The Stellar Alliance, Sun-Chasing Belt.
The Sun-Chasing Belt was the outermost ring of the Stellar Alliance's territory. It could also be called the alliance's first line of defense. The Sixth and Eighth Fleets were stationed there.
It was Sunday. As usual, the fleets were holding a holiday celebration, leaving only a few people behind in the watch room. Long interstellar patrols easily wore people down, so events like this had to be held regularly.
Watching their comrades sing and dance on the monitors, one of the soldiers on duty yawned and complained to the person beside him, "Sometimes I wonder what the point is of patrolling this godforsaken place every day. They might as well let the ether computer patrol for us."
"Yeah, right. You wouldn't be saying that once you were out of a job."
The other soldier didn't seem to care. "So I'd be out of a job. I'd get government benefits. It's not like I'd starve."
Suddenly, a huge red exclamation mark appeared on the main screen, and a piercing alarm rang out. "Attention. Unknown signal source detected!"
"Attention. Unknown signal source detected!"
The two soldiers exchanged a confused look. In this day and age, could there really be an unknown signal source?
Maybe a space probe from some unknown planet had drifted over, carrying a message like "Let's be friends"?
But the signal soon appearing on the radar dashed their hopes.
Signal sources crowded the radar display. The number rapidly climbed before stopping at fifteen hundred.
That meant fifteen hundred unknown objects were approaching the Sun-Chasing Belt.
The soldiers' pupils contracted. They immediately sensed trouble. "Quick, report this to the commander!"
The holiday celebration was soon called off, and the two fleets went on emergency alert. The commander brought up the space telescope and finally got