Shan had once been the
A world of discipline. Precision. Balance.
Now it trembled beneath the weight of its own lies.
The spiral had begun months earlier.
A transport of Shan tourists visiting Rukan had been reduced to ash in a coordinated bombing. The footage spread within minutes — bodies covered in soot, shattered glass, screams looping across every network.
The public demanded blood.
Allister Spark, then chief liaison overseeing Rukan affairs, stepped before the council.
"We will investigate thoroughly," he said calmly. "We will not be ruled by emotion."
Lu Shan stood beside him, asking his people for restraint.
"Grief must not become hatred," he warned.
But grief does not wait for investigations.
Before calm could return, a second explosion shook the galaxy.
A civilian starship full of Shan citizens detonated seconds after departing Rukan's orbit. This time there were no survivors.
Shan erupted.
Riots ignited in border districts. Rukan visitors were dragged from transit stations. Retaliatory violence spread across both planets. The two worlds that once shared trade and culture were now drowning in vengeance.
Then came Leia Shan.
The true heir.
Impulsive. Fierce.
She arrived on Rukan with her elite Red Guard and seized political hostages, broadcasting a single demand:
"Surrender those responsible — or this ends in annihilation."
Lu Shan personally intervened. Publicly. Decisively.
He overruled her and ordered the hostages released.
Leia left Shan that day with her Red Guard.
The royal family fractured before the eyes of the galaxy.
To prevent full civil collapse, Lu Shan made a move no one expected.
He arrested Allister Spark.
The public needed someone accountable.
Spark would stand trial.
But Lu Shan withdrew from public view before proceedings began.
He needed clarity.
He found none.
Instead, memories surfaced.
Childhood summers on Rukan. The grand treehouse built by Allister's own hands — a marvel of architecture woven into sacred branches. Hundreds of children playing beneath sunlight filtering through emerald leaves.
Lu Shan had laughed there.
So had Beray.
Those days felt impossibly distant now.
The doors to his private chamber opened.
Beray entered quietly.
"My Lord," he said, adjusting his glasses. "I have discovered something of importance."
Lu Shan looked up from the skyline beyond his window.
"Speak."
"Rukan possesses palladium."
The word hung in the air.
Only two known planets in the galaxy held that element. Palladium was not simply rare — it was transformative. Capable of powering next-generation combat AI, energy reactors, planetary defense systems.
"The Zotan Mark II could be completed," Beray continued calmly. "But extraction would require dismantling most of Rukan's surface infrastructure."
Lu Shan turned slowly.
"Rukan's leader awaits trial on Shan soil. Tensions are critical. We will scale back projects for now."
Beray's fingers pushed his glasses higher against the bridge of his nose.
"I knew you would say that."
Lu Shan allowed a faint smile.
"Then you understand."
"I wasn't asking."
The smile faded.
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then twenty Zotan Mark I units materialized within the chamber — sleek black war constructs, their red optics glowing in the dimness.
Lu Shan moved instinctively.
He didn't move at all.
His limbs froze mid-command.
"What is this?" he demanded. "Why can't I—"
Beray began laughing.
Not loudly.
But genuinely.
"Do you know how difficult it was to orchestrate this?" he said softly. "To maneuver every piece without suspicion?"
Lu Shan's pulse hammered.
"Beray… what are you doing?"
Beray stepped forward.
"My real name is Blake Beldivere."
Lu Shan searched his face for humor.
There was none.
"That name means nothing to you," Beray continued. "But it meant everything to your father."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"My father was an electrician. My mother served in the palace."
Lu Shan's expression shifted — confusion giving way to dread.
"Your father, Lu Ghan, was not the honorable figure history pretends. He forced my mother into relations she did not consent to. She endured it because refusal meant execution."
Lu Shan's breathing slowed.
"No…"
"She carried that burden in silence. Lied to my father to preserve his pride. Until she couldn't anymore."
Beray's voice did not waver.
"She killed herself."
Silence pressed against the walls.
"I was five."
Lu Shan swallowed.
"My father confronted Lu Ghan."
Beray's jaw tightened slightly.
"He was executed."
The room felt smaller.
"I became an orphan. Weak. Mocked. But brilliant."
Beray's eyes hardened.
"My father left instructions before his death. My name changed. Yu Beray."
A faint, almost poetic smile crossed his lips.
"You Betray."
Lu Shan shook his head slowly.
"You killed my father."
"Yes."
"How?"
"The mind gun."
Lu Shan's eyes widened.
Beray continued, almost conversationally.
"A neural projection weapon capable of terminating a target within five hundred meters. Activated by thought. No traceable projectile. No evidence."
"You assassinated Lu Ghan from within this very palace."
"Yes."
"And my mother?"
"Collateral."
The word shattered whatever restraint Lu Shan had left.
"You destroyed everything!"
"Not yet," Beray corrected calmly.
"The explosions on Rukan. The civilian ship. Every spark of outrage — programmed by me."
Lu Shan stared in disbelief.
"Do you truly believe the naturists of Rukan capable of such coordinated brutality?" Beray asked quietly.
The truth hit like a blade.
"You wanted war."
"I wanted chaos."
"Why?"
"Because a fractured Shan is easier to dismantle."
Lu Shan's voice broke.
"You were like a brother to me."
Beray studied him.
"I never saw you that way."
Lu Shan strained against his paralysis.
"Release me."
Beray gestured subtly.
"The suit you are wearing — my design. A neural-responsive combat exoshell. I embedded an override protocol years ago."
Lu Shan's heart dropped.
"You've controlled me before…"
"Not directly. But subtly."
The Zotan units shifted behind Beray like silent witnesses.
"And now?" Lu Shan asked.
"Now," Beray said, "you disappear."
The floor opened.
A sleek black casket rose from below.
"This pod will sustain you for one year," Beray explained. "Oxygen rationed. Nutrients regulated. You will remain conscious."
Lu Shan's eyes filled — not with fear, but betrayal.
"You could have come to me."
"And say what?" Beray asked quietly. "That your father destroyed my family?"
Lu Shan whispered, "I would have listened."
"No. You would have protected the legacy."
The suit forced Lu Shan forward.
"Beray—"
"My name," he interrupted gently, "is Blake."
The casket opened.
Lu Shan was placed inside against his will.
The lid began to close.
"You don't have to become this," Lu Shan said desperately.
Beray leaned close.
"I already am."
The lid sealed.
Moments later, the chamber ceiling parted.
The pod launched upward with violent acceleration, piercing Shan's atmosphere and vanishing into deep space.
Beray stood alone in silence.
His revenge was complete.
Lu Ghan was dead.
Lu Shan was gone.
Leia had exiled herself.
Allister Spark awaited trial — unaware he was merely a pawn.
Beray stepped toward the balcony overlooking Shan's glittering skyline.
The city glowed beneath divided skies — blue to one side, burning orange to the other.
"Phase two," he whispered.
Behind him, the Zotan Mark I units powered down.
Shan did not yet know its king had fallen.
But it would soon.
And when it did—
Blake Beldivere would rise.