Arcturus Stream is a piece of space closest to the Imperial home world. Approximately 35.6 light-years away from Earth. The exploration ships found another Mass Relay, then another several…
Some of the relays were on.
The Imperial Protocol dictates that anything in their backyard has to be removed with extreme prejudice. Thankfully, Mass Relays were not complex, and turning them off was easy; that is why the Empire moved and collected the relays for disassembly.
By the year 50 BCE, the Empire secured the Arcturus Stream. The Emperor was a bit dissapointed that, across the whole sector and what he called the local cluster, there was only a single natural garden world he called Benning.
The discovery of the Natural Garden World caused a literal meltdown in the whole Empire as everyone rushed to see it.
Within months, millions of people were moving in to live and research the wildlife of this world.
Even with Legion Bots' assistance, the Empire struggled to keep up with demand. It was so bad that the Emperor needed to intervene by bringing his Avalon and assist with the construction of cities.
Thankfully, by this point, there are protocols for rapid construction.
While the craze was interesting, humanity didn't stop its rapid expansion; it only grew larger and larger. The 2nd expanse was like a massive wave, and after another 90 years, Marcus' fleet on the east side of the empire discovered another beautiful world.
It was a cool place, the solar system had a massive Gas Giant, and there was an ice world that they could terraform into another garden world.
It took a while, but Marcus named this world Elysium as he finally recalled where he was.
By using Elysium, the Emperor himself positioned his Empire for… First Contact.
If they don't come, then you come in by smashing the doors if need be…
~~~~~~5th Imperial Exploration Fleet, Survey Corp~~~~~~
~~~Aboard Galahad-Class 'Galileo'~~~
Prince Julian Anaheim, the captain of the exploration ship Galileo. The son, Kallen Anaheim, and the Emperor, Marcus Anaheim. The red-haired Prince inherited his father's desire for stars, and so, the moment he graduated, he became a captain of a ship and went to explore the cosmos for the Empire.
And so he will be the first one to meet…Aliens.
"My Prince… the radar is picking up ripples in gravity… It's moving?" One of the officers exclaimed loudly.
"Hmm?" A red-haired Prince who was in deep thought snapped out and turned his gaze to the officer.
"A ship? One of ours?" The Prince asked, slowly getting excited at what could happen soon!
"No, it shouldn't be; we are the only ones that are in this solar system." The officer said with an uncertain look.
"..."
"..."
"..."
At that moment, everyone on the bridge looked at each other. They already had signs of possible intelligent life. They found active Mass Relays; someone activated them.
Which they promptly turned off. But this is an actual vessel.
"Send the word to the Explorer. We have a possible first contact." The Prince scrambled from his captain's seat and rushed over to the officer and checked his screen.
"Wonderful, and an actual alien civilisation, isn't this exciting?" The Prince grinned from ear to ear before ordering the ship.
"Move to intercept, I want to see it with my own eyes!"
"..."
"..."
"Understood."
Everyone got nervous, and they should be! Their ship is an exploration ship! They only have two mobile suits! What if it's an alien patrol ship!?
They are more than twenty-five light-years away from the Explorer; it will take some time for help to arrive.
The ship swiftly changed course as the GN drives rapidly spun, moving the Galileo towards the possible alien ship.
In less than five minutes, they spotted a black ship with an alien design. It was nothing like theirs; their ships are smooth, a piece of art, and this one? It's bulky, looking as if it were made with efficiency and cost-cutting in mind.
It looked… ugly?
"My Prince."
"...Yeah… it is alien!" For a second, he stared before snapping out.
"Legion! Begin first contact procedure."
[Beginning communication sequences.]
"Shouldn't we wait for reinforcements?" The Co-captain said with a worried tone. They have very strict protocol; thankfully, this part of space is not under their control yet, so they can't turn hostile. After all, they first shoot, then talk, but this is considered neutral space.
"It should be fine." Prince Julian brushed it aside as he was more giddy to see if it was a beautiful alien race, just like his older brother Scipio wanted.
The Grand Admiral of Expeditionary Fleet has an uncanny hobby of gathering wives; one of his desires is to get some beautiful alien wives.
But then, on screen, he saw four eyes, a skinless-looking thing with brownish skin, dressed in a tight black body suit.
He almost threw up!
[Translation complete, I am a bit confused, my Prince, they don't have any sort of AI, only a primitive version of a VI.]
When Julian heard that, he was speechless, VI!?
"How in my old man's name can they do space travel!?"
"Maybe they use those relay things? With them, long-distance travel should be significantly easier."
When the Prince heard that, he frowned.
'To use such old technology, not even knowing the source, doing it without caution, such fools.'
"Put me through, let's see what these four eyes are, oh, and legion, download everything you can."
[Already doing it, My Prince.]
"Good."
"Patching you through, My Prince."
"This is Khar'sa, the captain of this ship. You are in Batarian Hegemony space. Identify yourself, alien." The bald, skinless-looking, four-eyed creature spoke; his voice sounded strange. The AI interpretation was flawless.
"Batarian Hegemony?" Confused for a second.
[That is correct, that is what I gathered from their data files]
[Hegemony is a term used where one nation is leading several subjugated nations. These Batarians are such a species, from what I understood, they still practise slavery and slave labour.]
The bridge's crew looked at each other. That is quite primitive.
Julian slowly nodded, understanding that these people were united, in a strange form, but still united.
"This is survey ship Galileo, of the 5th Exploration Fleet. I am the 8th Imperial Prince Julian Anaheim. There were no indications that this space belongs to anybody." The prince said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I repeat, alien, this space belongs to the Batarian Hegemony. Turn around and leave, or you will be boarded and captured."
"..."
Julian sighed when he heard that.
"Legion, what kind of weapons do these four eyes have?" The Prince asked the AI.
[Their technology is entirely focused on Eezo. They don't possess any beam technology or advanced particles.]
"...Seriously?"
The crew was speechless.
"I am sorry, Captain Khar'sa, but the Empire recognised this space as an Imperial Expansion Zone. The Empire shall colonise it." Julian smugly smiled as he declared.
His response caused the Batarians to cut off the call and made their ship start moving.
[They are charging their weaponry.]
"Reinforce the barriers with graviton particles!" The Prince barked the orders as the Galahad-Class ship began to move as well.
Soon enough, the black ship that was decently sized, well, it could only pass as a corvette in Imperial Fleet, but it was bigger than the Galahad-Class, maybe that is why these Batarians thought that they were superior.
Sure enough, the Batarian vessel opened fire on the Galileo.
Blue-ish green barriers manifested a few inches away from the survey ship's hull and tanked the hits for the ship.
"...Mass accelerated physical rounds? Are you serious?" Julian was speechless for a second. The last time he saw something like that was in his father's museum.
"My Prince, they are releasing something from the sides." One of the officers said to the red-haired prince.
"Mobile suits? Get ready! Tell Lucian to launch in his Cataphract!"
"Roger!" The comms officers issued the orders.
But then he saw that what was launched from the Batarian ship looked like… planes!?
"...Those…"
"Aren't those fighters?"
"They are too small to be transformable models…"
'What the hell are we fighting?'
Sure enough, the cataphract flew by the bridge, opened fire and swiftly took several planes without issue with its beam rifle.
~~~
Khar'sa thought it would be another boring day in patrolling the Skyllian Verge from pirates and all sorts of stupid mercenaries who have crazy ideas to fight the Batarian Hegemony.
But then, his fortunes turned when an alien vessel approached.
He thought he'd scored big; usually, when new aliens appear, they barely have the means to FTL-travel. Primitive ships, easy pickings for the Hegemony and a high price on new aliens that he would bring to his homeworld of Khar'Shan.
However, his happiness and greed were short-lived when the main guns didn't do anything on the smaller ship.
Then he sent out the fighters, which were destroyed by… this thing!
"Is that a big robot?" The crew of the Batarian cruiser were confused by this big machine that moved so smoothly.
"Khar'sa! Are you serious!? What if they are not newcomers! We simply didn't encounter them!" The Second-in-Command started to get nervous.
"Shut up! I am thinking!"
Sure enough, the machine swiftly flew over and shot the engines and the weapons with its beam weapon.
"Beam weaponry… are they the ones who are disabling the Mass Relays?"
And so the cruiser was dead in space, with engines gone, it could only drift.
"Contact the alien ship!" Khar'sa barked the orders, and moments later, the Batarian stared at the alien.
"Cease with your attacks! Do you desire a war with Batarian Hegemony?" The captain threatened them with war.
"If you are in the path of our expansion, then my Empire shall conquer you, Batarian. That is the destiny of everyone who stands against us."
'W-Who the—'
Before the captain could comment, the space above the smaller ship expanded before it shrank and spit out a huge vessel. It was so big that he missed countless smaller ships that appeared with it.
'..." The Batarian was so stupefied that he forgot to speak for a second.
~~~
The South Western side of the Galaxy is considered the centre of the civilisation, as it's where the Citadel Council was. A community of several species that came together to work for the betterment of all the Galaxy.
These were Asari, an all-female race, who are the diplomats of the Citadel Species, and the first species to discover the Citadel. A massive space station at the centre of the Mass Relay network. From here, one can reach any place in the galaxy.
The second species to join the Asari were the Salarians, a race of amphibians. They think fast and are hyperactive most of the time, but they are short-lived species. This race is responsible for espionage on the Citadel's behalf.
And then the third race to join, the Turians, a race of warrior-like people who are all about discipline and military service, it's a civilisation focused on Patriarchy and duty.
They have the largest army in the whole galaxy, and they serve as the military of the Citadel.
The incident in which mass relays were turned off caused the Citadel Species considerable concern over the years. So when news arrived that the Batarians had encountered a new species, they sprang into action.
"You must stop them! Skyllian Verge is ours to expand!" Batarian Ambassador demanded the Citadel Council do something the moment he arrived for the meeting.
Batarians with several more species are considered 'Client states' of the Citadel Council; they get several perks for being part of the Citadel Space.
Among them was the protection of Batarian colonies, but this time around, no colonies were involved.
"Skyllian Verge doesn't belong to anyone!" The Turian councillor replied with a hint of anger, demanding that they do something had angered him.
"Especially since there were no colonies in those systems. If they can claim the system and build a colony, then it belongs to them.
You know that well, Ambassador." The Turian Councillor said with a matter-of-fact tone.
"However, we will send a diplomatic mission to build relationships with this race." The Asari councillor added, upon seeing the reports the Batarians had shared with them.
These aliens are advanced, and that alone is concerning! Then, on top of that, they are expansionists!
The Batarian Ambassador spat before pointing his finger at them.
"In that case, Batarians are leaving the Citadel! We are removing our embassy." With that said, the ambassador began to stomp away.
"Good riddance. Why are we even allowing slavers in our space?" Turian Councillor commented.
"More importantly, these…Imperials… they use beam technology and most likely utilise different means of Faster than Light travel. We need to figure out what to do.
If this continues, our travel time to Attican Traverse will double as we will need to travel through Batarian Space or fly around the galaxy." The Salarian Councillor said, skimming through the report.
"Well aware. I shall send one of our best for this diplomatic mission." The Asari Councillor replied as the meeting ended.
~~~
As the Asari said, they prepared a diplomatic mission, and a small diplomatic vessel went to the solar system where the initial encounter between the Imperial ship and the Batarian patrol vessel took place.
Leading the mission was an Asari Matriarch. Asari, as a species, are long-lived; they have three stages of life, and an Asari Matriarch is in the final stage of her life. By this point, they had lived for more than 700 years and were experienced and quite powerful in the biotics.
Leading such an operation is perfect for a Matriarch, as it's quite literally related to the well-being of the Galactic community.
"Matriarch Benezia, there is something on the top of the sun." One of the Asari pointed at a picture they took of the sun.
"...A construct on top of a sun…" The Matriarch looked curiously.
"We are not detecting any Eezo; these species are utilising a completely different branch of technology." Another Asari commented while going through the readings the whole time.
"Try to get closer to the sun, but do keep a safe distance," Benezia instructed as the light vessel moved towards the sun.
But then…
The space expanded, then retracted, spitting out a massive vessel.
It was smooth, very similar to Asari in aesthetics, but more aggressive and dagger-shaped, unlike the Asari, which is rounder.
"The size… a Dreadnought!?" The captain of the ship commented as the next two more ships of similar size appeared on both sides.
"It's contacting us."
"Pass through."
"You have entered the Imperial space, identify yourself or be terminated."
"I am Matriarch Benezia, representing the Citadel Council. I am here on a diplomatic mission."
"I see. Very well, the Emperor has predicted the arrival of Diplomats from the Citadel Council.
As instructed by the Emperor, we are to share our Codex with you so that you would know with whom you are talking."
As the ship's captain said, the Asari received several data packages.
"We are getting packages of information, Martriarch."
"We will share our information as well, send it over," Benezia instructed her crew.
"Wait here, as the Empress of Diplomacy will greet you in person." With that said, the conversation ended.
Benezia took a deep breath for a second before looking at the ship's crew.
"Send over the data, I shall read about them first before engaging in diplomacy." The Asari Matriarch said.
"Understood."
~~~
'This is worse than I thought.'
Benezia's eyes trembled as she realised that she was dealing with not a species but a family running an entire species.
Something like that… It's unheard of!
The Anaheim Imperial Family has absolute authority in the Empire. That is why they are called Imperials. Over a hundred and fifty years ago, the Empire was known as the Holy Byzantine Empire. But it was far too 'Earth Centric', so they dropped in and simply started to call themselves 'the Empire'.
The Emperor has been the ruler since its inception; he rebelled against his father and united the whole world. Dragging the whole race into the space.
'They achieved all that in a span of close to two hundred years… absurd and unheard of!'
The achievements… of this race are mindboggling.
'And they use AI, en masse, without any sort of drawbacks. This…'
Benezia realised how much the galaxy would change once these Imperials became part of it. There is no doubt that Quarians and Geth will get involved.
Quarians are a race of species that created the Geth, sentient AI. What followed was a war that forced the Quarians into exile; they have lived aboard their ships as a migrant fleet for the past two hundred or so years.
If they learn about the Empire, it could disrupt the status quo, maybe even end the feud.
"Umm, Matriarch… more ships arrived." The ship's captain interrupted Benezia, who was in deep thought.
She just reached the part about Imperial biology. She was baffled to read that they evolved once more, gaining much longer lifespans and even psychic abilities thanks to the particles they invented.
'From terraforming to construction and engineering, they are ahead of us. This is what stagnation looks like.' Benezia frowned as she realised that her species, which had been space-faring for over a thousand years, was basically primitive compared to these species, and that is because they don't have such a drive!
"The ship is contacting us!"
"It would seem it belongs to the Empress of Diplomacy, and she is inviting us to her ship!"
"Then let's not keep them waiting." Benezia stood up from her seat.
~~~~~~Aboard 'Peace Bringer'~~~~~~
"You look fine, Daphne." Euphemia chuckled as she looked at her daughter in front of a mirror, making sure she looked presentable.
"Mother, we are about to meet real aliens! Not humans from a different reality, but real aliens who evolved on a different world altogether!" The 3rd Princess checked herself while talking in an excited and nervous tone.
"It's just aliens. What is the big deal? We always expected them to exist, mathematically they have to exist, otherwise father would have had a boring time colonising everything." Another girl said. This girl was Calypso, the 13th Princess and Euphemia's second child. She was another pinkette, just like Daphne and Euphemia; the only difference was that she was a bit more like Marcus, making her a bit more cynical, thanks to her natural abilities and the inborn Geass, which gave her a sense of superiority.
"At least be more excited. This is a big deal. We can't mess it up." Euphemia rolled her eyes at her rebellious second child.
"Big deal for who? Those guys utilise eezo at everything. It's pathetic." Calypso dismissively waved her hand.
In Calypso's eyes, utilising naturally found fuel like eezo or petrol is a sign of primitive civilisation.
"Still. They are older player in the field, and your father desires to focus on the east, not the west. So we have to follow, no?" Euphemia looked at her, slightly narrowing her eyes when she mentioned her husband and Calypso's father.
The girl immediately fixed herself.
"Understood. I will behave, just don't expect me to play politics and appease these aliens."
"We don't do that. We will tell them how we do things, and that's it." Euphemia snorted as she began to walk towards the doors, and her two daughters swiftly followed after her.
~~~~~~In a Shuttle~~~~~~
"Remember, Shiala, they are psychic; they could potentially read your mind," Benezia instructed her bodyguard and acolyte.
"Matriarch… how can I defend against that?" The younger Asari was a bit concerned!
"Don't think about certain things? I do not know their exact abilities; I can only speculate." Benezia tried to explain, not that she knows how, she had never encountered beings like these. Asari can link their minds, thanks to their nature, biology and biotics, but actual psychics?
That is something that she doesn't have experience with, only speculation.
'Easier said than done!' The Acolyte thought to herself.
As their shuttle landed in an open hangar, rows of said robots mentioned in Batarian reports and the codex shared by the Imperials greeted them.
"Those are huge. Are these their answer to the fighters we use?" Shiala, Benezia's assistant, commented.
"They call them mobile suits. They are extremely agile and dangerous; they behave like larger soldiers and can move easily through space. It gives them an advantage over a regular fighter." Benezia recounted what she had read, cross-referenced the two files, and came to a conclusion.
"...If they can fight inside one like a normal soldier, then they have an enormous advantage on a battlefield!"
"Indeed. That is why peace is the preferred option even when they are expansionists." The Matriarch said.
As the shuttle doors opened, a line of soldiers greeted them with a red carpet. Three pink-haired women were waiting.
"At least we all breathe oxygen." The Acolyte commented under her breath, making Benezia slightly smile.
The pair of Asari walked over to the waiting Empress and her Princesses.
"Matriarch Benezia of Asari Republics, representing the Citadel Council, this is my acolyte, Shiala." The Matriarch introduced herself and her assistant smoothly
Euphemia and her daughters slightly bowed.
"Euphemia Anaheim, one of the Empresses of the Empire, this is my oldest daughter, 3rd Princess Daphne Anaheim and my youngest, 13th Princess Calypso Anaheim." The leading woman introduced herself and her Princesses.
"I am pleased to meet the eldest race that is representing the council. My husband predicted that it would be Asari who would propose the meeting."
'Husband, I assume her partner, that should be the Emperor.'
"Indeed, my husband is the Emperor; he has intended to meet you as well, but he is literally on the other side of the Empire, and it would take him close to seven hours to travel here.
So he left me to deal with this."
"..."
"..."
'Did she read my mind?' Benezia was a bit worried, but Euphemia simply smiled as she clarified.
"We can only read surface thoughts; you would notice when we are probing deeper. Besides, you are hearing us speak Asari language, no?"
The duo's eyes widened as they realised that, yes! The universal translator is something that they haven't shared yet. In fact, they have no idea if they have such technology in the first place.
"That's the power of Quantum Brainwaves. Our brains are sending waves that your brain picks up and interprets in a way they could understand."
"...Fascinating, that means you can speak any language you want." Benezia realised how advanced that was. They can only do that with an universal translator.
"As long as it's advanced enough, though animals can sense our intent, allowing us easier taming." Euphemia slightly smiled as she recalled her husband's collection of predators.
"I see. While these things are intriguing, I have several things that we need to address."
"Indeed, follow me."
Euphemia motioned for the pair to follow.
The group walked deeper into the massive ship.
The pair of Asari noticed how disciplined everyone was. At first, they thought pink hair was how females of the Imperial species looked, but to their surprise, it was quite rare; the other females they saw mostly had black or brown hair.
Was this some sort of royal colour?
"That's a massive ship," Shaila commented as she was walking with the two Princesses.
"Excalibur-class Battleship is a common flagship; we have over several hundred of these," Daphne replied.
'H-H-Hundreds!?'
"If you think this is impressive, then you should see Father's personal escort. I understood that the Asari practice democracy and prioritise the many over the few, but the opposite is true in the Empire.
The Anaheim Imperial family is the one that leads. If we want a thousand ships, we get those."
"...Isn't that inefficient?"
"On the contrary, it is efficient. Because of this, corruption is quite hard, unless it's the mercantile section. That sector shows what happens when people who are not born to lead get a chance to lead. We periodically purge that sector." Calypso tried not to sound arrogant, but she was quite upset that they were the only race that had a monarchy, which was triggering the Princess.
"But what about resources? I mean, do you need that many ships?"
Daphne and Calypso slightly smiled at the Asari, who immediately understood the hint from that reaction.
"We do. After all, the way you treat us is different, is it not? Our military speaks for itself."
'You haven't seen our Yeagers.' Calypso slightly smirked. If they think their regular battleships and carriers are impressive, wait until they see the cream of the crop of Anaheim's might.
The group took a lift to a different floor. They eventually arrived at a conference room.
Once they were seated, the atmosphere slightly changed. At that moment, Benezia realised that the woman before her was a true ruler.
"I would like to get straight to the point. I assume that the Citadel Council would want to invite the Empire to join their community." As Euphemia said, a hologram popped up before her as she read through something, to double-check.
"Precisely, we invited all the races we could into a single community." Benezia nodded at what Euphemia said.
"Sadly, we have to decline respectfully. There are several treaties our Empire would breach if we joined.
The AI, military strength, and several others. It's simply not worth it for us to do that."
"I understand. However, I hope we can have a friendly relationship." The Asari hopefully asked.
"That won't be an issue at the moment. My husband declared that our border expansion to the west towards Citadel Space is on hold for a moment, we are focusing on the east and south."
"...I can assume that this is because of the Batarians who provoked?" Benezia replied that she realised a war between the Batarians and the Empire was inevitable.
"They attacked Galileo, the captain of that ship, who is one of the Emperor's sons. That makes him my son as well, even if his mother is a different Empress.
Julian is the son of the Battle Empress, and she is not happy about that. From what we heard, she is moving her retinue towards Batarians."
"...by retinue, you mean her followers? I can assume apart from regular military, the Empresses have soldiers and ships that only listen to them?" Benezia realised that it was similar to how the Asari Matriarch works. She has her followers, and among them are the commandos, though she doesn't have a fleet.
That is on a different level.
"Of course. You are on my flagship, the Peace Bringer. I have another 4 ships that are my escort, though I never focused on increasing the numbers of my retinue; others are not like me." Euphemia commented as she recalled the size of Leila's retinue or Marrybell's.
Those never stopped increasing in size, and of course, there is Kallen, who spends most of her resources improving her domain and the lives of her people.
Marcus, after all, promised a planet for Japanese people all those years ago. He offered that option to Kallen, who chose a solar system for the Japanese. At the end of the day, they decided on a world similar in size to Earth; they named it Yamato.
And ever since then, the Battle Empress has been the governor of that solar system and several around it.
So while Kallen's retinue is not the biggest, she has one of the most loyal bases, who are most likely in a frenzy after learning that Batarians attacked Prince Julian's ship.
"So they have a big enough army to wage war on their own." Benezia realised what this meant.
"Indeed. While I doubt it will be a war for occupation as our doctrine is expansion from star to star, it will take a while for the expansion line to reach Batarian space, so it will most likely be a raid." Euphemia speculated.
"I see. Concerning space travel, what happened to Mass Relays? Several are not functional anymore." The Matriarch brought up one of the most important subjects.
"Those big things that accelerate ships?" Euphemia asked a bit confused, she is not big into technology, so she never had an interest in what is what.
"Yes, they are always found at the edge of the solar system."
"We remove them and take them apart."
"!"
The pair of Asari gasped as those are crucial for their species and the galaxy as a whole!
"Can we ask to keep them as they are?" Benezia hopefully asked.
"No."
"However, we understand that your long-distance travel is dependent on it. So my husband is willing to keep several of them for the sake of trade and communication."
The pair sighed in relief.
"But. They will be present only in the outer expansion zones.
Like the relay found several systems away from here." Euphemia summoned a map and showed the outer sections of the Empire. These areas were fresh and recently taken over. Elysium or Benning were not on the map, as those were precious natural garden worlds that are full of plants and life that are not found anywhere else. Marcus kept these worlds like they were his newborn children.
'But this means that once the line moves, the relay will either move or will be disabled and removed. This race… they are far more advanced than I thought if they can move relays of this size. There was something about mega-sized structures in the codex.' Benezia grimaced; she didn't have enough time to study them to a satisfactory level.
"I see, then what about immigration and border policies?"
The moment the Matriarch asked, Euphemia's expression told her that there wouldn't be such a thing.
"You need to discuss these things with my husband. I suggest new treaties between the Empire and Citadel. We could arrange a proper meeting for a future date."
"Of course! That would be for the best."
The Asari Matriarch is pleased that they have reached at least such a point.
~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~
Over 287 light-years away from where the meeting is. A fleet of warships was gathering.
The banner of this fleet was a clawed robotic hand holding a red sun. The leading ship was a custom Excalibur-class Battleship with a secondary red colour.
Behind it were another two battleships, followed by 5 Arondight-Class Mobile Suit Carriers holding in total close to 250 machines, and behind them were transport ships carrying soldiers.
On the bridge of the Flagship, a red-haired woman dressed for war stared into the empty void with a pissed-off expression.