General
Cassian Abrantes stood with his hands loosely clasped behind his back, the posture of a man who had learned to look composed even when something genuinely stole his breath away. Through the forward viewport of the transport, Lightspire Station swelled from a distant glint into a sweeping, luminous silhouette, layers of plated architecture and radiant conduits laid out like a crown suspended in the dark. The station did not simply occupy space. It declared it.
Another chuckle escaped him as he thought of Elian, gods he would have a field day out here. If it was up to him, he would move out here and never come back home.
He let out a quiet breath and shook his head with a small, unguarded smile. It was not disbelief that moved him, but awe, the kind that made even a veteran soldier briefly forget the weight of his own title.
"That is truly impressive," Cassian murmured, the words carrying more reverence than he intended.
He turned from the viewport to the woman beside him, Chancellor Dominique Vexx, taking in the steady set of her shoulders and the unmistakable gravity that had settled around her since taking office.
"I'm amazed you haven't made it out here yet," he said, angling his chin back toward the station as it continued to grow in the viewport. "Granted, this is my first time here as well."
The transport's systems clicked through approach protocols, a soft mechanical rhythm beneath the quiet. Cassian held her gaze, expression open but professional, and offered a respectful nod, soldier to stateswoman, intelligence administrator to Chancellor.
"And if I didn't say it already," he added, voice warm without losing its edge of formality, "Congratulations on your election as Chancellor. If there is anything I can do to help, do not hesitate to ask."