The Immortal Empress stood at the helm of the Black Widow and looked out at the assembling armada in front of her. Enemies all.

Azure light flashed onto her pale face as several ships dropped out of hyperspace. She absentmindedly fingered the horizontal scar that dissected her otherwise fair-skinned neck. It was something that I’d only ever seen her do once before.

If some part of her had been holding out that a rescue was coming, it lost all hope when even more ships jumped in to swell the armada’s number even further. She knew more than a few of her own ships were among them—traitorous bastards.

Over the previous year, I’d watched as one by one, the Empress’s allies slowly turned against her, seduced by the corporate-controlled Galactic Republic’s offers—but we’ll get to the tale of her betrayal in due time.

Even the members of her own crew had deserted her. Although to be fair, she had encouraged it in a way, perhaps knowing the final outcome of what awaited her. Only I remained by her side, and then only because she allowed it. For what purpose, I couldn’t say (I was no warrior), but she always had her reasons, and she always kept her own counsel.

Looking back now, I believe I see it more clearly: she wanted someone there to witness the end and tell her story.

She had nearly said as much back then.

The leader of the armada had hailed us and the Empress bid me wait outside the view field of the hologram as she took the call.

I stood in silence, listening to them banter back and forth, the Empress proud and defiant to the end, even in the face of certain defeat. She was given an ultimatum, and she told the commander what he could do with his ultimatum and then ended the transmission.

“Val,” the Empress turned to me. “My most loyal servant. This will all be over soon.” She eyed me with what I can only describe as kindness mixed with pity.

“Don’t say such things, Your Majesty.” I shook my head as though I could wish away what was unfolding right before my very eyes.

The Empress laughed. “Your faith in me is too grand, Val. I told you it would one day be your un-doing. ” She turned and gazed out the window into the void of space. “If there is a way out of this, I cannot see it.”

“What about your allies past the Outer Rim?” I offered. Like a drowning man, I grasped at anything I could get my fingers on that might pull my head above water. “Surely, we could send a—”

She shook her head. “Even if there was a way to get a message to them in time, and then somehow instantly transport them across the vast distance that separates us, that fleet out there would still outnumber us five to one.” She took in the armada once more, her eyes darting back and forth as her brilliant mind calculated the odds one last time. “Make that seven to one.”

I studied her face, beautiful as the first day I laid eyes on her. If there were answers there, I could not find them. For maybe the first time, my Empress seemed without hope, without a plan, without the fiery spark of defiance that usually fueled everything she put her hand to.

“What are we to do, my Lady?”

“I’m afraid this is the end of the line for you, Val.” She reached beneath her robe and slid the sword she kept there from its sheath.

For a moment, my heart filled with dread. I’d seen many a being lose their head to that very sword, but she quickly drew the blade across her open palm, the cut so fine that at first no blood dared appear.

I shook my head no. “I swore an oath, Your Majesty…until the very end.”

“And I’m releasing you now from that oath. No sense that this should be the end of both of us, and surely it will if you stay here.” Her eyes softened as she stared at me. “You have done all that I’ve asked of you and more. I have no right to ask anything further of you—and yet, I must.”

I brought my fist to my chest in salute. “Say the word, Empress. I am yours to command.”

She sheathed her sword once more and then produced a vial from the folds of her robes. She squeezed the fist of the hand she’d cut and caught the drippings of blood that fell from her skin.

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She sealed the vial and wiped the remaining blood off her hand. I could see the wound from the cut had already closed. She had a knack for such things.

She held the vial of blood out to me. “Take this, Val. You will know what to do with it when the time is right.”

“I can’t,” I muttered, unable to process the thought of going on without my Empress.

The ship rocked with the first barrage of enemy fire and I nearly lost my footing. Alarms went off and I fought the urge to panic. The Empress made no move to respond to the salvo. It was almost as if the threat outside didn’t exist. She held my worried gaze with calm in her eyes—acceptance. Acceptance of the situation, of the danger, of her fate.

“There is a GR fighter that I captured awhile back in the shuttle bay. You will go to it and use it to escape. I’ll jettison the remaining escape pods to help hide your launch and with any luck you’ll slip through the blockade and find your way to somewhere safe.”

I shook my head again, like a fool who refuses to accept the inevitable. “I cannot leave you, Your Majesty. Come with me and we will escape together.”

Her expression changed, almost a wince, as if I’d caused her pain somehow.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. They would know.” She spread her arms, gesturing to the space around her. “How do you think they found me here in the first place?”

“I don’t understand, Empress.”

“And you don’t need to, Val. You only need to do as I ask, one last time.”

Another warning shot rocked the ship.

I bowed my head in acceptance of her charge and took the vial from her.

“Once you’re away and I’ve launched the escape pods, take the ship somewhere safe.” She approached me close enough to feel her breath on face as she spoke. She pressed something else into my palm. “You have recorded the happenings of my court since the day you swore loyalty to me—this will fill in what you are missing.”

I glanced down to see a data drive in my hand, and my heart quickened at the thought of the many secrets it might contain.

She spoke, breaking the spell I was under. “My final command to you is this: finish the chronicle you have started, Val Vikaal. That is all.” With that she kissed me on the lips. It was not the passionate kiss of a lover, but it was not nothing either. Long buried feelings threatened to drill to the surface of my mind, and I fought to keep them where they were, lest I lose my last shred of sanity in the moment.

Even then, I was surprised to find myself halfway to the shuttle bay, being led by the Empress. My efforts to suppress the stupor must have been less effective than I believed, and my cheeks reddened at the thought of the Empress seeing me in such a state.

And then we were there, standing beside the captured Galactic Republic fighter.

The Empress typed rapidly on the ship’s access panel and coded control over to me.

“Go, now, before they lose their patience,” she said.

“I can’t, Your Highness. Please come with me.” I tried begging off one last time, but she would hear none of it.

“You are the only one who can do this, Val Vikaal of Rivian IV. And that is why you will do this for me.”

I opened my mouth to argue the point again and she shut it with a glare before any more of my foolish words could escape. I’d seen the look before, several times, in fact, and it never ended well for the parties on the receiving end of it. I bowed my head and readied myself to leave her.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve you, Empress, and I will spend the rest of my days—”

She rolled her eyes and shooed me away. “That’s enough of that…now get lost, kid.”

My cheeks flushed at the playful rebuke and I nodded, offering one last goodbye before climbing the ladder and carefully lowering myself into the fighter’s cockpit. A momentary panic set in as the canopy closed over me, sealing me inside. “Hey, wait!” I screamed at the Empress’s back as she moved out of the way of the ship’s departure path. “I don’t know how to fly this thing!”

She turned back with a wicked grin, amused at my hysteria. “I’ve laid in a course for the planet below. It’s relatively unpopulated except for a few major settlements, but you should be able to find your way off-world from there and get back to some semblance of civilization if you choose. But who knows?” She shrugged. “You might like it down there out of the cold of deep space.”

Having spent most of my life on a space station or some sort of ship of one kind or another, I doubted her very much. Even on the most populated world, I still found myself missing the background noises that most people took for granted: the vibration of the engines humming through the deck plates, or the faint whistling of the life support system circulating air through the vents, or the alert chimes signaling that it was time for shift change.

“So just sit back and enjoy the ride then?” I laughed nervously.

The Empress laughed even harder. “More like hold on tight and pray for a miracle!”

The smile drained from my face, and the ship’s repulsors kicked on, elevating the Galactic Republic fighter off the flight deck. I offered one more weak wave goodbye and then my full attention was on the scene unfolding in front of me as the shuttle bay doors opened and the fleet outside all opened fire at once.