Chapter 5: The Awoken Audience (and More Politics Than Expected)

The return to the Reef was significantly heavier than the departure, mostly because Jax was carrying a Vex Gatelord’s eye that was still clicking and humming like a highly caffeinated alarm clock.

“If that thing leaks Vex milk on my new boots, Vane, I’m billing your Vanguard account,” Kira warned, adjusting her cloak as they marched down the sterile, glowing corridors of the Queen’s court.

“It won’t leak,” Vane said, though he was nervously adjusting his collar for the fourteenth time.

“The containment field is stable. Mostly. What concerns me more is the ... exact nature of the audience we are about to receive.”

“Oh, look at him,” Kira teased, nudging Jax with her elbow. “The big, brave Void-walker is shaking in his robes. Afraid the Queen’s handmaidens are going to see right through that intellectual facade?”

“I am a professional,” Vane sniffed, straightening his spine. “A scholar of the Light. I am prepared for any diplomatic outcome.”

“I brought extra coolant!” Jax offered loudly, patting a heavy canister slung over his hip. “Just in case anyone’s internal processors get overheated again. The ladies in the front row looked very concerned about my exhaust vents last time.”