In time, Anton arrived at his destination vague as it was. Generally north of the Trigold Cluster’s lower realms operations was… a large area. Not only did they cover at least a dozen systems in width, but they weren’t oriented along a single flat plane. Some of their systems were placed higher and lower in the galactic plane, which could be hundreds of systems deep.
That left Anton with a very large area to cover as he attempted to find… something. He’d come on a hunch, presuming something was passing between the upper and lower realms. But from where and to where? If they hooked around further to the east or west than he imagined, he might miss them entirely.
But he couldn’t search everywhere. Instead, he focused on what made the most sense. Direct routes to and from planets in the lower realms. They had more certain knowledge of the various locations and what was occupied with regards to the lower realms. They were able to actually track the locations of stars within the upper realms. He’d probably been cataloging them back when he was stargazing with Vandale. Their orbits were known.
Occupation was a bit more difficult to discern, and spy networks in the upper realms were slow to build. Though all they had to do was come across an archive with poor security, despite the intentions to obfuscate everything about themselves in the Trigold Cluster. It was even to the point of detriment to their common citizens, it seemed.
In the lower realms, however, their planets were measured in the dozens- and they were less populated. Even their core worlds couldn’t rival those of the Lower Realms Alliance. Assuming logical paths between them, Anton could pick out only a few hundred systems they could be shipping things through.
Which was still quite a few. He was hoping that he might be able to pick things up from adjacent systems, cutting down his exploration distance to a third or less. Or maybe he’d underestimated the scope of the project and shouldn’t be undertaking it himself. He wondered if he could at least replace old stars as he was going. That was an iffy topic, because he wouldn’t be physically co-located with a single star for long.
But so what? His connection with his current stars transcended distance. It was worth a try, expanding his abilities. But if he was going to pick one, he wanted something central. The best candidate was a blue supergiant, vaguely in the center of his chosen cluster. No more than a handful of lightyears off, anyway. No doubt it had several names depending on who you asked, but Anton was going to call it Naewu as it was only numbered in the Lower Realms Alliance database. After all, it wasn’t near enough to matter, and it wasn’t even adjacent to their territory.
This was the second star of the sort he would bind to, the first being the star shared by Tenoun’a and Shrenn, and now their expanded territories. Both were massive, tens of times that of Ceretos’ star and similarly larger in radius. But that extra mass made them smaller and hotter than stars like Akrys’, a red supergiant that had expanded and cooled somewhat.
His first step was to free up space, carving away one of his old stars. That came with a very slight drop in power, but only one noticeable if he was fighting in the Life Transformation range. Since reaching Enrichment he was above that strength even away from his bound stars, so it was mostly irrelevant on its own.
Anton split his attention between the world around him- focusing on the nearby stars and anything that might be passing by- and Naewu, his target star. In the former, he was looking for signs of civilization. Outposts, old and new, or actual occupation. Given the information from interrogations, there shouldn’t be anything large enough to be in the general consciousness, but that didn’t meant there wouldn’t be small bases.
As for Naewu, he was focusing on what he felt of it. Even at a great distance, he could see it and feel its energy. It was faint, but strong.
He wove between stars, passing by each in a matter of days. After a month, he had made a single pass along the width of the chosen area, but there were still many sweeps to go. He so far had nothing to show for his efforts in terms of finding any evidence of materials passing through the systems.
At least his connection to Naewu was growing. Not as much as it would if he were closer, but it was at least the beginning of his effort. As he drew closer to the star, his efforts would prove more fruitful. This was also encouraging for Anton, as it meant he could potentially serve an occupied system while still binding a star a few steps away- like those along his traversal paths within the Lower Realms Alliance. He was certain it would succeed, though on a timeframe potentially several times the already lengthy couple of years. Most likely, he would want to be within ten or twenty lightyears at most.
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It was difficult to sustain attacks on the Trigold Cluster as they were able to maneuver fleets to drive off any assaults, but sitting around doing nothing wasn’t going to win the war. Indeed, it would just give more time for another unknown weapon to crack their defenses. But those very weapons were one concern about their assaults.
That led to a change in strategy, where they focused not on a single system at once but several, launching coordinated assaults. It would still be possible for the Void Scrying Sect to predict their attack patterns, but they weren’t intending to hard commit to any assault. They focused on mobile fleets that could outrun the enemy, so even if the Trigold Cluster concentrated on one fleet in an attempt to take them out they could still retreat. It wasn’t a simple feat to block off a fleet that could flee in three dimensions unimpeded.
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Continuous active assaults were costly, both in terms of resources and in terms of lives- each fleet was as balanced as possible, but ultimately they only had so many Assimilation cultivators in each place. The only hope was that it was more costly for their enemies. Egnos was a frequent but not constant target, as they were slowly wearing down their defenses. Eventually, if they could crack their planetary shields, they could begin causing damage to the sect grounds themselves. They could even target supply warehouses or the like. Cultivators could go without food to some extent… but that only worked so far, and only for those with sufficient cultivation.
Varghese only participated in assaults on Egnos for the moment, though he had other stars available to bind. His own power wasn’t critical to their success or failure, but keeping his options flexible was valuable. After all, mobile Assimilation cultivators with no restrictions at all tended to be a bit weaker. The area restrictions were generally balanced by greater power in certain locations- though some cultivation paths were simply weaker even when restricted. The other intention was to make people think he might have run out of available bound stars- or that he had a particular time limitation.
But when necessary, he could bind two or three in a row, bolstering forces for specific battles. That would be quite valuable.
When he was not involved in an assault, Varghese continued his training. His specific focus was on extending himself from bound stars, and he was focusing on the orange star in Egnos which he had bound. Lately a greater number of ships had been traveling in and out of the system- not surprising when it was a target of frequent attacks. Rather than destroying a few of them, he was waiting for a good opportunity… and gathering what information he could from those that passed too close to him.
He was beginning to pick out some patterns, ships full of cultivators going in and out… but more people out than in. He relayed that information to the people who needed it, though he speculated on the possibilities himself.
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The day finally came where Varghese no longer had to speculate about their plans. Instead, he saw them enacted as he sat within the safety of an allied base… while at the same time enemy ships entered the system where Egnos stood.
They were sufficient in number- some two hundred easily- that Varghese was willing to reveal the whole extent of his reach. Except instead of passing by the central star towards Egnos, they spread far around it towards one of the other two in the system- one of the pair of red stars.
There was nothing Varghese could do but watch. He thought that perhaps with more experience he could bind the star from his current location, or by extending himself through the local star- but he reached out and felt only the vaguest of connections, insufficient to manage anything in a short time period. Even if he managed to bind to the star, was he willing to do so just as they destroyed another one?
Except this time was different. It was a smaller star, and rather than approaching they fanned out around it. Varghese felt a change in the flow of natural energy. Together, the hundreds of ships arranged a formation that began to pull apart the small star. Varghese was fairly sure it would only work on red dwarfs such as the one they were after, but it still concerned him greatly.
The red dwarf began to vibrate, and then lengthen. Finally, it began to stretch, the formation of ships extending with it until it was more ovoid. That entire process took about an hour, but it sped up rapidly after that- soon it was twice again as long… and Varghese could tell what the plan was, as it pointed towards the central star he was bound to.
There was something more, other than trying to crash the stars together. Some disturbances of energy. Varghese wasn’t quite sure what, but he steeled himself. Whatever they were doing, he didn’t want it. But he was too far to show up in person, so he could only maneuver the star to defend itself.
As the red dwarf stretched into a spearlike shape, it began to be pulled in by the central star- and in turn, that pulled the far end of it. Varghese felt the impact, a great power causing turbulence within the star he was bound to. He could handle it if it was just that, but the ships formed around the star, another set of formations they carried activating.
That was when he properly felt it, a pulse of energy going through his bound star which was already destabilized by the other one piercing into it. That pulse was much more than a simple nudge. Instead, it made him tremble and feel violently sick, as his own connection was exploited to reach out towards his other bound stars. Including In’istra.
Varghese clenched his teeth to the point they began to crack- but the pain didn’t even register. He lashed out at the ships, cautious to the point they were even beyond what he felt his limits were. But if he focused on one at a time, he could reach them with a focused beam of light. Yet he couldn’t simply fight back, as In’istra’s star was groaning in sympathetic pain… along with his others. He felt himself being torn apart, not just once but in many places.
Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. First Azun, then In’istra, and finally Poriza. All of which were local to him… and all of which he shared with Anton. Varghese let out a strained laugh of relief. Even hundreds of lightyears away, his master would come to his rescue.
Not that he was out of danger yet. Egnos’ star was still in a wild state, and it could easily still collapse. He wasn’t certain he could handle two bound stars in as many decades being destroyed, either on an emotional level or as a cultivator. The second wound was bound to be worse than the first. And he had to stop the fleet. His resolve was strengthened as he handed over the safety of his home system entirely to the hands of Anton, and focused entirely on one.