Santos-Baca orders Trejo out of Sol on behalf of the combined defense and dies aboard Independence when eight Laconian rounds destroy the void city.
Emily Santos-Baca remains the ranking Transport Union board member aboard Independence as civilians evacuate and the city joins the coalition attack group. With her hair braided for null gravity, she answers Anton Trejo's demand to stand down. She declares his presence a territorial violation and act of war and orders the Heart of the Tempest to brake and return to Laconia pending contracts and diplomacy.
Her legal reality cannot command the military one. The Tempest defeats the fleet's missiles, heals rail strikes, and fires eight synchronized rounds into Independence. The void city suffers catastrophic structural failure. Santos-Baca dies more than an hour before Camina Drummer sees the delayed feed, leaving their years of irritation, shared judgment, and trust cut off before Drummer can issue any retreat.
An aging female union official two years younger than Drummer, hair pulled into a tight braid for null gravity, composed and authoritative in formal board clothing.
Santos-Baca is the senior union voice in the first battle and one of its most consequential dead, carrying institutional defiance into the destruction of Independence.