The image was an office that Xaleyp was acquainted with, though he had only visited it the one time just after meeting Ardus Kaine. In front of them were the recognizable armchairs and desk of the Chancellor’s office on Siatia in the Senate Building, but the man sitting in the chair in front of the window was unfamiliar. Gray hair peaked his head, and wrinkles danced across a face accented by crescent moon spectacles hanging on a short, almost flat nose. One of his hands idly tapped on the desk as he supported his head with the other, looking at a datapad.

Sitting in one armchair was Ardus Kaine, and in the other sat Seth Drake—both of whom looked like they believed they had somewhere far better to be. Looking far younger and more fit than Xaleyp had known him, Hayden Irani leaned against the wall in the corner, his arms crossed at his chest. Through the large window, the star Siatia orbited was beginning to crest over the tall spires, casting deep, long shadow along the relatively empty section of the city.

Finally, after what seemed like an impossibly long time of staring at the group of men in the room, the past Chancellor sat upright and spoke, his voice soft and gentle.

‟Now, for the record, today is the Terran date of July twenty-third, in the year five thousand, and this is a classified meeting between Chancellor Hunter Toten, Director Ardus Kaine, High Strategos Hayden Irani, and Hyperion Emperor Seth Drake.” The man took his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he set them on the desk in front of him. ‟Emperor, perhaps you could start by explaining why you called this meeting.”

Seth stood and cleared his throat, folding his hands behind his back as he walked to the potted plant at the side of the room. Each of the others followed him with their eyes, watching as he played with the petals of the shrub between his fingers. Xaleyp couldn’t help but focus solely on the man, yearning to know what this had to do with him.

‟A few years ago, I received a warning from one of my officers that there was a dire threat from one of the planets that has been under Hyperion control for centuries. I didn’t heed that warning, and now, I come to humbly ask for help in quelling the threat they pose before it’s too late.”

He turned to the Chancellor and bowed low as he spoke, bringing his hands together in front of him in a show of respect. The others looked on with mild curiosity, unsure what to make of Seth’s words.

‟Perhaps we could better make a decision if you would elaborate a little more on what exactly that warning was and how it affects us.” Irani stepped forward, bringing his arms away and down from his chest as he walked. ‟Vagueness and empty platitudes will not get you very far in this office, and it’s important that you keep that in mind when you come pleading for help.”

‟Arcadia, led by Governor Tober Delargivic, has been gathering the support of his citizens to further his government’s ambitions, which he refers to as the Praes Dominion.” Seth resumed his seat, bouncing his knee up and down, unable to sit still in the chair. ‟Under this concept, there have been many rebellions as it spread to some of the other planets under Hyperion control, and my armies are becoming spread too thin to properly quell the insurrections. I know that Siatia has been staying out of galactic affairs since the time of the Praesidium Union, but if there has ever been a time for your resurgence, it is here and now, when the entire galaxy is at risk of destabilization and being thrown into chaos.

‟My proposal is this: combined, our armies strike fast and hard at key locations throughout the galaxy where Tober’s ideals are strongest, targeting their leaders to demoralize and disrupt their followers.” Seth grabbed one of the datapads off the desk and flipped through several screens as he spoke, not giving anyone else a chance to get a word in edgewise. ‟If we can disrupt their supply lines, take out their leadership, and destroy their morale, we can ensure that this revolution is stopped in its tracks before it has a chance to reach and ruin Siatia.”

‟Hold on for a minute,” Chancellor Toten said, holding his hands up to stop Seth. ‟Siatia is not some private military corporation you can just hire to carry out your dirty work of assassination and terrorism.”

‟Siatia may not be, Chancellor,” Ardus said, his eyes lighting up slightly, ‟but the Vanguard Ascendancy is ready to lend a hand to anyone who may need it in the galaxy. I’m sure the High Strategos would be happy to authorize any aid that we are able to provide the Emperor.”

Ardus looked to Irani hopefully, but the man simply forced a tight smile and shook his head slightly. Seth looked between the two of them, the enthusiastic look of a puppy lighting up his face before Toten waved away the words.

‟Be that as it may, you’d do well to remember that I have final say in all Vanguard operations, no matter how many asinine plans you come up with.” The Chancellor rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers and turned his chair to look out the window. He sat silent for several moments, his lips pursed in thought and the others simply staring at him and awaiting his answer.

Finally, Seth broke the quiet himself, sighing loudly as he stood and paced around the rectangular rug.

‟Your eminence—is it okay if I call you that?—I would never suggest such grotesque methods of political change as assassination. However, I think it is imperative that you consider the possibilities of what could happen if Tober Delargivic is allowed to succeed in his endeavor of his Praes Dominion. Life as we know would be over, with his handpicked leaders taking control of every planet in the galaxy. As such, we must make an example of those that have shown themselves to go against the will of their people. We must show them that the person they view as their savior is nothing more than a sham. Then, once the Praes Dominion has been effectively squashed, I must go as well.”

Some of the speech was garbled, and the image warped for a moment before it returned to normal with Seth standing several feet away from where he had been.

‟You want us to kill you?” Ardus asked, his voice sounding perhaps a little too giddy. A smile came to his face for a fraction of a second before being replaced by the impassiveness he displayed most of the time Xaleyp met with him.

‟Ardus, you make it sound so foul, as if you’re committing some sort of crime. Consider this my own form of euthanasia, if it helps your conscience at all. To answer your question more directly, don’t think of it as killing me. Billions of people around the galaxy are following Tober Delargivic and his ideals, and if the man they have placed so much faith in is killed, they are going to want to go after the person that has caused that to happen—me. As such, it is important for you to restore the trust of those people in Siatia, so that, even if my empire does not survive, one of our people are able to pick through the remains and salvage what is left.”

‟And what exactly would be stopping us from simply disposing of you now and taking what you’re offering?” Ardus rose an eyebrow in Seth’s direction, sitting back in the chair and folding his hands in his lap. ‟It seems to me that you really don’t have anything to give us that we couldn’t just forcibly commandeer, so tell us why we should side with you instead of Tober Delargivic.”

Seth stood motionless for several seconds, twiddling his fingers in small circles in front of his stomach as he stared at Ardus. His eyes darted in erratic patterns, perhaps searching his CAM for the answer, when he nodded and looked directly at the man sitting down.

‟I was hesitant to go into detail on this matter, but I have been given permission to reveal a secret to you.” He stepped forward and grabbed the chair, scraping it across the ground to turn it around and kneel on it with his arms draped over the back. ‟There is an ancient being who came to Terra millennia ago, seeking the downfall of humanity for nothing more than personal pleasure. However, some king or something convinced it to leave them untouched, and, in exchange, leave a powerful sword that could be used to strike down his enemies. This ancient being, always cunning, agreed, but wanted something in return: the enslavement of the human race in five thousand years’ time. The king, positive he would not live that long, agreed, as it would have no effect on him.”

The other three men were silent, listening with rapt attention to the story Seth was telling. Even Xaleyp felt himself holding his breath as he sat there, rehearing the tale of Ciovyr.

‟It is coming time for that bargain to bear the fruits of their labor, and I fear that the ancient being has begun to control people by way of the CAM network. I have already seen signs of my robotic soldiers acting strangely and contrary to orders, so, as such, I started going back to human soldiers to fill my armies. However, now there have been some inconsistencies in how people have been acting. Some of those around me have been smiling when they have no reason to do so, talking in almost singing voices then having no recollection of the event. Tober himself may have been compromised if the reports I have received are anything to believe. As a precaution, I changed the encryption on my army’s CAM, and it seems to have done the trick for now, so I encourage you to do the same. I fear that our day of reckoning is upon us, and we must work together to stop this threat.

‟There is one other person that I have in my possession that is needed for this plan to succeed. Someone that, if my reports are correct, Siatia has been studying and watching from afar: Xaleyp Vah’Aris.”

The image shifted unnaturally again and came back as Ardus looked to the Chancellor quickly, a shimmer of worry passing over his face, while Irani simply looked puzzled.

‟Who’s Xaleyp Vah’Aris?” he asked, walking over to the desk with careful footsteps.

‟I’m surprised you haven’t heard of him, High Strategos, given that Siatia kidnapped his father just a few years ago.” Seth tapped his fingers against the back of the chair in an incessant rhythm as he spoke. ‟Nevertheless, I was curious why exactly you have been keeping tabs on him, and I received a bit of advice to run blood tests on all of the children that I recruited from Stariek.”

‟And what did that tell you?” Ardus’ voice was perhaps too eager, and he quickly changed his expression from one of fascination to mild curiosity. ‟I mean, did you discover anything interesting when you got the results?”

‟I did, Director, but, unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss those with you, especially if you are not willing to help me with my issue.” As Seth spoke, his voice rose until he was yelling, and he pushed himself off the chair, causing it to almost topple over before its legs hit the ground with a pair of thuds. ‟Now is not the time to be hemming and hawing, waiting to see if you get a better offer. The end of life as we know it is at stake, and you must be willing to make a decision rather than trying to pass it off to someone else.”

‟Very well, Emperor,” the Chancellor said, shrugging his shoulders. ‟You have my word that Siatia will aid Hyperia in their efforts at stopping Tober Delargivic and his Praes Dominion from gaining the position that you state they will achieve. Now, is there anything else you wish to discuss with us?”

Seth stood still for a few moments, apparently unprepared for them to actually agree and not sure of what he was supposed to do. Finally, he scratched the back of his neck, turned his gaze to the floor, and shook his head.

‟Then we will be in touch to work out the logistics of this plan. You may go.”

The Chancellor waved his hand towards the door, and Seth obediently walked to it and out as it hissed open. When it closed behind him, Ardus turned to Toten at once, a furious expression on his face.

‟I cannot believe you are just trusting the word of a madman and agreeing to go along with this.”

‟I am doing no such thing, Director, and I thought you would know better than anyone what we are going to do. Hyperia has been steadily declining the last century, and their territories are ripe for the taking. Therefore, it only makes sense for us to pretend to work with them before pulling the rug out from under them when they least expect it. Now, this meeting is over.”

The image winked out at once, and Xaleyp’s room was left once more in silence.

Xaleyp’s heart pounded against his chest as he considered what they had just watched and heard. If Siatia had agreed to work with Seth Drake against Arcadia, then what happened to cause the two of them to become the bitter enemies he found them as? Why did Ardus want to capture both Tober and Seth so badly if the latter was on good terms with him?

Before Xaleyp could say anything to Eve, the door hissed open, and Ardus Kaine strode in, his silver robes flowing in his wake and hands clasped behind his back. He looked at Eve for a moment before turning his gaze to Xaleyp, a glimmer of joy in his eyes.

‟Everything has almost fallen into place, Xaleyp, so it would be best if you got ready. We have a big day ahead of us.”

Ardus bowed to them both before turning on his heel and walking back out the door without waiting for a response.

‟What am I going to do?” Xaleyp asked, running his fingers through his hair as he leaned back in the chair. He could feel his heart racing, threatening to burst from his body. His voice was hardly above a whisper, but it filled the room in the silence left in the wake of the video and Ardus. ‟My parents are alive. Ardus told me they were, but I don’t think I really believed him until now.”

‟Whatever you decide on, I’ll stand beside you,” Eve said, placing her hand on his knee and smiling in what she thought was a bright manner. ‟In the end, I know that you will do what you think is right. Remember that this doesn’t change anything, especially with not letting Ardus know that anything is up. We can’t let it slip that we have all this information we shouldn’t have, seeing how there are still only four of us against the entire Siatian war machine.”

‟I know I’ve decided on one thing for sure, and that’s that I need to hear this from the source.”

He stood, brushing Eve’s hand off his leg, and walked to the door. She stared at him in disbelief, watching every step he took.

‟That better not mean what I think it means, Xaleyp.” Her voice was more dangerous than he’d ever heard it, and she rose to her feet as abruptly as he did. ‟If you go talk to Ardus now, you’ll ruin everything we’ve been working for and get yourself tossed in jail or worse.”

‟I’m not going to talk to Ardus. I’m going to talk to Seth.”

Without another word, Xaleyp walked out the door, leaving her standing alone in shocked silence.