𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝙸𝚗𝚕𝚎

𝑂𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙.

...𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜...𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚜...𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠...𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍...

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚅𝚞𝚕𝚌𝚊𝚗,
𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚒𝚕.

𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝙰 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏,
𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑'𝚁𝚒𝚑𝚊𝚗.

(𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚎𝚡𝚝, 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍)

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎.

"𝚂𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝙷𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚛."

'𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. 𝚂𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚛𝚊𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎...'

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎'𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍."

𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑦, 𝑏𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑑.

"𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚒 𝚍𝚊𝚗, 𝚁𝚒𝚘𝚟; 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚅𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕, 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢, 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍."

-𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒.

"𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚎𝚍𝚘𝚜."

-𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒.

𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑒, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑠'𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑-

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡.

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑢𝑝, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑, 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛-

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝘋'𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘛𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑎

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠, 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝

<<<𝙺𝚁𝙴'𝙴𝚈 𝚁𝙷𝙴𝙸𝙻𝙷𝙷𝚄: 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙸𝙴𝚂: ███.████.█; 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍: 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: █████ 𝚌𝚢𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛: ████████ 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜: 𝙰𝙲𝙲𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙳>>>

𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙼𝙴𝙳

𝙲𝙾𝙻. 𝙰𝚅𝙾𝚇

𝙳𝙸𝚂𝚁𝙴𝙶𝙰𝚁𝙳 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙾𝚄𝚂 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝚃𝚁𝚄𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂, 𝙿𝚁𝙸𝙾𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙸𝚉𝙴

𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚑𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝

-𝙰𝚡𝚒𝚘𝚖𝚜, 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚊𝚗

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚗, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊 𝚝𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚅𝚞𝚕𝚌𝚊𝚗

-- 𝙽'𝚅𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊 𝙺𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚔 (𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚍)

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑝 9 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑡...

𝑇𝑤𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠...

𝑆𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑜𝑠, 𝑗𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒

𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛

𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛...

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑.

"Fvadt!"

-𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠...

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦...𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐹𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒...

𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 12 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑...𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡? 𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡? 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠...

𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡?

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑇𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑...

𝐼𝑛𝑙𝑒'𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ-

-out by the Typhon Expanse; reports are she tangled with the Breen three weeks ago and lost four ships. Why anyone follows that feanna is one of the galaxy's great mysteries."

"𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗?" 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛. 𝐴 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑧𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑟, ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑉𝑢𝑙𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐'𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

"Yes...Sela is still mining and scheming-

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐?
𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍,

𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚞𝚜?
𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍

𝚂𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞,
𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚗!

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢.

-𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙳'𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚊

𝙾 𝙰𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜!
𝙾 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜,
𝚆𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞!
𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚢!
𝙾 𝙰𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜!
𝙸𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚢,
𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚛!

-𝚁𝚒𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚜𝚞 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛

-𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚎𝚜;

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍-

-𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚃'𝙿𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚔 (𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎: 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝙽𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝙸𝙸𝙸)

𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜!?
-𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍

𝙱𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎!
-𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍

-𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚂’𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚔, 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑎 𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝘋'𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘛𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑠, 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒, ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑎'𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐

-cousins. She shall commit the second and fifth fleets, we will not heel to the Empire." ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑

"𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗, 𝙸 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎...𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢, 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛."

-we have heard the Praetor's declaration...we wait to hear what Free State says...special operations...they have been attacking our colonies."

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙸𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚢?"

"The Imperator orders we prepare for war and defense of our little-

-𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢."

"There is a ship approaching, in visual range."

"𝙾𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗."

𝐴 𝐷'𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑥, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠, 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑

"I am Commander Sydelk of the 𝘋'𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘏'𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘨,-