After the Battle

A brief message filled with harsh static looped on the Officer Platform. Everyone looked at each other.

I turned uncertainly toward Sandora, the corner of my mouth twitching. "Sandora, this is..."

"That was the message transmitted when those Vengeance Legion forces self-destructed en masse. The one we just received." Another voice answered me. Bubble had come onto the bridge. She had already handed control of the ship back to the Shipboard Mainframe and was free now. "It took some time to crack the cipher inside. I don't know why they chose such an ancient encryption method. There wasn't even any record of it in the Database."

"Wait, that's not the point!" I hurriedly waved my hands as the distorted recording continued to play, endlessly repeating phrases like "Long live the Queen" and "The enemy has broken through the line." "If this message is genuine, did those Vengeance Legion forces think they were resisting an invasion?"

"That's right. This is the most likely conclusion after calculation." Bubble nodded gravely. I had noticed that she had been serious particularly often lately. "Though it is only a vague broadcast, the information it reveals is that the Vengeance Legion believed they were resisting invaders. They regarded our fleet as enemies invading Imperial territory, and they repeatedly mentioned 'Long live the Empire' and 'Long live the Queen'..."

"In other words, they're still loyal to Sandora." Older Sister looked deeply conflicted, as if she wanted to sigh but did not know how to do so. "At the very least, they believe they are still loyal to their own Queen."

This short message hit me hard. No wonder Sandora and the others had not even had time to deal with the warship Viska and I had salvaged. There was simply too much that could be inferred from