Ardi sat behind her desk and, since she was attending an important meeting, had removed her morning gown, revealing her Nanitesuit Mk. 2.

Standing behind her were her chief officers: Heatdeath, Swordtooth, Binga, Tsuro, Gudo and Meredith.

Swordtooth’s initial plans had been sent to Heatdeath who reviewed them alongside Gudo. They had been modified slightly but the gist remained the same.

Now all that was left to see the response from the Council of Fingers who had their faces projected on a holographic display that was in front of Ardi’s desk.

Chief among the Fingers was Zua who was the first to speak.

“State your demands, whelp.”

“We want you to detach yourselves from the Dead Stars. If you choose to do so then you will have the option to step away from the Celestial Conflict or join us in rising up as a third party.” Ardi detailed.

“Let me guess, if we do not side with you, it will mean war. Do you have any idea how short-sighted that is?” Zua snapped.

“You misunderstand. If you do not choose the two previously mentioned options, you will die. Every man, woman and Archon who raises their weapons at us will be deemed a threat which will be eliminated in a Purge from which there will be no escape. I can put on a demonstration if you think I’m bluffing.” Ardi threatened while tapping into the Planet Mounted Gravfold Canons that were in close proximity to planets that were in Epsilon’s territory which she promptly aimed at. She targeted Military Outposts and Port Worlds especially.

Ardi knew that Zua and her fellow council members had their own Canons but they numbered far fewer than hers with Zenith leaving her 1.5 million Cannons which was a lot more compared to Epsilon’s 5 million.

“This is madness!”

“Stop that at once!”

“Why offer us a choice if you clearly have a preferred route that you’re clearly determined to take?”

The Fingers asked and even her own captains got tense but, to Ardi, who had since learnt the scale of the Celestial Conflict, the worst thing she could do was drag things out.

Just as quickly as she had killed Epsilon when he tried to kill her, she would swiftly snuff out any other threat to her safety.

“Mmm… you are quite the insolent one, aren’t you. Fine. We agree to your terms and will stay out of the war but do not expect any further cooperation from us.”

The transmissions ended and, even though no one could see her face, they all visibly flinched as she lightly tapped her table with her index finger.

“If you even suspect that they are up to something, tell me.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Everyone said before making their way back to the front of her desk.

“I’m sorry, Admiral. Looks like all that planning was for nothing.” Swordtooth bowed but Heatdeath shook his head… or his entire body.

“That isn’t necessarily true. We all felt just how antagonistic they were and chances are that, as the war progresses, they’ll look for an opportunity to strike or make some sort of move. They probably think, due to the Admiral’s youth and inexperience, she’ll turn a blind eye to them as we focus on other parts of the war but she will do no such thing!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Correct but it’s also true that we can’t do anything to them right now as we would have no way to justify our actions so I’d like to temporarily shift my focus. Gudo, status report!” Ardi playfully snapped.

“All is well on the Gudo front! My Lieutenants are all training hard and, thanks to your Nanitesuits, they will be field-ready in no time!”

“Good. And Meredith, you sent a message back home, right?”

“Yes, ma’am! They are ready to have a virtual meeting at your earliest convenience.”

“Alright. Tell them that I’m ready right now.”

Meredith nodded curtly before seemingly looking at nothing as she sent out a transmission to a point just beyond the edge of Ardi’s territory.

Signals were able to be sent across the unimaginable vastness of space by Large Immobile Archons or LIAs which were able to send and detect pings that were tiny artificially produced ripples on the very fabric of space.

LIAs were typically stored beneath the surfaces of most worlds and were usually as big as a warehouse.

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And while they weren’t too dissimilar to their mobile counterparts, more sensors and machinery could be connected to the larger Archons.

A holographic transmission eventually appeared in front of Ardi’s desk and it was of a thin man who wore a general's uniform.

He had a large Scar that went across his face.

Part of his lower lip was missing, revealing his teeth beneath.

Ardi wondered why he didn’t get his wounds treated with Nanites but her curiosity would have to wait.

“Greetings, Grand General Ifa.”

[Greetings, Archon Ardi. Allow me to extend my thanks for protecting my men.]

Ardi ignored being called an Archon and clasped her hands.

“It was only natural since they awoke me although much has happened since then.”

[Yes. I went through the reports and I must admit that a lot of it is hard to believe, no offence. I speak so frankly now because I have been informed you want to form some sort of alliance with the SIH. Is that true?]

The man’s face barely moved when he spoke and his dark brown eyes seemed to swallow any light that dared pass by.

“I appreciate your honesty and yes, I want to support your war efforts.”

[The reports said as much but what I want to know is why. What do you want out of all this?]

“The answer is simple, General. I want peace. I want a chance to experience the life I was given and have yet to be able to do so. By partnering with you, I may very well be able to achieve peace but under terms that are more beneficial to me and my subordinates.”

[So, you chose a smaller faction because you’d have more leverage on the negotiation table… you Archons are truly terrifying. Mmm… I have discussed your proposal at length with the other higher-ups over here and while the consensus is mostly positive, we would prefer to wait until things settle over there before we make our decision. That said, we are open to trade agreements but all of this comes secondary to our primary request.]

“And that is?”

“Could you kindly return Condor Unit to our territory? It would do you good in the eyes of the masses if they returned as heroes who made friends on the other side.]

“How shrewd of you, General but alright. I’ll draft up some trade deals and have your men back to you as soon as possible.”

[Thank you. We look forward to a future of amicable collaboration.]

The transmission ended prompting Ardi to turn to Meredith.

“Looks like it’ll be some time before they trust me enough to allow me to come over but can I trust you to go there and hype me up?” Ardi wished everyone could have seen her playful grin without cowering but suppressed that thought.

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Good. Now, is there anything else that needs my immediate attention?”

“Do we have a way to counter surveillance on a wide scale? I would prefer if the Swarm Lord and Ropa did not know what we were doing.” Heatdeath asked.

“We could try developing planet-sized [Distortion Fields]. I’ll visit the research and development teams on the New Genesis and work alongside them. I’m thinking some kind of pilon should do the trick, no?”

“Those would be perfect especially if we can set them up on our military and research Outposts and vessels as well.” Heatdeath nodded energetically.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. I’ll end you my drafts for the trade deals with the SIH and join you on the New Genesis but for now, you are all dismissed!”

Everyone other than Orion and Andromeda left the room prompting Ardi to deflate with a sigh as her veil deactivated.

“Waaah… that was a lot.” She breathed as Orion walked up to her chair.

He then began gently rubbing her shoulders, much to her satisfaction.

As Orion comforted her, Ardi looked through her database and saw that Zenith’s territory was pretty well off when it came to resources.

Internal trading was also pretty healthy and the only issue was that the total military infrastructure wasn’t as high as Ardi would have liked.

This was linked to the while decentralization issue but Ardi saw no issue in building an army of her own.

She didn’t want to disturb Heatdeath or Gudo so she turned to Swordtooth and gave him a call.

She promptly explained her plan and the Archon replied with a scoff.

[Huh… you must really want a unified army. But I’m not judging. Doing so would put us in line with Ropa who also has a single army, although I have a feeling you’re going to allow us captains to maintain our military autonomy.]

“I will. So, work on a draft for how that will look please.”

[Will do. Although I hope this one actually works out.] Ardi could hear the disappointment in Swordtooth's voice.

“There, there. This time it’s an internal issue so we shouldn’t face too many obstacles. And trust me, your work will be appreciated.”

[Alright. I’ll get started.]

The transmission ended.

Ardi realized that there was not much she could ask the SIH for so she turned her focus to the bigger fish.

The Starlight Coalition.

She would ask the SIH to introduce her to them on good terms but that would have to wait until the SIH trusted her enough.

So Ardi waited.

.

..

Meredith and her men were back in the Hawk-14 only the seat opposite hers was now empty.

She gently cradled Maya’s ashes as the Hawk approached their home world of Kepler-1606b which looked like it was almost entirely covered with buildings and lights.

[Captain, HQ is asking us to land at one of the main ports instead of Red Rock.] The pilot informed as four small Drones flew towards the Hawk.

Meredith looked up in thought as the Drones outside scanned the ship.

“They probably want to see us for themselves. Prepare for a thorough pat down when we land.”

[Copy that.] The pilot said while flying past the Drones and descending into Bastion’s atmosphere.

The Hawk then flew over a few cities before eventually landing in what was obviously a military base.

A group of twenty augmented and heavily armed soldiers then gathered outside the Hawk along with several armoured vehicles which all pointed their weapons at the Hawk.

[Umm… captain?] The pilot nervously called out.

“Stay calm! The scanners probably picked up our new energy signals so they probably freaked out.” Meredith said as she stood up.

“Open the rear hatch and do as they say!” Meredith barked and the hatch slowly began to open revealing the many gun muzzles that were pointed at her and her men.

“Freeze!”

“Is that an explosive?”

“Don’t move!”

The soldiers yelled before storming into the Hawk and handcuffing Meredith who didn’t resist as Maya’s ashes were taken away.

[Incoming transmission from Admiral Ardi: If you need any support, let me know.]

Meredith knew what was at stake and so quickly replied.

[I will update you as the situation develops but for now, I ask that you hold your fire.]

[Alright.]

Ardi said and even though she was hundreds of light years away, Meredith still felt her powerful presence.

“Move it!” The soldiers yelled as they handcuffed the rest of Condor Unit whom they led out of the Hawk.

“Alright. Bring them in!”