he was behind her. She was sure it wasn't something she wanted to hear. Rolling her eyes, she bore the situation with stoic resolve. Eventually, they cleared her and she was inside the building.

Her omnivice chirped. Checking the message, she saw the directions to her master's apartment. Just as she had anticipated everything inside was immaculate. Most everything was decorated in the black and red of the Imperial standard save for the golden accents of metal fixtures and furniture. Her heels clicked upon the polished reflective floors.

She had to pass through three more check points before she was finally standing before the door to her master's apartment. She reached her hand up to activate the apartment's doorbell but the door slid open. There, standing in the doorway, was her master.

And he was smiling.

"My child," he reached out a hand and placed it upon her shoulder and ushered her inside, "it's good to see you. Come. Sit down and let us talk."

Korsha sat in the chair that he had motioned to and placed her hands upon her thighs in an effort to keep her excitement contained. Anadrov sat down onto the chair across from her. He reached to the table next to him and poured himself a glass of something. He crossed one leg over the other and took a sip of his drink.

"You have done well, Korsha. While you were traveling here I sent a message to the governor and she's already enacting the reforms I requested."

Korsha's back straightened at the praise and she had to suppress a stupid smile. It wouldn't be proper to show such emotion at a time like this. She thought back to the governor's fractured spirit, a part of her still felt that old familiar guilt but she squashed it down. We are sacrificing for the greater good.

Thinking about that moment she realized she'd almost forgotten something. Standing up she reached into her pouch and got down on a knee. She bowed her head as she lifted her hands up, presenting the receptacle to her master.

"What's this?"

The receptacle lifted up from Korsha's hands. She grinned, keeping her head down, as she knew her master was examining it. She lowered her hands, placing one across her knee as she waited.

"Is this the spirit that had caused the governor's illness?"

Korsha allowed herself to grin as her heart swelled with pride. She'd come across very few who could understand the reality she had been trained in. Most accept the fact that spirits existed but did not understand the way in which they existed and interacted with the world. Her master was different. He had no experience in such matters, at least none that she was aware of, and yet understood them beyond an academic level.

“Well done, my faithful servant.”

She lifted her gaze and met her master's eyes. He was grinning at her. It crinkled the edges of his eyes. He was well pleased. That sent a wave of euphoria that flooded into her body and seemed to fill her up and make her lighter. She blinked several times, working to clamp down on the overload of emotion.

"It's a spirit that feeds off of intense desire. This one was using the governor's workaholic nature."

Her master held up the receptacle at eye level, watching the spirit swirling within.

"Interesting. As usual you exceed my expectations, my child."

Korsha closed her eyes and soaked in the praise letting it pierce through the shroud of guilt that had tried to cling to her. The moment was interrupted by a chime at the door. Her master set the receptacle down on the table and stood. Korsha followed her master's example and backed away to give him room to move. He checked his omnivice, nodded and then turned to her and released a heavy breath. He placed a firm hand upon her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

"Apologies, but I am needed in a meeting. Fortunately, my afternoon is open. I've heard the hunting out in the wilderness is invigorating. Why don't you go and set up a hunt. It will give us time together and I would like to see how your skills have progressed since the last time I saw you."

Korsha bowed in submission, "It will be done, my master."

With that she watched the man she admired above all others leave and once more she was alone.