Nothing focuses you like a last chance.

I should know. I'm on mine. One more mistake and I'm out of the Imperial service. For a conscript barely halfway through her term of service, that doesn't mean just getting sent home. Doesn't mean exile. Doesn't mean a minor slap on the wrist.

It means a penal colony for the rest of my life.

It's not easy to forget that, even when I've finally been allowed to do the job I enjoy the most. I finally have a stable pack, finally am doing important work for the Empire instead of just doing menial tasks. I'm learning how to be a real Intelligence Agent years ahead of anyone else. Helping uncover just what really happened on Oshflara.

The trail of the false priestess and her smugglers has led us into the Reaches, light-years beyond the Imperial borders. From the automated farms in the Group of Five, to the pirate infested stars along the Ascendancy, then on to a snow covered Ark Fleet outpost, I'll do everything I can to help my Agent find the ones responsible.

Maybe then I'll have closure.

Maybe then... the nightmares will stop.