The Aether-Rail Citadel cut through the gray haze beyond the Veiled Expanse like a blade. Two newer citadels flanked it, their hulls still marked with fresh weld lines from the shipyards.
A handful of Dominion sky platforms trailed behind, their weapons arrays powered low to conserve energy. Aiden stood on the command deck, arms crossed, watching the sensor feeds.
Nyra stepped up beside him. "Anomalous signals confirmed. Orbital debris. Energy spikes that don't match any natural fracture pattern. This wasn't a random cataclysm. Someone built it."
"Show me," Aiden said.
The display lit up with scattered wreckage and faint trails. Not asteroids. Not storms. Artificial.
"Harvesters," Nyra added. "That's what the patterns suggest. Automated. Efficient. And they've been here before."
Kaelra's voice crackled over comms from the lead escort. "Contact. Multiple signatures incoming. Fast movers."
