On the border between the slovesa and the Loeric Empire, more than a thousand starships hovered in orbit around the planet Miseas’s only moon.

The current home port of the Dest Legion, which had been assigned to this star system. With the only suitable planet for terraforming being Miseas, the bulk of military operations of the Dest Legion were concentrated here on its only moon.

The DTL Bulwark was the only destroyer in the fleet of starships orbiting, serving as the main command ship. More than a kilometre long in length, the ship was more than capable of housing a few thousand crew members with ease and comfort.

The ship featured a large, massive bowl-like shield at the front, capable of shielding multiple much smaller corvettes behind it. Designed to be the unbreakable defender, the DTL Bulwark also featured multiple energy force-field barriers of high density that could take a major beating as well as sufficient propulsion systems that could allow it to counteract any force that tried to push it away.

However, due to the inherent lack of technology and materials available to and within the Loeric Empire, this was the largest and only starship available to the Dest Legion.

It was also not the case that the Loeric Empire wanted exceptionally humongous warships, as the nature of space battles was commonly spread along a wide operational area. It made more operational sense to hence divide the fleet into multiple smaller ships to both cover the wide area and reduce the chances of a catastrophic battle.

The surrounding corvettes matched the orbit of the destroyer, flanking it from all angles. There was a flurry of radio communications and quantum messages being transferred between all the starships, centring on the DTL Bulwark.

The bridge was not an exposed area on the starship at all, instead relying on sensors and cameras to visualize the area around. It did not make any military sense to expose the chain of command to direct enemy fire.

In fact, in every single fleet battle, Admiral Feanor had fought in his life, he had barely used any form of visuals from this ship to make decisions, only relying on sensors and his subordinates’ reports. He now stood on the bridge, wearing a modified variant of the Iron Bullet military exosuit that could shield him from vacuum exposure in an instant.

Space battles were fought over ridiculous ranges apart from orbital battles, resulting in a war doctrine of information above everything else applied by the Dest Troop Legion. The continuous skirmishes with the slovesa across the wide border that covered more than thirty star systems required a massive information network to make informed decisions.

It is for this reason that the Loeric Empire fielded numerous corvettes in the hundreds of thousands to patrol the border and provide assistance to any slovesa raid on border territory.

Despite the coverage, it was still hard to prevent any serious slovesa raid from crossing into the Loeric Empire. It was like a sharp knife cutting through a thinly stretched net.

If Admiral Feanor had a choice on overall defence strategy, he would post a destroyer in each of the thirty new star systems that the Loeric Empire had gained from the slovesa over the last few decades.

However, the slovesa were not the only opponents the Loeric Empire had to contend with – the Chenum Republic continuously tested the waters on the opposite end of the empire, while the criminal organization from the Beyond would leap at any gaps in patrols or defences.

Nevertheless, Admiral Feanor had always done his job with excellence – not losing a single battle to the slovesa nor letting any planet under his direct support be directly raided.

Unquestionable trust had been formed between him and his subordinates – even those posted to be simple patrols in far-flung asteroid belts or gas giants.

However, it was at this moment Admiral Feanor could not believe anything his subordinates were saying. He watched a holographic 3D representation of the five star systems that he was covering as well as the positions of every single corvette. The hologram had ten thousand corvettes that answered to him, and at this moment all of them were reporting that their star system was completely cleared.

“Admiral, multiple concurrent reports of slovesa raiders and drone swarms retreating back to their star systems with visual confirmation of FTL.” One of his bridge crew reported to him, while he squinted at the hologram.

“There’s no way these bastards retreated, it’s probably a two-stage ploy, they must be hiding elsewhere in the star system. Every ship is to fan out in a spherical formation to have your sensors cover the entire star system. I want the orbits out of prime plane to be watched too. They can enter from any direction.” Admiral Feanor ordered.

The hours passed, with the thousands of corvettes activating their sensors to the maximum and scanning the star system. Admiral Feanor waited patiently, only watching brand new undetected asteroids or comets be logged automatically into the database of astronomical objects on the ship’s computer.

“That’s impossible… Not once in the last seventy years I have fought them have they retreated.” He could not wrap his head around how it was possible as he mumble to himself, gripping his fist.

Could an old enemy really suddenly change their culture that suddenly? “Bridge, give me any anomalous reports that happened during the last few months.”

“Sir, there are a lot of reports from slovesa ruin explorations...”

“Doesn’t matter, show me everything direct to my account. I’ll go through it in my cabin. All ships to continue patrol and scanning – the defence of the border colonies depends on us. Stay vigilant.”

“Yes sir.”

He returned to his cabin, swiping through the hundreds of fake reports or news from explorers trying to claim fame and fortune on the planets. It wasn’t until he noticed one seemingly benign report that he began to scramble for more reports.

Compiling the reports together, he finally pieced a pattern together.

He was well aware of the leftover obelisks in captured slovesa territory, but no one knew what purpose they served. As far as they could understand with their limited technology, the obelisks did not harm and were just a chunk of inscribed metal. Without the help of the Council, it would be impossible to crack them easily.

The names listed on the obelisks had not changed for two centuries at least, and it did not seem to do anything.

[A young scion from the Dynasty of Xi has uncovered glowing obelisks from the depths of the Neadrsa Fields. He is not alone in seeing such a phenomenon. All across the Loeric Empire, various obelisks have been lighting up.]

“The obelisks on each of the star systems lit up…. What do the obelisks represent?!” Admiral Feanor was shocked, and all the worst-case scenarios came to his mind. A bomb? A star-system-wide pulse that could knock out entire fleets? Something more dangerous?

He quickly gave the order to any ground forces under his control to investigate the obelisks on the five star systems that he controlled. Just as he finished, he received a long-range call from the General, in charge of the entire border. On the other side, a young man wearing a grey suit with an ornate cloak signifying the colours of the Dynasty of Hawthorn greeted him.

Admiral Feanor immediately gave a salute, as the young man was his superior. “General Kyle Hawthorn, thank goodness for your call, I was just about to contact you and the other Legions regarding the new developments…”

“We are aware and have reached the same conclusion as you. However, I recently received an intriguing message from the slovesa which merits discussion. Please prepare yourself for an emergency meeting in five minutes with the other Legions. During this council, all ships will retain their current battle stations in the event of an attack.”

“Yes, General.” Admiral Feanor bowed as the call ended. Despite him being more than a hundred and ten years old, he held immense respect for Kyle Hawthorn, who at the young age of twenty-seven was able to achieve the rank of General and subsequently full control over all slovesa border operations.

Admiral Feanor himself had been one of those who believe Kyle only obtained his rank that young due to lineage and politics, but the subsequent decade of fighting proved otherwise. Kyle showed remarkable expertise and operational awareness across the thirty-star systems, preventing more than 90% of slovesa raids.

Kyle also led a successful offensive operation in the last decade, claiming more than three new star systems. Even Feanor himself could not envision himself completely purging three heavily defended slovesa star systems.

Preparing himself for the council, he laid into his own private VR pod, connecting his nerval jack to the military server. Utilizing the faster-than-light communications network established in the Loeric Empire, he soon found himself in a virtual conference room, with Kyle already seated on a throne that levitate over the conference table in the middle.

Feanor knew Kyle was extremely prideful, but he also believe Kyle had every right to be. Anyone who could achieve what Kyle did could flaunt their pride in any way they wanted to, so long as the Loeric Empire remained safe.

The other six legions’ admirals soon entered the virtual conference room as well, nodding in acknowledgement to each other as they sat in their respective seats. Each of them held five star systems under their direct protection.

“The slovesa has asked for a ceasefire. A truce.” Kyle dropped the bomb on the admirals immediately, shocking them. Feanor was too stunned to say anything, his mouth wide open. Never in his life would he ever believe the violent rock golems were capable of diplomacy.

They had been at war for centuries, and no transmission from the slovesa empire was ever about asking for peace. It was all threats and declarations of continued violence.

“The slovesa asked? Or is this someone else higher up from the Loeric Dynasty asking? This is a joke right?” One of the admirals asked.

“No, I have verified it myself. The message comes from the slovesa empire and is real.” Kyle shook his head.

The admirals fell into silence as each of them contemplated the situation.

Admiral Feanor finally spoke up. “Commander, this may be a larger ploy at hand. The slovesa are probably trying to lure us into a false sense of security. In fact, I have investigated recent occurrences and noticed a pattern between the slovesa obelisks that had been placed at every star system we conquered so far.”

He pulled up a series of reports in front of every admiral, pointing out the activation of the obelisks that all occurred at the same time.

“This is why I called for the council. While the final executive decision is mine to make, you are the ones at the frontline and with the experience.” Kyle nodded in agreement, obviously wary of the slovesa. This admission of responsibility stoked the admirals’ egos, so they began discussing it in earnest.

“Has the Council said anything or provided more information?” Another admiral asked.

The Council that loosely governs the entirety of human society across the galaxy had an embassy in each human nation. Primarily established by the five S-Class human states that resided near the centre of the galaxy, the embassy usually featured top-of-the-line technology far beyond anything the Loeric Empire has.

It could be said that the Council was something of a benign power that ensured its laws were put in place. It had shown that over the past few centuries, the Council had not intervened in almost anything except mass ecological destruction or advanced alien invasions of human space.

The Loeric Empire could declare war against every other human nation nearby and the Council would not even bat an eye.

“The Council has not said anything on the matter. This means the alien threat that the slovesa poses is not worthy of their intervention.” Kyle said.

There have been cases of non-intervention even when an alien force threatened to wipe out multiple human nations. This ensured no human nation was lacking in defence and military, keeping to the Council’s agenda of preventing an apocalypse.

Each of the admirals began to provide their thoughts on the matter, some supporting the acceptance of the ceasefire, while others advocated for a stronger push.

“The slovesa are only finally resorting to diplomacy because they are weakening. If we instead attack now with a similar offensive operation just like how General Kyle had done it in the past, we may very well absorb the entirety of the flailing slovesa empire. Think of the amount of boost to the economy we can get from their capital planet - Millenniums of wealth and exotics would have been stocked there, waiting for us.”

“No, we can’t push them too hard. If we corner them with no chance of survival, they might fight back much more desperately than ever and we will suffer significant losses. Weakening ourselves to this extent in front of other human nations in our star sector is tantamount to suicide. Even if we claim the slovesa capital planet, we might be conquered by any other state in an instant and lose everything.”

“Exactly, a war with the Chenum Republic is on the horizon, they are already testing the waters now with scouting ships. Pushing against the slovesa in a major offensive is exactly the wrong move to make now. If the Chenum Republic learns of it, they may exploit our temporary weakness in an instant.”

Kyle remained seated silently, watching the admirals discuss the course of action.

Admiral Feanor glanced at Kyle, noticing that his eyes had a certain air of disinterest, as though whatever was happening in the council right now did not matter in the grand scheme of things. He wondered what the General could be so fixated on that a slovesa ceasefire did not even register to him.

Suddenly, Kyle raised his hand, and the admirals all fell silent, returning to their seats. “I have made my decision after listening to the discussion. We shall accept the ceasefire and keep the current border for ten years.”

“Readiness levels of all border fleets are to be dropped by one, but all ships will remain stationed at their current star system. Do not take this as a guaranteed peace – I doubt the slovesa has full control over its mercenary raiders.”

A few of the admirals showed obvious signs of disappointment, but they all nodded in agreement. The military was a direct hierarchy after all.

Admiral Feanor got the feeling that Kyle was merely pandering to the admirals, making it seem as though they had a part to play in Kyle’s decision-making. “Most likely he already made the choice beforehand,” he thought to himself.

It was exactly this kind of decisiveness and pride that Admiral Feanor had come to respect over time, especially when it was accompanied by stellar results.

As the meeting ended, Kyle took a deep breath. He still sat on the same throne in his orbital habitat on Strathon. “That’s one less thing to worry about. Now I can focus all my strength on things that actually matter. Progress on our projects?”

A servant nearby responded. “Master Kyle, all projects are moving along the expected schedule. Underlying control of the various habitats and planets is being implemented.”

“Good, with the return of the border fleets, I have more of a reason to intervene where necessary.” Kyle smiled, tapping his armrest. “Any update on the Keeper project? It’s been a few months since they delivered the first batch of prototypes.”

The servant nodded. “The lead researcher is proud to announce that all trial tests have passed.”

“Good, then all that is left is a field test.”

“Master Kyle, with the ceasefire of the slovesa now in effect, would we no longer have access to enemies for our field tests?”

Kyle shook his head. “You do not need to worry about this. One is already lined up. Schedule a call with Oliver Athen in two hours.”

“Yes, Master.” The servant bowed, his eyes flickering with data as he wirelessly scheduled the meeting via his neural implants.

Kyle took a walk outside his throne room, heading to the large garden where the gardeners still worked dutifully. “Everything is finally coming together. Soon, the era of the Dynasties will be over.”

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like