"It. Is. Time. For. Us. To. Leave. This. Star. System." -o-, the Deathweaver remarked with an impatient tone of voice.
She sat in the private quarters aboard their spaceship with her sister -oo—oo-, who simply studied data they had collected from the Strehegeld Star System. The two arakai had spent a few months in the star system investigating the destruction of their outpost world and the disappearance of their Divine Mother, while also overseeing the mining operation for the esoteric matter in the star system.
The moment -o- thought she had found their culprit, the Aquadites, she had lost interest in the star system. She had been eager to return to arakai mainland so that she could return to her hall of power and oversee the war that they now fought on two fronts.
Even though the arakai had chosen the war, -o- would be lying if she said that it was the ideal time for it. Fighting a war on two fronts was very difficult. They had received intelligence reports that suggested that the aquadites and the dessandrites had begun teaming up against the arakai, coordinating their forces and even sharing logistics. The aquadites had been pletely neutral about the war prior to its mencement. But when they realized that their interests aligned with the dessandrites, they saw no harm in changing that neutrality.
A predictable, if unfortunate, oute. This made -o- even more frustrated about remaining so far away from home in another star system for an extended period of time, but -oo—oo- refused to simply call it a day and go back home.
"We. May. Have. Indicted. The. Aquadites. But. It. Would. Be. Prudent. To. Conduct. A. Thorough. Scan. Of. The. Scene. Of. The. Crime. Nonetheless.," she informed her younger sister. "It. Does. Not. Hurt. To. Be. prehensive."
"We. Have. Already. Found. The. Culprit," -o- insisted. "We. Should. Be. Back. Home. Supporting. The. War. Effort. Besides. We. Also. Have. Breeding. Duties. To. Fulfill."
-oo—oo- heaved a sigh at her younger sister’s insistence on returning. From the moment she decided that the aquadites were responsible for the conflict, she simply refused to see reason. They hadn’t even had the opportunity to conduct a sensible exchange with the aquadites where they could ask them about the incident and try to gauge whether or not the aquadites knew anything about the event.
Instead, the arakai ambassador to the aquadites, a plant from the War Faction, had simply brushed them off and had killed any chance of a peace negotiation. At this point, there was nothing that could be done about the war, even if her investigation pointed in some other direction. The aquadites were now mitted to the war even if they didn’t want to be.
She still thought conducting a thorough investigation was necessary, nonetheless. The death of a Divine Mother simply couldn’t be forgiven. They had been robbed of one of their highest leaders and one of their most priceless assets. A goddess in arakai form. She knew that they needed to ensure that they had found the culprit in the aquadites or, if the aquadites weren’t responsible, that she find the real culprit.
She had built a profile of what the real culprit would have to be like. For one, it would have to be a major civilization, that too one with Administrators among its ranks. It would have to have intimate knowledge of the major civilizations in the star strand for it to have framed the aquadites and manipulated the arakai as well as the real culprit did. It would have to have excellent technology and highly effective operational capacity.
There weren’t too many viable candidates, unfortunately.
"If. It. Is. Any. Consolation. Then. I. Can. Tell. You. That. I’m. Almost. Done," -oo—oo- remarked. "If. The. Aquadites. Weren’t. The. Culprit. Then. The. Real. Culprit. Has. Done. A. Scrupulously. Spectacular. Job. At. Hiding. Their. Trail. Even. I’m. Beginning. To. Think. That. The. Aquadites. May. Truly. Have. Been. Responsible."
"Then. Let’s. Just. Go. Home!"
"Don’t. Be. A. Child. I. Still. Have. To—" -oo—oo- paused as her senses picked something up.
An unknown object that had entered the Strehegeld Star System.
"Do. See. That?" -oo—oo- asked her sister, getting up, walking in its direction aboard the ship. "That. Thing. That. Entered. The. Star. System."
-o- frowned, expanding her sensory perception of the information dimension. She hadn’t bothered paying that much attention to her environment once they had e to the conclusion that the aquadites were responsible. She had simply been eager for her older sister to finish her investigations so that they could both go back home.
However, when she spotted what was clearly an alien spaceship entering the star system, she couldn’t help but be surprised. "I. Don’t. Recognize. That. Architecture. Is. That. Strenian. Technology?"
"No..." -oo—oo- murmured. "The. Strenians. Don’t. Have. Stealth. Technology. That. Good. It’s. Done. A. Remarkably. Good. Job. Hiding. Its. Information. Flux."
From the information dimension, she could see that the strange alien spaceship had managed to hide most of its energy signature and other dead giveaways of its position within the information dimension.
She searched the database for all known advanced civilizations within the Orion Star Strand, trying to understand which civilization the spaceship had e from, but she didn’t get a single hit.
That meant two things. The first was that the spaceship had e from a civilization outside the Orion Star Strand.
And the other was that they were dealing with a new, unknown, advanced alien civilization in the Orion Star Strand, previously undiscovered. After all, there were still millions of stars in the star strands that weren’t occupied or controlled or claimed. It was entirely possible for there to be numerous advanced civilizations without major forces discovering them. Especially with how vast the cosmos was and how slow information traveled.
"Let’s. Go. Intercept. It," -oo—oo- remarked with a serious tone. "I. Have. A. Feeling. That. This. Will. Lead. Us. To. An. Important. Discovery."
Her intuition told her that this was the missing piece of the puzzle.
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