The woman in white robes walked at a brisk pace through the corridor. Every step was met by a baffled bow of her subjects as they were forced to halt their duties to acknowledge the Empress' passing. She approached two tall doors flanked by the Empress' Guard, who quickly pushed them open for her. Beyond them sat a circular chamber of ornate marble surrounded by opulent pillars of white and red stones. A table was situated in the very centre of the room, sunken into a small pocket of the floor so that the vault gave view to any spectators who sat on the marble steps that surrounded the centre. At one point, over a hundred years ago, the Senate would meet here and congregate on those very steps.
Now there was a table, and around it stood the Empress' most trusted advisors. They gave her a bow as she approached them, and then waited patiently for her to take her seat at the end of the table. The chairs creaked as the rest seated themselves after, and so the Royal Council could commence. Empress Agatha waved off any refreshments for herself, leaving the remainder to decide for themselves as she glanced at some documents that had been prepared for her.
The rest of the council tended to their refreshments quietly as the Empress flipped through a number of pages. The doors opened once again, drawing everyone but Agatha's attention to an old man in a suit who looked as though death itself was bearing over his shoulder. He came down the steps and approached the table, then took a bow. The Empress didn't look up from the paperwork, but she did speak in a solemn tone, ''You're late, Chancellor Van Allen.''
The Chancellor bowed his head in shame this time, and spoke up apologetically, ''Your Majesty, I apologise, I had some pressing matters to deal with in the Senate.''
''More pressing than an Imperial Summons?'' Agatha said as she peered upwards at the man, her steely eyes piercing the moody room. Van Allen lowered his head again, though he said nothing this time. ''Do not let it happen again, Chancellor. Have a seat,'' she said, gesturing to the chair at the opposite end with her hand. Van Allen gingerly pulled the chair and seated himself at the table. Agatha put the papers down and rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment.
''Where are we right now with the Red Abyss?'' she asked as she looked about the table for an answer among the many faces present. The Intelligence Minister was the one who decidedly spoke up, placing a suitcase on the table where he could withdraw further reading material for the Empress and the table to review.
''Our observatory in the region has made a few breakthroughs on the matter. For one, the collapse of its previous occupants seems tangentially related to what's been flagged as the Revenant. A dimensional anomaly of sorts had briefly existed. We're still gathering data, but from what historical records we could pull of the region, something was being kept in that nebula and it... has escaped,'' the man said as he passed the documents over.
''What do you mean?'' the Empress asked puzzled.
''Oh, what nonsense! Your Majesty...'' the Economic Minister had spoken up but was quickly silenced by the Empress' hand.
''There were reports of a special type of artificial intelligence that was either guiding or had co-existed with the prior civilisation. You wanted us to investigate the matter, and while data on this intelligence is rather scarce, we believe it had a very different purpose from what seemed to have appeared. A sort of gatekeeper for something in the nebula. What we did find was troves of data on the so-called Glyrrans. The precursors that existed before the Red Abyss and Radiant Nebula. They had created something far worse than that karax pathogen, or this apparent intelligence. Or they found it themselves. We're not sure. What we do know now is that there's been a massive amount of refugees fleeing an apparent slaughter in the region from something ungodly,'' the Intelligence Minister finished.
Agatha sat the papers down she'd been given and then spoke in turn, ''Have we managed to salvage any sort of technology from these precursors, or find any further evidence of this intelligence?''
''I'm afraid not, Your Majesty. We do have a strain of the karax pathogen on the Icarus station, even that as alluded us insofar as teaching us anything useful about these creatures,'' he answered.
''What about a scouting expedition?'' the Empress asked, drawing protests from the Economic and Domestic ministers.
''Wouldn't that be too risky?''
''By the sounds of it, we're still in the dark, and poking something we don't understand might backfire on us.''
''It can be done, but it'd have to be a frigate. Otherwise, the Senate is going to take issue, they won't fund anything bigger, even though it is your prerogative, it's their money, Your Majesty,'' the Military Minister spoke up.
''Meric,'' the Empress said towards the Military Minister, ''You've my permission you assemble a crew for an expedition. Any additional provisions I'll fund myself, understood?''
''Yes, Your Majesty''
