Sylas moved like a wraith through the dimly lit corridors of the space station, his cloak flowing behind him.
The only visible part of him was the eerie glow of the arc reactor embedded in his suit, casting a cold, artificial light.
From what he could see so far, the station was barely holding together. Although there were no obvious cracks on the walls, a lot of mismatched patches could be found, showing that they were most likely using recycled old pieces of metal to repair the space station. For instance, he recognized the wings of a starfighter being used to patch a bridge.
Although he had realized that the space station was facing a problem when he saw the mismatched levels of weapons the guards were carrying around, he had ignored it.
Now that he had time to think, he realized that the issue was bigger than he originally thought. I mean, why would a soldier be wearing the standard imperial soldier armor but carry a kinetic weapon?
He was moving towards the command center when he felt something, which caused him to turn a different corner.
Immediately after he did, a group of women huddled around injured survivors appeared before him.
Their eyes widened in terror at the sight of him, their hands instinctively pulling children closer.
Some of them reached for something to use as weapons but hesitated, knowing that whatever lurked beneath that cloak was beyond them.
The leader, a woman with striking black hair and weary eyes, stepped forward, her hands raised in surrender.
"Please," she said, her voice firm but laced with desperation. "Leave us. You're not one of them. You don't have to kill us."
Sylas tilted his head slightly as he looked at her, motioning for her to go on. He wanted to see her reasoning.
"You're not a pirate," she continued, glancing at his suit. "They don't wear armor like that. Although I can't fully see it, I can tell that it is very advanced."
'Smart, but still,' Sylas thought as he moved his hand towards his weapon.
She swallowed hard as she saw his movement. "We'll surrender the station to you. Everything we own—supplies, weapons, ships—just let us live."
The offer meant nothing to him since he was going to get it anyway. He was here to wipe out every last living soul, seize the station, and move forward.
Mercy wasn't part of his plan. His fingers curled around his weapon, ready to finish what he started—
"My Lord."
Sera's voice rang through the station's intercom, calm and precise. Sylas paused to listen since Sera rarely interrupted unless it was vital.
"I've accessed the station's records," she said. "These people are at odds with the nobles from the neighboring star system. The pirates should be part of a baron's secret forces that he sent to eliminate them."
That caught Sylas's attention.
"They have reason to hate the Empire as much as you do," Sera continued. "And we need human personnel. AI has limits. Droids can't replace everything."
Sylas hesitated. His mission was vengeance, and for that, he needed tools. Resources. Capable people. However, he didn't have to keep this group alive. He was still going to kill all of them—clean, efficient.
But then he noticed one of the children peeking out from behind the woman. A boy, no older than five. Although he did look very different from the other kids, Sylas could feel it.
An Aetherian.
At least, a child with the potential to be one.
Sylas exhaled slowly. The cold, calculating part of his mind took over.
With how rare Aetherians were, the boy alone was worth more than every single crate of supplies in this station.
And if the nobles wanted these people dead, then perhaps they were worth keeping alive because, technically, he would be helping them.
"Sera," he said at last. His voice came after a few seconds of thinking. "Change of plans."
The intercom hummed in acknowledgment.
"We're taking the station. But not as we planned." He turned his head slightly toward the survivors. "Tell the fleet to wipe out the pirates instead."
The woman's breath hitched, her wide eyes filled with both relief and disbelief.
"You work for me now," Sylas stated flatly. "Try to betray me, and I'll finish what I started."
He walked back towards the command center, his cloak sweeping the blood-stained floor.
But before he disappeared from their view, he paused and said, "By the way, tell your people to fall in line because anyone that doesn't..."
"Yes, my Lord."
The woman replied. Without Sylas needing to finish his sentence, she could understand very well what he meant.
She turned towards a surveillance camera and bowed. "Thank you very much for helping us, my Lady."
She knew that they had hacked the surveillance and could already talk with each other. The lady that helped them could definitely see her too.
"Oh, don't thank me. He was still going to kill you all till something else changed his mind," Sera replied.
"No, my Lady, you gave us a chance to convince him. If you hadn't spoken for us, he would have killed us immediately without thinking about it, so we owe you a great debt of gratitude."
She turned to the other people there and snapped, "What are you guys waiting for? Are you not going to thank our benefactor?"
"Yes, yes! Thank you very much, my Lady!" the other adults present immediately bowed as well, offering their thanks.
Sera chuckled before replying, "I am starting to like you already. Tell me, what is your name?"
The lady replied, "My name is Allison, but my Lady can call me Ally."
"Very well then, Ally. My name is Seraphis."
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All punctuation issues have been corrected. Let me know when you're ready to deal with the logic issues!