Descending

At this moment, above the moon, in the vastness of space, as their orbits aligned, the Mithra and Statue of Liberty Space Stations met once more in this desolate void after half a year.

Even at their closest, they remained more than two hundred kilometers apart.

When their armor opened and they gradually drew closer, everyone looked as exhilarated as if war had arrived.

And indeed, it was war...

When the scene beyond the opposite porthole was projected before Huai Shi, he was utterly dumbfounded.

Hundreds of burly men stood there, their faces painted, their hair either tied up or shaved off, their upper bodies bare and covered in countless fierce tattoos and thick body hair.

They gripped mop handles or makeshift spears and battle-axes fashioned from steel, glaring furiously as they roared at the Romans aboard the opposing Space Station under the lead of their station commander.

The radio signals from space carried those thunderous voices across without reservation.

The leader at the front even held a live, flapping chicken in his hand, chopped it apart on the spot, smeared its blood across his face, and loudly provoked the Romans across from him.

Immediately afterward, the hundred-man formation of "Roman infantry" began their own demonstration, answering in kind.

They shouted in unison for Rome and Caesar!

Then they threw back their heads and began singing a military song.

For a time, voices from both sides echoed through their communications.

Separated by a distant two hundred kilometers, the staff of the two scientific observation Space Stations offered greetings to the long-unseen travelers.

Until those brief three minutes passed in an instant.

The two sides crossed paths along their orbits.

In those final moments, the station commanders waved farewell and promised to meet again half a year later.

Then the soldiers,