Celestia, 0212 Hours
The Celestia glided through the darkened tides like a ghost, the gilded parts of its hull reflecting the bioluminescent scatter of alien sea life. No tracking beacon, no transponder, only one signal mattered down here, Karl's pulse.
From the bridge of the yacht, silence reigned, save for the hum of engines and the oceanic pressure groaning against the hull. There were only three signals aboard the vessel: Karl, his son Augustus, and his bodyguard C1RC3. Augustus stood near the viewport, arms folded behind his back, looking out into the darkness that surrounded them for kilometers. His father stood a few meters behind him, next to C1RC3 at the helm, motionless.
"Are you going to tell me why we've come leagues under the surface of the water?" Augustus asked, followed by a smirk. "Are you planning on telling me that we are breaking from the Confederation and starting our own Von Strauss Dominion?"
Karl turned, slowly. "That would be mercifully simple."
A tremor passed through the hull as the Celestia came to a stop. C1RC3 nodded to Karl, signalling that they've arrived. Outside, a new sound emerged, a sound that grew closer and closer with each breath. Karl motioned for Augustus to follow him down to the ship's hold. As they walked, Karl began,
"I liquidated most of our family's holdings when your grandfather passed." He said, voice heavier than the pressurized sea. "Ships, vaults, bonds, titles. Every gilded noose the galaxy hung around our necks."
"You said you were consolidating," Augustus responded.
"Yes." Karl said nodding, "I was. Here."
Just as they reached the hold, Karl could hear the sound of hissing, as the docking arm connected with whatever was below them. A quiet thunk as a hatch opened to reveal an elevator with only two buttons. Down and up. It was clear to Augustus that there was something below his father's yacht, something he had completely no knowledge of whatsoever.
"You are not just my heir, Augustus," Karl began, stepping down onto the elevator platform, stretching out a hand to help his son down. "You are the next iteration of a bloodline shaped by war, by betrayal, by ambition. A legacy of obedience. Of sacrifice."
As Augustus stepped down, Karl placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "And now... of reckoning."
Augustus swallowed, tension rising into his jaw. "You're beginning to sound like Aunt Ericka, during her lessons on military history. How she packed her lessons full of warnings and riddles."
Karl smiled softly, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"You'll understand soon enough."
He pressed a button, and they both descended.
~~~Beneath the Surface~~~
The chamber at the bottom was immense and domed, lit only by pulsing strips along the far walls. Thousands of data cores, datapads, and even books lined the circumference like a library carved into the planet's bones. In the center sat a single console, ancient, black, pulsing with a soft golden sigil. The crest of House Von Strauss.
Karl approached it.
"This archive is keyed to me," he said. "quantum-switch coded, deep-sea access tether, and neural permissions rooted in code written by your ancestors. Not even the Empress herself could breach it without my body."
He placed his hand on the console. It flickered.
A holoprojection of a woman appeared; she looked eerily familiar, yet entirely unknown. Her voice cut through the space.
The Projection said:
Karl turned to Augustus, the pale blue of the hologram reflecting in both their eyes.
"You descend from monsters. Martyrs. And something in between. Everything within these walls traces our line from its origin. The experiments. The failures. The obedience bred into our bones. It tells the stories of Aurtorius, Darian, Selene. Of Victus, who was made into a weapon. Of Cassia, who died for hope. Of Devoran, who was betrayed. Of Anya, who gave no quarter. And every soul who bore the name Von Strauss, and the price they paid."
He paused. "And of what I hope you will never have to pay."
Augustus didn't speak. His silence spoke volumes.
"I brought you here, not as your commander nor as Exarch," Karl said, "but as your father. What you choose to do with the truth... will define the next age of the Von Strauss line."
Another silence passed between them, much longer than the last.
Augustus stepped forward. Slowly. He looked at Selene's image, then at the library surrounding them.
He took a breath.
"Then let's begin."
