003.M31.
Ultima Segmentum, Veridian System, Calth, Denered Estuary.
The river wind stirred swaths of flax as the Servitor Grafort came buzzing along the path.
"Soldier Persson."
"It's time to stop."
Ollanius Persson drew his gaze back from the sky and gave a bitter tug at the corner of his mouth.
He had spent most of the day watching Aquila Shuttles, Stormbirds, and transport ships scream overhead.
In his forty-five thousand years of life experience, he had seen far too many situations like this.
Something big had to be happening on Calth.
A week ago, the drones had quadrupled the frequency of their patrols.
The Shadow of Order from Caucas Fortress had been patrolling the riverbank again and again.
Three days ago, when he went to Numinus City, the auditors had not even approved his request to enter.
Relying on his experience, he had slipped into the city the day before yesterday to investigate, but he had not gotten the information he wanted.
"Soldier Persson, it is time to return," Grafort reminded him mechanically.
Soldier Persson. Right. Now I'm just an old soldier. Persson shook his head. Even if something important was happening, it had nothing to do with an ordinary retired veteran like him.
He put the day's meager harvest into the cart. The less-than-half-full load told him exactly how much time he had spent staring up at the sky today.
Under normal circumstances, each hour of hard labor could yield two cartloads of flax.
Ollanius and Grafort walked together toward his house.
Suddenly, he stopped.
Black armor. Golden wings.
A giant over four meters tall.
He had once stood on a mountainside and, from more than thirty kilometers away, watched a golden streak of light sweep past.
He had seen the three-hundred-and-thirty-meter-tall Obsidian statue in Numinus City, overlooking the