Ghosts of Lyarra by Damian Shishkin

whisked away by the Ifierin to the safest place possible; her ship the Lyarra’s Fire that circled above. Moments after the shuttle docked, the golden ship pulled away from Havyiin and set up station away from the planetary orbits along with a guard force of two warships. A tense twenty minutes after the blast on Ryas, the Empress was declared safe and secure! Now there was only the business of picking up the pieces and figuring out who or what had dared to wage war with the Empire.

Three Orbit of the Guild World Ryas
    Once she had been skirted away from the Council and reunited with her assassin guards, she was ushered to her personal shuttle that would take her back home to Ryas. The temple - or what remained of it after the attack - was now compromised as she struggled to wrap her head around what had just transpired. It had taken every ounce of her will to stay put at her station, even though all her senses screamed for her to run. Never before in her long life had she been that scared, and now that that part was over she was left with more questions than answers.
    She thought she had all the answers; knew all the players in the game before she played her hand. But now there was a late joiner and he was the wild card in all of this. Could it be she had overlooked a simple detail? Could she have made a mistake after so long of being careful?
    No; everything had been planned to perfection! Her entire life was dedicated to this task and every step had been painstakingly planned before being taken. Nothing had been missed, if anything the coming of the Harbinger had done little but aide her cause. She had rolled with the new development and even used the epic sacrifice to further her means. A weapon of enormous proportions had been lost to the darkness of space and with it she had been able to place the blame for it squarely on the Empress. Up until a few minutes ago she had been in total control; enjoying the last few torturous moments of her adversary’s reign as her grip on the throne spiralled away further and further. But now, there was this new development and it threatened her directly.
    It knew of her plans; knew of her intentions and meant to undermine everything she had worked for. This was her birthright at stake and she had planned far too long to let it get away from her now. She had to know more; who was this unknown assailant and why had he turned his ire on her? She noted it had mentioned an intrusion into his home and began to think. She had given the go ahead to thousands of missions by her assassins; it could be any of those in which he had been attacked!
    Taking a deep breath, she did her best to compose herself. It would serve no purpose to let the help see her in this state. Someone of her stature had to remain in control at all times, even in the face of adversity. Holding back all the nervous energy that flooded her body she looked on at the news vids that continued on the explosions at the temple. He had struck with no warning, a slap to her face that would sting for some time to come, but worse yet he had left the threat of another attack. He had threatened to take from her everything she sought after and that was something that just couldn’t happen. The Throne of Light was just within her reach and she would not lose it now!
    —
Lyarran Vessel Dark Light; Imperial Shipyards of Thsin
    Lyxia left the holo-chamber in silence; still stunned from the events of the Council meeting. The entire staff of the Ops Control stared in anticipation of an order, but as the Council of the Dark Light sank into her chair none came. Instead, she began to replay all that transpired in an attempt to make sense of it. In a flash, an unknown being had declared war on the Empire and for the first time none of her training or instincts could help her.
    Looking up at the view screen, she could see the commotion about the docks as all available ships disembarked to the inner system to track down the assailant. All rules