Celestine stood at the center of the Imperial Strategy Hall, hands resting lightly on the edge of the projection table.
Before her hovered a three-dimensional map of the Confluence, layered with shifting sigils that marked influence, military presence, and law density.
The room was full.
Sector Marshals. Diplomatic Ministers. Law Architects. Intelligence Lords. Each one represented a different facet of Astralis' expanding gravity, and each carried a different concern.
"They have begun massing fleets," Marshal Teyron said. His voice was low but perfectly controlled.
"It is not yet enough to constitute an open war, but it is far too many ships to be a coincidence."
"Which empires specifically?" Celestine asked, her gaze fixed on a cluster of red markers.
"Three of them. The Dominion of Kharos, the Virelion Compact, and the Heliox Ascendancy."
