Five days later, the upper atmosphere above the northern ocean ignited with a violent crimson glare.
High above the clouds, ten thousand paces above sea level, the floating fortress of the Blood-Star Citadel hung suspended against the void.
Thick iron mooring chains the size of city walls plunged downward from the citadel’s black hull, anchoring it to three massive floating anchor towers known as the Sky-Tethers. Above the citadel, a web of glowing celestial conduits stretched straight up into orbit, channeling energy into Sovereign Solon’s grand Star-Array.
Inside the central control rotunda, the celestial tracking needle shuddered.
[Star-Array Charge: 80.4% Operational] [Time Remaining Until Orbital Ignition: 7 Standard Days]
Inquisitor Thorne-Crow stood before the glowing crystal lens, his scarlet robes trembling violently.
Behind him paced Ancestor Pyre and Ancestor Vesper, accompanied by Ancestor Draven, who sat slumped in a mechanized iron wheelchair. The three rulers of the archipelago looked like hollow ghosts.
Their ancestral seats on Sun-Crown Island and Void-Rift Reef were gone. Their treasuries had been emptied, their fleets captured, and their disciples absorbed into the southern alliance.
