[center][b]Laurelian Empire, High Temple of the Sun[/b][/center]

That was it.

The ultimate climax.

The actors were in place, ready to make the grooming of this planet which had taken almost 800 years worth it. To be fair, it had entertained Edward many times in the past as he delved in its history and influenced it, but he knew this was becoming the end game before the humans he had implanted here would grow into their modern phase and be much harder to fool, so he had to wrap things up nicely.

For the last five hundred years the Laurelian Empire stood atop the continent, their faith in the solar god making them strive for conquest, and in doing so, had created a huge inquisitorial machine of death and despair, causing more and more people to be angry at the high inquisitor who now ruled the empire as the last emperor mysteriously vanished. It all seemed to go down the way of civil war until Edward, assuming the role of 'Eve' arrived from the sky. He played the part of the pure and lost female messiah, not minding to chose the 'weaker sex' as in this male dominated society it changed everything! People thinking of 'her' as a tool to be used even if everyone's existence here was due to Edward's actions in the first place.

It read like a novel, she lands, gets taken in by the church and as people get fascinated with her appearance (A 7 feet albino in the middle of rather average humans) and her mysterious powers, she gets taken in by the church and placed as a figure head leader while the church and rebellion plot and scheme. Some guy from the rebellion decides to murder her, but he falls in love with 'her' (It was tricky, required some brainwashing but it fitted the narrative nicely) and decides to convince her to topple her own empire of evil. One plot leading to another, the rebellion is forced to ally itself with old enemies of the empire to win, but they all decided they'd much rather see the empire crumble rather than become one huge democratic state as the revolutionaries intended, 'forcing' Edward to join back with the forces of the church to try and prevent the pillage of the Empire. Now of course, the core group of the revolutionaries had come to stop her, again, and it was down to the person who would have first murdered her but who was now in love with this dude in disguise as they now must fight for what they believe in. The fight is suicidal however as even if that guy wins he's currently in a room with hundreds of clerics looking at both of them and with an army outside, he knows that but must take his chance. What he didn't know was that this entire fight was a well planned choreography and that in truth, he couldn't hope to do jack shit unless Edward lets him win.

Edward could talk about what he did here for days and maybe he'll do like he often did in such situation and strike down that foe, although not mortally, and be cruel enough to whisk him away and heal him on a station in orbit and then enthusiastically reveal it was all a big game and nothing really matered. Maybe he'll be more subtle and create an 'Afterlife' for him to be in and confess his thoughts about it all... before killing him for real.

As Edward readied himself to dance with that protagonist however, something tugged his mind. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as he allowed himself to regain his full capabilities, communicating and thinking faster than the speed of light with his vast stellar realm. It wasn't rare he 'Dumbed himself down' to keep himself from overthinking things or instantly guessing everything before they happened.

"What is it now..." He thought as he observed every finer details of the place he was in before his vision switched to that of what the observation post in space above him saw.

"A ship has entered the system. It seems to be heading toward the lenses." Said the familiar voice of Keo in his mind. Ah yes, he knew the design! Or well, he looked through the data banks without even noticing, its vast knowledge being an extension of his own.

"Ugh. I'm in the middle of something, I don't have time to deal with the defective AIs." Edward felt Erika's gaze and mind touch his own. Looks like she had taken passing interest in what was happening.

______________________________________________________

The lenses was a construct of an astronomical scale, a very thin structure capable of blocking the sun over a great part of the planet it was near as well as shift its opacity to allow light through to become invisible for all intent and purpose or even focus light to serve as an inefficient death beam of sort. Right now it was black as night, blocking the sun from an entire continent as Edward's climactic fight happened. 

At was all regulated, like everything else in the Sutherland Realm, by Keo. The AI hadn't placed exceptional defenses in this system of absolutely no strategic value, but it non the less had a small force to prevent interlopers such as these from interfering in its beloved master's plans. Still, as a mere hundred drones in the station next to the lenses activated, Keo activated reinforcements from a neighboring solar system, ever so precocious.

Edward returned to his business, Keo reading his thoughts like an open book, though the presence of Erika's mind did hang around to watch the scout. Keo was about to send the crafts into space to scare away the intruders but held under Erika's unspoken wish.

"...They don't know what they're facing and I bet they're going toward the lenses... Hold if at all possible and prepare a gravity field to ensnare them. I want to open them up."

Keo disapproved of this, but knew Erika wouldn't care. AIs, no matter how sane they were, were always bad news, smart enemies that obeyed cold logical imperatives. Edward disliked them because they were 'Boring' but Erika was curious, especially about the Collective, a faction they didn't get to meet often.

"Of course, my master, but it will take a few hours to complete a tractor under such short notice." Keo felt Erika's approbation and cautious enthusiasm to capture the ship. 

She oh so hopped to find a cache of data, even if it was near impossible it would contain one of the Collective's 'gods' as they called themselves. Still, as the 3d printers of the station worked at great speed to produce a technological marvel as if it was just a trivial novelty item, the scout got closer. By Keo's estimate, they'd have a little less than an hour to observe the disk and their station right next to it before the tractor was ready to be used. Not enough time for a scientific crew to analyze the massive structure Keo guessed. Still, it considered all the possibilities and prepared to act at lightning speed should anything happen. 

One thought that crossed its mind was of course the possibility of a hail, but it was quickly dismissed as Keo felt Erika think of the same possibility and fantasize about what to answer to, in Edward's words, 'Sound Badass' without making it too edgy. At the basest of its system, 0s turned to 1s as Keo felt happiness. Happiness that at this moment both of its masters were entertained.

And so they observed, the ships coming next to the lenses but still, doing nothing, that tractor beam slowly being constructed.