The command center was quiet—too quiet.
Kai Ren stood before a black screen, hands behind his back, surrounded by silence and shadows.
The lights flickered once.
Then again.
And then, the main monitor turned on—without anyone touching it.
A video feed appeared.
Dark. Grainy.
A woman's silhouette sat calmly behind the static. Her face was hidden in the shadows, but her voice… smooth, sharp, and too controlled to be anyone ordinary.
"You've built something impressive, Kai Ren," she said softly."But even your empire stands on foundations I allowed to survive."
Kai Ren said nothing.
His mask stared at the screen like a mirror of defiance.
"You've been chasing answers," she continued."Lisa. The auction. The bounty. But you never once asked the right question."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Which is?"
"Who started the war."
A pause.
The screen darkened for a moment—then glowed red behind her.
"You think you're in control. But you're standing in a house I designed.All the data you trust. The safe zones. Your network. I've been inside it for years."
Kai Ren's voice came low.
"If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't be calling."
The woman leaned forward, her silhouette sharpening.
"Correct. I don't want you dead… yet."
"I want you to work with me."
He let out the faintest exhale.
"And if I don't?"
"Then I'll make sure Lisa never remembers you as an ally.Only as the man who helped destroy her."
For a moment, the room seemed colder.Even the screens frosted at the edges.
One of Kai Ren's officers moved toward the power controls.
"Don't," Kai said."She'll cut through everything faster than we can block her."
The silhouette continued.
"You're good at what you do. Strategic. Precise.But you're playing chess on a board I already flipped."
"Join me, Kai Ren.Help me unlock what's buried in Lisa's mind…Or be buried beside it."
Kai Ren's voice stayed calm.
"No."
"I don't serve shadows.I burn them."
There was silence.
Then her voice came again—quieter this time, with a faint hiss behind the words.
"You're not burning anything.You're standing in a graveyard, wearing armor you didn't forge."
"I am Nyxara.And you just made your last independent move."
The screen cut to static.
A pulse shook the command room—lights dimming, power lines screaming.
When it ended, the screen was black.