Malrik Thorne did not always crave power.
Twenty years earlier, he was the Republic's greatest admiral. Loyal. Ruthless in battle, but honorable. He had a wife, Elara. A son, Jace.
During a peace summit between rival systems, Malrik was ordered to stand down when pirates hijacked civilian transports. Political optics mattered more than lives.
He obeyed.
The pirates detonated the ships.
Elara and Jace were aboard.
Malrik begged the Senate for retaliation. They offered condolences instead.
That night, something inside him died.
If the Republic would not protect its people, he would build something stronger. Something absolute.
The Iron Dominion was born from grief.
But grief turned to obsession. Order became oppression. Security became control.
Malrik convinced himself that fear was mercy. That his iron rule would prevent another man from losing his family.
He never once considered the children orphaned by his campaigns.
Children like Kael.