Freya leaned back and slugged the alcoholic drink down her throat. It burned so much as it went down that it felt like she was breathing fire. It tasted like an old whiskey, barrel aged and everything.
When she set down her old-fashioned glass, Eris immediately poured another splash into it. She then poured some into her own glass, which she picked up and sipped.
The two were seated alone in a small drinking lounge somewhere on Eris’ flagship. It was small, dark, and cozy.
“I see you’re not a whiskey person,” she said.
“Getting drunk was never my thing,’ Freya answered. “Though I’ve been feeling the need lately… Why? Is this whiskey special or something? Didja take this from some Fed admiral or something? Pried
Naval Staging Complex, Dartarin System, Great House ShaizenThe large Hegemony fleet floated in the middle of a vast naval staging complex in the middle of open space.The complex itself consisted of numerous ship repair stations, fabrication bays, landing pads, and atmospherically sealed hangars. There were also munitions and rearming installations of various sizes, as well as massive recycling yards.More than that, there were also personnel stations complete with living quarters, restaurants, and entertainment venues.The entire place existed as a jumping off point for Hegemony forces before they launched into combat, and was fully staffed and equipped.And the fleet it was servicing seemed to be a hodge-podge of numerous different
Remote Recuperation Facility, Miralli System, Imperial Domain of the Boundless DrogarA Drogar geneticist wearing a full-body sterile suit checked on the pristine regeneration pod in front of him. While his assistant drone hovered around the pod itself, he scanned its systems through the hovering terminal beside him.The statistics and reports on the screen showed that everything seemed stable, and that nothing was out of the ordinary. No alerts or warnings, just nice and even graphs that showed a smooth and steady progression.Next to the various reports was the dossier of the person inside the regeneration pod. She was a high-ranking drogar in a very prestigious clan. And although her listed age was 133 years, the person inside the pod itself was someone half as young.Once the geneticist w
The lights in the facility’s only security station was a deep, dark red. It was also accompanied by a soft klaxon - the kind that was more suited to luxury liners than military vessels.Worse than that, whatever attacking fleet outside had finished their assault. Or at the very least, paused it.In the middle of the room was Theryss himself. He slipped himself into one of the lightly armored security suits and tightened the armor plating to better fit his body.And once he was done, he picked up one of the security pistols in one of the weapon racks and holstered it. Then he grabbed one of the larger rifles, then posted up in the middle of the security room itself.All around him were the station’s security personnel, some of whom were seated at t
Avathii VII, Avathii System, Imperial Domain of the Boundless DrogarThe Imperial port beacon above Avathii VII was in utter ruin. Its armor plating had been wrenched open and torn apart, seemingly by heavy weapons fire. More critically, its internal systems had also been ripped out and shredded violently, which left the entire beacon a smoldering husk.All around the wrecked beacon were dozens of Imperial fighters and mecha, all of whom had been equally ruined. They slowly spun in place as their liquid circuits bled out from their shattered carcasses.But that was hardly the end of the destruction that hung over Avathii 7. There was a trail of crippled Imperial ships in which a handful of heavily damaged frigates and destroyers floated alongside the numerous fighters and mecha.Their hulls h
While Amarok ripped through half of the security team, Freya leapt forward and directly assaulted the other half.She drew her Ra’ventrii blade and cut through the closest heavily armored security agent in a single swipe. Freya then spun to the left and cut down another agent with equally ease. With a heavily practiced step, she entered her Cyclone Stance and cut down a third, then a fourth, then a fifth.Each time she spun and stepped and moved, she bit deep into each of her targets. Sometimes she cut off an arm, or a leg. Sometimes, she sliced open their chests with a single swipe. And regardless of her opening move, she finished each of them off by slicing their necks and lopping off their heads.Near her, Amarok took apart her half of the security team with equal ease. Though instead of practic
Godeater’s dark presence filled the cracks and hollows and shadows within the ship itself, and at the same time slipped into the depths of Freya’s body. To her, it felt all at once ubiquitous and subliminal, as though it was next to her, but also all around her.It hung in the back of her mind like an ominous shadow, and caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand out straight.For someone who was absolutely sure of every particle in her body, having something unknowable that close to her was deeply unsettling and unnerving. And that was putting it lightly. It was akin to peering down an endless hole where some ancient eldritch horror slept.And then falling into it.As it crept all throughout her, thin black lines like a circuit board appeared on
Admiral Anali de Jardin gawked at the tacmap in front of her with absolute awe. Freya’s captured devastator had caused so much damage that there was literally nothing left of the enemy. The other admirals in the tactical bridge were equally as awed.High Admiral Halbrecht gasped loudly at everything he had seen thus far. He watched as the devastator’s weapon signals rose far beyond anything he had ever seen in his career. And he watched as it single-handedly wiped out a fleet. Or at least, what remained of it.It suddenly dawned on him that warfare had changed significantly just now. He wasn’t sure how, exactly. Only that it did. And that perhaps the galaxy would never be the same again.A slight tremor shook through him as Freya joined the tactical bridge. Her holoprojection shimmered even as she
Taloren Prime, Throne System, Imperial Domain of the Boundless DrogarThe beautiful red spiral towers at the center of the floating Imperial city stood majestically under the sunlight. Despite the numerous armed defenses floating all around them, and the thousands of armed red-robed protestors at the bottom, things looked absolutely serene.Little did anyone else know, but deep inside its Parliamentary Grand Hall, its multitude of senators were in rabid, incredibly heated debates with each other. The passions were so high that some were practically screaming at others across the hall itself.Dozens of eyecast drones were scattered all over the place, unsure of which senator to focus their attention on. There was simply too much talking and yelling and cursing and shouting happening all at once.