In the heart of the Astral Dominion, where the light of a thousand suns burned through the void, Commander Veyn Korrath stood on the bridge of the Ecliptic Spear, his gaze fixed on the shimmering holoscreen before him. The screen displayed a rogue planet, its surface a jagged mosaic of molten fissures and blackened stone, orbiting a dying star on the fringes of Dominion space. Veyn's gloved hand hovered over the command console, fingers tracing the edge of a rune that pulsed with the captured essence of a neutron star. His prey, his Astral Binding, hummed in his veins, a tether to the cosmic forces that fueled the Dominion's might.
The Dominion was no mere empire. It was a colossus forged from the raw energies of over a hundred galaxies, its hierarchy sustained by the Celestine Conduits, titanic structures that siphoned the lifeblood of planets and suns to power its fleets, cities, and enforcers like Veyn. To be a Conduit-Bound, as Veyn was, meant wielding the strength of celestial bodies as if they were extensions of one's own body. A single thought could collapse a star's core or rend a planet asunder. But such power came with a cost: absolute loyalty to the Dominion's Archon Council, and a life spent hunting those who dared defy it.
"Commander," came a voice from behind, sharp and clipped. Lieutenant Saria Velt, Veyn's second-in-command, stepped forward, her silver uniform glinting under the bridge's stark lights. Her own Binding a faint corona of solar energy flickered around her shoulders, betraying her agitation. "The rogue planet's energy signature is unstable. It's harboring rebel tech. Scans confirm at least three illegal Conduit siphons."
Veyn's jaw tightened. Rebel siphons were a growing problem. Insurgents had learned to tap into the Dominion's Conduit network, stealing fragments of stellar power to fuel their own makeshift weapons and ships. Each siphon was a splinter in the Dominion's flawless order, a threat to the hierarchy that had stood unchallenged for millennia.
"Numbers?" Veyn asked, his voice low, like the rumble of a distant supernova.
"Estimate fifty rebels, maybe more. They've fortified the planet's core with a crude mimicry of our Conduit tech. It's drawing from the star's corona, but it's sloppy, and could destabilize the system if left unchecked."
Veyn's eyes narrowed. The holoscreen zoomed in, revealing a cluster of ramshackle structures embedded in the planet's crust, glowing faintly with stolen energy. Rebels. Always the same story: outcasts, idealists, or fools who thought they could challenge the Dominion's cosmic dominion. They never lasted long, but their defiance was a persistent irritant, like cosmic dust in the gears of a perfect machine.
"Prepare the Spear for orbital insertion," Veyn ordered. "I'll lead the strike team myself."
Saria hesitated, her corona flaring briefly. "Sir, protocol dictates a full bombardment from orbit. A ground assault risks"
"Risks are my domain, Lieutenant," Veyn cut in, his tone final. "The Archons want these rebels alive for interrogation. Bombardment leaves nothing but ash."
Saria nodded, though her expression remained taut. "As you command, sir."
Veyn turned back to the holoscreen, his mind already mapping the mission. He wasn't reckless, infact, he was far from it. But he trusted his Binding more than any orbital cannon. The power of a neutron star coursed through him, its crushing gravity and searing radiation bent to his will. He could feel it now, a weight in his chest, a pulse that synced with the universe's rhythm. To wield such power was to be both god and servant, bound to the Dominion's will yet towering above its enemies.
As the Ecliptic Spear descended through the rogue planet's turbulent atmosphere, Veyn suited up in the armory, his obsidian armor humming with embedded Conduit filaments. Each piece was a marvel of Dominion engineering, amplifying his Binding to let him channel stellar forces without burning himself to cinders. His helm's visor flickered to life, overlaying tactical data: rebel positions, siphon locations, and the planet's volatile tectonic activity. The air in the armory was thick with the scent of ionized metal and the faint hum of power cores.
"Commander," said a gruff voice. Sergeant Torren, a grizzled veteran with a Binding tied to a white dwarf's core, hefted a plasma lance. "My team's ready. We hit hard, we hit fast?"
"Always," Veyn replied, checking his own weapon, a sleek graviton blade that could slice through durasteel like paper. "But we take prisoners. The Archons want answers."
Torren grunted, his weathered face splitting into a grim smile. "Rebels don't surrender easy. Hope you're ready to crack some skulls before they talk."
Veyn didn't respond. He didn't need to. His reputation preceded him: Veyn Korrath, the Starlit Reaper, high-ranking officer of the Dominion's Enforcer Corps, who'd hunted rebels across a dozen sectors and never failed a mission. Yet beneath the armor, beneath the power, a flicker of unease stirred. The rebels were growing bolder, their siphons more sophisticated. Something was shifting in the void, and Veyn couldn't shake the sense that this mission would be different.
The drop pod's hatch sealed with a hiss, and the strike team known as the ten Conduit-Bound enforcers, each tethered to a different celestial force braced for descent. The pod shuddered as it plummeted, gravity amplifiers keeping it on course through the planet's storm-wracked skies. Veyn closed his eyes, letting his Binding flare. He sensed the rogue planet's core, a churning mass of molten iron and radioactive isotopes, and the star's distant pull, its corona lashing out with tendrils of plasma. He could crush this world with a thought, but precision was his mandate.
The pod slammed into the surface, kicking up a plume of ash and molten rock. The hatch blew open, and Veyn led the charge, his boots crunching on the scorched ground. The air was thick with sulfur and the electric tang of siphon energy. Ahead, the rebel stronghold loomed a jagged fortress of scavenged metal and glowing conduits, pulsing like a diseased heart.
"Fan out," Veyn ordered through the comms. "Torren, take the left flank. Saria, secure the perimeter. No one escapes."
The team moved with lethal precision, their Bindings lighting up the battlefield. Torren unleashed a pulse of white-dwarf gravity, collapsing a rebel turret into a crumpled heap. Saria's solar corona flared, incinerating a squad of drones before they could fire. Veyn advanced alone, his graviton blade humming as he carved through a blast door like it was cloth.
Inside the stronghold, the air was stifling, the walls lined with pulsing siphon conduits that glowed an unnatural green. Veyn's visor flagged the energy signature: not Dominion tech, but something older, rawer. His unease deepened. The rebels shouldn't have access to anything this advanced.
A figure emerged from the shadows a woman, clad in patchwork armor, her eyes glowing with the telltale light of a Binding. Her power felt strange, untamed, like a star on the verge of collapse.
"Commander Korrath," she said, her voice calm but edged with defiance. "I wondered when the Dominion would send its favorite hound."
Veyn raised his blade, its edge crackling with gravitational distortion. "Surrender, and you might live long enough to explain yourself."
She laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "You think we're just rebels? You have no idea what's coming, do you?"
Before Veyn could respond, she thrust out her hand, and a wave of raw stellar energy slammed into him. His armor's conduits flared, absorbing the brunt, but the force drove him back a step. She was strong, too strong for a rogue. Her Binding felt like a pulsar's erratic pulse, chaotic yet devastating.
"Who are you?" Veyn demanded, stabilizing his stance.
"Call me Lysa," she said, circling him. "And I'm not your enemy. The Dominion is."
Veyn lunged, his blade arcing toward her. She dodged with unnatural speed, her own weapon a jagged staff crackling with energy parrying his strike. Sparks flew, the air warping under their clashing Bindings. Veyn felt the neutron star's power surge within him, and he unleashed it, a focused gravitational pulse that shattered the floor beneath Lysa's feet.
She stumbled but didn't fall, countering with a blast of pulsar radiation that scorched his armor's surface. The fight was brutal, each move a dance of cosmic forces. Around them, the stronghold trembled, siphons overloading as the planet's core destabilized.
"You're fighting for a lie," Lysa hissed, dodging another strike. "The Dominion's Conduits are bleeding the universe dry. You're just too blind to see it."
"Enough," Veyn growled, his patience fraying. He channeled his full Binding, the air around him warping as he summoned the neutron star's crushing gravity. The walls groaned, metal buckling as Lysa was forced to her knees.
But she smiled, blood trickling from her lip. "Look closer, Reaper. The siphons aren't ours. They're yours."
Veyn froze, his visor scanning the conduits. The green glow wasn't rebel tech, it was Dominion, but altered, corrupted. His mind raced. A setup? A betrayal? Before he could process it, an explosion rocked the stronghold, and the comms erupted with Saria's voice.
"Commander, the siphons are overloading! The planet's core is collapsing!"
Veyn's eyes locked with Lysa's. She wasn't fighting anymore, just watching him, her expression unreadable. "Run, Korrath," she said. "Or die with your masters' lies."
He didn't hesitate. "All units, evac now!" he barked into the comms, grabbing Lysa's arm and dragging her toward the exit. Rebel or not, she knew something, and he'd be damned if he let her die before he got answers.
The strike team fought their way back to the drop pods, the planet quaking beneath them. Siphons detonated in chain reactions, sending plumes of molten rock skyward. Veyn shoved Lysa into a pod, ignoring her protests, and sealed the hatch as the Ecliptic Spear's engines roared overhead.
As the pod launched, Veyn stared at the crumbling planet through the viewport. Lysa's words echoed in his mind: The Dominion's Conduits are bleeding the universe dry. He'd served the Dominion for decades, wielded its power without question. But the corrupted siphons, her Binding, the rebels' growing strength it didn't add up.
Back on the Spear, Veyn secured Lysa in a holding cell, her wrists bound with null-field cuffs that dampened her Binding. She sat calmly, her glowing eyes meeting his through the cell's transparent wall.
"Talk," he said, his voice cold. "What did you mean about the Conduits?"
Lysa leaned forward, her smile faint but sharp. "You think the Dominion's power comes from mastery? It's theft. Every sun, every planet they drain is slowly killing the universe. And you, Reaper, are their executioner."
Veyn's fist clenched, the neutron star's pulse in his chest quickening. "You're lying."
"Am I?" she asked. "Check the siphon logs. See where the energy's really going."
He turned away, her words gnawing at him. The bridge was quiet when he returned, the crew focused on their tasks. Saria approached, her corona dimmed. "The planet's gone, sir. No survivors except the prisoner."
Veyn nodded, his mind elsewhere. He pulled up the Spear's data logs, accessing the Conduit network's energy flows. What he found made his blood run cold: massive energy diversions, unaccounted for, routing to coordinates deep in Dominion core space. Not rebel activity internal.
"Commander?" Saria asked, sensing his tension.
"Set course for Arcthrone," Veyn said, naming the Dominion's capital world. "And get me a secure line to the Archon Council."
As the Ecliptic Spear warped into the void, Veyn stood alone, staring at the stars. For the first time in years, doubt crept into his heart. The Dominion was his life, his purpose. But if Lysa was right, if the hierarchy he served was built on a lie, then the Starlit Reaper might soon hunt a very different prey.